.. and now Streaming Media Magazine has given me one!

I doubt it'll be traded, but here it is!

Thanks to everyone who nominated me; it was a very pleasant surprise to be chosen!

Adobe has released the latest version of their free desktop encoding application for Flash Media Server live streaming. Top features include Multi-bitrate encoding (encode up to 3 different bitrates at once for Dynamic Streaming delivery), DVR functionality, chunking of output files for easier file management, and enhanced auto-adjust for degrading quality when bandwidth is limited to ensure a smooth stream.

And the biggest new feature of course, is that all of this is now supported ON THE MAC. I like it when Adobe listens.

Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder 3.1 for Windows and Mac OS

It’s not often an instructor will post their unedited feedback from a workshop or class… but that’s just what Seb has done for his Flash Games Programming workshop he taught in Brighton, UK recently. As you can see, attendees became raving fans.

Well, I’m happy to announce that I’m helping Seb bring this course to NYC, in association with the Flash and the City conference, May 13, 2010.

Flash Games Programming – NYC training course – Eventbrite

Suitable for beginners to advanced Flash programmers, Seb will walk you through the creation of Flash games from basic concepts to completed projects. This is a rare opportunity to gain knowledge about game design, learn tips and tricks, and really understand how to make games that rock!

There is limited seating available for this one-day course, and as of this writing there is just one “super-early-bird” ticket left… so grab your seat!

Flash Games Programming – NYC training course – Eventbrite

Jan Ozer and I had a quick ooVoo video chat about our upcoming workshop, Streaming Production and Flash Seminar – March 23 in NYC. Watch it for more info about what we’ll cover!

The always-entertaining Jesse Warden (JesterXL) shares some pearls of wisdom and some insights on getting started with the Open Source Media Framework. Enjoy.

Along with streaming media luminary Jan Ozer, I am presenting a one-day intensive workshop on “Streaming Production & Flash Delivery” to be held on March 23, 2010 in New York City.

DETAILS and REGISTRATION: Streaming Production & Flash Delivery Workshop – Eventbrite.

If you need to brush up on any part of the workflow involved in getting video on the web, this workshop is for you.

Jan will cover the production end of things with “Production for Streaming” and “Encoding H.264 video for Flash, iPod/iPhone/iPad and Silverlight.”

I will cover the technical end of things with a morning session “Flexible Protocols and Custom Player Development” which gets you up to speed on the various delivery methods now available in Flash (including adaptive streaming via HTTP Streaming, P2P via RTMFP) and custom video player development for both the programmer and the non-programmer using Open Source Media Framework and third-party streaming (Influxis.com). Then in the afternoon I present a “Flash Media Server Crash Course” which will get you going with FMS with a full understanding of how to set up the server, what it can do, and how to do it.

Sign up now before it sells out… we are only presenting one day of training this time around, and there is limited seating!

Streaming Production & Flash Delivery Workshop – Eventbrite.

Flash Media Server hosting and applications generously provided by

This morning’s VideoNuze email brought some good news for Adobe:

Fox Switches from Move to Flash; ABC Plans Transition Too.

Looks like the gamble on adding HTTP Streaming to Flash Player has paid off. The advantages of the Move Networks solution just didn’t add up for the premium price tag. Congrats, Flash Media team!

For those of you seeking (ha!) a solution for progressive video seeking, you’ll definitely want to take a look at the xMoov Server (formerly xMoov-PHP). It’s a free, open-source solution for accessing parts of your video that haven’t yet been downloaded — mimicking the seeking behavior of streaming (alá YouTube). It ships with a prebuilt audio and video players so you can get started right away (but of course

It supports Flash, Quicktime X, and Apple iPhone delivery, and can deliver virtually any type of file, not just video. It is released under a non-commercial license, so if you have ads on your site or want to use this for a client project you’ll need to buy a license. But at $50 for a single server, it’s very reasonable.

http://stream.xmoov.com/

Nicolas Prof has developed an open source, flexible and customizable video player based on the latest sprint (0.8) of the Open Source Media Framework (formerly codenamed Strobe). It supports both progressive and streaming. Because it’s built on the OSMF framework, you can expand the functionality and add plug-ins from the framework into this player.

A quick test of the PROFMediaPlayer

I thought I’d take it for a spin, so I downloaded the source and opened up the project folder. There’s no readme, so, like everything else with OSMF right now, it takes a bit of feeling around to get started.

There is a FLA with customizable assets in the Library. That seemed like a good place to start. (Nicolas has also included a layered Photoshop PSD file that you can use to edit the skin assets which was a nice addition.)

To customize the player size, background color, source video, etc. you can use flashvars or assign the values in the code, in the EmbedPlayer class. (e.g. settings.url=”myVideo.flv”).

I found that the PROFMediaPlayer really gives you a good starting point with OSMF, rather than starting from a blank class file and figuring it all out on your own. You can download the code at the link below; let me know if you think it’s helpful in exploring OSMF:

PROFMediaPlayer | Nicolas Prof blog

Big thanks to Amy Blankenship at InsideRIA for including me on their list. I’m in good company.

http://www.insideria.com/2010/01/the-women-of-ria.html