[How-To] Stream video with Windows Media Encoder

Skibum

Senior Member
I'm not much of a writer... but here are basic instructions on how to start streaming with Windows Media Encoder.

Capture device: I have found through a lot of trial that the best picture quality and framerate can be achieved with the Hauppauge USB2 device. It will blow away any BT 848 or 878 based card. It will also lower the cpu requirement for encoding.

Open Media Encoder

Click on New Session
Select Broadcast Live event
Select your proper video and audio device (also configure your video device for composite input)
Pull from the encoder
HTTP Port.... this is the port number you will have to open in your router so others can see your stream. I use 8081.

Encoding options....

When starting the setup it is easiest to leave everything alome here and go back and modify it later.

Click on Finish

Go to Properties, Compression
Edit 282kbps

Adjust audio to a low bitrate codec. I use 16kbps 16khz mono CBR

Adjust framerate to something realistic for your machine... with a 2 gig machine start with 320x240 15 fps
Video bit Rate: Adjust to something a bit less than your available bandwith... I have 384 up and I use about 300k for video
Buffer size: 5
Video Smoothness: Adjust as you see fit. 85 seems to work the best for me.
Decoder Complexity: Auto

Click on OK
Click on Apply
Unclick Properties

Click on Start Encoding.

You should see your video in the window.

Click on the General tab

Make sure your CPU load is not outrageous.....I prefer to run around 40% load
IF your load is low, you can increase the framerate, or try streaming at 640x480. (Don't even think of trying 640x480 with less than a 2.8Ghz machine...)

open media player, and browse to your ipaddress:port example: http://192.168.0.2:8081 (Open URL from the media player menu)

If everything works, open the required port on your router and check from the outside.

If you are streaming to the world, the next step is to place your video in a webpage.
You can do this with the following control in your HTML code:

<OBJECT ID="Player" height="406" width="455"
CLASSID="CLSID:6BF52A52-394A-11d3-B153-00C04F79FAA6">
<param name="URL" value="http:internetipaddress:port">
<param name="Animationatstart" value="true">
<PARAM Name="autostart" value="true">
<PARAM Name="StretchToFit" value="True">
<PARAM Name="UiMode" value="Full">
<PARAM Name="Volume" value="50">
<PARAM Name="FullScreen" value="False">

</OBJECT>

NOTE: edit the URL value to suit your situation
edit the size to suit your needs

If you have multiple cameras and Homeseer, you can use a device like the ASEL switcher to switch cameras that are input to a single video encoder card.

I have scripts to control the ASEL from Jay, and example HTML code if anyone is interested.
 
I just wanted to add that if you are running Windows Server 2000 I think you can also use Windows Media Server along with Windows Media Encoder to stream multiple video sources at the same time. I think I recall this from a conversation with Eug on the cocoontech chat room

Edited: It's windows server 2000
 
IF the card has 4 decoder chips on it, you would be able to stream from each indovodually. If it has only 1 chip... you're on your own... :p
 
how would i go about putting on a live stream from a mini dv camera? do i need a special input or anything or can i just hook it up firewire wise? also, what would be the bestway for me to host archvied streams on my server for my network-ees can access them at a later time?
 
Yes, you can use Firewire as the input to Media Encoder.

For archived streams, there is no need for the encoder, simply place the files on your webserver.
 
im trying to broadcast a radio station but when people try to connect to http://192.168.0.2:8081 they cant connect and hear what im playing..what is the reason???

Hi, Chris. Welcome to CocoonTech!

192.168.xxx.xxx is a local IP adress and can't be accessed externally. You'll have to give out your public address. Click on this link to find out your public IP address. Also, keep in mind that you likely have a dynamic IP address, which means it will change at times. A service like DynDNS can handle the change of adress for you.

HTH,

Kevin
 
You would have to have a host that supported Windows Media Server. The load on your local machine will still be the same.

Did you forward 8081 on your router?
 
Back
Top