How do I make my wmv file stream?

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Guest

I created a wmv file with my camcorder and Movie Maker 2 and put it on my website but it takes forever to download. How do I make it stream? What is an encoder? Do I need it?
I'm very new to all this.
 
The time it takes to download will be dependant on the file size and the
connection speed, what are these?
MM2 uses an encoder to make the wmv file, what options did you choose when
saving?

--
Graham Hughes
MVP
www.simplydv.co.uk
www.dvds2treasure.com
Rosebud said:
I created a wmv file with my camcorder and Movie Maker 2 and put it on my
Click to expand...
website but it takes forever to download. How do I make it stream? What is
an encoder? Do I need it?
 
Hi Graham,
I just saved it as a MSWMM and as a wmv file. I have DSL and when I open
the videos on the website (http://www.mendedheart.com/video.htm) the videos
open immediately but I don't know if its reading it from the web or if its
reading it from my computer.
A friend tried to open it and he said it was taking too long to download. I
think he has some fast connection at work so I don't know if he was just
being impatient or if it was really taking quite a while.
I know how to stream MP3 files by building a .m3u file in Notepad and then
typing in the address where I have stored the actual mp3 file.
Is streaming a wmv file anything like that? Do I need to build a special
file in Notepad and then connect to it?
Thanks so much for your help!
Rosebud
 
It's going to depend on your target audience, but 18mb for a video file is
quite large and will take quite a long time to download. Look at compressing
it more for speed of download.
 
It's streaming, but it's not streaming, if you see what I mean!
Your server needs to specifically support streaming media, and the file will
have been made with the advanced options of the free Windows Media Encoder 9
(which I strongly recommend!).
I reckon the bitrate and filesize used is about right for that video - most
of mine are around 15-20Mb for 3-5 minutes.
Anything less goes blocky!
I recommend people use something like Getright to download the video and
then watch it (allows recovery for people with slow modems, and speeds up
the download by using multi-part) , or at least to do "right click and save
as" and then watch it.

Also, you might want to look into .htaccess files if you don't want
unwelcome guests on that page.
And finally...there is a way of forcing a file to present the "save as" box
instead of opening automatically in the browser or mediaplayer. Let me know
if you want the info.

Nice vids though!
 
Hi Rehan, Graham and Alan,
Thanks soooo much for the wonderful advice. It will take me a while to work
through it (I just turned 65, I'm self-taught and everything, including the
old brain, works slower than it once did) but the suggestions are just what
I needed.
I love this newsgroup!
Rosebud
 
I'm sure I speak for the others as well, in thanking you for your remarks.
Hopefully soemthing will get it right, and don't worry about coming back and
asking more as you work your way through it.
Graham
 
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