Precision about HTTP streaming format in Adobe Media Server

ams To begin this new year, I make this post on a subject which can introduce misunderstandings. Previously, Adobe named it streaming server : Flash Media Server (aka FMS) v4.5. In october 2012, Adobe release a new version and recalled the server: Adobe Media Server (aka AMS) v5.0.1. Some acronym used in FMS are the same in AMS, but this is not the same “products” (e.g. PHLS). In this post, I will give some input on live streaming format and especially about security applied on. Continue reading

Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5 – Setup PHLS live stream

FMS
Here is a How to, the objective is to demonstrate the setup of a PHLS live stream. PHLS means Protected HLS : the custom format of HLS by Adobe. The protection is realized with a AES-128 encryption on the content. To make this configuration, you need a streaming server which will push content via RTMP. Some live transcoders are available from ElementalLive to ffmpeg. And you need too a Adobe Media Server 4.5 installed to complete this how to.  All I write in this post is available via the FMS documentation.

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Mistserver – a new multimedia streaming server – First overview

Mistserver is a open-source multimedia streaming server developed by DDVTech a company based in Netherlands. This server will support some technologies : HLS, HDS, Smooth Streaming, RTMP, …

For the moment, HDS, RTMP and progressive download are available. You can push too livestream via RMTP. The company have two others solutions : MistStewardMistCenter.

DDVTech positions his solution in a competitive market with some actors : Adobe Media Server, Wowza, Red5, Apache, …

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Packaging adaptive bitrate VOD content on the fly

The actual market on the OTT use Adaptive Bit Rate video format over HTTP (Smooth Streaming, HTTP Dynamic Streaming, HTTP Live Streaming and MPEG-DASH soon) to deliver the content. I make this analyse without integrate the DRMs system which is a big topic itself. Here is an overview of the different format available for each platform.

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The matrix is a kind complex; all this technologies are multibitrate, so for one asset, you need to transcode for each bitrate. Each technology is different and use his own specification :

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If I follow the specifications given by the manufacturers (HLS) or if I’m basing on 4 bitrates for the others formats (Smooth Streaming, HDS), I need to transcode more than 20 times the same asset.

There is an option to avoid and reduce significatively the number of transcoding tasks : the packaging on the fly. This article will only analyse the on-demand side, not the live. Continue reading

Microsoft Azure Media Services – How to encode in the Azure Cloud – Part 2

After the first post which give an overview and explain how set-up a WAMS environment, I continue the discovery of WAMS World (sorry for the pun ;-)). In this post, we will see how we can transform a video from a input format to another format. It’s possible to generate multiple output format or to encrypt the video. But we will see it in a next posts.

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