Vidize Blog » FMS

Adobe slashes price on FMS

admin — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:04:23 +0000

Finally, Adobe has realized that the high price of the Flash Media Server was hindering its more wide adoption. I hope the open source alternative, Red 5, will still keep its momentum.

Here’s the summary:

The latest version of Flash Media Sever, which will ship in January 2008, will be come in three versions, ranging from free to $4,500 — a price drop of 90%.

The Flash Media Interactive Server 3, the most expensive of the offerings, will provide more scalability and a robust new plugin architecture that its lower priced counterparts don’t offer. But for single server deployments, the $995 Flash Media Streaming Server, should be sufficient and could be attractive for smaller media publishers. Adobe will also offer a developer version for free that supports up to 10 concurrent users.

Since most publishers will only use the streaming features, the price drop is quite significant. Previously, multiple licenses ($4,500) were required just to stream to more than 200 users.

Flash Media Server 3 announced

admin — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 17:09:57 +0000

Adobe announced a new version of the Flash Media Server (FMS) at IBC at Amsterdam. According to the press release some of the key features of the new version will be:

Improved performance and scalability
Streaming upport for H.264 and AAC (following Flash player’s support for H.264)
Secure streaming
Flash Lite 3 support (i.e mobile video delivery to your mobile)

Considering the competition, Adobe is facing from RED 5 (an open-source server) and Wowza (a commercial but significantly cheaper version), they’ll need to work on the price point too. $4,500 per 100 or so connections is very expensive.

Tags: Adobe, flash, flash media server, FMS, red 5, wowza

Adobe, flash, flash media server, FMS, red 5, wowza

Next-gen Flash to support H.264 Video

admin — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:30:09 +0000

Stefan Richter at Flashcomgurus and a host of other Flash enthusiasts are excited by Adobe’s announcement that the next generation of Flash will support H.264 Video. This bit from Stefan:

The bottom line: a huge step forward for web video. The Flash Player will incorporate what is arguably the most versatile and most widely adopted video codec around (it’s used for much more than just web video), and it’s an open standard at that with a huge eco system of encoders and tools to boot. Let it sink in and expect some big waves from this. You will be able to test this out via progressive download (I know I will) once Flash Player Beta Update 3 hits the streets later today on labs. Both Flash Media Server and Flash Media Encoder will support the codec in upcoming versions.

I think Adobe’s moving in the right direction at least in part because of the competitive pressure from Microsoft’s Silverlight.

Tags: Adobe, flash, FMS, H.264, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video

Adobe, flash, FMS, H.264, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video

Flash Player Update 3

admin — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 07:35:54 +0000

I’ve recently subscribed to Fabio’s blog and I’m not disappointed. Fabio’s keeping me up-to-date on all things Flash.

It looks like the Flash player just got a boost in the video deparment. Here’s the feature list (from Fabio):

Multi-threaded video decoding. The VP6 video decoding will now be performed in a separate thread if a multi-core system is detected while the main thread does rendering and post processing of the video. 1080p video decoding is now possible on dual core machines.
Full screen video decoding will leverage hardware scaling. Wonderful! why to scale a 640×480 video to 1280×1024 using the main processor when all the computer video cards today have video scaling technology? I think this is really a must for the definitive consacration of Flash Video Technology. I’ll post as soon as possible a test of this feature.
VBL in fullscreen. The player is now capable to syncronize the rendering in fullscreen to the “vertical blank” for a smooth playback of flash movies.
Automatic Mipmap for scaled videos and picture. Optimal for video thumbs
Faster Vp6 entropy decoding and improved deblocking filter.

I think some competitive pressure from Microsoft’s Silverlight is more then welcome!

Tags: Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV

Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV

PlayStation Eye Camera

admin — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:03:50 +0000

I already have a web cam (a Logitech Communicate STX) but I’m shopping around for a good USB 2 web cam. I have tested Apple’s iSight and I was pleased with the results but I’m not ready to commit to Apple any time soon.

I’ve been a long time Sony fan, when it comes to camcorders (especially HD ones). So I’m pretty excited about this news bit from Sony!

David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said, “PLAYSTATION Eye is a great example of how we have moved forward so significantly with our technology. PLAYSTATION Eye has four times the resolution, twice the framerate and double the sensitivity of its predecessor EyeToy USB Camera. With the technology that we now have at our disposal we will be able to dramatically improve the communications experience enjoyed on PS3”.

Here’s the tech specs!

4 channel audio input:16 bits/channel, 48kHz, SNR 90db
56º to 75º Field of View zoom lens
2.1 F-stop, <1% distortion, fixed focus (25cm to 8 at 75º FOV)
640 x 480 at 60 frames/second
320 x 240 at 120 frames/second
USB2 high-speed data transfer
Uncompressed video or optional JPEG compression

The resolution and the frame rate are nothing short of groundbreaking. I’m not sure it will only work with PS3 though, USB 2 makes it PC-ready as well.

Tags: bandwidth, FMS, google video, logitech, media, video, webcam, youtube

bandwidth, FMS, google video, logitech, media, video, webcam, youtube

Microsoft launches Silverlight

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:30:13 +0000

In an attempt to dislodge Adobe’s Flash from its dominant position, Microsoft has launched Silverlight, a cross-browser, cross-platform plugin.

Adobe claims Flash has a 97% penetration, with the latest version (v.9) climbing to 80%+.

This from the horse’s mouth:

Based on the Microsoft .NET Framework, Silverlight enables developers and designers to use existing skills and tools: for designers, Microsoft Expression Studio, and for developers, Visual Studio.

Silverlight uses Windows Media Video (WMV) and Microsoft’s implementation of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) VC-1 video standard to deliver video files can that scale from mobile devices to full-screen high-definition displays.

Now, I’ve never seen ANYONE using Microsoft’s Expression studio for design. In addition, only a few sites are using exclusively WMV streaming despite the fact that the server is free as opposed to Flash Media Server. All in all, it’ll be a steep climb for Microsoft.

Tags: Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV

Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV

Webcam for video production

admin — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:02:32 +0000

This is a crazy idea to be sure. In a normal video production, the rule of thumb is that you shoot in the highest possible quality and THEN downgrade it in post. There’s little point to shoot with a webcam even if you have sequence that needs to LOOK like a webcam.

My webcam is a Logitech Communicate STX (admittedly an USB 1.1 cam). I’ve tested its throughput and the stream hits about 300Kbps on my FMS console at its highest resolution. Is this bad? Or rather, how bad is it?

Low-budget filmmakers’ favorite cam right now is the Panasonic HVX200. Two reasons for this warmth and affection: 1) support for variable frame rates; and 2) ignoring HDV standard and hitting a higher note with DVCPRO HD (100Mbps).

Hmm, comparing 300Kbps to 100Mbps seems insane. Yet, one look at Youtube and you’ll probably see that the next generation of filmmakers will probably go as low as it’s economically possible. When you consider the distribution channel (be it youtube or google video), it’s obvious it doesn’t matter what you shoot with.

Just as a reference though, you need to look at a Canon’s security camera – I’m sure it will work out as a “webcam” as well (above).

Tags: bandwidth, FMS, google video, hvx200, logitech, media, video, webcam, Webcams, youtube

bandwidth, FMS, google video, hvx200, logitech, media, video, webcam, Webcams, youtube