Flash Media Server Article

Drilling down into new features of Flash Media Server 3

Demo 1: Progressive download to streaming (FLV to MP4)

This demo shows the process of migrating from progressive download of FLV and H.264 MP4 files to streaming the content from Flash Media Server 3.

First I show you the steps for using Flash CS3 Professional (with the recent update to support H.264 video content) to progressively download video content from your web server. I describe the process of using the FLVPlayback component in Flash to display Flash video in FLV format as well as using high-definition H.264 video in MP4 format.

Next I discuss the folder structure inside the Flash Media Server 3 application and show you where to save the video files you'll be streaming. The steps I outline to stream both FLV and H.264-encoded MP4 files directly from FMS are very similar to setting up a progressive download. As the two files are streaming, I open the Flash Media Administration Console to show you the difference in the number of bytes out (see Figure 1) as the video content encoded with two different data rates is delivered from the streaming server to the client machine.

Watch Demo 1 (7:28)

Download the sample files for Demo 1 (ZIP, 38.6 MB)

Note: Demos 1 and 2 both use the same sample files.

Figure 1. Checking server performance while streaming media using the Administration Console

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