Accessibility
David Hassoun

David Hassoun

RealEyes Media
david.realeyes.com

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The need for dynamic streaming
  3. Multi-bitrate solutions with dynamic streaming
  4. How dynamic streaming works
  5. Dynamic streaming video players
Created:
12 January 2009
User Level:
Intermediate, Advanced
Products:
Flash Media Server

Dynamic streaming in Flash Media Server 3.5 – Part 1: Overview of the new capabilities

Dynamic streaming is the process of efficiently delivering streaming video to users by dynamically switching among different streams of varying quality and size during playback. This provides users with the best possible viewing experience their bandwidth and local computer hardware (CPU) can support. Another major goal of dynamic streaming is to make this process smooth and seamless to users, so that if up-scaling or down-scaling the quality of the stream is necessary, it is a smooth and nearly unnoticeable switch without disrupting the continuous playback.

This article provides an overview of the enhanced capabilities and concepts of dynamic streaming with Adobe Flash Player 10 and Adobe AIR 1.5 with the new Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5 (using either Flash Media Streaming Server 3.5 or Flash Media Interactive Server 3.5). Although dynamic streaming was somewhat possible in previous versions of Flash Player and Flash Media Server, the process was very complicated to implement from a developer's perspective and the end result was not a smooth user experience.

After reading this article you should have a good understanding of dynamic streaming concepts. You will know why this feature is important and why dynamic streaming in Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5, and Flash Media Server 3.5 is an exceptional solution to deliver media. You will also learn how to implement dynamic streaming in your Flex or Flash applications. (This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Part 2 covers the ActionScript 3.0 dynamic stream APIs and Part 3 covers integrating dynamic streaming with existing video players.)

Requirements

In order to make the most of this article, you need the following software and files:

Flash Media Server 3.5

Flash Media Server tools

Sample files:

Prerequisite knowledge

General familiarity with Flash streaming media and programming ActionScript 3.0 in Flash or Flex.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

Page 1 of 5
Next Page

About the author

David Hassoun is the founder of RealEyes Media, LLC, a digital media firm based in Colorado that focuses on interactive motion media and advanced Flash and Flex platform applications. David has always had a passion for motion media, the power of video, and the challenges of usability and interactivity. David is an Adobe Certified Master Instructor, teaches advanced RIA classes at the University of Denver, serves as the Rocky Mountain Adobe User Group Manager, and has taught and developed advanced Flash and Flex application courses. As a consultant or while employed with other firms, he has worked for a wide range of companies such as American Express, Chase Manhattan, Qwest, Boeing, Macromedia, Adobe, US Air Force, Bechtel/Bettis, and many more. David regularly performs advanced code and technical best practices reviews, and has provided directional advice for international industry leaders over the past years—including many technical, courseware, and application reviews as an industry expert.