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Advanced Media Types and Rich Media
What
is Rich Media?
The term Rich media is a catch-all for technologies
such as Java, Flash, DHTML and video or audio.
Streaming media usually denotes live video streaming
or video news. However, it is now entering the
internet advertising mainstream.
Why
you should use Rich media in e-marketing?
Simple answer? Response rates - click thru rates
increase by 300% or more over normal graphics.
Why
is it called streaming media?
The movie (or other media) is hosted on a web site
and starts playing after a few seconds - it is
buffered, not fully dowloaded. The same is true when
rich media is used in email marketing - the viewer
does not have download a huge file in order to see
the message.
Streaming
media costs.
We write, produce edit and codec video shorts
lasting 2.5 minute as mini corporate videos in
around 3 days from $1000. Airtime costs are
decreasing rapidly, making this a stunningly
cost-effective medium. We spent 6 months reviewing
streaming media applications before choosing our
stream media. Most usually we codec using BT Media
technology; these Java based applications allow 98%
of internet users to view without downloading
plug-ins
What
is Streaming Media?
Streaming
Media is the process of converting audio & video
media and digitally preparing that media so that it
can be broadcasted over a traditional telephone or
broadband network via the Internet and viewed on
computer screens on-demand.
How
long does it take for me to add streaming to my
website?
Within
minutes! Depending on the state of your media your
media is digitized encoded, and then uploaded into
our Media Manager to be published.
How
much training do I need? Minimal training!
Minimal
training! Your VideoDome sales representative will
walk you through the Media Manager application and
within minutes you will be ready to publish your
video or audio content directly on your web site.
How
do I convert my media?
We
take your raw video in any readable format, VHS,
Beta, etc. If your media needs to be digitized for
streaming our encoding department will transform
your video upon receipt and you will be up and
running in a matter of days.
Do
I need to download any software?
No
software! No hardware! All you need is an Internet
connection and a browser and you can access the
Media Manager application anywhere you can access
the Internet.
Methodology
The video loads in background on the client Brower.
It allow you to effortlessly deliver streaming
audio and video to virtually any Internet user
regardless of bandwidth limitations or firewall
restrictions. Video is rendered in the web user's
browser with a 25K applet that decompresses (or
decodes) the video as it is streamed, without the
need for any client side software or plug in.
As
commercial-length animations, an interactive
transaction, whatever: Rich media ad technologies
such as Java, Flash, HTML and Audio are stream, as
well as long-form animated GIFs. When you move to a
new page within the site the window pops up.
Click-through rates for server range from seven to
40 percent, and 50 percent of people viewing server
either interact with the ad or watch the entire
message before clicking off.
We create from your video post production, filming,
editing, encode and finally stream to your users
computer with cost-effective attention
grabbing banners and videos etc. for use on
web sites or email marketing. Click here
to view examples or Contact
us
for a free costume estimate.
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Support Center - Frequently Asked Questions |
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deliver your audio & video over the
Internet via streaming or download
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stream Powerpoint presentations
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stream live broadcasts across the Internet
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webcast corporate meetings
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deliver Flash animation, multi-media
presentations and digital images
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serve Progressive Downloads
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stream ClipStream, a player-free format
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What is streaming media? Video and/or
audio that plays over the Internet without
downloading to the end user's computer.
Think of television and radio for your
computer. Streaming is different from
downloading in that playback starts
immediately with just a mouse click for the
viewer, and the large file is not saved to
the viewer's computer. This provides a
higher level of security for original
content.
Microsoft's Windows Media Player, Real
Networks' RealPlayer and Apple's QuickTime
are streaming "formats" designed to play
streaming media on your computer. The
players can be downloaded free from the
respective Web sites of each company. Each
format also offers a downloadable version of
their encoding software to help you convert
your media to a streaming format. (See
Three Minute Streaming Lesson). |
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I have audio & video. Now what?
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Each audio and/or video program is
converted to a digital file
(digitization).
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This digital information is converted to a
format designed for streaming - a process
called encoding.
Files that begin as digital videos, for
example, can easily be downloaded to your
computer and encoded by you. Other data
(such as non-digital video and audio tapes)
might require additional equipment for
digitization. Or, BlueTimeMedia can digitize
and encode your media for you. (Click
here to get an encoding quote) |
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I only want to stream audio, or Flash
animation, not video. Are you still able to
meet my needs economically? Absolutely.
Whether you're streaming stock quotes, Flash
animation, original music or corporate
meetings, BlueTimeMedia has
service packages in all sizes and price
ranges, designed to accommodate everyone
from consumers to large corporations. |
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Does BlueTimeMedia charge a set-up fee?
No. We're interested in building a lasting
relationship with you, not making money up
front. You can also upgrade or downgrade
your account as often as you wish, without
any set-up fees. |
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Does StreamMedia require long-term
contracts? Standard accounts are
month-to-month and can be canceled at any
time, with 30-days written notice. We
pro-rate (daily) back to you any unused
portion of the accounts during an upgrade or
downgrade. Live 24x7 packages and Warehouse
Packages have an initial three month
commitment, and then move to month-to-month. |
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Can I just send you my material and let
you take care of the rest? Yes,
BlueTimeMedia can capture and convert your
media for you for a nominal fee. (Click
here for price quote. Please complete
the information as best as you can. We'll
contact you with any questions). Or, if you
prefer to do this yourself, but think you'll
need help, you can contact our tech support
team and they will walk you through the
process of uploading your media, if
necessary. Our goal is to empower you to
manage your own content so you can upload,
delete and modify your account as often as
you need. If you have any questions, feel
free to
contact us. |
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What if I don't have a Web site?
BlueTimeMedia offers 24x7 online account
management that provides an auto-generated
"theater" for you to preview or showcase
your streaming media (called BlueTimeMedia
Theater). |
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What formats can I use? BlueTimeMedia
enables you to use all the major streaming
formats (Real, Windows Media, QuickTime, MP3
and ClipStream) from a single account. It is
not necessary to purchase a separate account
for each format. |
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Will I need to send different media types
to different servers? No. All media
files are placed in your directory on our
system and are available to you 24x7 to
manage. There are many ways to move files in
and out of your account. You may use our Web
site, any standard FTP client or with the
latest versions of Internet Explorer, you
can move media files in and out of your
BlueTimeMedia account with simple "drag &
drop" ease. |
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What happens if I go over my data
transfer limit? For standard accounts,
BlueTimeMedia will offer you the option to
pay $0.01 (ONE CENT) per megabyte, or bump
up to the next package size. Customers can
login to their BlueTimeMedia account to view
their current disk space and data transfer
usage. |
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Can I stream across a firewall? Yes.
For Real and Windows Media there is no
special configuration necessary. However,
for QuickTime you will need to go into your
streaming transport settings and set them to
Port 80. If you need help doing this, feel
free to
contact us. |
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What is the difference between
"progressive download" and "streaming"?
BlueTimeMedia allows you to do both. With a
progressive download your computer actually
downloads the file and saves it to disk. The
file begins to play before it has completely
downloaded. If the file is a lengthy video,
the viewer will need to have ample disk
space to save the file. Streaming servers
allow the user to fast forward and can
perform bit rate adjustment during playback.
Additionally, because streaming media is not
downloaded to disk, you have greater control
over your copyrighted materials. |
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What are the benefits of placing my media
files on a streaming server rather than a
Web server? The easiest way to explain
this is to compare it to a car with an
automatic transmission versus a manual
transmission. Streaming servers are able to
change data-transfer rates to the end user
automatically during playback (except for
QuickTime streaming, which auto-senses the
user's selected connection speed and
delivers the best media clip designed for
that user's connection speed).
Thus, if network congestion arises during
playback, streaming servers will accommodate
this change in environment and "downshift"
the data transfer rate to prevent the media
from "rebuffering;" a term used to describe
the pausing of player to collect more data
before resuming playback. Should the network
environment improve, the servers will shift
the data transfer rate upward to improve
playback quality.
With Web servers, the end user must select a
"bit-rate" best suited for that end user and
remain at that setting throughout playback.
Streaming servers provide streaming in UDP
Protocol and HTTP Protocol when the end user
is unable to accept UDP Protocol streaming.
Web servers can only playback using HTTP
Protocol.
Sound like a lot of gibberish or
impossible-to-interpret jargon? It's really
quite simple. UDP is all about "keeping the
show going." If a packet of data is lost on
the Internet, UDP says "So what? Let's keep
the movie playing!" Thus, a pixel of blue
sky or a pixel of brown dirt may be missing
in one of the frames, but the movie will
play regardless. (Note: film plays at 24
frames per second.)
HTTP is all about accounting. HTTP Protocol
says "Whoa! Stop the show, we're missing a
pixel of blue sky! Let's re-request it and
wait for it." Thus, using HTTP to send a
credit card number over the Internet makes
sense (you need all those pixels), but using
HTTP protocol for streaming media is a real
show stopper - literally. |
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What is SMIL? SMIL (Synchronized
Multimedia Integrated Language) is used to
mix different media types, such as images,
scrolling text, audio, animation and video,
into a dynamic presentation which can
playback in the player or be embedded into a
Web page.
SMIL technology allows the media designer to
specify multiple regions in a streaming
presentation and allocate "bandwidth" to
each region. For example, the media designer
would allocate low bandwidth (i.e.: about
10% of end user's available bandwidth) for
streaming images while allocating more
bandwidth to the audio and/or video that was
playing in the same presentation at the same
team.
Web servers are unable to manage SMIL
content. |
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How much disk space will I need for my
media? Streaming media is measured in
kilobits per second (Kbps). You may be
accustomed to seeing the amount of disk
space used on your computer in kilobytes
(KB). To estimate how much disk space your
streaming media will take up at different
rates, you can simply use our handy,
streaming calculator. If you would like
to know the math behind it, here's what you
need to know:
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There are 8 bits in a byte.
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Take the kilobits per second and divide by
8. (This will give the kilobytes per
second.)
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Multiply this number by 60 so that you
will have the kilobytes per minute.
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Multiply the kilobytes per minute by the
length of your media in minutes. This
number will probably be at least four
digits.
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To translate into megabytes (MB), divide
by 1024.
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Did you know that QuickTime displays data
transfer in KiloBytes per second, not
kilobits per second? Thus a QuickTime clip
stream at 3 KBps is going at the same rate
as a Real or Windows Media clip at 24
kbps. (3KB x 8 bits per byte = 24 kbps)
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Have more question you wish to know about streaming
media and rich media please
send us your question.
Click here
to view examples or Contact
us
for a free costume estimate.
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