VLC - stream to web site

[Robertwmitch]

Right

i want to set up a stream using VLC player.

This stream i would like to link/insert to my networked home web page
How do i do this?

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Without some browser plugin such as VLC's own, or Flash, this is impossible. Otherwise, read the documentation.

[Robertwmitch]

Ok then

I have a OSX

I cant quite get to grips with the console and how to access apache


how do i stream to my site! i have set up VLC to stream to network - how do i attach this to the web site?

[ibstars]

Hello
Sory for my speeling , and if u know this alredy skip it and dont blame me LOL, PLEASE respect my work

tools required
1.tv uner
2.web server(IIS or appache)
3.WebScheduler
4.vlc

HINT OF SECRET VLC COMMANDS

to test a dvb chanel directly from vlc this is a command(the direct show not dshow)
run this in command line in windows
C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe -vvv -I rc --ttl 12 dvb-t:// :dvb-frequency=538000 :dvb-bandwidth=-1
it should open the chanell with frequncy's you given and the correct path is your path is where you have installed vlc
First to do this you need to know the frequency of the chanell, you get the frequency channels one you install WebScheduler

To steram a chanel to http this is what i use
1.WebScheduler must be installed and the given ip addresses are given you , for first ip is for WebScheduler wich is 224.0.0.1 try .2 if one has problems streaming
2.the ip of your pc
2.port 1234
all done

Streaming in vlc
1.open vlc and open media click streaming in version 0.9.8a
2.Click the network tab, for protocol select udp, and address from WebScheduler ,port 1234 and click stream
3 click capture device tab , select capture mode directshow, capture card wich one you have, audio device and click stream(you will not get any sound later tell you why)
4.select play localy
5.For mmsh: use you'r current ip address(same as in WebScheduler), fol encapsulation use ASF/WMV) , for video codec select wmv2 and for audio select (most they say mp3)?????
AND you should get the steraming video from your tvtuner
?????But how do i do this in a web browser(I'll give a secret)

SECRET OF VLC

if you type http::/yourip you will not get nothing only your curent web server page(but where is the video that is still streaming on the backround)
What do whe need to get the stream to web page LOL it took me hmm some days' lol
Ok i tell you
1.create an asx file and add this (open notepad and add this and save as hellofilm.asx) to your current server dir mine is in windows inetpu/wwwroot/hellofilm.asx yours may be different
<ASX version ="3.0">
<TITLE>Film4</TITLE>
<ENTRY>
<REF HREF ="http://your ip:1234"/>
</ENTRY>
</ASX>
WHAT NEXT almost done
You must have a default server page with extensin .asp or .html in your sever directory
open that page and add this
<embed src ="hellofilm.asx">
WE DID IT
PLASE TELL ME IF THIS HAS WORKED IT WORKS ON MINE
MY problems if you can help me out
Problems, the streaming is very bad in my page
2.the tvtuner crashes during streaming

[ibstars]

http://www.videohelp.com/guides/categor ... n-9;64#979

more info about settig up webscheduler and other ideas

[Greg]

Thankyou ibstars

VLC - Stream to Website works

After some experimentation, I have got your solution sort of working in Apache2 under Ubuntu 8.04.
It is currently working in a intranet local network, served from Linux and accessed by windows XP.
Picture quality is unpredictable, I believe this is due to server being old/slow machine. I get a good/better picture when server is idle.
I have not experienced any video card crash yet!!! After an hour or more (not TV card, but video capture card and PAL camera)
happy to go into more detail and discuss if you or others interested (pm or open forum)

Cheers

Greg

[Greg]

Update...

This solution is now working well with good picture quality, but ....! With some limitations.
Picture quality seems to be very hardware dependent.
To explain in brief
Noise at pixel level appears to be giving VLC a hard time to cope with compression/transcoding/ whatever..
So.
Poor quality video source, eg webcams, camcorders, TV cards, etc present a high level of pixel noise especially at low levels of lighting. I have achieved very good picture quality stream from a video capture card & pal camera with good lighting. However, when the light level drops, and the camera/card AGC starts to kick in the noise starts to rise and the stream quality gets bad. ( a bit like digital TV when the signal gets weak/interference)
Good (low noise conditions) hardware and loads of CPU grunt are needed to make this work.

Perhaps the nice developers of VLC could introduce some noise suppression options in their next version to make this viable??

Now for my problems...
This solution only seems to work in MS IE or RealPlayer
Windoze MediaPlayer does not want to know at all.
It also does not seem to work for me in Mozilla Firefox 3.xx despite having the VLC and WMV plugins

Any ideas/suggestions as to why?

Cheers

Greg

[ibstars]

Greg i'll be short because i got warning on my email about conversion with diffent tool's

Update and working full one problem i canr view it from remote(igf you find out let me know on my private email at ib.s.t.a.r.s@hotmail.co.uk
OK
go to this website and download http://www.cs.usyd.edu.au/~efax/DVScheduler.html but read first what you need for this program
help on at
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/ ... 83406.html


i asume u have knowledge installing, once you installed and scanned for channels we'r done
type http://localhost:8007/ and select Schedules and add new select channel , once , stream and time any duration and submit now we have a capture running
after submit check the log shcedule and find the PID port (Channel : Program ID: 8261)

now copy this and save as test.html

<html>
<head><title>Demo of VLC mozilla plugin</title></head>

<body>

<h1>Demo of VLC mozilla plugin - Example 1</h1>

<embed type="application/x-vlc-plugin"
name="video1"
autoplay="no" loop="yes" width="400" height="300"
target="http://yourip:8261" /> remember your ip can be static or dynamic(beeter is static mine is dynamic limitless) more for that
<br />


<a href="javascript:;" onclick='document.video1.play()'>Play video1</a>
<a href="javascript:;" onclick='document.video1.pause()'>Pause video1</a>
<a href="javascript:;" onclick='document.video1.stop()'>Stop video1</a>
<a href="javascript:;" onclick='document.video1.fullscreen()'>Fullscreen</a>




</body>
</html>
save it at your web server dir mine is at C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\mozilla\test.html
remember it works only in firefox not internet explorer
ok ALL DONE
now go to http://yourip/test.html
and you should get the channel running cool hah, with this program you can have multiple channels at once with diffent PID
Now to add secyrity to your site go to C:\Program Files\WebScheduler\data and open users.list in windows

and and a user name and password or you can add trusted ip address to visit your site(read the file)
once you done this run the web cheduler and it will ask you for the password cool ha
NOW if you want to add more security download stunnel FOR HTTPS
check this http://www.bluebit.com.au/cms.php?id=26
once you installed the stunnel YOU go to you page at HTTPS://yourip/test.html and you got a high security over you server, you can experiment with these features

A problem if i want to view my channels from outside on different location i can't get video can you help me out on this
i need a network path
RESPECT MY WORK PS TO ALL

[ibstars]

greg don use this link is for a difernet version

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/ ... 83406.html

[ibstars]

and not to forget use vlc-0.8.6i-win32.exe version , it wont work with other versions

[popper]

" problem if i want to view my channels from outside on different location i can't get video can you help me out on this
i need a network path "

are you using your local LAN IP rather than your ISP given IP, only the external ISP/Co-Location web connected IP they give you will work for external connections to your assumed home BB LAN streaming....

"To explain in brief
Noise at pixel level appears to be giving VLC a hard time to cope with compression/transcoding/ whatever..
So.
Poor quality video source, eg webcams, camcorders, TV cards, etc present a high level of pixel noise especially at low levels of lighting. "

thats why most people use the new DVB-T/DVB-S/DVB-C direct feeds as their source today, rather than have your PC CPU have to Encode the content into something digital as the DVB signals are today usually Mpeg2 inside a TS container (TS, Transport Stream isnt really a container as such but close enough)

you simply split off the digital DVB Mpeg2 channel and send it directly to VLC to process or just pass it on, NO heavy CPU Encoding required if your happy with the original codec and container.....

personally if your receaving device is able to use/play it OC, your far better off Pre-Encoding to AVC/AAC inside an MP4 container to save lots of bandwidth and keeping your video quality really high for the given bitrate....so use that were you can.

remember also, the basic choices to keep HD/widescreen ratios when you get the choice to Encode your content are 848x480 (16:9) ,1280x720 (16:9) , 1360x768 (16:9) , and OC 1920x1080 (16:9) i never bothered to work out the other lower res's for keeping (16:9) but you might add them here if you do so for easy reference later perhaps.....

it might be nice if one day VLC was given a new official switch -widescreen or something to auto select the nearest (16:9) to your input video and have it encode/transcode to that automaticly to help tidy up and remove the oddball sizes people use in error that produce squashed/stretched video etc....

[Greg]

Thanks folks for your info.

I now have VLC (9.8a) streaming video working on local intranet and remote internet from live PAL camera via Hauppauge VCB Impact card. It is running on Ubuntu 8.04 with Apache2.2 using the "ibstars" solution.

It is browsable with embedded video and and media players on intranet, including Firefox (with plugins rearranged in Mplayer), MS IE and Konqueror (via Kaffeine)
Media players seem to work OK if the link points to "hellofilm.asx" without the need for Java/Flash etc
Have had sucessfull steams accessing with Windows MP, Realplayer, Kaffeine, Totem, from both local intranet and remote internet server.

Re Ibstars Qs on network path... I think this is beyond the scope of this forum. PM me and I will do my best to explain what worked for me.

Oh and.... Thanks VideoLan for VLC!!!

[tinyang]

Hi Greg (and all)!

Did you ever find a solution to stream video live to website that is cross browser compatible? I have an IP cam that I want to stream via MJPEG to my website. My webserver is apache. What do you recommend as the best method so far that you have tried? Thanks!

[Greg]

I have bumped this thread back up, as the streaming to website issue seems to be popular again?!

Check back through the thread. The simple "hellofilm.asx" example file and the line of html to embed appears to work fine for me, and seems good for the browsers I mentioned that I tried it with. If all you require is a simple No Frills stream

I assume you have a working and externally accessable website with sufficient bandwidth
the ports you intend to use are open in firewall and router.

So to recap

The HREF value needs to be your {EXTERNAL!!} IP address if you wish to access from the internet only
OR!!! Your local IP if you wish to access from LAN only
(I suggest you create two such files and two links so you can test it on the LAN to prove it is working OK. You will probably not be able to test the external one from the LAN)
The default http port of 8080 is Ok if it is not being used for anything else?

In the stream settings window in VLC,
Firstly check the "Play locally" box just to show the stream is working
Check the http box, BUT leave the address field BLANK and leave default port 8080 (if that is the one you'r using)
Select "Windows/asf" for encoding

Then click Stream

Again!!
You will probably need someone else to check the stream from another external IP location to see if it is working, as you cannot readily check it from your own, It will appear not to work. (unless of course you are using a block of your own static IPs

It works for me

[popper]

"Select "Windows/asf" for encoding"

Never ,Ever use/Select "Windows/asf" for encoding, IT's evil and antiquated today

seriously though, if you have a good source video, and you have a good fast PC today,its far better to always use AVC/H.264/x264 codec ,inside a TS (transport stream)or Mp4 container for instance, your going to get a far better encode, and you end up with a far smaller file for a given bitrate.

at the lower video bitrates such as your average ISP supplyed wan upload speeds (512Kbit/s through to around 2.5Mbit/s max) , your not going to find even the latest and greatest MS VC-1 codec beating AVC/x264 for quality and file size size at any screen size.

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=54597
"Posting about conversion software is now completly forbidden.
The only exceptions are open source software as FFmpeg or VLC.
...."

hopefully this AVC/x264 advice is OK as VLC has the old slower versions of x264 built inside it j-b ?, infact can you allow all version of x264 conversion to also be allowed from now on as their updating the main x264 freeware encoder sometime on a daily cycle recently, so its good to use that for offline/non realtime conversion/transcoding etc,were ever VLC doesnt include these major x264 speed,quality improvements and bug fixes in a nightly build that im aware of ,or do you infact build the current x264 codebase into a VLC nightly somewere ?, URL please

x264 win32 daily builds: rev. 1139
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=89979

[ibstars]

Hi guys
Is been a while since last time i posted.
Anyway got some great news about streaming live to website.

I was doing a research on how to stream live from vlc , but this time the stream will be transcoded from vlc and will be streamed live via jwplayer.
Basically we're going to stream flash format DIV3/mp3 asf. This way the stream is more reliable and will give as a good result with minimal bandwidth.

Anyway if you have read my others posts , this should be no problem understanding. But if you have any problems regarding this please let me know.

I was always curios on how to stream a live TV broadcast and get that output stream at a flash player with a minimal bandwidth(in English lol).
Well that said, it has been done.
You can test my live stream at http://livetvtest.tk/, and tell me what do you think about it.

If people are interested , in time i will write a simple tutorial on how to do that.
Later

[snakemw]

Yes. Write a tutorial here.
Please, post here vlc command line params

[ibstars]

Hello
Great news the stream works local and global. Tested and working like a charm.
Tested with jwplayer , streaming live tv brodcast with minimal bandwidth, Stream output in flv.
The thing is that i can't write the tutorial at this moment because it involves opening ports and it may lead to compromised security issues at the end user.
If i write the tutorial like it is, it wont make any sense because the code is not set properly.
I'm making notes and it may take some time to properly set it, But i will write it down.
Thanks to VLC for this to perfection software that is getting resilient at any day.
VLC you are awesome. I wont let you down

[ibstars]

Instructions used for streaming live broadcast from your own pc using VLC with minimal bandwidth Step by step!

PART 1:

This is only a preparation, needed for completing the project to come in this topic.
This has to be tested directly from your own pc, or you can do it your way.
Testing was done from my own pc using WAMPSERVER acting as my web server.

Tools Needed:
VLC media player (http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/)
Dv scheduler (http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/it/~ef ... tml#syntax)
TV tuner card (Installed on your pc, so you can scan for TV channels. I use Aver media capture card)
Wampserver (http://www.wampserver.com/en/)
Java 6 or later ('http://www.java.com/en/')
JW Player ('http://www.longtailvideo.com/')
Free domain name (for pointing your domain name to your IP, so it acts as a domain name for your server access (your PC). Your web space is used by your own PC. I use dot.tk ('http://www.dot.tk/en/index.html?lang=en'). Make sure you port forward so it is accessible in internet.
Port used TCP port 80(Port number used for the Web server is 80) and 8080 for Testing. We will discuss more in this in upcoming tutorial part 2.
Vlc used for testing.
VLC version 1.0.5 for streaming (not installed directly on pc), and the installed one is VLC 0.9.9 for Dv scheduler compatibility.
And of course Broadband internet connection 

I think this is all what we need for the moment, phew.
So as you can imagine is not really that easy lol.
Once you download these tools install them, and if we get in trouble with these tools we can discuss about them before we move to the part 2. This way I think is easier to follow otherwise it’s going to get complex. Please correct me if I got wrong regarding this topic.

[ibstars]

Instructions used for streaming live broadcast from your own pc using VLC with minimal bandwidth Step by step!
PART 2:

Hello and welcome to part 2 the Experiment Live stream.
Assuming you have followed part1 and you are ready to start streaming live. I’ve made some changes from part1, we used jwplayer but instead we are going to use strobe media player, you can download it here http://sourceforge.net/projects/smp.adobe/files/
Select 1.6 version.
Continues in html part.

Starting point- We start from here.
DV scheduler part
1.First open dv scheduler, go to system, channel settings and click edit (We have to edit the channel you want to stream, and not saving the stream) so select edit and at Channel Setting row for:
Default Capture Type select stream,
Default Local Preview Type = Preview
Default Remote Preview Type = VLC
Default Local Surf Type = VLC
Default Remote Surf Type = VLC
Default Capture Path = (C:\TV) But with these setting’s we got we’re not saving the stream to disk, but just streaming it.
Program ID - Remember this number because this is the port of your stream. Last click submit, And we are done here.

2.Second open dv scheduler and click Schedules then click add new, select date, next select channel we just edited, for capture type select stream and for name don’t use any name, select time duration and click submit, and we are done here. You can view the setting of the channel you are streaming in Schedules and click Schedule log.

Wampserver part
Go to www directory and create a new folder and name it Livetvtest.
Inside that folder create another folder and name it player and place the StrobeMediaPlayback.swf
When you downloaded the StrobeMediaPlayback_1.6.328-full.zip, open that folder, select for Flash Player 10.1 and copy StrobeMediaPlayback.swf to player folder.
Open the livetvtest folder and add the index.html example from here.
So inside the livetvtest folder you should have these files:
Index.html, and the player folder with the StrobeMediaPlayback.swf.

Html part
Copy and save this as index.html
<html>
<head>
<title>Flash live stream</title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="444444">
<center>
<br><br>
<h2><font color="#777">Live Brodcast test by ibstars via StrobeMediaPlayback</h2>
<object width="470" height="320">
<param name="movie" value="/player/player.swf">
</param>
<param name="flashvars" value="src=http://yourdomain:8080/mediaplayer/stre ... oPlay=true">
</param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true">
</param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">
</param>

<embed src="/player/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="470" height="320" flashvars="src=http://yourdomain:8080/mediaplayer/stre ... oPlay=true">
</embed>
</object>
<h4>Showing Live Sky channel UK</h4>

</center>
</font>
</body>
</html>
Second open this file with notepad and edit these 2 parts and add your domain instead of mine:
value="src=http://yourdomain:8080/mediaplayer/stre ... oPlay=true">
flashvars="src=http://yourdomain:8080/mediaplayer/stre ... oPlay=true">
We are just editing the domain name here nothing else.
After you are done click save.

Final part - VLC PART
Open vlc and go to tools, select preferences. In preferences at the bottom show settings select show all, next select stream output and in default stream action chain add this code:
#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=300,deinterlace,ab=32,fps=25,width=320,height=240,acodec=mp3,samplerate=44100}:duplicate{dst=std{access=http{mime=video/x-flv},mux=ffmpeg{mux=flv},dst=/mediaplayer/stream.flv},dst=display}
And clicks save. Close vlc.
Now open vlc again and select media, open network stream. In network stream add this line-
http://yourdomain-or ip address here:44444.
44444 is just for clarity, but this is the PID number of your scheduled channel, So enter the PID, and click play.
You should be able to see the video playing. Now go to http://yourdomain.com , to view the video. Congrats You made it .
If not you have to port forward the Program ID port number, in your router. Default port numbers used in this example are port 80(for web server), 8080(for testing), and your PID’s
To do this login to your router and port forward the PID number. Remember you have to port forward 80, 8080 if you are doing this from wampserver online .
To test your pc for open ports got to 'http://www.speedguide.net/portscan.php. Here you will see if port 80 and 8080 is open. Note the 8080 will be visible only when you run something on that port.

This experiment works just like in veetle, You can broadcast a file using this method as well and you don't need to change anything, it will transcode the file in flv format and it will stream it online live
With more help i can get this could stretch really good into a real live website, with added security and real live broadcasting.
You can view the actual experiment here live at my website. Please comment and rate.
http://livetvtest.tk/
Forgot to note the live stream can be paused(dropping frames etc), but once u refresh the page the frames are lost and back to normal and vise versa.

UPDATE: Guys the stream is actually getting saved , just found out. Basically this is what's happening. As soon as you click play, the stream is getting saved in TEMP folder on the hard drive and as soon as you leave the page or refresh the page the stream will disappear and vise versa.
I'm looking at this issue and will be in touch soon.

[ibstars]

With VLM config you can broadcast multiple channels.
Example vlm config file with 3 streams running
-------------------------------cut here
new channel1 broadcast enabled
setup channel1 input http://livetvtest.tk:11111 (ignore this text and braces here , write your PID instead 11111,22222,33333)
setup channel1 output #transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=200,deinterlace,ab=32,fps=25,width=256,height=192,acodec=mp3,samplerate=44100}:duplicate{dst=std{access=http{mime=video/x-flv},mux=ffmpeg{mux=flv},dst=/mediaplayer/stream1.flv},dst=display}

new channel2 broadcast enabled
setup channel2 input http://livetvtest.tk:22222
setup channel2 output #transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=200,deinterlace,ab=32,fps=25,width=256,height=192,acodec=mp3,samplerate=44100}:duplicate{dst=std{access=http{mime=video/x-flv},mux=ffmpeg{mux=flv},dst=/mediaplayer/stream2.flv},dst=display}

new channel3 broadcast enabled
setup channel3 input http://livetvtest.tk:33333
setup channel3 output #transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=200,deinterlace,ab=32,fps=25,width=256,height=192,acodec=mp3,samplerate=44100}:duplicate{dst=std{access=http{mime=video/x-flv},mux=ffmpeg{mux=flv},dst=/mediaplayer/stream3.flv},dst=display}

control channel1 play
control channel2 play
control channel3 play
-------------------------------cut here

[ibstars]

UPDATE: Guys we need to change the input from http to udp so the output is from udp to HTTP, that way the streaming is more reliable and it takes a small amount of bandwidth.
From mine experience streaming access via HTTP is not reliable.
Try getting used to UDP streaming. From udp to http output is better with minimal bandwidth.
I tested the same source and streamed it both ways. The HTTP input via HTTP output was like 320KB to 450KB with one user viewing.
With udp input to http output was like 50KB to 80KBmax with one user viewing

[ibstars]

Hello there.
I think this is were this topic will end about live streaming via HTTP.
Doing some research along the way it appears that we were doing HTTP progressive streaming, and that is not really a good way for streaming online because it involves caching. Caching on disk is unavoidable if you use HTTP progressive download as a delivery method.
Don't get me wrong you can still stream online live using this methods and experiment along the way with friends, but we may use this as a last resort.
Anyway it was fun.
So i guess we have to find a new way on how to stream live from your own PC using streaming protocol like RTMP..
Upcoming tutorial will do is in HTTP pseudo-streaming.

Research show's that even with HTTP pseudo-streaming the caching will still exists. So guys we are stuck with it at the moment.
Anyway most websites that host's movies to watch online they still use the same technique we used, so is not bad after all.
I think YouTube is doing RTMP not sure though.I'm not an expert but my tests are always accurate.
Maybe I'm moving to fast with my updates, please people let me know if all this what we have covered at least changed your mood after all lol.
The power of vlc . I'm not sure is this were it ends.Was vlc meant or is planing to RTMP infrastructure, or am i talking rubish.
I'm stuck at the moment
I've learned a lot along the way , vlc is a amazing software.

Is there RTMP servers to buy so you can have them at your house.A bit confused with rtmp streaming.

[ibstars]

UPDATE: Guys we need to change the input from http to udp so the output is from udp to HTTP, that way the streaming is more reliable and it takes a small amount of bandwidth.
From mine experience streaming access via HTTP is not reliable.
Try getting used to UDP streaming. From udp to http output is better with minimal bandwidth.
I tested the same source and streamed it both ways. The HTTP input via HTTP output was like 320KB to 450KB with one user viewing.
With udp input to http output was like 50KB to 80KBmax with one user viewing

This still wont have any effect in what we covered so far , just ignore this

[ibstars]

Actually guys we were doing ok with the methods we used.
After Reading at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_bitrate_streaming
The latest versions of Flash Player and Flash Media Server support adaptive bit-rate streaming over the traditional RTMP protocol, as well as HTTP, similar to the HTTP-based solutions from Apple and Microsoft.[13]

HTTP-based streaming has the advantage

of not requiring any firewall ports being opened outside of the normal ports used by web browsers.

HTTP-based streaming also allows video fragments to be cached by browsers, proxies, and CDNs, drastically reducing the load on the source server.

So yes It has to do caching so the server reduces it load. Not bad after all .
So basically , only 2 ports are opened if you stream from your web server(pc)-(port 80 and 8080)

Never mind , I'm the client when i enter the web lol