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The New Craze: Downloading Streaming Video

With the introduction of online videos through sites such as YouTube and Google Video, downloading streaming video for one's personal collection seems to be the latest obsession of Internet users, especially among the younger generation. The staggering popularity of online videos can be attributed to their ease of use and their viral nature. Downloading online videos, on the other hand, is largely because users want to constantly have access to the videos they view on the previously mentioned streaming video sites.

What is streaming video?

Streaming videos are essentially a sequence of images in motion. These videos are in a compressed form so that they can be easily transmitted over the Internet. These are said to be streaming because users view the videos right when data arrives. Hence, streamed videos are said to be sent from the supplier to the viewer in real-time manner.

Watching streaming video vs. downloading streaming video

Downloading online videos is not the same as simply watching them being streamed over the Web. Downloading streaming videos refers to actually capturing the data transmitted, as opposed to just having the video loaded into one's browser.

As another point of differentiation, streaming videos can be viewed simply by visiting YouTube or a similar site. Downloading streaming videos, in comparison, often requires a third-party site that allows you to capture a streaming video or additional software.

Why download streaming video?

One of the main reasons for downloading streaming video is so that you can keep a particular video in your own personal media collection. This is very common among avid music fans who like to keep copies of music videos on their personal computers.

Another reason for downloading online videos is to be able to watch your videos even without an active Internet connection. Videos that have been captured from streaming sites offer you the convenience of watching the video clips anywhere, anytime. Downloading streaming videos for the purpose of having funny videos or how-to videos offline is very common these days.

Various ways to download online videos

There are several ways to capture streaming videos. The first method includes visiting a third-party site that allows you to input the URL (uniform resource locator) of any streaming video. By simply entering the address of your desired online video, these sites will generate a movie file in a preferred format. Most sites will allow you to have your download in the FLV, AVI, MOV, MPG, or WMV format.

Another way to download online videos would be to install a software application with this functionality. There are numerous software packages readily available on the Net that will allow you to capture videos found on streaming media sites. Both free and commercial software are available.

Joining the new craze

Do not be afraid to join the online video bandwagon. Downloading streaming videos is both fun and very useful. Doing so allows you to build up your own personal media collection that can be viewed even when you are offline.

(ArticlesBase SC #553240)

Streaming Video - Its Impact on Websites

A streaming video website continuously delivers and publishes video and associated audio content on the webpage. The end user is able to view the media contents in real time without having to download the media file. Streaming video refers to the mechanism of the distribution of medium and not the media itself
Streaming videos on computers, as a concept had emerged around 1970s. However, due to inadequate technical capabilities and high cost of resources the advancements were a little staggered. Today, with techniques like true streaming and HTTP streaming, more websites are taking advantage of video streaming. When designing a streaming video website , one needs to understand that the concept of having streaming videos basically lies on two factors - video file format and the streaming technique:

•'Windows Media', 'Quicktime', 'RealMedia', 'MPEG', 'Flash objects' are some of the file formats that can be used for streaming videos. The choice of a file format is very crucial as the website might cater to a wide spectrum of users across geographies. Thus it is necessary to understand the type of internet bandwidth, hardware and software resources so that all the users are facilitated with the information that your website wants to provide.

•Other factor important in video streaming is the streaming method itself. 'Downloading' is the most basic and simple method, where the video file is downloaded to some temporary folder and is then played in the media player installed on that computer. The other method is 'streaming' in which the waiting time is ideally negligible. The video is displayed as and when it gets downloaded. However, certain amount of buffering can take place depending on the speed of the internet connection.

Streaming video is widely used in real time broadcast of live events. This is also referred to as webcast or netcast. Streaming video websites use special types of streaming servers. It is possible to have your own server setup or have it purchased from several providers. You need a robust web server with streaming software installed on it. Some of the video streaming software available includes 'Macromedia Communication Server', 'Apple Quicktime Streaming Server', 'Helix Universal Server', and so on. Apart from these resources, a conversion software is also required that will convert the video file to required format which can be easily published and broadcasted on the internet. 'Final Cut Pro' and 'Adobe Premiere' are some of the widely used conversion tools. Video streaming is also governed by various protocols that bring under consideration technical performance, quality issues, reliability, cost factors, and legal and social issues. Multicast, Peer-to-Peer, IP Multicast, Unicast, User Datagram Protocol, and Real-time Transport Protocol are some of the protocols that are considered when
Video streaming websites need to consider the cost factor before making a decision on having a streaming video broadcast. Make sure that video streaming is absolutely necessary for your business, as having a video streaming website with live broadcast is really a costly affair. The transfer of data, specially multimedia is very expensive and usually charged in terms of gigabytes.

(ArticlesBase SC #382631)

Taking Advantage of New Streaming Video Technology

Streaming video is the hottest thing in the consumer technology industry today. Streaming video involves the transmission of video data over the Internet for real-time viewing. This may seem like such a simple innovation, but the reality is that there are so many ways to take advantage of this new streaming video technology. One of the best ways to make the most of it is to record streaming video. How to save stream videos, as well as other tips for taking advantage of the new technology is discussed here.

How to record streaming videos

Streaming video may be very useful in itself, but if you record streaming videos, you greatly enhance the value of online videos. Saving streaming videos allows you to have a personal copy of the videos you see on streaming video sites like YouTube, Break, and Google Video.

When you capture streaming video, you essentially download the video sent through the Web onto your own computer. It is truly taking advantage of online videos when you record streaming video, as you are making a copy for yourself that can be viewed even when you are not connected to the Internet. In addition, now that you have a saved copy of the streamed video, you can use video editing software to weave various clips together or edit particular clips to suit your needs.

To record streaming videos, all you really need is a website that will save your video for you. These sites can easily be found through the various search engines available. The URL address of the video you wish to save (and sometimes a valid email address) is all you need to save streaming video. Simply input the URL and the website will create a file that you can download onto your computer.

Capture streaming video from live news feeds

In addition to saving stream video, another application of this technology is live news feeds. Streaming video can be used to broadcast news over the Internet. In fact, the larger news networks are already doing so. If you find a certain piece of news particularly interesting, you might want to follow the instructions above on how to capture streaming video. If your record streaming video from live news feeds, this could be useful when you want to share certain news information with someone who missed the live feed.

Record streaming video from streamed lectures

Yet another way to take advantage of streaming video is to use this technology to deliver video lectures. This is especially useful for online courses, where teachers and students never physically meet. The video would allow professors to deliver live lectures or pre-recorded lectures and the students could capture the streaming video.

Another benefit of using streaming video for lectures is that, since students have the option to record streaming video, they can easily review the video lectures over and over until they have absorbed the material. Additionally, they can use their saved video lectures as a means to reviewing before their exams.

(ArticlesBase SC #550826)

Tweaks to Speed Up Internet Streaming Video

The birth of "Guerilla Video" sites, such as Peekvid.com, Alluc.org and Youtube.com have given users instant access to a plethora of free media files. Although streaming video technology offers instant access to video files, zero loading time is not always possible. There are many factors that attribute to your computer's ability to start videos immediately. Other factors such as choppy PC video playback and slow video streaming also hinder your viewing experience. There are easy fixes to these problems. Sometimes choosing another site for the source of the video streaming or a lower quality version of the video can award you with instant play. These alternatives are not always available. However, there are a number of tweaks that help speed up your streaming video startup times, eliminate choppy PC video play and stop slow streaming video.

Before we start with the tweaks to speed up slow streaming video, lets get a basic understanding of streaming video technology in order to stop choppy video. Streaming video is a prerecorded video files that can be distributed as part of a live broadcast "feed." The video signal is converted into a compressed digital signal and transmitted from a Web server. This server is able to be multicast the same file to multiple users at the same time. When you click on the on the video it is partially loaded before you can access it. This is known as "buffering". This helps you to load and play the video instantaneously. Now lets take a look on how to cut down on buffering time, stop slow streaming video and eliminate choppy PC video playback .

Common Streaming Video Problems

Problem #1: Choppy PC Video Playback--Choppy video is usually a PC performance related issue. Here are a few things you can try to stop choppy playback and improve computer performance.

Solution A. Turn Off Hardware Acceleration—All media applications require different aspects of your computer's hardware. Depending on the task, the requirements may change. Turning off hardware acceleration allows the application to set the requirements itself and not be forced to use one universal setting. Hardware acceleration has been to known to cause choppy PC playback, application crashes and slow streaming video problems.

You can eliminate the problem below:

1.Click on "Start"

2.Click "Control Panel"

3.Select the "Settings" tab and click on the "Advanced".

4.Click on the "Troubleshoot" tab.

5.Disable the hardware acceleration completely by dragging the slider to the extreme left.

Solution B. Turn off Video Acceleration—The reason for this tweak is the similar to hardware acceleration. This act frees up resources in your media player and not your hardware. However you will need to decrease video acceleration in your chosen player. Some sites like Youtube.com don't offer this option. However, Windows Media Player gives the ability to easily alter this problem, follow the steps below. Other players' instructions will vary.

1. In Windows Media Player

2. Click the "Tools" menu tab

3. Click on "Options"

4. Select the "Performance" tab.

5. Move the Video Acceleration Slider to "None"

Solution C. Adjust your Windows Desktop Visual Effects—You computer will get a significance boost in speed. This tweak will also free up more resources for your media player and PC performance.

1.Click "Start", and then click "Control Panel".

2.Click "System" and Choose "Display".

3.Find the "Advanced" tab and Click

4.Under "Performance", Click "Settings"

5.Under "Visuals Effects", you may choose from a list of options such as "Adjust for best performance" or custom. If you choose Adjust for best performance all the features will be unchecked.

For more performance tips check the "Ways to Speed Up Your PC" to free up more resources to stop PC choppy playback.

Problem #2: Slow and Constant Buffering—This problem can be attributed to two factors internet speed and your media player. You can tweak your PC setting in both areas to cut down on slow streaming video. Remember that each player has its own buffer settings. Below is an how to change buffer setting in Media Player.

Solution A. Adjust Buffer Settings-- To change the default buffer settings in Windows Media Player, use the following steps:

1.Start Windows Media Player

2.Click the "View" menu

3.Click "Options"

4.On the "Advanced" tab, click "Streaming Media"(Windows Media)

5.Click "Change" to alter the buffer settings.

Remember that the higher you set the buffer the more of the clip will be loaded. The waiting time before you can see or hear the file will be longer, but there should be fewer interruptions once the clip begins to play.

Solution B. Use a Video Specific Proxy—A proxy allows for popular files to be loaded onto its servers. This eliminates the need for your computer to load the files. For example if you use the proxy, YouTubeProxy.org, you will not have to wait for your computer to download popular YouTube.com content because it may be already loaded in the server. This is a great way to stop slow streaming video.

These are just a few tips to eliminate choppy PC video playback and slow streaming video. However, there are more advanced ways to stop this problem. Depending on the site, there may be independent software developed specifically to speed up slow streaming video. Also, remember the general maintenance is a good way to avoid choppy PC video playback.

(ArticlesBase SC #661499)