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HELIX PRODUCER USER'S GUIDE

1. eerte e Ret Choosing a RealVideo Codec at anr a a EE eE eee Using the High Quality Audio Using 2 Pass Encoding eee ee eee eene R sizing the Video ChOosingAUGiences Editing Audiences Selected for a Job Adjusting Video Stream Settings for an Audience Adjusting Audio Stream Settings for an 64 Creating New Audience Templates ssssssssssssse eee 66 Editing Audience Templates vices tette ie sri 67 Using Variable Bit Rate VBR Audience 68 About VBR Encoding ete pere beue tette ative demie ees Types of VBR Encoding intct ee herede eerte depen pa Creating a VBR Audience Template 8 STARTING AND MONITORING AN ENCODING JOB Starang am Encoding Job iof a diede pete eerte rede terere ge Monitoring and Adjusting Audio Disabling Monitors While Encoding sssssssssse Adjusting File Location Preferences Changing the Default File Destination Location Changing Template Directories Changing the Temporary Storage Monitoring Statistics 5 teni e He RR DERE ERE ERE e eder Using Logging Features eorias er tte rere prete per
2. Option Value Default Function Reference di auto d i both none Applies deinterlace or telecine page 99 filters dlf none none Disables logging to file page 101 dls none none Disables logging to screen page 101 k text none Adds keywords page 100 lc error warning none Specifies a logging category page 101 info diagnostic nf low high none Applies the video noise filter page 99 none none Disables all screen output page 101 rq fast high fast Specifies the resize quality page 98 rs widthxheight 0x0 Sets the resizing dimensions page 98 t text none Adds a title page 100 dt none none Disables two pass encoding page 97 da none none Disables audio from the input dv none none Disables video from the input vm sharp normal normal Sets the video mode page 97 smooth slideshow Table Page 2 of 2 You can also use the application to display information without encoding streaming media producer information_options Where information_options is one of the following producer exe Command Line Information Options Option Function Reference Prints audience definitions for use with the ad option page 102 pd Displays device information for use with the d option page 102 ps Prints server definitions for use with the sd option page 102 v Displays the Helix Producer version number page 102 Input and Output Options The follo
3. Compressed AVI avi AIFF aif aifc aiff e Moving Pictures Experts Group mpg mpeg m1v mp2 mp3 mpe mpv2 m3u e Audio for Windows wav QuickTime 2 Content mov qt Using Live Audio Video as the Input Another source that you can use for the input is live audio and or video To send audio and video directly to your computer you will need the following a media device such as a VCR video camera or microphone for capturing live audio a sound card for capturing live video a video capture card unless you can connect a video device directly to your computer via an IEEE 1394 Firewire iLink or a USB port To add an Audio device as the input 1 2 In the Helix Producer main window select Devices in the Input section Select che audio device for your computer from the pull down list for example SoundBlaster Ifyou want to adjust the sound recording capabilities of your audio device click the Settings button next to the listed audio device menu appears listing available settings dialogs for your audio device Select the Recording Mixer menu option The Recording Control window opens In this window you can specify how audio is mixed from different audio sources Select which recording inputs to use by choosing the Select box for each input Adjust the sound level by moving the sliders up or down If the volume is too high the recor
4. 9 Click OK to save the Server Destination Setting Up a Multicast Push Broadcast This type of broadcast is only recommended if you have experience setting up live broadcasts with Helix Universal Servers and if you are an administrator of the server that you will use for the broadcast multicast is designed for a broadcast across a network so that many servers can receive the streaming data Instead of sending one stream to each server all servers hook into the same stream This conserves network bandwidth and server load when you want multiple servers to stream RealMedia content Multicast Push model Helix Helix Servers Producer Without using multicast Helix Producer would send a separate broadcast stream to each server So in the above diagram there would be five different broadcasts Multicast broadcasting can also be used for broadcasting across a one way satellite network where two way connections are not possible gt To set up a Push Multicast Server Destination 1 From the main window select File gt Add Server Destination The Server Destination dialog opens 2 Enter a Destination Name This name will appear in the Output section in the main window And if you save these settings as a Server Template it will be the name of the template CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job 3 Enter a Stream Name for the encoded output This is the name of the file that will be used for the live broadca
5. quality the target quality percentage that the video codec will attempt to encode the video at Used if you specify the encodingType to be vbrQuality maxStartupLatency the maximum time from 4 to 25 seconds that the clip will buffer before playing begins maxFrameRate the ideal maximum frame rate up to 30 frames per second that the video codec will attempt to encode the output video at maxKeyInterval the time from 0 to 60 seconds in between key frames of encoded video enableLossProtection whether or not true or false to add error correction information to the encoded file Using the rmeditor exe Utility The rmeditor exe utility allows you to edit a RealMedia file or get information about an encoded file There are three ways to use this utility The first is to get information about a RealMedia file also called a dump The second is to change metadata such as title author and copyright information The third way to use this utility is to cut files and paste two files together The following table summarizes the rmeditor options which have both long and short option flags rmeditor exe Utility Options Flag long and short Value Function input i filename ext Indicates path to the input file output 0 filename rm Specifies path to the output file title t text Gives the title text author a text Specifies the author name copyright C text Provides the co
6. Setting the Source for the Input Using a Ele as the nput ee urere ree tm ine Ran Using Live Audio Video as the Input 29 Adjusting Input sa eR Ede DUERME EAM 30 Gropping the Input Videossa nane Rete o tees pe tara a dope ud 31 Using the Black Level Correction Filter esere iiie m eci i 31 Using the Deinterlace and Inverse Telecine Video 31 Using the Video Noise Reduction Filter 6 DEFINING THE OUTPUT FOR AN ENCODING JOB Overview Output and Destinations eee Creating a RealMedia File cette ete Ee diens RealMedia FileiSize et aei RE EES Broadcasting Live fo a p Pra ee Setting Up an Account Based Push Broadcast Setting Up a Password Only Push Setting Up a Multicast Push Set ng Up a Pull Broadcast rtr etre emet ot Setting up a Legacy Push Broadcast eee Using Server Temiplates i cnt e pene epe e edes Editing Server Templates 7 aset noe eere er cet metre e aee Adding Clip Information aig eene ere tens Z CHOOSING AUDIENCES FOR AN ENCODING JOB 55 Overview Audlerncesicus nim on e esta Adjusting Encoding Settings for All Audiences vi Contents Setting the Audio Moden eee ete eter tienes petet eese trees Setting the Video MOode
7. may be abbreviated with 28 The default is 28k Dial up and 56k Dial up The value is a comma separated list of strings that matches the names of an Audience Definitions defined within the Helix Producer You can also use an Audience File that you have created An Audience File is an XML based file that specifies the video codec audio codec bit rate and other settings for the audience If you use an Audience File you must enter the full CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line filename including the extension For information on using Audience Files see Creating an Audience File on page 104 Here are examples ad 28k 56k ad 150k ad 28k Dial up 56k Dial up 256k DSL Cable Modem ad C settings My 28k Modem rpad ad files 28k rpad files 56k rpad Audio Mode am Describes the type of audio content This setting determines which audio codec is to be assigned from an audience Values are voice or music The default is voice Example am music Video Mode vm Setting to control the picture quality of the encoded video Values include sharp normal smooth and slideshow The default is normal For example vm sharp Disable Two Pass Encoding dt The input file is read in two passes the first to analyze and the second to encode Only applies for encoding file to file It is ignored if the input is a device d or the output is a server sg sp si sd No value is required For example d
8. Getting Information from a RealMedia File Editing Metadata te cime fase P ere etd reperiet Cutting and Pasting Files eterne ee etti Using the rmevents exe Utility sis rtr ht rette rite Writing an Events File eet rta eere trigo erri e Ro tage tee tale Pepe aiei Speeifying deed qut abo eed Adding Clip Information ineo tede teen easet Merging the Events File with the Clip A REALAUDIO CODEC REFERENCE 113 Using the RealAudio Codec Reference 113 VOICE CodeS aee een eel to euh eine pots 114 Stereo Musie Codecs e eee eere eate em ee TRU Rea doses yao 114 Stereo Music Basics aae rete v e pae e ads 115 About High Response Codecs eee 116 About Surround Codecs i ios Rupe irse 116 Mono us rere petere eve ree eere Rees pens ire AUR 117 B JOB FILE REFERENCE 119 Overview Job Files ice reat theta dte eee eed eee a ee ee TES 119 Job File Str ct rez Boe end te ue da van aae su Ex ede 119 Job Sectlolis ood ed teni eee e Ve ER e ee OH 120 amp 120 viii deor Meath tut Reddit eal cde Ne 124 OUEpUt Sectlorir Eia aS EEEE prae ETT 126 destinatioriSz ett ett
9. Step 1 Start with a Media Source File or Live Input Step 2 Select a File Destination for the Output Step 3 Encode Your Source into RealMedia Step 4 Move Your Clip to a Server Step 5 Play the Clip Step 1 Start with a Media Source File or Live Input Helix Producer creates streaming media from two kinds of sources files or devices Either of these sources can contain audio only content or video and audio content together You use the Input section of the main window to choose the source for the input gt To select a source 1 In the Input section of the main window select either Input File Devices 2 If you select a file for the input a Enter the media file s full path and file name b Or click Browse and find the media file 3 If you select a device for the input a Select an audio device for encoding the audio portion of your input b Select a video device for encoding the video portion of your input if you are encoding video You ll learn more about setting up a source in Chapter 5 Defining the Input for an Encoding Job on page 27 15 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Step 2 Selecta File Destination for the Output In this step you designate what the output RealMedia file will be named and where it will be located when the encoding is complete gt To select a File Destination 1 In the Output section of the main window click the File Destination button 2 Change the di
10. This sub section contains properties that define the audio or video file used as the source for the input Structure avFileInput pluginName filename prefilters gt The following are the avFileInput properties pluginName Allows you to specify the file reader used to scan the input file If not specified all readers are scanned Use one of rn avfile aviuncompressed rn avfile directshow rn avfile pcm rn avfile qtcompressed rn avfile qtuncompressed or a 3rd party AV file reader filename The file used as the source for the input Use any valid filename including the path prefilters For more information see prefilters on page 124 122 APPENDIX B Job File Reference Example avFileInput filename type string gt C media video1 mpg lt filename gt lt avFileInput gt capturelnput This sub section contains properties that define the audio or video capture device used as the source for the input Structure captureInput prefilters gt pluginName rn capture av duration infinite audioDeviceID audioDevicePort videoDeviceID videoDevicePort videoFormat videoFrameWidth videoFrameHeight The following are the captureInput properties prefilters For more information see prefilters on page 124 pluginName Allows you to specify the capture driver used Use rn capture av or a 3rd party plug in duration The length of time that the capture device will be used as the input
11. lt audienceRefs gt lt mediaProfile gt Audiences Section This section defines one or more audiences that are used to encode the output media For more detailed information on audiences see Chapter 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job on page 55 Structure audiences 133 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 134 audience name only within job file avgBitrate maxBitrate streams audioStream gt videoStream gt eventStream imageMapStream gt name The name assigned to an audience This name must match one of the audiences listed in the audienceRef property of the mediaProfile section avgBitrate Bit rate in bps bits per second of the entire audience Ignored if encodingType is quality maxBitrate Limits total bit rate for the audience from going above the specified value in bps bits per second Set to 50000000 or more if no limit is desired streams This sub section is a container for the video stream and the audio stream s included with the audience Structure streams audioStream codecName codecFlavor streamContext presentationType audio video audioMode music videoStream codecName rv9 encodingType cbr quality APPENDIX B Job File Reference maxStartupLatency 4 s maxFrameRate 30 fps maxKeyFrameInterval 10 s enableLossProtection false eventStream avgBitrate 200 bps imageMapStream avgBitrate 400 bps audioStream Defines settings for
12. 114 Command line 89 Copyright 54 copyright attribute in events file 110 Cropping video 31 De Interlace filter 31 Description 54 Destinations explained 35 files 36 RealNetworks Server 37 DirectShow 28 Documentation library 3 Encoding 9 audio and video 65 139 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 140 audio only 65 file to file 36 live broadcast 37 multiple jobs 24 starting 73 Two Pass 58 using the command line 89 VBR 68 Encoding jobs 21 Events adding to clip 108 creating 108 merging 111 FEC 42 Files using as input 28 Filters Black Level Correction 31 Deinterlace 31 de interlace 31 High Quality Resizing 59 Inverse telecine 31 Noise Reduction 32 Forward Error Correction Latency 42 Forward Error Correction Percentage 42 FPS 62 FPS statistics 76 Frame rate 62 Gain 74 Hardware requirements 5 High Quality Resampler 58 High response 116 HTML pages opening with an events file 108 Image maps merging 85 Input 15 17 live sources 29 overview 27 setting 28 Installation Linux 7 Windows 5 Installation instructions 6 7 Inverse Telecine 31 Job File creating 119 Job Manager 14 22 Jobs about 21 batch encoding 24 creating 22 encoding 73 managing 14 22 opening 24 saving 23 setting up input for 28 sharing 23 24 Keyframes time between 63 used when editing 82 Keywords 54 Legacy Push broadcasting 50 Linux
13. Helix Producer comes with a number of templates created with different audiences in mind Their default settings are suggested settings for a particular audience allowing you to edit the template to suit your needs You can edit an existing VBR template or you can create a new VBR template While you can create a VBR template for any bit rate it is recommended that you only use VBR for bit rates above 150k gt To create a VBR Audience Template 1 Open the Audience Templates dialog 2 Select an audience template from the list on the left 3 In the Audio Video Encoding section of the dialog select Variable Bit Rate 4 You can select one of two ways to vary the bit rate a Select Target Bit Rate and enter a value in the field If you use this method Helix Producer will create a RealMedia clip that uses the target bit rate as the average for che duration of the clip b Select Target Video Quality and enter a percentage in the field CHAPTER 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job If you use this method Helix Producer will create a RealMedia clip that uses the video quality as a basis for varying data transfer and will stream at this quality regardless of bit rate 5 Enter a value for the Maximum Bit Rate that will occur during spikes of data transfer You cannot enter a value greater than the bit rate you have available for the video stream 6 Click Apply to save the settings to the template 71 72 Real
14. Tip Watch the Output VU Meters for readings that reach the top of the scale consistently This means that your audio is being clipped and will have poor sound when your user plays the file back See Monitoring and Adjusting Audio below for more information If there is video for your encoding job you will see che input video what the source video looks like in the Input Video Preview window And you will see the output video what the encoded video looks like in the Output Video Preview window Tip If you are encoding for more than one audience you can choose what audience s video is shown in the Output Video Preview window during encoding Select che Audience from the list above the window 4 When you are finished encoding click the Stop button Or if you have set a duration for the encode you can wait until the duration is complete Monitoring and Adjusting Audio While you record RealMedia clips you can monitor the audio levels for both the input audio and the encoded output audio to be sure you are encoding the optimal dynamic range You monitor audio using the Input audio meter and the Output audio meter found on the main window next to the video viewers On the meters green indicates a normal reading Red warns that you are close to an over modulated input When the audio is above the possible range the clipping indicator above the meter lights up This means that the audio is clipped You can adjust the ou
15. installing on 7 Listen Address 42 Live broadcasting 37 pull 48 Live capture 29 Local IP Address 49 Logs creating 78 log file 79 viewing 79 Loss Protection 64 Manuals where to find 3 Maximum Startup Latency 63 Media browser pane opening through events file 109 Media files using as input 28 Media sources 15 17 Metadata Resend Interval 42 Monitors disabling 75 Mono music 117 Multicast setting the address 47 time to live 42 Multicast Push 46 Music Audio Mode 56 Noise removing from video 32 Normal motion 57 On demand encoding 36 Output editing 81 live broadcast 37 overview 35 RealMedia file 36 Packets resending 42 strengthening 42 Password 41 45 47 49 Password only Push 43 Path 40 45 47 49 Port 41 Port Range 45 47 Pre buffer 63 Pre roll statistics 78 Producer Listening Port 49 PRODUCER EXE 89 Pull broadcasting 48 Push 46 account based 39 multicast 46 password only 43 Index Quality statistics 78 Rating 54 RealAudio 10 113 RealMedia explanation 9 playing 17 19 RealMedia Editor 81 RealMedia files combining 86 creating 36 editing 81 107 location 75 size limit 37 RealNetworks Producer main window 14 starting 13 RealNetworks Server 3 16 18 RealPlayer compatibility 10 using 17 19 RealVideo 10 RealVideo Codecs 57 Related info pane opening through events file 109 related info pane sizing through events file
16. 109 Requirements hardware 5 software 5 Resizing video 58 RMEvents 108 Server Address 40 45 Server Destinations about 38 templates 51 Server Templates creating 51 editing 52 Slide show 57 SMIL 12 141 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Smoothest motion 57 Video Software requirements 5 analyzing 58 Sources bit rate 61 explained 27 cropping 31 setting 28 frame rate 62 high quality resizing 59 Starting RealNetworks Producer 13 live as source 29 Statistics 76 updating 42 noise 32 removing artifacts from 31 Stereo music 114 a resizing 58 Streaming media Video Bit Rate statistics 76 explanation 9 Video Mode 56 Streams 59 SureStream Voice 118 about 10 Voice Audio Mode 56 Surround sound 116 W Web server 16 18 Windows installing on 5 system requirements 5 T Target audiences recording for many 10 TCP transport protocol 43 Technical support 3 Telecine 31 Temp directory 76 Templates Audiences 60 server 51 storing 76 Timeout 49 title attribute in events file 110 Total Bit Rate statistics 76 Transport protocol TCP 43 UDP 43 Two pass encoding 58 U UDP transport protocol 43 URL events file for 108 Username 41 V Variable Bit Rate 68 VBR 68 VCRs 29 142
17. 64 kbps Voice 44 1 kHz Stereo Music Codecs Helix Producer contains an array of RealAudio codecs that are optimized for stereo music These RealAudio codecs allow you to stream high quality stereo music at a wide range of bit rates RealAudio Stereo Music Codecs RealAudio Codec Sampling Rate 12 kbps Stereo Music RealAudio 8 11 025 kHz 16 kbps Stereo Music RA8 22 05 kHz 20 kbps Stereo Music 11 025 kHz 20 kbps Stereo Music RA8 22 05 kHz 20 kbps Stereo Music High Response RA8 22 05 kHz 32 kbps Stereo Music 22 05 kHz 32 kbps Stereo Music RA8 22 05 kHz 32 kbps Stereo Music 114 High Response RA8 44 1 kHz Table Page 1 of 2 APPENDIX A RealAudio Codec Reference RealAudio Stereo Music Codecs continued RealAudio Codec Sampling Rate 44 kbps Stereo Music 22 05 kHz 44 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 44 kbps Stereo Music High Response RA8 44 1 kHz 44 kbps Surround Audio 44 1 kHz 64 kbps Stereo Music 44 1 kHz 64 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 64 kbps Surround Audio 44 1 kHz 66 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 94 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 96 kbps Stereo Music 44 1 kHz 96 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 96 kbps Surround Audio 44 1 kHz 105 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 132 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 132 kbps Surround Audio 44 1 kHz 146 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 146 kbps Surround Audio 44 1 kHz 176 kbp
18. Clips to Your Clip Helix Producer also allows you to combine one RealMedia file to another thus appending a file to the current file Appending only works when the number and type of streams in each file is identical Therefore this feature works best when the source files are all encoded with the Helix Producer using the exact same settings Because of RealMedia Editor s 2 GB limit for the size of files it can open the combination of appended files can not be over this limit gt To append a file 1 Open a RealMedia file 2 Select Append RealMedia File from the File menu The Open RealMedia File dialog opens 3 Locate the file you want to append then select it and click Open RealMedia Editor appends the file to the currently open file This process can take some time depending on how large the appended file is 4 When the appending process is complete you can edit the combined files as a new clip the original clip is closed Advanced Editing Features In addition to editing files RealMedia Editor gives you advanced features that can help you with the editing process You can view information about all streams that are incorporated into a RealMedia file Plus you can decide how fast RealMedia Editor will preview a clip quickly or normal speed Viewing Stream Information Every RealMedia file is created with a number of streams Single rate files contain only one stream while SureStream files can contain multiple
19. Encoding Job Transport Protocols When you set a transport protocol you are telling Helix Producer how it will communicate with the server Your choice of protocol determines how data in the form of packets will be sent over the connection once broadcasting begins There are two options for protocol when connecting to a server UDP and TCP About UDP UDP is a connectionless protocol Helix Producer when using UDP doesn t need to communicate constantly with the server to keep the connection Only when the server needs a packet of data resent to it will it request the packets from the producer This reduces the load on the server that would occur if the server need to send and wait for acknowledgement of packets Thus using UDP enhances the performance of your broadcast UDP is recommended whenever possible but TCP described below is required if firewalls or other network devices prevent the free transmission of UDP packets Firewalls are often encountered when encoding over the Internet About TCP TCP protocol is converse to UDP a connection protocol When using TCP a two way connection exists between Helix Producer and the server This means that if a packet is lost in transmission the network requests a packet to be resent While TCP is a reliable protocol the downside is that instead of the server being responsible for lost packets che network layer is responsible As a result a Helix Universal Server l
20. Enter to wrap long lines manually Specifying URL Events When opening a URL automatically in a RealOne Player HTML pane you use the u event flag The event syntax looks like this u start time end time amp amp target amp amp URL parameters The URL must be a fully qualified HTTP URL For the parameters you can use rpcontextheight pixels and rpcontextwidtht pixels when sending a URL to the related info pane For target use one of the following _rpcontextwin Display the URL in the related info pane _tpbrowser Display the URL in the media browser pane _tpexternal Display the URL in a secondary browsing window The following is a sample events file that opens two URLs in the related info pane at different times and two URLs in the media browser pane at different times 109 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Open a URL in the related info pane when the clip starts and size the pane u 00 00 00 0 00 01 59 9 amp amp rpcontextwin amp amp http www example com info1 html rpcontextheight 250 amp rpcontextwidth 280 Open a URL in the media browser pane at the 1 minute mark u 00 01 00 0 00 01 59 9 amp amp rpbrowser amp amp http www example com index html Open a second URL in the related info pane at the 2 minute mark u 00 02 00 0 00 04 00 0 amp amp _rpcontextwin amp amp http www example com info2 html Open a second URL in the media browser pane at the 3 minute mark 00 03 00 0 00
21. Intranet gt To move your file to a server Copy the ondemand rm clip you created in the preceding step from its current location to the Helix Universal Server Content directory On Windows NT the path is C Program Files Helix Server Content On UNIX the path is usr local Helix Server Content For more information on how you can obtain and use a Helix Universal Server go to the RealNetworks Web site at http www realnetworks com and look for the links to this product Step 5 Play the Clip Once your audience has connected successfully to your server to view the streaming media content they will use a player to view it A RealOne Player is all they need The RealNetworks Web site http www realnetworks com has more information about each version and how to install and use them Step by Step Creating a Live Broadcast The following are the basic steps involved in creating and streaming a live RealMedia broadcast that your audience can view as it is being encoded Step 1 Start with a Media Source File or Live Input Step 2 Select a Server Destination for the Output Step 3 Encode Your Source to a RealMedia Broadcast Stream Step 4 Play the Clip Step 1 Start with a Media Source File or Live Input Helix Producer creates streaming media from two kinds of sources files or devices Either of these sources can contain audio only content or video and audio content together And either source can be used for a live b
22. Select Push Account Based Login Server 9 from the Broadcast Method list Select the type of connection protocol that you will use See Transport Protocols on page 43 for a description of the protocols available to you Now enter the other Broadcast Method Settings for the Server Destination using the following list for a description of the settings a Server Address The IP address or name of che Helix Universal Server used for the broadcast example server real com b Path The directory path on the Helix Universal Server where your broadcast will be accessed by your audience example mydirectory This setting is optional c Port CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job The port on the Helix Universal Server that will be sent packets The default is 80 d Username The name used to authenticate the connection to the server e Password Your password needed to connect to the server You can also select to remember your password for future connections to the same server 7 If you need to set the Advanced Broadcast options only recommended for advanced users click the Advanced Options button See Advanced Broadcast Options on page 41 for more information on setting these options 8 Optional To save these settings as a Server Template a Click the Templates button b Select Save as Template The Server Destination is now saved as a Server Template that you can use for other encoding
23. Select one of the following options in the Temporary Storage Directory section a Same Location as File Destination saves the temporary data in the same directory as the destination file b Other allows you to specify the full path of the temporary directory 4 Click OK to save the preferences Monitoring Statistics Helix Producer gives you a variety of statistics about your encoding job that you can monitor during an encode These statistics give you an overview of the 76 CHAPTER 8 Starting and Monitoring an Encoding Job encoding job showing you what your settings are for the job and how well the actual encode meets your target settings gt To open the Statistics window 1 From the main window select the View menu item 2 Select Show Statistics The Statistics palette opens In the Statistics palette you are given a variety of statistics that allow you to monitor different aspects of each encoded audience stream as it is encoded Once the encoding is complete you can also use the Statistics palette to give you a summary of how the audience streams are encoded The following statistics appear in the Statistics palette Summary of Statistics Statistic Description Audience The name of the audience stream being encoded Total Bit Rate The total bit rate of the encoded Video Bit Rate audience stream in the form of kbps with single decimal precision or Mbps if the value is over 1 Mbps
24. Server Port Sets server definition using page 95 streamname account based encoder protocol si Password Server Port Gives settings required fora page 95 streamname server initiated broadcast output stream using the Pull Broadcast method sp Password Server PortRange Gives settings required for page 94 streamname live server output using the Push Broadcast method sd username password ServerDefi Uses pre existing Server page 96 nition streamname Destination as the output And where general_options are any of the following producer exe Command Line General Options Option Value Default Function Reference a text none Encodes an author name page 100 ad audience names 16k 28k Specifies audience encoding page 96 56k and speeds 256k ag 12 to 12 0 Uses the audio gain filter page 99 am voice music voice Sets the audio type page 97 arq fast high high Sets the type of audio page 98 resampling used bl none true Applies the black level filter page 99 c text none Sets the encoded copyright page 100 cj filename rpjf none Creates a job file page 104 cr left top width none Sets cropping parameters in page 99 height pixels d dd hh mm ss xyz infinite Sets total time for encoding page 94 de text none Sets clip description page 100 Table Page 1 of 2 91 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide producer exe Command Line General Options continued
25. Thus your broadcast is quickly up and running each time Tip If you want to save the current job s settings as the default settings select Settings gt Default Settings gt Save Current as Default from the menu You can always restore the original 23 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide default settings by selecting Settings Default Settings Restore Original Default Sharing the Job File Once you have saved your job you can also share it This means that you can give the job file the rpjf file to another user He or she can open it in his or her version of Helix Producer and use it to encode RealMedia If you have set the input and output destinations the new user needs access to the same sources and destination locations that you defined in the job Opening Existing Jobs You don t have to create a new job every time you use Helix Producer If a job has been previously created or if you have been sent a job by a colleague you can open it and add it to the Job Manager gt To open an existing job 1 From the Helix Producer main window open the File menu 2 Select Open Job The Open Job File dialog opens 3 Browse to the job you want to use and click Open The job appears in the Job Manager and its settings appear in the main window Using Multiple Jobs One of the more powerful features of Helix Producer is that you can create and control multiple jobs at che same time The Job Manager is used to
26. as is without express or implied warranty CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 cs ure d tU ma ee tels t ud ir elu 1 New Features for This Versioni uerit eh rr ied e e D He eret 1 Conventions Used inthis Guides ne sen en eene 2 Additional Documentation Resources sssssssssseeee eene 3 Technical Support tene sete ede ee terti tepida bad 3 1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION 5 Windows Requirements and Installation 5 Windows System Requirements ssssssssssesse eene 5 Installing the Windows Version sssssssss eee 6 Linux Requirements and Installation 7 linux System Requirements rnt rere rne e eie eene 7 Installing the Linux Version err rn meet etd 7 Other Basie Requirements certe eter e tet ee Ro Pl ees 8 2 STREAMING MEDIA BASICS 9 What is Streaming Media eremanen inen henan 9 How is Streaming Media 4 9 Targeting Audiences About Other RealNetworks Products ssssssee 11 3 GETTING STARTED WITH HELIX PRODUCER 13 Before You Begin Learning About Helix 13 Starting Helix Producer i ate ia The Helix Producer Main Window Step by Step Creating a RealMedia File sse 15 Step 1 Start with a Media Source File or Live
27. audience template uses a constant bit rate that simply means that at all times during playback an audience will stream at one bit rate The advantage to using a constant bit rate is that you can maintain a constant bit rate for connections that require a hard and fast limit on the bit rate The 61 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 62 disadvantage is that video clips with variations in movement or other factors that can affect che data that needs to be streamed will lose video quality during those times where lots of data needed to be sent Note For information on using Variable Bit Rate VBR encoding see Using Variable Bit Rate VBR Audience Templates on page 68 gt To set a constant bit rate for an audience 1 From the Audiences palette select a non VBR audience from the list of audiences that you have selected to use with your job 2 Click the Edit button The Audience Properties dialog for that audience opens 3 Enter a value for the bit rate in che Constant Target Bit Rate field You should not enter a value greater chan the bit rate you have available for the video stream Tip To calculate the maximum bit rate for video available add the bit rate of the selected Music Codec to the Average video bit rate with music that is listed in the Audio Video Encoding section of the dialog 4 Click OK to save the settings to this audience Adjusting the Target Frame Rate The frame rate is the f
28. audioResamplingQuality high destinations This sub section contains information about one or more file or server destinations fileDestination Contains settings for the output file the encoded RealMedia file Properties pluginName The name of the file destination plug in that is used to create the file Use one of rn file realmedia rn file mp3 or a 3rd party plug in name Name of the output filename The file name and path were the encoded output will be saved pushServer Push Server destination contains information required for a live server output using the Push broadcast method available in Helix Universal Server 9 and greater There are three types of Push broadcasts account based single password and multicast The properties you use depends on which type of broadcast are using For a detailed description of these types of Push 127 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 128 broadcasting and the settings you need see Broadcasting Live to a Server on page 37 Properties name The name of the server destination authType The type of authentication used for the Push broadcast Depending on which type you use you need to use different properties Use either account based or single password streamname The name of the live stream used to identify the live broadcast Use any valid file name and path For example live rm path Used if you want to use additional path information to def
29. bit rates you have the choice to use RealAudio Surround codecs These codecs preserve the matrixed multi channel surround audio in conventional APPENDIX A RealAudio Codec Reference surround sound audio content Sources of such content are created using Dolby Pro Logic or Circle Surround encoders and these sources are prevalent on DVDs and television broadcasts Surround audio can consist of four sound channels left right left surround and right surround or 5 1 channels additional subwoofer and center that are mixed into the two conventional left and right stereo channels Thus no special cables are needed to encode RealAudio Surround as long as your audio source is conventional surround sound content While you can use non digital sources the best results are achieved from a digital source You should only choose the surround versions of the stereo RealAudio codecs if you know that there is surround information in the audio source The main reason to make sure you have the correct source is that the surround codecs are not as efficient when encoding non surround audio To play back a RealMedia file encoded with RealAudio Surround you will need to use to an A V receiver equipped with surround sound decoding that is connected to the surround channels and an optional subwoofer Your receiver s manual will contain information on how to properly connect surround speakers Alternatively some computer speakers such as Creat
30. example above the end time is set to 10 seconds after the clip starts CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line The following table describes the name and value pairs that you can use with clipinfo You can use any set of values and list them in any order Most text values can be over 100 characters long Name and Value Clipinfo Parameter Values Function title text Gives the clip title artist name text Indicates the artist name album name text Gives the album name If you specify an album name and do not also display an HTML page in the related info pane RealOne Player displays in that pane a standard page that lists the artist album year and genre values The viewer can hide this information though with Tools Album Info gt Hide genre text Indicates the clip genre such as Rock or Jazz copyright text Gives the copyright notice year text Indicates the year the content was released cdnum number Supplies the CD track number comments text Provides any additional comments Note Do not use the title author and copyright parameters along with clipinfo Merging the Events File with the Clip After you write your events file you use the RMEvents utility to merge the events file with your clip gt To merge an events file with a RealAudio or RealVideo clip on Windows 1 Open a command line prompt from the Start menu 2 Move to the main Helix
31. how to create and save a job for later use and it describes the benefits of using multiple jobs Creating a New Job 22 The first step in encoding with Helix Producer is to create a new job You can let Helix Producer create it automatically by setting the input or an output destination Or you can manually create a new job to work with When you manually create a new job an untitled job appears in the Job Manager This untitled job does not have an input or output defined and it uses default settings for encoding gt To create a new untitled job 1 From the Helix Producer main window select the File menu 2 From the File menu select New Job new job appears in the list of jobs at the bottom of the window This list is called the Job Manager About the Job Manager The Job Manager keeps track of the encoding jobs that you are using during the current session It also allows you to quickly control more than one job at a time See Using Multiple Jobs on page 24 for more information Below is a description of the different columns in the Job Manager Job the name of the job Status gives you a description of the status of the job such as Ready Not Ready Analyzing Encoding and Done Start the time that the job began encoding CHAPTER 4 Setting Up an Encoding Job End the time the job stopped encoding Saving and Sharing a Job Once your job is created you can define the different components th
32. in the video appear blacker This filter is useful if the video appears washed out without much saturation gt To turn on the Black Level Correction filter 1 From the main window click the Video Filters button The Video Filters palette opens 2 Select the checkbox labelled Black Level Correction The Black Level Correction filter is enabled Using the Deinterlace and Inverse Telecine Video Filters The Deinterlace filter removes artifacts that can be present when encoding digitized NTSC or PAL formatted video These artifacts are horizontal lines seen surrounding a moving object 31 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Most movies are filmed at 24 frames per second fps When a film is converted into NTSC video at 30 fps fields are alternately duplicated and shared The film to video conversion process is called telecining The Inverse Telecine filter removes redundant fields added during a telecine process improving the quality of the frames that are encoded The Inverse Telecine filter is only used when encoding input video with a frame rate of 30 fps gt To turn on the Deinterlace and Inverse Telecine filters 1 From the main window click the Video Filters button The Video Filters palette opens 2 Select the checkbox labelled Deinterlace Inverse Telecine 3 You have two options a Select Automatic and Helix Producer will use these filters if che input looks like it has artifacts or it lo
33. with glibc 2 1 or greater CPU 400 MHz 800 MHz RAM 32 MB file to file encoding 256 MB 96 live broadcasting Hard Disk space 20 MB software Hard Disk space data 500 MB 1GB Installing the Linux Version Follow this procedure to install che product onto a computer running Linux To install Helix Producer onto Linux 1 Download the installation program 2 Make sure your CD drive is mounted properly if installing from a CD 3 Copy the installer to your hard drive if you are getting it from a CD 4 Start the Helix Producer installer by entering sh helix producer plus 9 linux bin The installer extracts the necessary files to the directory where che installer is located RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide The install program installs all necessary programs and files When complete che installer shows the Software License agreement Other Basic Requirements In addition to normal hardware and software requirements it is recommended that you have the following products the latest version of the RealOne Player speakers or headphones connected to your sound card For recording from a media device any of the following connected to your computer video capture card if encoding live video S VHS Digi Beta or Beta SP video player video camera microphone STREAMING MEDIA BASICS This chapter introduces you to streaming media and how Helix Producer creates str
34. with two decimal precision The bit rate of the encoded video portion of the audience stream If there is no video included in an output this will display n a Audio Bit Rate The bit rate of the encoded audio portion of the audience stream If there is no audio included in an output this will display n a FPS The current frame rate of che video in frames per second After encoding lists the average frame rate Min FPS Lists the minimum frame rate in frames per second of encoded video that was recorded during encoding Table Page 1 of 2 77 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Summary of Statistics continued Statistic Description Quality The quality level of che encoded video compared to the source video frames after filtering has been applied where 100 represents equivalent quality to the source frames and anything less represents a percentage of the possible quality After encoding lists che average quality percentage Min Quality Lists the minimum quality level of the encoded video that was recorded during encoding Pre Roll Number of seconds of pre roll buffering that the user will experience when playing your encoded clip Table Page 2 of 2 These statistics exist in three different states depending on where you are in the encoding process Configuration Statistics In this state the Statistics palette shows you statistics for how the streams are
35. 04 00 0 amp amp rpbrowser amp amp http www example com index2 html Note the following about this sample When you open multiple URLs list the events in ascending order according to the start times The related info pane size is set for the duration of the clip by the first URL that opens in that pane Any subsequent URLs that target the related info pane therefore do not require sizing information The end times indicate a point past which the URL should not open In the second event defined above the URL is scheduled to open at 1 00 minutes but no later chan 1 59 9 minutes If a viewer starts the clip and immediately seeks to its 3 minute mark for example the URL doesn t display because the clip never plays at any point between the URL s start and end times Adding Clip Information Using rmevents exe you can encode the RealOne Player clipinfo parameters into the clip Separate the subvalues with vertical lines or pipes For example the following shows an events file line that specifies clip information using i as the event flag i 00 00 00 0 00 00 10 0 clipinfo title My Presentation artist name Pat Morales Does not work with Player version 8 For clip information you can specify the start time as the clip s starting time 00 00 00 0 Specifying an end time is required but the actual end time doesn t matter because the clip information will display throughout the length of the clip playback In the
36. 15 Step 2 Select a File Destination for the 16 Step 3 Encode Your Source into 16 Step 4 Move Your Clip to a Server sss 16 Step S Play tlie ure E erre o Sete 17 Step by Step Creating a Live Broadcast ssssssssssssseee eee 17 Step 1 Start with a Media Source File or Live 17 Step 2 Select a Server Destination for the Output 18 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Step 3 Encode Your Source to a RealMedia Broadcast Stream 19 Step 4 Play the e ae ote AS EErEE 19 4 SETTING UP AN ENCODING JOB 21 About Ericoding Jobs np eee Beier eerie bes Creating a New Job tecto eite ei ete e ete ttu ree e D EUER About the Job Manager Saving and Sharinga ob a d iet oen ste te testo ity Using Jobs as Templates sssssssssssse eee 23 Sharing the Job FIle aane denen dece teet edel 24 Opening Existing Jo e tee teret Resp e vete d hee ae lien eae 24 Using Multiple JODs chatted sete ee edoctus ine e eis re pha qtd 24 Batch Encoding ste ii Rent gs eie dpa aac tege rede peque 24 Multi Tasking Between Jobs ssssssssssse eee 25 5 DEFINING THE INPUT FOR AN ENCODING JOB 27 Overview Input Sources csssssssssssseeee ee eene eene
37. 2 of 3 105 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Table 1 Music RealAudio Codecs continued Name Flavor RealAudio Codec Used atrc 9 146 kbps Surround Audio atrc 5 176 kbps Stereo Music RA8 atrc 10 176 kbps Surround Audio atrc 6 264 kbps Stereo Music RA8 atrc 11 264 kbps Surround Audio atrc 7 352 kbps Stereo Music RA8 atrc 12 352 kbps Surround Audio Table Page 3 of 3 Table 2 Voice RealAudio Codecs Name Flavor RealAudio Codec Used sipr 2 5 kbps Voice sipr 0 6 5 kbps Voice sipr 1 8 5 kbps Voice sipr 3 16 kbps Voice cook 7 32 kbps Voice cook 14 64 kbps Voice Changing the RealVideo Stream Section in an Audience File Within the Audience File there is a section for the video stream Here you specify the following codecName the RealVideo codec name used to encode the video Below is a table that lists codec names and the corresponding RealVideo codec Table 3 RealVideo Codecs Name RealAudio Codec Used rv9 RealVideo 9 rv8 RealVideo 8 rvg2svt RealVideo G2 with SVT encodingType the type of encoding used can be Constant Bit Rate cbr Variable Bit Rate using quality of video as a goal vbrQuality or Variable Bit Rate using an average bit rate as a goal vbrBitrate If you use Variable 106 CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line Bit Rate you can only use one audience and the output file name must use a rmvb extension
38. B Job File Reference resizeQuality Affects che resulting video quality of an output file when resize is applied Choosing High results in a better quality video but uses considerably more CPU Value can be High or Fast audioResamplingQuality Affects che resulting quality of audio resampling operations Resampling must be done if the sample rate required by the target audio codec is different from the input file or device sample rate Value can be High or Fast audienceRefs This property holds a reference to the name of an audience defined in the audiences section of the job file One or more of this tag may appear Each occurrence represents one audience that is to be added to the mediaProfile Example lt mediaProfile gt lt audioMode type string gt music lt audioMode gt lt audioResamplingQuality type string gt high lt audioResamplingQuality gt lt disableAudio type bool gt false lt disableAudio gt lt disableVideo type bool gt false lt disableVideo gt lt outputHeight type uint gt 0 lt outputHeight gt lt outputWidth type uint gt 0 lt outputWidth gt lt resizeQuality type string gt high lt resizeQuality gt lt videoMode type string gt normal lt videoMode gt lt audienceRefs gt lt audienceRef gt 16k Substream for 28k Dial up lt audienceRef gt lt audienceRef gt 28k Dial up lt audienceRef gt lt audienceRef gt 56k Dial up lt audienceRef gt lt audienceRef gt 256k DSL or Cable lt audienceRef gt
39. Codec Used rv9 RealVideo 9 rv8 RealVideo 8 rvg2svt RealVideo G2 with SVT encodingType The type of encoding used can be Constant Bit Rate cbr Variable Bit Rate using quality of video as a goal vbrQuality or Variable Bit Rate using an average bit rate as a goal vbrBitrate If you use Variable Bit Rate you can only use one audience and the output file name must use a rmvb extension quality The target quality percentage that the video codec will attempt to encode the video at Used if you specify the encodingType to be vbrQuality maxStartupLatency The maximum time that the clip will buffer before playing begins Value can be an integer from 4 to 25 maxFrameRate The ideal maximum frame rate in frames per second that the video codec will attempt to encode the output video at Value can be an integer from 0 to 60 maxKeyFramelnterval The number of seconds in between key frames of encoded video Value can be an integer from 0 to 60 enableLossProtection Whether or not to add error correction information to the encoded file Value can be True or False Example lt videoStream gt pluginName type string gt rn videocodec realvideo lt pluginName gt codecName type string gt rv8 lt codecName gt encodingType type string gt cbr lt encodinglType gt APPENDIX B Job File Reference lt maxStartupLatency type double gt 4 0 lt maxStartupLatency gt lt maxFrameRate type double gt 15 0 lt maxF
40. Follow these tips to get the best out of your edited clip If you mark an image in between keyframes the resulting video may have a black or frozen image or it may simply begin at the next keyframe Video clips must contain at least one keyframe If you create a clip without a keyframe you will be unable to save it You can type in times directly for current clip position using the format days hours minutes seconds milliseconds Changing Clip Information Clip information tells che audience about a clip and allows the audience to finda clip more easily With RealMedia Editor you can add clip information if none exists or you can change clip information that is attached to a file gt To change clip information 1 Open a RealMedia file 2 In the Clip Info area enter new information for the clip Title the title of the clip Author the name of the clip s creator Copyright year and owner of the clip s copyright Keywords words that you think your audience would use to search for your clip Description a brief summary of the clip s contents 3 To enter more information click the Clip Info button The Edit Clip Info and File Properties dialog opens 84 CHAPTER 9 Editing RealMedia Files 4 You can also select a content rating You have the following choices No Rating All Ages Older Children Younger Teens Older Teens Adult Supervision Recommended Adults Only 5 Click OK t
41. HELIX PRODUCER USER S GUIDE Helix Producer 9 0 from RealNetworks Revision Date 19 July 2002 RealNetworks Inc P O Box 91123 Seattle WA 98111 9223 U S A http www real com http www realnetworks com Copyright 2002 RealNetworks Inc All rights reserved Information in this document is subject to change without notice No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical for any purpose without the express written permission of RealNetworks Inc Printed in the United States of America Helix The Helix Logo RBN the Real bubble logo Real Broadcast Network RealAudio Real com RealJukebox RealMedia RealNetworks RealPlayer RealOne RealPresenter RealSlideshow RealSystem RealText RealVideo SureStream and Surreal FX Design are trademarks or registered trademarks of RealNetworks Inc Other product and corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies Copyright 1995 2002 RealNetworks Inc This product may incorporate one or more of the following U S Patent 5 917 835 U S Patent 5 854 858 U S Patent 5 917 954 Other U S patents pending All rights reserved ACELP net codec by VoiceAge Corporation Copyright 2000 2002 All rights reserved RealNetworks RealVideo G2 video codec Copyright 1995 2002 RealNetworks Inc Portions Copyright 1999 Intel Corporation All rights reserved RealNetw
42. Hewlett Packard Company Copyright 1996 97 Silicon Graphics Computer Systems Inc Copyright 1997 Moscow Center for SPARC Technology Permission to use copy modify distribute and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation Hewlett Packard Company makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose It is provided as is without express or implied warranty Permission to use copy modify distribute and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation Silicon Graphics makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose It is provided as is without express or implied warranty Permission to use copy modify distribute and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation Moscow Center for SPARC Technology makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose It is provided
43. Networks Producer for Helix User s Guide 8 STARTING AND MONITORING AN ENCODING JOB This chapter shows you how to start an encoding job and it describes the different methods that are available to you to monitor a job while it is encoding You will learn about different encoding statistics presented to you during an encode and tips on how to use those statistics You will also learn how to use logging features that can be monitored while a job is encoding Starting an Encoding Job If you have created an encoding job specified what source will be used for the input and specified the different destinations for the output all that is left is to start the encode The encoding process can be different depending on the type of destination you are encoding to The following procedure describes what you can expect during an encode for each type of destination gt To start encoding a job 1 Select the job you want to encode from the Job Manager list 2 Prepare your sources that will be used as the input for the encoding job If encoding from a file make sure the file still exists and is in the proper location If encoding from a live source make sure your equipment is functioning properly and is connected to your computer s capture card 3 Click the Encode button If there is audio for your encoding job you will see the Output VU Meter light up 73 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide
44. Producer directory The default main directory is c Program Files Real Helix Producer Basic or c Program Files Real Helix Producer Plus Here is an example C gt cd C Program Files Real Helix Producer Basic 3 Enter the following command which uses three flags to indicate the input clip output clip and events file rmevents i input rm o output rm e events txt 111 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide where input rm is the path and name of the input clip output rm is the path and name of the output clip events txt is the path and name of the events file Tip Always choose a new output name so that you can save your original clip without any encoded events APPENDIX A REALAUDIO CODEC REFERENCE This appendix provides a reference for all RealAudio codecs used by Helix Producer broken down into separate tables for voice mono music and stereo music codecs Using the RealAudio Codec Reference Tables The following are descriptions of the different columns within the codec reference tables Each column RealAudio Codec This column shows the name of the codec as it appears in the Audience Templates dialog The name gives you vital information about the codec the bit rate for the codec the type of audio the codec is suited for and if the codec is a high response codec High response codecs cover high frequency sounds such as a flute chan normal codecs at the same bit rat
45. The following table shows the standard metadata name value pairs Standard Metadata Name Value Description Title Any string up to 255 characters The name of the encoded clip in length Author Any string up to 255 characters The author of the encoded clip in length Copyright Any string up to 255 characters The owner and date of the copyright in length Keywords Any string up to 1024 characters Keywords that enable a user to find the in length clip Description Any string up to 4095 characters A brief description about the content of in length the clip Content Rating Any integer from 0 to 6 A rating system where the following values equal the following ratings 0 norating 1 all ages 2 older children 3 younger teens 4 older teens 15 and up 5 adult supervision recommended 6 adults only Example lt clipInfo gt lt entry gt lt name gt Title lt name gt lt value type string gt My Title lt value gt lt entry gt lt entry gt lt name gt Copyright lt name gt lt value type string gt c 2002 XYZ Media Corp lt value gt lt entry gt lt clipInfo gt 121 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Input Section This section contains information about the input for the encoding job Only one of two elements can be contained in this section an AV file input section or a capture section Structure input avFileInput captureInput gt avFilelnput
46. allows Helix Producer to use this extra bandwidth as needed to handle the extra bits encoded during complex video scenes The following are limitations when using VBR CHAPTER 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job You must use Helix Universal Server 9 for streaming VBR content You can only use one audience for a job if the audience is a VBR template Types of VBR Encoding There are two ways to use VBR encoding The first option is to specify an average bit rate at which Helix Producer will encode the streaming video clip The second option is to specify a video quality at which Helix Producer will attempt to encode the streaming video clip The table below gives you a summary of the best uses for all three types of encoding possible with Helix Producer CBR Average Bit Rate VBR and Video Quality VBR Best Uses for Encoding Types Types of Encoding Best Uses CBR Narrowband streaming VBR Average Bit Rate Broadband streaming VBR Video Quality Downloadable files DVD content Both of the VBR options are defined in detail below Note When you create a VBR RealMedia file Helix Producer saves the file with a rmvb extension to distinguish it from normal RealMedia files which have a rm extension Average Bit Rate VBR Encoding This type of VBR encoding tells Helix Producer to try and stay at a target bit rate on average The target average bit rate that you specify should be below the maximum bit r
47. ame or edit point The current time position is also shown here Clip Info Area this area allows you to quickly change the title author copyright keywords and description of a clip Opening a RealMedia File The first step in editing a RealMedia clip is to open it with the RealMedia Editor Once you have opened the clip you can play it navigate through it and edit it gt To open a clip 1 In the main window choose File gt Open RealMedia File The Open RealMedia File dialog opens 81 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 2 Navigate to the directory where the RealMedia file a file with a rm extension is located and select it Note Currently only RealMedia files with a maximum file size of 2 GB can be edited with this product 3 Click Open The file opens in the RealMedia Editor main window If it is a RealVideo clip the first frame appears in the viewer Tip You can also drag a rm file into the RealMedia Editor main window to open that clip instantly Navigating Along a Clip RealMedia Editor gives you different methods for you to navigate along a clip so that you can find the points at which you want to edit the clip You can use the slider on the timeline use the Play and Stop buttons use edit points or use keyframes Use one or a combination of methods to reach the point in your clip you want to edit Using the Timeline The timeline is the easiest way to navigate along your clip The r
48. ame rate If you would rather have more continuity during high motion scenes you can choose Smoothest Motion More encoding time will be spent on maintaining the frame rate but will be at che expense of each frame s image clarity You can also choose to completely focus on image clarity by choosing the Slide Show mode The output appears as a series of still photos Choosing a RealVideo Codec In the Audiences palette you can choose which version of RealVideo you will use to create your streaming media clips Each version uses a different method to compress your original video data into a format that is best for streaming A new video codec RealVideo 9 is now included in Helix Producer RealVideo 9 allows you to create the best quality video for any bit rate especially at high bandwidth rates The following is a summary of the new features of RealVideo 9 30 improvement in video quality over RealVideo 8 and a 50 improvement over RealVideo G2 15 screen video at dial up rates VHS quality at everyday broadband rates starting at 160 kbps Near DVD at 500 kbps for download or streaming on high speed networks Choosing a RealVideo codec affects who can view your streaming video clip Only those members of your audience who have a player with the selected video codec installed can play back the video While the newest video codec gives you the best video if you know that many people in your target audience have an older
49. an audio stream Properties codecName The name of the audio codec to be used See Music RealAudio Codecs on page 104 and Voice RealAudio Codecs on page 106 for a list of values codecFlavor The flavor of the audio codec to be used See Music RealAudio Codecs on page 104 and Voice RealAudio Codecs on page 106 for a list of values streamContext Defines a unique set of properties to allow the application to select only one audio stream among several choices The following are sub properties presentationType Describes the type of presentation if it is audio only or audio and video Value can be audio only or audio video audioMode Describes the type of audio content Value can be voice or music Example lt audioStream gt pluginName type string gt rn audiocodec realaudio lt pluginName gt codecName type string gt cook lt codecName gt lt codecFlavor type uint gt 4 lt codecFlavor gt lt streamContext gt presentationType type string gt audio video lt presentationType gt lt audioMode type string gt music lt audioMode gt lt streamContext gt lt audioStream gt videoStream Defines settings for a video stream Properties 135 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 136 codecName The RealVideo codec name used to encode the video Below is a table that lists codec names and the corresponding RealVideo codec Table 4 RealVideo Codecs Name RealAudio
50. at make up a job After that you will want to save your job so that you can use it ata later time or share it gt To save a job to a file 1 From the Helix Producer main window open the File menu 2 From the File menu select Save Job As The Save As dialog opens 3 Browse to the directory where you want to save the job 4 Type in the name for the job file and click Save The file will be saved with a rpjf extension Saving a job creates a job file with a rpjf extension that is stored on your computer This job file can be modified in two ways You can open the job see Opening Existing Jobs below and change its settings using the Helix Producer interface Or you can modify the job file using an XML editor or text editor once you are more familiar with the other components and settings that make up a job See Appendix B Job File Reference for more information on editing the job file Using Jobs as Templates You can create jobs save them and use them as templates Create jobs for different encoding situations that frequently arise and then make incremental adjustments to the job For example if you often encode a list of files into RealMedia for a modem audience you can save a job with a dummy file input that you can modify later Or if you need to broadcast live video over the Internet periodically but to different servers you can create a job with all che other settings and just modify the destination
51. ate possible for che connection type In this respect it is similar to CBR encoding as it stays below the bit rate threshold Thus your audience is less likely to lose a connection or experience rebuffering But when the video clip becomes more complex Helix Producer can use the extra bit rate for a limited time so that the video quality can be maintained Once the complex video scene is over the specified average bit rate is resumed If a complex scene is especially long Helix Producer will lower the bit rate and the video quality to keep to the specified average 69 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 70 Therefore the best use for average bit rate VBR encoding is for a broadband audience where the connection can withstand the occasional increase in bit rate Video Quality VBR Encoding This type of VBR encoding is for when you are more concerned about preserving the quality of the video image than losing your audience Here you specify a percentage of quality that you want Helix Producer to maintain To keep the video quality the encoded bit rate may remain at a high bit rate even staying at the maximum bit rate specified for as long as the video complexity also remains high Therefore the best use for video quality VBR encoding is when you are creating a RealMedia file that will be downloaded by your audience It is not suited for streaming with a Helix Universal Server Creating a VBR Audience Template
52. bout High Response Codecs The 20 kbps 32 kbps and 44 kbps music codecs come in two flavors Helix Producer by default uses the high response versions which are the better codecs for most situations But you can also use the normal response versions The high response codecs cover a larger frequency spectrum than the normal response versions Sometimes the high response version has twice the range as the normal codec This means it provides crisper sound and is better at capturing high frequencies With symphonic music for example the high response codec gets more of the flute and piccolo It can produce more distortion than the normal response codec with voices and loud sounds such as drums though If you re encoding music with a diverse range of frequencies stick with the high response codecs If you notice distortion compare your results with a clip that uses the normal response codecs The best tool for determining which codec to use is your ear Listen carefully for minute differences in how the clip sounds It also helps to have other people listen Our own ears have different frequency responses too The slowest stereo codec is 12 kbps Stereo codecs don t go lower than that because they would not have enough frequency response for adequate sound In the following table the RealAudio 8 codecs are marked with About Surround Codecs At 44 kbps 64 kbps 96 kbps 132 kbps 146 kbps 176 kbps 264 kbps and 352 kbps
53. bout the server that you will need in order to set up a simple broadcast You can get the appropriate information from your server administrator or from your Internet Service Provider if they are providing access to a server Or you can have your administrator create a Server Template for you See Using Server Templates on page 51 for more information gt To set up a Legacy Push Server destination 1 From the main window select File Add Server Destination The Server Destination dialog opens 2 Enter a Destination Name This name will appear on the Output list in the main window And if you save these settings as a Server Template it will be che name of the template 3 Enter a Stream Name for the encoded output 4 Select Legacy Push 8 x 7 x G2 from the Broadcast Method list 5 Now enter the Broadcast Method Settings for the Server Destination using the following list for a description of the settings a Server Address CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job The IP address or domain of the Helix Universal Server used for the broadcast example server mycompany com b Path The directory path on the Helix Universal Server where your broadcast will be accessed by your audience example mydirectory This setting is optional c Port The port number that the Helix Universal Server uses to accept connections for broadcasted streams example 4040 d Username Your log in name used to connect to
54. ce Duration d on page 94 for information on how to use the information printed with this command This option may only be used by itself on the command line No value is required Example pd Print Audiences pa Prints a list of accepted Audience Definitions for use in the ad option No value is required Example pa Print Servers ps Prints a list of accepted Server Definitions for use in the sd option No value is required Example ps Print Version Information v Prints the version of Helix Producer used No value is required Example M Examples This section shows you some examples of how to put the preceding options together for some common uses of the producer exe command line program Simple Encode The following example is a simple encode of a media file Using the default values for all options the output is named file rm and is encoded using the 28k and 56k audience definitions producer i file avi Batch Encoding with a Wildcard The following example encodes a batch of files using a wildcard to designate the input files The output files are all placed in the movies directory producer i C capture avi o C NmoviesN 102 CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line Live Input Capture to File The following example captures input from the video capture card and the audio sound card and writes to output file capturefile rm producer vc 0 ac 0 o c capturefile rm Live Input Captu
55. configured to be encoded The bit rates and FPS as defined in the audiences are listed Encoding Statistics In this state the Statistics palette shows you the statistics during encoding The different statistics will update in real time giving you direct feedback on how the job is being encoded Statistics will not be updated during the analyzing phase of 2 pass encoding Summary Statistics In this state the Statistics palette shows you the actual statistics for the entire encoding job Some statistics such as FPS are listed as averages Using Logging Features When you use Helix Producer the program creates logs of various tasks that occur Similar to using statistics you can use these logs to see if an encode functioned as desired 78 CHAPTER 8 Starting and Monitoring an Encoding Job There are two ways to access the logs that are created You can use the Log Viewer or have Helix Producer create a Log File Using the Log Viewer The Log Viewer gives you a real time view of the log messages as they are being created when using Helix Producer You also have the ability to filter out types of information during encoding gt To open and use the Log Viewer 1 From the main window select the View menu item 2 Select Show Log Viewer The Log Viewer opens 3 Choose the types of information to be listed Errors Warnings Informational and Diagnostic by selecting che appropriate check boxes You can select and dese
56. cr Prefilter that crops out unwanted video Values are pixel values for left top width and height For example cr 2 2 320 240 Video Noise Filter nf Removes small distortions or static in the video image Value is low or high Examples nf low nf high 99 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide General Options Clip Information Options The following clip information options are available for use with the producer utility Title t The title for the recorded clip Use quotes if spaces are used The value can be any string up to 255 characters Example t A Slug s Life Author a The author of the recorded clip Use quotes if spaces are used The value can be any string up to 255 characters Example a Billy Shakespeare Copyright c The copyright owner and date for che recorded clip Use quotes if spaces are used The value can be any string up to 255 characters Example c Diznee 2001 Keywords k Keywords that will help search engines locate your clip Use quotes if spaces are used The value can be any string up to 1023 bytes Example k pets slugs Description de brief description of the clip Use quotes if spaces are used The value can be any string up to 64 kb Example de a gripping story about a man and his pet banana slug Content Rating r Defines the age range for which the content is applicable Available options are 0 No Rating 1 All Ages 2 O
57. data into packets RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 3 The data packets are streamed via the Internet or network to the user 4 At the user s end the same codecs are used to piece back the media so that he or she can play it While the steps involved in encoding streaming audio and video are similar for you for Helix Producer there are some basic differences between the media types Encoding audio is much simpler than encoding video A basic streaming audio clip is created by using a audio file or live audio source as the input Helix Producer uses various audio codecs to convert your standard audio into a format that can be streamed A more complex task for Helix Producer is converting standard video into streaming media A RealVideo clip is created by converting a video file or by capturing from a video source such as a video camera or video cassette player to your computer via a video capture card Helix Producer converts different attributes of the video such as frame rate type of motion and size of the image into a RealVideo clip using a video codec Plus if the video includes audio data that must also be converted using the audio codecs Targeting Audiences Before Helix Producer can compress the input media data it needs to know something about the audience that you will be targeting An audience is defined by the bit rate at which they can connect For example a person using a 56 kbps dial up modem t
58. ded sound may be clipped and appear distorted If the volume is too low it will be difficult to hear Use the 29 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide audio level meter in the Helix Producer window to monitor the level during encoding 7 Close the Recording Control window and return to the Helix Producer gt To add a Video device as the input 1 On the Helix Producer main window select Devices in the Input section 2 Select the video device for your computer from the pull down list 3 If you want to adjust the video recording capabilities of your video capture device click the Settings button next to the listed video capture device menu appears listing available settings dialogs for your video capture device Note Every video capture device will have a unique way of modifying how the video is captured The rest of this procedure will explain a few common settings Consult your device s manual for more information 4 Select the video dimensions in pixels This will determine how large your input video will be Some common sizes are 160 x 120 320 x 240 and 640 x 480 5 Select the video format This is how the capture card converts the video into digital video Some common formats are RGB YUY2 BTYUV YUV9 and YUV12 6 Select the video source Some video capture devices allow you to plug in various sources such as an S video input from a video camera a cable television cable or a web cam Adjust
59. ded video will look to your audience Input This section of the main window is where you decide what the source for your input will be You can select either an input file or an audio video device For more information on setting up the input see Chapter 5 Defining the Input for an Encoding Job on page 27 Output This section of the main window is where you decide where the encoded content will be sent You can choose to create a RealMedia file and or you can choose to send the content directly to a Helix Universal Server for a live broadcast Each of the destinations that you set up will be listed in the Output Manager For more information on setting up the output see Chapter 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job on page 35 Job Manager This section of the main window is where you can control the different encoding jobs that you have saved on your computer An encoding job is the container for all the settings you have selected for the encoding process the source used for the input the destinations used for che 14 CHAPTER 3 Getting Started With Helix Producer output and other settings that determine how the RealMedia content is created You ll learn more about setting up jobs and the Job Manager in Chapter 4 Setting Up an Encoding Job on page 21 Step by Step Creating a RealMedia File The following are the basic steps involved in creating a streaming RealMedia file that your audience can view on demand
60. dio Mode in the Encoding Settings dialog 4 Choose a RealAudio codec that you will use for the Music Codec This codec will be used for this audience when you choose Music as the Audio Mode in the Encoding Settings dialog 5 Click OK to save the setting to the audience Changing RealAudio Codecs for Audio Video Encoding Audio Video Encoding codecs are for when you are also encoding video data Thus you have less bandwidth to work with and need to select a lower bit rate for the codec 65 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide gt To change an audience s RealAudio codec used during audio video encoding 1 From the Audiences palette select an audience from the list of audiences that you have selected to use with your job Click the edit button The Audience Settings dialog for that audience opens In the Audio Video Encoding section choose a RealAudio codec that you will use for the Voice Codec This codec will be used when you choose Voice as the Audio Mode in the Encoding Settings dialog Choose a RealAudio codec that you will use for the Music Codec This codec will be used when you choose Music as the Audio Mode in the Encoding Settings dialog Click OK to save the setting to the audience Tip When you choose an audio codec for Audio Video encoding the resulting Video Bit Rate that can be used for the video portion of the encoding job is calculated and displayed for you Creating New A
61. e But they don t cover low frequencies such as a bass drum as well as normal codecs Sampling Rate The Sampling Rate column is the codec s optimum sample rate Using a codec s optimum sampling rate in your audio source file ensures that the audio stays synchronized with other media and prevents pitch shifting during audio resampling Audio quality degrades if you use lower than the optimum sampling rate If you use a higher sampling rate when creating the source audio it is best to use a multiple of the optimum rate If the optimum rate is 8 kHz for example use a higher rate of 16 kHz or 32 kHz When in doubt use a CD quality sampling rate of 44 1 kHz for your source audio For More Information The audio preparation chapter of RealNetworks Production Guide has an expanded list that covers 113 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide all RealAudio codecs including obsolete codecs no longer used by Helix Producer Voice Codecs Helix Producer uses a voice codec when you encode a voice only or voice with music clip The lowest speed voice codec normally used with RealAudio is 16 kbps The lower speed codecs can be used as duress streams in SureStream clips They are also used to encode soundtracks for low bandwidth RealVideo clips RealAudio Voice Codecs RealAudio Codec Sampling Rate 5 kbps Voice 8 kHz 6 5 kbps Voice 8 kHz 8 5 kbps Voice 8 kHz 16 kbps Voice 16 kHz 32 kbps Voice 22 05 kHz
62. e i ete ed Using Ice ed etr idee ed der Ode onn Using aEog desde 9 EDITING REALMEDIA FILES 81 Overview RealMedia Editor Opening a RealMedia File Navigating Along a Clip sirene et tg oe odere Gee ee hoon ioe Editing with the RealMedia Editor Editing a Clip s Beginning or Changing Clip Information sirener NDE eene Merging Image Maps or Events sssssssee mee eene Appending Other Clips to Your Advanced Editing Features e eee del e eMe Viewing Stream Information Changing RealMedia Editor Preferences vii RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 10 USING THE COMMAND LINE Overview Command Line Programs sss Hee Using the producer exe eee produce exe SYNSK ler cn er eter ertet NERE DENE Inputiand Output Options eee ese idee as did see iden General Options Encoding Options General Options Prefilter Options sssssssssee eem General Options Clip Information 100 General Options Screen Output e Information Options i ttr it ti deett ea re Hera Examples nien tee ur een ds Encoding With aJob File tute et e ete tee ret Creating an Audience File eret teer reae ea taedia dan Using the rmeditor exe Utility
63. e previously created using the template To add these changes to a job you must remove the destination from the output list in that job then add a new destination using the revised template gt To edit a Server Template 1 From the main window select Edit gt Server Templates from the main menu The Server Templates dialog opens giving you a list of all Server Templates saved on your computer 2 Select a template from the list 3 The template s settings appear in the right side of the dialog 4 You can now edit the settings for the template using the procedures described in the above sections 5 Click Apply to save the changes to the template You can also create a new template by clicking the Duplicate button This way an entirely new template name will appear in the list of templates and a new Server Template file is saved on your computer Adding Clip Information Adding clip information allows you to attach pertinent information about your streaming content such as the title who created it and a few keywords that describes your clip to your potential audience This information is used to help your audience find out more about your content gt To add information about the output clip 1 In the Job Manager select a job 2 From the Helix Producer main window select Settings Show Clip Information The Clip Information palette opens 3 Enter the following information in the corresponding areas a Ti
64. e time between updates Listen Address This is the IP address of your machine where Helix Producer will listen for resend requests from the server Choose an IP address from the drop down list Allow Helix Universal Server Packet Resend Requests If this setting is selected Helix Producer will allow requests from the server to resend lost data packets Helix Universal Server has a similar option If the server does not have the option selected selecting it here will have no effect Forward Error Correction Percentage FEC packets are used to strengthen the stream against data packet loss They accomplish this by containing redundant information about the preceding packets This redundant information can be used to reconstruct the stream in the event of packet loss The value entered here indicates the percentage of packets that are FEC packets The greater the percentage the greater the packet loss that can be handled If you set this setting to 100 you are creating a redundant stream to protect against packet loss Forward Error Correction Latency When the FEC percentage is 100 creating a redundant stream che FEC latency defines the number of seconds to separate each redundant packet Multicast Time to Live This value indicates the number of router hops that the stream will cross before being blocked The higher the value the less you limit the spread ofa multicast but it is less secure CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an
65. e time to open if the clip is large in size gt To change Helix Producer preferences 1 Select Preferences from the Tools menu The Preferences dialog opens 87 88 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 2 Select either Accurate or Quick to designate how you want Helix Producer to open new RealMedia files Quick plays back the selection immediately with out delay but audio and video may not play exactly as they would in the saved clip For example frames of video at the beginning of a clip may appear different And audio may not stop precisely at the end of a clip Accurate saves the selection to a temporary file and can take longer for long selections The preview however will look and sound exactly like the saved clip 3 Click OK to return to the main window 10 USING THE COMMAND LINE This chapter shows you how to run Helix Producer from the command line The Helix Producer command line application gives you the ability to encode streaming media both as files and as a live broadcast You will also learn about other installed utilities that allow you to use the command line to create and modify streaming media files Overview Command Line Programs The following command line programs are available to you The producer exe command line application allows you to create RealMedia files and broadcast to a server from RealNetworks Using commandis you have the ability to s
66. ealMedia file as a destination telling Helix Producer to take the encoded output and save it as a RealMedia file A RealMedia file is a saved file that can be published later to a Helix Universal Server and then streamed to an audience This method of encoding a file for later use is termed on demand encoding In other words your audience can experience your content when they demand it On demand encoding is the primary use for using a RealMedia file as a destination secondary use for using a RealMedia file as a destination is to archive a live broadcast For this method you set up both a Server Destination and RealMedia file as destinations The exact encoded output that is sent to che server is also saved as a file in real time Thus your live broadcast is stored in a permanent form and can be streamed on demand after the broadcast is complete Another benefit to encoding a RealMedia file is that you can view your content after it has been encoded And if either the encoded audio or video does not meet your expectations you can adjust encoding settings and re encode gt To define a RealMedia file as a destination 1 From the main window select File Add File Destination The Save As dialog opens 2 Browse to the directory where you want the RealMedia file to be located 3 Entera name for the file The extension is automatically provided by Helix Producer Note Normal RealMedia files are saved with a rm extention How
67. eaming media It gives you a brief look at how streaming works the different types of streaming media that you can create with Helix Producer and the different RealNetworks products that you use when streaming What is Streaming Media Streaming media is also known as RealMedia or separately as RealAudio or RealVideoG Before the advent of streaming media your audience had to wait for your media file to download from the Internet or a network server in order to experience it With streaming media your audience can see and hear your media almost instantly streaming clip consists of small packets of information that are sent over a network connection The user receives these information packets in a stream and using a player experiences your media piece by piece Thus the streaming is almost invisible to the user The process is similar to viewing a film each frame of a filmstrip is like each data packet When they are pieced together by a projector you see the film as one continuous piece How is Streaming Media Created Helix Producer creates streaming media data packets by a process called encoding During encoding the source media is transformed into streaming media using codecs compression decompression algorithms The entire process is summed up in the following steps 1 Helix Producer receives the source media as a file or live audio video 2 Helix Producer uses a codec to compress the media source s
68. ed line shown in the timeline marks the current position in the clip To move the line either drag it with your mouse or click with the mouse button at a point in the timeline When the line is at the new position the Clip Viewer shows the current video frame Using Buttons Using the navigation buttons is another way to navigate Click the Play button to start the clip And click Stop when you reach the desired point in the clip Using Keyframes Keyframes are video frames that are encoded pixel for pixel into RealMedia A RealMedia clip consists of a number of keyframes with the other in between frames based on the information from the keyframes Video clips must have at least one keyframe 82 CHAPTER 9 Editing RealMedia Files Click the gt gt button to go to the next keyframe in the clip and click the to go to the previous keyframe in the clip Navigating with keyframes allows you to quickly jump to a main section of a clip Using Edit Points Edit points are simply other possible points at which you can edit a clip These points are designated by the smallest block of audio data that a clip can be split up into There are no edit points in a video only clip so you can edit the clip at any point Click the gt button to go to the next edit point in the clip and click the button to go to the previous edit point in the clip Editing with the RealMedia Editor This section shows you how use the RealMedia Edito
69. eight deinterlacePrefilter enabled true manual false deinterlace true inverseTelecine true videoNoiseReductionPrefilter enabled true level low blackLevelPrefilter enabled true 124 APPENDIX B Job File Reference audioGainPrefilter enabled true gain 0 inputCroppingPrefilter Contains settings for cropping the size in pixels of the video input Properties enabled The state of the filter Value can be True or False left The left side of che cropping region top The top side of the cropping region width The width of the cropping region height The height of the cropping region deinterlacePrefilter Contains settings for De interlace and Inverse Telecine filters that adjust the input video Properties enabled The state of the filter Value can be True or False manual Value can be True or False If False default the filter will apply the De interlace and Inverse Telecine filter if appropriate If True the filters you specify to be used will be used deinterlace Determines if the De interlace filter is used Value can be True False inverseTelecine Determines if the Inverse Telecine filter is used Value can be True or False videoNoiseReductionPrefilter Contains settings for the reducing video noise from the input video Properties 125 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide enabled The state of the filter Value can be True or False level Specifi
70. ents or complete lines of programming syntax markup syntax emphasis Bold syntax character formatting is used for program names and to emphasize specific syntax elements variables Italic syntax character formatting denotes variables within fragments or complete lines of syntax options Square brackets indicate values that you may or may not q y y y need to use As a rule when you use these optional values you do not include the brackets themselves choice 1 choice 2 Vertical lines or pipes separate values that you can choose between Ellipses indicate nonessential information omitted from examples Introduction Additional Documentation Resources In addition to this introductory guide you may need the following resources which are available for download at http service real com help library encoders html Introduction to Streaming Media Start with this guide if you are new to streaming media or RealNetworks products Written for the beginning user it explains how to put together a basic presentation using different production techniques RealNetworks Production Guide This guide is the main reference manual for streaming media production It expands on most of the topics presented in this introductory guide Refer to it for instructions and tips on media production as well as for complete information about using SMIL RealOne Player Scripting Guide If you are a Web programm
71. eo Options button The Advanced Video Options dialog opens 4 Enter a number for the Maximum Time Between Keyframes a value between 0 and 60 seconds 5 Click OK to save the changes Enabling Loss Protection You also have an option to add error correction information to the encoded file that will harden the file against packet loss when streaming These lost packets may be reconstructed by the player gt To enable loss protection 1 From the Audiences palette select an audience from the list of audiences in your job 2 Click the Edit button The Audience Settings dialog for that audience opens 3 Click the Advanced Video Options button The Advanced Video Options dialog opens 4 Select whether you want to use Loss Protection 5 Click OK to save the changes Adjusting Audio Stream Settings for an Audience All streaming audio clips use a RealAudio codec Codec is a short name for compressor decompressor algorithm Helix Producer uses RealAudio codecs to tell a computer how to convert audio input into streaming audio clips On the receiving end decoding software such as RealOne Player use these same codecs to expand the streaming clips into digitized audio data RealNetworks has developed an array of RealAudio codecs and each one is designed for a type of audio encoded at a specific bit rate For example one CHAPTER 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job RealAudio codec compresses mono music for 32 kbps A
72. ep instructions for installing the product onto a Windows machine Windows System Requirements The following table lists the minimum and the recommended requirements for using Helix Producer on Windows Windows Requirements Requirement Minimum Recommended CPU 400 MHz 800 MHz RAM 32 MB file to file encoding 256 MB 96 live broadcasting Operating System Windows NT 4 SP 6 Windows NT 4 SP 6 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows ME Windows 98 SE XP Hard Disk space 20 MB software Hard Disk space data 500 MB 1GB Color Display 16 bit 24 bit TrueColor Sound Card 16 bit sound card or better RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Installing the Windows Version Follow this procedure to install che product onto a computer running Windows gt To install Helix Producer onto Windows 1 2 Download the installation program Close any other applications that may be open and double click on the installation program icon The installer begins by unpacking the required files for Helix Producer installation When complete the installer opens to the License Agreement page Read the terms and conditions carefully and select I accept the terms in thelicence agreement if you agree You can click Cancel at any time to abort the installation Click Next to continue The Serialization page opens Enter your name company name and serial number you received when y
73. eps involved in encoding streaming The remainder of this manual will give you more details about the steps involved Before You Begin Learning About Helix Producer The first step in learning about a program is to start it and familiarize yourself with the interface This section introduces you to the Helix Producer main window describing each section And it shows you how to open the various palettes that you will use when preparing to encode streaming media Starting Helix Producer The first step is to open the product and familiarize yourself with the Helix Producer main window gt To open Helix Producer From the Windows Start Menu select Programs gt Helix Producer The Helix Producer main window opens 13 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide The Helix Producer Main Window The main window is your workspace Here you will prepare to encode by adding inputs outputs and other settings and you will also view the actual encoding of the RealMedia The following is a list of some of the important sections within che main window Input Audio Video This section of the main window includes an audio meter that allows you to view the audio gain volume from the input audio Also the Input video screen allows you to view the source video Output Audio Video This section of the main window includes an audio meter that shows the output audio gain Also the Output video screen allows you to see how the enco
74. er refer to this guide for instructions about using Javascript or VBScript with RealOne Player Using these scripting languages you can customize RealOne Player to turn it into your own Internet jukebox for example Helix Universal Server Administration Guide The basic reference for the Helix Universal Server administrator this guide explains how to set up configure and run Helix Universal Server to stream multimedia You need this guide only if you are running Helix Universal Server yourself It is available at http service real com help library servers html Technical Support To reach RealNetworks Technical Support you can contact their Web site by choosing Help gt Technical Support from the Helix Producer main menu The information you provide in this form will help Technical Support personnel respond promptly For general information about RealNetworks Technical Support visit this Web page http service real com RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION This chapter shows you the hardware and software requirements for Helix Producer and how to install the product Instructions are given for the following operating systems Windows and Linux Windows Requirements and Installation This section outlines the basic hardware and software requirements needed to run Helix Producer in a Windows environment This section also gives you step by st
75. ersal Server for a live broadcast You will learn in this chapter how to set up both types of destinations And you will learn how to set information about the output clip that will be sent to your audience Overview Output and Destinations The output for a job is the encoded media created by the Helix Producer from the input media source To define where the output will go once it is encoded you specify the destinations for the encoded media There are two types of destinations that you can define for an output RealMedia files and Helix Universal Servers A file is used when you are encoding for on demand streaming A server is used when you are encoding a live broadcast Destinations for a job s output Output HH p RM File n oo oo oo Helix Heli Producer Serve Helix Server 1 35 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide You can specify multiple destinations for the output all of which will receive the encoded media From the main window you will see a list of destinations already defined for a job appearing in the output list Each destination you add to the output is independent If there is a problem that stops encoded data from reaching one destination the other destinations still receive the data For example you can add a server and a file destination If che connection to the server is lost Helix Producer continues to send the output to the file destination Creating a RealMedia File You can use a R
76. es New Graphic Interface gives you a more usable workspace RealVideo 9 Encoding allows you to create the best quality video for any bit rate especially at high bandwidth rates Encoding Jobs allow you to save and share your encoding settings such as sources used destinations encoded to and other settings RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Multiple Destinations send the encoded output to more than one Helix Universal Server or to a file and a server simultaneously Audience Templates allow you to save and share information about your target audience such as codec used target bit rate and target frame rate Server Definition Templates allow you to save and share information about setting up a Helix Universal Server for live broadcasting Enhanced Live Broadcasting new broadcasting models such as Push and Pull that allow you to better customize your Helix Universal Server connection Logging allows you to track important events that occur during encoding Conventions Used in this Guide The following table explains the typographical conventions used in this guide Notational Conventions Convention Meaning emphasis Bold text is used for in line headings user interface elements URLs and e mail addresses terminology Italic text is used for technical terms being introduced and to lend emphasis to generic English words or phrases syntax This font is used for fragm
77. es the type of noise reduction used Value can be low or high blackLevelPrefilter Contains settings for filtering the black level of the input video Properties enabled The state of the filter Value can be True or False audioGainPrefilter Contains settings for changing the audio level from the input audio Properties enabled The state of the filter Value can be True or False gain The amount of audio gain increased or decreased Value can be from 12 to 12 Example lt prefilters gt lt deinterlacePrefilter gt lt deinterlace type bool gt true lt deinterlace gt lt enabled type bool gt true lt enabled gt lt inverseTelecine type bool gt true lt inverseTelecine gt lt manual type bool gt false lt manual gt lt deinterlacePrefilter gt lt audioGainPrefilter gt lt enabled type bool gt true lt enabled gt lt gain type double gt 0 000000 lt gain gt lt audioGainPrefilter gt lt prefilters gt Output Section This section contains information about the output for the encoding job It includes information about the destinations for the encoded output and how the media is encoded Structure 126 APPENDIX B Job File Reference output destinations fileDestination pushServer pullServer g2PushServer mediaProfile audienceRef audioMode music videoMode normal disableAudio false disableVideo false outputWidth Input Width outputHeight Input Height resizeQuality high
78. et 127 mediaProfile co NE RE ane ted A 131 5 5 dese edt diese itte ee deu ec 133 stu R MEE ir avgBitrate maxBitrate Streams oet edt ur Ui oth oo Most MA a TE ELM LUN DENS ENDER RENE INDEX 139 Contents RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide INTRODUCTION Welcome to the Helix Producer 9 0 from RealNetworks User s Guide from RealNetworks This manual shows you everything you need to know about Helix Producer a program that allows you to convert audio and video into streaming media Using Helix Producer anyone can easily create streaming media from a variety of sources Convert from audio or video files record directly from audio video A V devices or use Helix Producer together with Helix Universal Server to broadcast and stream live content What is Helix Helix from RealNetworks is a universal digital media delivery platform With industry leading performance integrated content distribution advertising user authentication Web services support and native delivery of RealMedia Windows Media QuickTime and MPEG 4 Helix from RealNetworks is a robust digital media foundation that meets the needs of enterprises and networking service providers New Features for This Version Helix Producer is completely new and redesigned for version 9 The following is a summary of some of the key new featur
79. et up input devices use video prefilters select destinations and change audience settings For more information see Using the producer exe Application below The rmeditor exe utility allows you to change information about a RealMedia file trim the length of the clip combine multiple RealMedia files and create a text file containing the file s information For more information see Using the rmeditor exe Utility on page 107 The rmevents exe utility allows you to merge image map and event text files into an existing RealMedia file and extract events and image maps from a RealMedia file into a text file For more information see Using the rmevents exe Utility on page 108 Using the producer exe Application The producer exe application is fully functional giving you the same encoding capabilities as che Helix Producer main interface This application is also designed for users who want to encode a batch of files using wildcards 89 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide There are two ways to use this application The first way to use producer is to run the program typing in options and their values for the different aspects of the encoding process The second way is to create a job file and run the program with that job file A job file is a saved text file that shows Helix Producer how to run an encoding session The rest of this section shows you the full syntax of the producer exe application then breaks d
80. ever if you are encoding a Variable Bit Rate VBR 36 CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job RealMedia file Helix Producer saves the file with a rmvb extension to distinguish it from normal RealMedia files See About VBR Encoding on page 68 to learn more about VBR files 4 Click Save Your new destination file is shown in the Output list If a destination already exists for the job che new destination will appear on the list below it RealMedia File Size Determining the size of a RealMedia file depends on the choices you made when you choose the encoding settings As a general rule if you set Helix Producer to create a better quality output the size of the RealMedia file will be larger Settings that can affect file size include number of audiences encoded total bit rate of audio and video for each audience See Chapter 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job on page 55 for more informations about how to change the above settings When a RealMedia file reaches the operating system s file size limit 4 GB on Windows 2GB on Linux it will start a new file The new file will have the same name as the old file but with a 1 added for example file rm and file1 rm You can combine these files together using a SMIL file Refer to the RealNetworks Production Guide for more information Broadcasting Live to a Server You can choose to use a Helix Universal Server as a destination for the encoded output
81. ience will encode streaming media 2 Choose the audience or audiences that you want to encode for 3 Edit any audience to reflect your encoding needs 4 Save the modified audience as a template This step is optional Each of the above steps are covered in more detail chroughout this chapter Adjusting Encoding Settings for All Audiences You can change various settings to reflect how you want Helix Producer to encode the final streaming media These settings allow you to adjust che output depending on a number of factors 55 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide type of audio if any that is encoded style of the video if any that is encoded video codec that you want to use to encode the video whether to use a high quality resampler when encoding the audio whether to use 2 pass encoding whether the video is resized These encoding settings will affect all destinations that you have defined in the output Each setting can be found in the Encoding Settings section of the Audiences palette To open the Audiences palette click the Audiences button on the main window Tip Any changes you make to the Audiences palette will be automatically updated for the current job You can leave the palette open as you continue to set up a job or switch to another job Setting the Audio Mode When you select che Audio Mode you are telling the Helix Producer the type of audio being encoded You can choose betwee
82. ine your stream such as for archiving purposes address The address of the Helix Universal Server being broadcast to Use any valid IP address port For account based auth Type this is the authentication monitoring port on Helix Universal Server For single password auth Type this is the starting port for sending packets and it must match the receiver configuration defined on the Helix Universal Server endPort The ending port used for sending packets Used with single password authType only username The user name of a valid Helix Universal Server account Used with account based auth Type only password For account based auth Type this is the valid password on the Helix Universal Server used in conjunction with the user name For single password auth Type this is the password used to encrypt and decrypt packets before transmission to the Helix Universal Server savePassword Allows you to save the password if value is True Value can be True or False APPENDIX B Job File Reference transport The transport protocol used to connect to the Helix Universal Server Value can be udp unicast udp multicast or tcp See Transport Protocols on page 43 for more information about protocols listenAddress The address that Helix Producer uses to listen for resend requests from the broadcasting Helix Universal Server Use any valid IP address multicastAddress The multicast address used for the broadcast if trans
83. ing Input Video Once an input is added to a job Helix Producer gives you a variety of filters to improve the quality of video that comes from your source You can crop the input video to a size more to your liking and you can apply an array of filters to the input video The rest of this section shows describes these methods 30 CHAPTER 5 Defining the Input for an Encoding Job Cropping the Input Video Helix Producer s cropping feature allows you to record any portion of a video image that you wish When you crop video you reduce the amount of data that needs to be encoded while also removing unwanted image area Your input must contain video to use cropping and the smallest size chat you can crop an image to is 32 x 32 gt To crop an input video image 1 From the main window click the Video Filters button The Video Filters palette opens 2 Select the checkbox labelled Cropping Yellow lines appear on the preview section of the Video Filters dialog Note The part of the video region that these yellow lines outline is the part of the video that will be encoded 3 Using the mouse cursor select and drag these yellow lines to crop the input video to the desired size 4 You can also type in the Left Top Width and Height dimensions of the desired video size in pixels Using the Black Level Correction Filter The Black Level Correction filter is used to adjust the brightness of the input effectively making black areas
84. io only encode using as much as 2 times as much CPU for live broadcasting or taking twice as long to encode for file to file encoding Choosing fast does not incur additional CPU but the encoded output will have a slightly lower quality In all cases there is no pitch shift incurred by the audio resampler For example arq fast General Options Prefilter Options The following prefilter options are available for the producer utility CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line Audio Gain Filter ag Prevents the audio signal from clipping by applying dynamic range compression as well as offering gain control to increase or decrease the gain of the signal The value is any number from 12 0 to 12 0 For example ag 0 Black Level Filter bl This filter is designed to make black colors darker If the source video has a washed out appearance use this filter to help restore proper color No value is required Example bl Inverse Telecine and Deinterlace Filters di Specifies use of inverse telecine and or deinterlace filters If you are unsure whether input was created using the telecine or interlace processes you can specify autodetect Values is auto d i or both where auto Autodetect and apply De interlace and Inverse Telecine filters as needed d Use De interlace filter only i Use Inverse Telecine filter only both Apply both de interlace and Inverse Telecine Example di auto di i Crop Video Input
85. iption gt n keyword lt keywords gt Using the rmevents exe Utility The rmevents exe utility lets you encode HTML page URLs into a RealMedia clip You can even target a specific HTML pane in RealOne Player s three pane environment Using rmevents exe you can also encode clip information such as title author and copyright and create image maps with clickable hot spots in different shapes For More Information To learn more about RealOne Player s three pane environment download Introduction to Streaming 108 CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line Media with RealOne in PDF or zipped HTML format from http service real com help library encoders html Writing an Events File You first create an events file which is a plain text file that uses the standard text extension of txt This file describes events that occur as the clip plays You write each event on a separate line and you can use a pound sign to start a comment line Each event line follows this format flag start time end time event syntax The flag indicates the type of event which can be either to display clip information or to open a URL in RealOne Player HTML pane automatically The starting time and ending time are relative to the start of clip playback You indicate the time value with the following format in which only the seconds field is required dd hh mm ss x Note Define each event on a single line within the events text file Do not press
86. ive Labs Inspire 5 1 Digital 5700 speaker system will play surround sound audio Mono Music Codecs As with the voice codecs the lowest speed mono music codec normally used with RealAudio is 16 kbps The lower speed codecs can be used as duress streams in SureStream clips and to encode soundtracks for low bandwidth RealVideo clips When there are two versions of a codec Helix Producer uses the high response version by default RealAudio Mono Music Codecs RealAudio Codec Sampling Rate 6 kbps Music 8 kHz 8 kbps Music 8 kHz 11 kbps Music 11 025 kHz 16 kbps Music 22 05 kHz 20 kbps Music 22 05 kHz 20 kbps Music High Response 44 1 kHz Table Page 1 of 2 117 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 118 RealAudio Mono Music Codecs continued RealAudio Codec Sampling Rate 32 kbps Music 44 1 kHz 32 kbps Music High Response 44 1 kHz 44 kbps Music 44 1 kHz 64 kbps Music 44 1 kHz Table Page 2 of 2 APPENDIX JOB FILE REFERENCE This appendix provides a reference for job files created with Helix Producer It shows you the basic structure of a job file and gives you details about the different sections within a job file Overview Job Files Job files are XML based files that you edit using any text editor These files can be used with either the main Helix Producer interface or the command line application to customize the settings that you will u
87. jobs 9 Click OK to save the Server Destination Advanced Broadcast Options The following options allow you to define different aspects of che broadcast stream You can adjust how often the broadcast will attempt to reconnect what and how often information is shared between Helix Producer and Helix Universal Server and how the broadcast is protected against lost data You use the Advanced Options Push dialog box to set these options To open this dialog box click on the Advanced Options button on the Server Destination dialog box The following Advanced options can be set Attempt to Reconnect For TCP you have the option to force Helix Producer to attempt to reconnect to the server if there is a lost connection You can also specify the amount of time Helix Producer waits between attempts 41 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 42 Metadata Resend Interval Helix Producer sends metadata simple text information about the stream to the server on a regular basis The server needs to receive this information before it can properly broadcast the stream When you set this value you determine how often the metadata text will be sent in the stream Consequently this value affects how quickly the server can reconnect if the stream is disconnected for any reason Statistics Update Interval Helix Universal Server sends back various statistics to Helix Producer during a broadcast This option allows you to specify th
88. k for your encoded stream Choose an address from the drop down list b Path The directory path on the Helix Universal Server where your broadcast will be accessed by your audience example mydirectory This setting is optional c Producer Listening Port The port located on the Helix Producer s computer where a server can look for your encoded stream d Password Password used to authorize connections from the server You can also select to save your password If you need to set the following option only recommended for advanced users click the Advanced Options button Helix Universal Server Connection Timeout 49 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 50 If you select this setting you are allowing a server to try to connect again after a connection fails You can set how long the server must wait before the attempted connection is aborted 7 Click OK to close the Advance Options Push dialog 8 Optional To save these settings as a Server Template a Click che Templates button b Select Save as Template The Server Destination is now saved as a Server Template that you can use for other encoding jobs 9 Click OK to save the Server Destination Setting up a Legacy Push Broadcast Before you can connect to a legacy version of Helix Universal Server before version 9 you will need to know some vital information about the server Within the procedure below is a list of the primary information a
89. lder Children 3 Younger Teens 4 Older Teens 15 amp Up 5 Adult Supervision Recommended 6 Adults Only Example r 1 100 CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line General Options Screen Output Options You can use the following screen output options with the producer utility Logging Category lc Determines the level of logging messages used Informational messages are low volume and high importance while diagnostic messages are high volume and generally low importance Values are error warning info and diagnostic Value may be abbreviated Examples lc error warning diagnostic lc err warn info lc e w i d Disable Logging to File dlf Suppresses logging to file No value is required Example dlf Disable Logging to Screen dls Suppresses logging to the screen No value is required Example dls Quiet q All output is disabled Useful if you are running the producer from within another application that fails if data output to standard output or standard error No value is required Example q Information Options The following information options are available for use with the producer utility Help h Returns help for using the command line producer No value is required Example h 101 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Print Device Information pd Extracts audio and video device information from the system for use in the d option See Audio Video Devi
90. le audioMode music videoMode normal disableAudio false disableVideo false outputWidth InputWidth outputHeight InputHeight resizeQuality high audioResamplingQuality high audienceRefs audienceRef Properties audioMode Describes the type of audio included in the encoded clip The choice here affects the type of audio codec used to encode the output Value can be either voice or music videoMode Describes the type of video content included in the encoded clip This setting controls the target quality of the encoded video based on your choice Value can be sharp normal smooth or slideshow disableAudio If False then audio is disabled for the output Value can be True or False disableVideo If False then video is disabled for the output Value can be True or False outputWidth The width of the output video image in pixels A value between 32 and 2048 results in the output being scaled to fit If value is 0 and outputHeight is 0 chen no resizing occurs If value is 0 and height is between 32 and 2048 then width is computed such that the aspect ratio of the input video is maintained outputHeight The height of the output video image in pixels A value between 32 and 2048 results in the output being scaled to fit If value is 0 and output Width is 0 then no resizing occurs If value is 0 and width is between 32 and 2048 then height is computed such that the aspect ratio of the input video is maintained APPENDIX
91. lect these types chroughout encoding and the information will be updated automatically 4 Choose the Functional Areas that you want the logging messages to cover 5 After encoding you can save the messages as a text file by clicking the Save Messages button You can also determine how many messages are stored in the log viewer so that you only keep a reasonable limit of messages gt To change Log Viewer preferences 1 From the main window select Edit Preferences The Preferences dialog opens 2 Select the Log Viewer category 3 Enter the number of messages you want to keep in the Message Buffer Size field 4 Click OK to save the preference Using a Log File Log File can also be created when you run an encoding job This file is a simple text file that contains the log messages that were created When you create a log file you can subsequently view and print it using a text editor 79 80 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide gt To create a Log File 1 From the main window select Edit Preferences The Preferences dialog opens 2 Select the Log File category 3 Choose to Enable logging to file 4 Click che Browse button to change the directory for the log file Or you can use the default location 5 Enter a name for the log file using log as the extension 6 You can set the maximum size for the log file by choosing to roll the file by size or by encoding time New log files are c
92. lips that you want to encode there exists a balance of needs On one hand you want to preserve the quality of the encoded video during the high action scenes But on the other hand you need to keep the encode bit rate at a level at which your audience can view the video without interruption by buffering Variable Bit Rate VBR encoding gives you the ability to balance these needs when you encode with an Audience Template About VBR Encoding Most video clips have different scenes with various levels of complexity Complexity can arise when there is a large amount of motion in the video such as a car chase where there are many subjects moving in different directions Naturally complex video scenes are the most difficult for Helix Producer to encode When you set Helix Producer to encode at a constant bit rate CBR all scenes regardless of their complexity are encoded equally Thus highly complex scenes lose video quality once encoded With VBR however these complex scenes are treated differently When you specify a target bit rate for encoding it is usually below the actual bit rate for the connection For example a 384 kbps DSL Cable modem audience will be targeted at 350 kbps This extra bandwidth is generally saved for network congestion or similar constraints on the transfer of the encoded data If you were to specify a CBR near the threshold bit rate your audience would lose che connection or suffer rebuffering often VBR
93. live server output using the Legacy broadcast method available with older versions of Helix Universal Server For a detailed description of Pull broadcasting and the settings you need see Setting up a Legacy Push Broadcast on page 50 Properties name The name of the server destination streamname The name of the live stream used to identify the live broadcast Use any valid file name and path For example live rm path Used if you want to use additional path information to define your stream such as for archiving purposes address The address of the Helix Universal Server being broadcast to Use any valid IP address port The port on Helix Universal Server being broadcast to It should match the encoder port setting on Helix Universal Server username The user name of a valid Helix Universal Server account password This is the valid password on the Helix Universal Server used in conjunction with the user name savePassword Allows you to save the password if value is True Value can be True or False transport The transport protocol used to connect to the Helix Universal Server Value can be udp unicast or tcp See Transport Protocols on page 43 for more information about protocols mediaProfile This sub section defines settings for how the output is encoded plus it defines the audiences used for encoding 131 132 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Structure mediaProfi
94. ll broadcast method available in Helix Universal Server 9 and greater For a detailed description of Pull broadcasting and the settings you need see Setting Up a Pull Broadcast on page 48 Properties name The name of the server destination streamname The name of the live stream used to identify the live broadcast Use any valid file name and path For example live rm path Used if you want to use additional path information to define your stream such as for archiving purposes listenAddress The address used by Helix Producer to listen for Pull broadcast connection requests from a Helix Universal Server Use only a valid IP address listenPort The port used by Helix Producer to listen for Pull broadcast connection requests from a Helix Universal Server Value can be any integer from 1 65535 password The password used by Helix Producer to initiate Pull broadcast requests Must match the Broadcast Distribution Pull Receiver Password set in Helix Universal Server savePassword Allows you to save the password if value is True Value can be True or False serverTimeout The number of seconds Helix Producer will wait for a ping from the Helix Universal Server before assuming that no clients are connected to the stream and then close the broadcast connection Value can be any integer from 0 86400 APPENDIX B Job File Reference g2PushServer G2 Push Server destination contains information required for a
95. low Helix Producer to connect to Helix Universal Server 5 Click OK to save the destination You ll learn more about setting up a server as a destination in Broadcasting Live to a Server on page 37 18 CHAPTER 3 Getting Started With Helix Producer Step 3 Encode Your Source to a RealMedia Broadcast Stream Now that the input and the output are set you can encode the RealMedia live broadcast The encoded RealMedia content will be created using default settings gt To encode a RealMedia file 1 Click the Encode button The encoded output video will appear in the Output Video Viewer 2 If you are encoding a file you can wait for the file to finish encoding or you can stop early by clicking the Stop button 3 If you are encoding from a device click the Stop button For more information on encoding see Starting an Encoding Job on page 73 Step 4 Play the Clip Once your audience has connected successfully to your server to view the streaming media content they will use a player to view it A RealOne Player is all they need The RealNetworks Web site http www realnetworks com has more information about each version and how to install and use them 19 20 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 4 SETTING UP AN ENCODING JOB This chapter describes how to set up a job using the Helix Producer main window if you are using the Windows operating system You will learn what an enc
96. mation on RealAudio codecs Table 1 Music RealAudio Codecs Name Flavor RealAudio Codec Used cook 8 6 kbps Music cook 0 8 kbps Music cook 1 11 kbps Music cook 26 12 kbps Stereo Music RA 8 cook 2 16 kbps Music Table Page 1 of 3 CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line Table 1 Music RealAudio Codecs continued Name Flavor RealAudio Codec Used cook 17 16 kbps Stereo Music RA8 cook 3 20 kbps Music cook 15 20 kbps Music High Response cook 9 20 kbps Stereo Music cook 18 20 kbps Stereo Music RA8 cook 19 20 kbps Stereo Music High Response RA8 cook 4 32 kbps Music cook 16 32 kbps Music High Response cook 10 32 kbps Stereo Music cook 20 32 kbps Stereo Music RA8 cook 21 32 kbps Stereo Music High Response RA8 cook 5 44 kbps Music cook 11 44 kbps Stereo Music cook 22 44 kbps Stereo Music RA8 cook 23 44 kbps Stereo Music High Response RA8 cook 29 44 kbps Surround Audio cook 6 64 kbps Music cook 12 64 kbps Stereo Music cook 24 64 kbps Stereo Music RA8 cook 27 64 kbps Surround Audio atrc 0 66 kbps Stereo Music RA8 atrc 1 94 kbps Stereo Music RA8 cook 13 96 kbps Stereo Music cook 25 96 kbps Stereo Music RA8 cook 28 96 kbps Surround Audio atrc 2 105 kbps Stereo Music RA8 atrc 3 132 kbps Stereo Music RA8 atrc 8 132 kbps Surround Audio atrc 4 146 kbps Stereo Music RA8 Table Page
97. mplates that you have created 4 Click on Save As Template The Server Destination is now saved as a Server Template The next time you click on the Templates button the template will appear in the list When you have Server Templates saved on your computer you can use those templates to define a destination in your job This gives you a quick way to set up a Server Destination gt To use a Server Template as a destination 1 From the main window select File Add Server Destination The Server Destination dialog opens 2 Click che Templates button All of the Server Templates that you have created are listed 3 Select a template from the list The settings associated with the template appear automatically in the Server Destination dialog 4 Click OK to return to che main window Editing Server Templates All Server Templates are editable Thus you don t have to completely recreate a template if you only need to make a small change to it You edit a template using the Server Templates dialog This dialog also shows you all Server Templates that have been saved to your machine It allows you to quickly scan through the different templates so that you can edit them or review their settings When you make changes to a Server Template you are only making the changes to the information saved in the template file Thus the changes will CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job not take place in any jobs that wer
98. n 47 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Setting Up a Pull Broadcast Pull broadcasting is different from Push broadcasting in that a connection with a server is not made until the broadcast is requested by a RealOne Player The broadcast will still be encoded but it will not be sent to the server until requested This method gives you the most control over the broadcast from the server side of the connection It is best for when your broadcast must always be available but is seldom played because some time is needed for the first RealOne Player to request the broadcast the server to relay the request to the producer and then for the producer to send the broadcast to the server Another benefit is that bandwidth is saved since no broadcast is sent unless requested The figure below shows you the interaction between Helix Producer Helix Universal Server and RealOne Player in a Pull broadcast Pull broadcast details Request Request BH 4 Bn BH oo Helix Encoding Sent to Helix RealOne Producer Begins Server Server Player Not Yet Sent In Step 1 Helix Producer begins encoding live streaming media but the output is not sent out as a broadcast In Step 2 an audience member uses his or her RealOne Player to request the broadcast from a Helix Universal Server In Step 3 the server makes a request to the producer that a broadcast should begin Within this request the
99. n Voice and Music for the Audio Mode Separate audio codecs exist that encode either voice data or music data better Each audience that you will select has different codecs assigned for either Voice Audio Mode or Music Audio Mode Thus this setting allows you to specify that either a Voice codec or a Music codec is used when you are encoding your audio If you are unsure of which Audio Mode to choose because your audio content is mixed the Music codecs provide the greater range and work best in mixed use cases Also if you are encoding at a high bit rate the Music codecs can give you a better quality even for audio that contains all spoken word Setting the Video Mode The Video Mode you select in the Audiences palette should determined by che amount of motion within the video Examples of video clips with lots of motion are shots of people running or quick pans of the camera from one CHAPTER 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job person to another and back again with each person talking in an animated fashion Alternately examples of video without motion are simple shots y P P without any panning or shots of scenery You can choose from the following For clips with a wide range of motion the best setting is Normal Motion If you desire better clarity during scenes with much motion you can choose the Sharpest Image mode This mode will use more encoding time on the clarity of the image but at the expense of fr
100. n to list values on your system You can also use wildcards Examples vp 0 vp Composite 1 93 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Video Format vf Linux only option Specifies the video format of the input video capture device Value can be NTSC PAL SECAM AUTO or an integer Examples vf SECAM vf 8 Audio Video Device Duration d Specifies the amount of time before the job ends and encoding from the device stops Duration can be specified in Days Hours Minutes Seconds d h m s ms The default is an infinite duration Here are some examples d 90 90 seconds d 1 00 00 1 hour Output File or Directory The file name for the output RealMedia file or the directory if multiple input files are used batch encoding If multiple files are used the output names are automatically generated If the specified output directory does not exist it will be created The general file extension for RealMedia files is rm If you are encoding with Variable Bit Rate VBR you must use the rmvb extension Examples o C files movie rm o C output variable rmvb o C Movies Push Server Server 9 sp Settings required for a live server output using the Push Broadcast method available in Helix Universal Server 9 and greater Value is password address startPort endPort streamname Where password Password for encoding to server Required If included the authentication
101. ng the Video If you want the video of the encoded output to be resized you can make that adjustment in the Audiences palette Enter a value in pixels for the new height and width If you leave these settings blank the size of the original video will be used for the encoded output video If you resize the video to a much larger size the output video will not have the same quality If you want to keep the original video s ratio of height to width in the output video select Maintain Aspect Ratio If you do not keep the original ratio che output video image will appear stretched or squashed If you are also cropping the input video the crop will occur before resizing See Cropping the Input Video on page 31 for more information on cropping video CHAPTER 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job Using the High Quality Resizing Filter Whenever you resize input video you can degrade the quality of the image The High Quality Resizing filter is designed to make up for this degradation if it is selected for resized video The trade off is that more processing and time is needed during the encode to fix the resized video gt To turn on the High Quality Resizing filter 1 From the main window click the Video Filters button The Video Filters palette opens 2 Select the checkbox labelled High Quality Resize When selected the filter is enabled Choosing Audiences Before you encode you choose the audience or audiences
102. nother compresses stereo music for that same bit rate For a detailed list of RealAudio codecs see RealAudio Codec Reference on page 113 RealAudio codecs squeeze down the audio data from the source by in part throwing out data which makes RealAudio a lossy compression format RealAudio doesn t delete data indiscriminately though It first jettisons portions you can t hear such as very high and very low frequencies Next it removes as much data as needed while keeping certain frequencies intact The type of codec you choose voice mono or stereo determines which frequencies stay and which go Voice encoding favors frequencies in the normal human speaking range Music mono and stereo encoding retains a broader frequency range Changing RealAudio Codecs for Audio Only Encoding There are two types of encoding that you can choose RealAudio codecs for Audio Only Encoding and Audio Video Encoding Audio Only codecs are used when the input for a job has no video data just audio gt To change an audience s RealAudio codec used during audio only encoding 1 From the Audiences palette select an audience from the list of audiences that you have selected to use with your job 2 Click the edit button The Audience Settings dialog for that audience opens 3 In the Audio Only Encoding section choose a RealAudio codec that you will use for the Voice Codec This codec will be used for this audience when you choose Voice as the Au
103. o connect to your stream is a member of the 56K Modem audience If you target only one audience you are targeting a single bit rate Single bit rate streaming RRRRRRRERRERRERRREA Single Bit Rate Real Media Player Since compressing data loses some information picking the correct audience is key to deciding how much of your source s data you keep With Helix Producer s SureStream technology you can reach the widest possible audience and provide all users with the best listening and viewing experience optimized for their bandwidth CHAPTER 2 Streaming Media Basics SureStream streaming SureStream 56 Kbps Media BHEHENHNBHHNEHHHEHHEHHEHEEHEEENH EHEHEHHBHEHNEHNHHEHHEHHEHHEHNHEHNEHEHEHENH 1 112 Kbps 256 Kbps Players There are advantages to using SureStream You can create a single RealMedia clip recorded for multiple target audiences or you can create a clip that will automatically switch to a lower bandwidth during poor network conditions SureStream RealMedia files can combine several different streams that take advantage of these features For example you can record a video clip for 56 kbps 112 kbps and 256 kbps audiences and RealOne Player will automatically use the correct stream based on the user s connection speed All streams are contained within a single RealMedia file About Other RealNetworks Products Helix Producer is a member of the RealNetworks family of software products Three components
104. o return to the main window 6 To save the new clip select File gt Save RealMedia File As and give the newly edited file a new name Merging Image Maps or Events Image maps are text files that create clickable fields within a RealMedia file When clicked by the audience a certain action such as opening a company s Web site occurs Events are similar to image maps except the action happens automatically during playback without any audience interaction For an image map or an event to work during playback they must be merged to a RealMedia file RealMedia Editor gives you the ability to merge these files to a RealMedia file gt To merge an image map into a RealMedia file 1 Open a RealMedia file 2 Select Merge Image Maps from the Tools menu The Merge Image Map File dialog opens 3 Locate the image map text file that you will merge select it and click Open RealMedia Editor merges the image map to the RealMedia file creating a new Untitled clip the original clip is closed gt To merge an event into a RealMedia file 1 Open a RealMedia file 2 Select Merge Events from the Tools menu The Merge Events File dialog opens 85 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 3 Locate the events text file that you will merge then select it and click Open Helix Producer merges the event to the RealMedia file creating a new Untitled clip the original clip is closed Appending Other
105. o store bits that will be necessary during high action scenes The larger the value the longer the user before the clip starts but the video s quality will be better gt To set the startup latency 1 From the Audiences palette select an audience from the list of audiences in your job 2 Click the Edit button The Audience Properties dialog for that audience opens 3 Click the Advanced Video Options button The Advanced Video Options dialog opens 4 Enter a number for the Maximum Startup Latency between 4 and 25 seconds 5 Click OK to save the changes Setting the Maximum Time Between Keyframes This setting allows you to choose how often keyframes are encoded Keyframes are frames of video that are encoded in their entirety In between these keyframes each frame of video is encoded as a change from the earlier keyframe Thus less information about the video needs to be encoded Typically the RealVideo codec will put a keyframe when needed the scene changes drastically but will put one every ten seconds if not needed If you add more keyframes more information will be encoded resulting in a greater bit rate required to stream the clip 63 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide gt To set the time between keyframes 1 From the Audiences palette select an audience from the list of audiences in your job 2 Click the Edit button The Audience Properties dialog for that audience opens 3 Click the Advanced Vid
106. o your audience It enables users to stream the media clips rather than download them By streaming the content the user can begin to watch the clip almost immediately and doesn t have to wait for the entire file to be downloaded There are two different ways to deliver your content You can deliver it on demand or broadcast it live On demand means that you encode your RealMedia content before your audience needs it Live broadcasting is when you are encoding the RealMedia at the same time your audience is playing it For both types of delivery you can use Helix Universal Server in conjunction with Helix Producer Client Software A client such as RealOne Player plays the streamed media Helix Universal Server also supports streaming content to QuickTime and Windows Media Players 3 GETTING STARTED WITH HELIX PRODUCER This chapter gives you a quick look at how to use Helix Producer to encode streaming media It will introduce you to the Helix Producer interface and then it will guide you step by step through some basic encoding tasks You will learn the basics on encoding a RealMedia file from a source file and you will learn the basics of capturing and encoding live RealMedia Note The information in this chapter is intended for the beginning user of Helix Producer It is not meant as a substantive guide to using the product only a starting point that introduces you to the product and shows you the general st
107. ocol that you will use See Transport Protocols on page 43 for a description of the protocols available to you 6 Now enter the other Broadcast Method Settings for the Server Destination using the following list for a description of the settings a Server Address The IP address or name of che Helix Universal Server used for the broadcast example server real com b Path The directory path on the Helix Universal Server where your broadcast will be accessed by your audience example mydirectory This setting is optional c Port Range Specifies a range of ports on the server that will be sent packets Using a range of ports instead of just one minimizes the load on any one socket s memory thereby keeping the server from dropping packets from any one overloaded port The default range is 30001 30020 d Password Your password needed to connect to the server You can also select to remember your password for future connections to the same server 7 If you need to set the Advanced Broadcast options only recommended for advanced users click the Advanced Options button See Advanced Broadcast Options on page 41 for more information on setting these options 8 Optional To save these settings as a Server Template a Click che Templates button b Select Save as Template 45 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide The Server Destination is now saved as a Server Template that you can use for other encoding jobs
108. oding job is how to create and save jobs and how to use multiple jobs at once About Encoding Jobs The encoding job or job is a file that you use to show Helix Producer how to encode RealMedia A job contains all of the settings for the different aspects that make up your encoding session On a basic level when you set up a job you are defining what the input is how the input is encoded into streaming media and where the encoded output will be sent The following diagram illustrates this flow The basic structure of a job Job a Helix Server E Input ae Output Y n nu Encoding Sources Destinations The following is a list of che different parts of a job Input the source media file or live audio video that you will use to encode RealMedia Encoding Job Settings settings that show Helix Producer how to interpret the input and then encode into streaming media Some 21 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide examples of job settings are whether or not to analyze data before encoding which filters to use to process video data what specific audience or audiences will be targets and what information about the encoded clip will be shown to your audience Output the destinations RealMedia file and or live broadcasts to servers for the encoded RealMedia All of these parts that make up a job are described in greater detail throughout the remaining chapters But first this chapter shows you
109. oks like it was created with a telecine conversion b Select Manual and then select either filter that you want to be applied When selected the filters are enabled Using the Video Noise Reduction Filter Video noise appears as static in your input video This noise can appear in video for a variety of reasons poor capture cards cameras or storage The noise filter removes this noise from the input video prior to encoding It is recommended that you do not use the video noise filter unless your video has some distortion or static Using this filter especially che High setting will degrade the quality of undistorted video gt To adjust the Video Noise Reduction filter 1 From the main window click the Video Filters button The Video Filters palette opens 2 Select che checkbox labelled Video Noise Reduction 3 You have two options a Select Low and Helix Producer will filter out some video noise 32 CHAPTER 5 Defining the Input for an Encoding Job b Select High and Helix Producer will filter out a significant amount of noise As mentioned above the High setting will degrade undistorted video 33 34 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 6 DEFINING THE OUTPUT FOR AN ENCODING JOB This chapter describes how to define the destinations for the output of your encoding job You can send the encoded output to be saved as a RealMedia file for on demand streaming or to a Helix Univ
110. om 1 to 65535 Default is 4040 streamname valid stream name 95 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Examples sg name pass realserver yourcompany com live rm sg jdoe letmein 172 16 0 34 4040 meeting rm Server Definition or Server File sd May be either the name of a Server defined within the Helix Producer or a Server File located anywhere on the hard drive If a Server File is referenced the full filename must be included including file extension The producer application will search for a filename matching the filename first and then look in the Servers defined within the Helix Producer If relative paths provided for server files the location is relative to the working directory Value is username password ServerDefinition streamname Where ServerDefinitio A string representing a Server Definition defined within the Helix n Producer or the name of a Server File with extension Examples sd janedoe letmein RBN Hosting Server live rm sd Server1 live radio rm sd janedoe letmein C settings Server1 rpsd live rm General Options Encoding Options You can use the following encoding setting options with the producer utility Audience Definitions or Audience Files ad This option provides a list of Audience Definitions defined within the Helix Producer The name of the audience may be abbreviated with the first few letters The closest matching audience is used For example 28k Dial up
111. on location 1 From the main window select Edit Preferences The Preferences dialog opens 2 Select the File Locations category 3 Choose to Automatically create a file for each job 4 Select one of the following options a Same Location as Source File saves the file in the same directory as the media file used as the source b Other allows you to specify the full path of the file directory 75 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 5 Click OK to save the preferences Changing Template Directories You can change the default directories where your templates will be stored gt To change the default template directories 1 From the main window select Edit Preferences The Preferences dialog opens 2 Select the File Locations category 3 In the Audience Template field either type in the full path name or click the Browse button to find the directory you wish to use 4 In the Server Template field either type in the full path name or click che Browse button to find the directory you wish to use 5 Click OK to save the preferences Changing the Temporary Storage Directory Helix Producer uses a temporary directory while encoding to save data that it needs to complete the encode You can adjust where this directory is located gt To change the temporary storage directory 1 From the main window select Edit Preferences The Preferences dialog opens 2 Select the File Locations category 3
112. orks RealVideo 8 video codec Copyright 1995 2002 RealNetworks Inc Portions Copyright 1999 2000 Intel Corporation All rights reserved RealNetworks RealVideo 9 video codec Copyright 1995 2002 RealNetworks Inc Portions Copyright 1999 2002 Intel Corporation All rights reserved RealNetworks RealAudio 8 audio codec Copyright 1995 2002 RealNetworks Inc ATRAC3 audio codec by Sony Corporation Copyright 2000 All rights reserved STLport included under license from Boris Fomitchev The following text pertains only to STLport STLport c 1999 2000 Boris Fomitchev STLport is provided as is with absolutely no warranty expressed or implied Any use is at your own risk Permission to use or copy this software for any purpose is hereby granted without fee provided the above notices are retained on all copies Permission to modify the code and to distribute modified code is granted provided the above notices are retained and a notice that the code was modified is included with the above copyright notice The Licensee may distribute binaries compiled with STLport whether original or modified without any royalties or restrictions The Licensee may distribute original or modified STLport sources provided that The conditions indicated in the above permission notice are met The following copyright notices are retained when present and conditions provided in accompanying permission notices are met Copyright 1994
113. oses control of how packets are resent and the timeliness of entering them into the stream This means that situations occur when a packet is requested by the network and it is resent even if the packet is no longer needed the stream is past its time to be decoded This situation results in unnecessary network utilization and reduced efficiency TCP is best for use across a firewall where packet loss is greatest so that the stream can be adequately sent to the server Setting Up a Password Only Push Broadcast This type of broadcast is only recommended if you have experience setting up live broadcasts with servers and if you are an administrator of the server that 43 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide you will use for the broadcast or you are working in coordination with the administrator of that server The benefit to using a Password Only broadcast is that an initial authenticating connection does not need to be made between Helix Producer and Helix Universal Server before the broadcast can begin Only a password is needed to authenticate and that is sent with the broadcast However setting up a Password Only broadcast is difficult without access to the server itself because with no initial connection there is no feedback from the server if the broadcast fails And if it is set up incorrectly your broadcast will not reach the server The figure below shows you the interaction between Helix Producer Helix Universal Se
114. ou purchased Helix Producer Click Next to continue The Install Options page opens The default install directory that Helix Producer will install to your computer is listed You can change this default install directory by clicking the Browse button and selecting the new path You also have the options to select whether a shortcut to Helix Producer will be created on the desktop and or on the Quick Launch toolbar and whether command line tools will be added to your PATH Warning You must have enough disk space and write access to the location where you intend to install Helix Producer If not you will not be able to continue the installation Click Next to continue The install program installs all necessary files and opens the Finishing Up page CHAPTER 1 System Requirements and Installation 10 Choose whether you want to launch Helix Producer and or the Readme file when you exit the install program 11 Click Finish to exit Linux Requirements and Installation This section outlines the basic hardware and software requirements needed to run Helix Producer in a Linux environment This section also gives you step by step instructions for installing che product onto a Linux machine Linux System Requirements The following table lists the minimum and the recommended requirements for using Helix Producer on Linux Linux Requirements Requirement Minimum Recommended Version Linux 2 2 and 2 4
115. ount Based Login Push using Password Only Login e Multicast Push Pull Legacy Push for pre Helix Universal Servers 38 CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job Setting Up an Account Based Push Broadcast Account based Push broadcasting is the standard way of transmitting encoded streaming media through the server to the audience It is a the best choice for when you want the reliability of the new Helix features but also want a simple method to set up The main benefit of Push broadcasting is that when your audience connects to the server there is no delay caused by connecting the producer to the server The audience receives the data quickly since the server has the information about your broadcast indexed The figure below shows you the interaction between Helix Producer Helix Universal Server and RealOne Player in an Account based broadcast Account Based Push broadcast model Initial Connection Request Bcc Be 4 oo oo Helix Helix RealOne Producer Server Player In Step 1 Helix Producer establishes an initial connection with a Helix Universal Server With this connection Helix Producer sends a username and password that the server will attempt to authenticate In Step 2 once the broadcast is authenticated the server sends back information to the producer over the same initial connection This information tells the producer how to make the broadcast connection in the nex
116. own all of the options into different sections giving a description of each option Finally some examples of common uses are provided producer exe Syntax This section shows you the basic syntax to encode streaming media with the producer command line application It also gives you a brief description of the options you can use with the application Use the references to find more detailed information about these options located later in this chapter The basic syntax of the producer exe command line application is as follows producer input output general options Where input is one of the following producer exe Command Line Input Options Option Value Function Reference ac audioDeviceID Specifies the audio capture input device page 93 ID ap audioPort Indicates the port of the audio capture page 93 input 1 filename ext Sets the input file name page 93 videoDeviceID Specifies the video capture input device ID page 93 videoPort Indicates the port of the video capture page 93 input vf videoFormat Linux Only Specifies the video format of page 94 the video capture device CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line And where output is one or more of the following producer exe Command Line Output Options Option Value Function Reference 0 filename rm Sets the output file name page 94 sg Username Password
117. player version it may be best to select an older codec 57 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Using the High Quality Audio Resampler When the audio sample rate of the source audio is different chan required from the audio codec Helix Producer must resample the audio If you choose this option the resampled audio will be of a higher quality but che encode will need more resources more time for encoding on demand and more processing power for live encoding Using 2 Pass Encoding In the Audiences palette you can also select whether or not you want Helix Producer to use 2 Pass Encoding every time that it encodes RealMedia for the job This setting will only be in effect when you are encoding files as your input to a RealMedia file output i e it is not applied for live capture or live broadcasts If you define your input and output even one of multiple destinations as anything other than files this setting will be ignored As its name indicates each time a job is encoded with 2 Pass Encoding enabled the encoding process will be comprised of two passes The first pass analyzes the data in the input media file to determine where the most bits are required in the file The second pass encodes the file using the analysis provided by the first pass Using this feature results in better video for your RealMedia file but the drawback is that the encoding process will take longer than encoding in a single pass Resizi
118. port is set to udp multicast Use a valid multicast address multicastT TL The number of router hops that a multicast stream will cross before being blocked by the router Limits the spread of a multicast Value can be any integer from 1 255 fecPercent The percentage of stream allocated to forward error correction packets If value is 100 a redundant stream is created Value can be from 1 100 fecOffset The number of seconds used to offset FEC packets when fecPercent is set to 100 Value can be any integer from 1 9999 metadataResendlnterval The number of seconds that Helix Producer will wait between sending header packets packets that contain information about the broadcast to theHelix Universal Server allowResends Whether or not to accept reject requests from the Helix Universal Server to resent packets Value can be True or False enableTCPReconnect Whether or not to enable TCP reconnects when the broadcast is dropped by the Helix Universal Server Value can be True or False TCPReconnectInterval If enableTCPReconnect is True determines how long to wait in between reconnect attempts Value can be any integer from 1 3600 statisticsUpdatelnterval The number of seconds in between updates of statistics sent from the Helix Universal Server 129 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 130 pullServer A Pull Server destination contains information required for a live server output using the Pu
119. pyright text comment C text Any comments about the clip startTime S dd hh mm ss xyz Sets clip start time endTime e dd hh mm ss xyz Sets clip end time logFile L filename log Gives path to the log file dumpFile d filename txt Sets the path to the dump file Table Page 1 of 2 107 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide rmeditor exe Utility Options continued Flag long and short Value Function description Describes the file contents keywords Provides a list of keywords Table Page 2 of 2 Getting Information from a RealMedia File Use the following syntax to create a text based dump file that contains information about an encoded RealMedia file rmeditor inputFile filename rm dumpFile filename txt Editing Metadata rmeditor inputFile filename outputFile lt filename gt t title lt title gt a author lt author gt c copyright lt copyright gt q description lt description gt n keyword lt keywords gt Cutting and Pasting Files rmeditor 1 input inputFile input s startTime dd hh mm ss xyz e endTime lt dd hh mm ss xyz gt i input inputFile input s startTime dd hh mm ss xyz e endTime lt dd hh mm ss xyz gt output outputFile lt filename gt t title lt title gt a author lt author gt c copyright lt copyright gt q description lt descr
120. r to edit a RealMedia clip You will learn how to edit out the beginning or end of a clip how to change clip information how to merge either an image map or an interactive event to a clip and how to append another clip to the current clip Editing a Clip s Beginning or End With RealMedia Editor you can edit out the beginning or the end of a clip This section shows you how to mark the points for editing and gives you tips on editing out sections of your clip gt To edit out the beginning or end of a clip 1 Open a RealMedia file 2 Navigate to the point at which you want to mark the beginning of the edited clip 3 Click the Mark In button On the timeline the beginning of the clip is marked by a bracket and the rest of the clip that remains has a darker grey color The new beginning time of the clip is also shown 4 Navigate to the point at which you want to mark the end of the edited clip 5 Click the Mark Out button 83 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide On the timeline the end of the clip is marked by a bracket and the clip that is between the two brackets has a darker grey color The new ending time of the clip is also shown 6 Click the Play Selection button to play the marked section of the clip and verify that the clip is edited properly 7 If you are satisfied with the new clip select File gt Save RealMedia File As and give the newly edited file a new name Editing Tips
121. rameRate gt maxKeyFrameInterval type double gt 10 lt maxKeyFrameInterval gt lt enableLossProtection type bool gt false lt enableLossProtection gt lt videoStream gt eventStream Defines settings for an event stream Properties avgBitrate Bit rate for event stream in bits per second Value can be from 1 1000 imageMapStream Defines settings for an image map stream Properties avgBitrate Bit rate for image map stream in bits per second Value can be from 1 1000 137 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 138 INDEX A JAccount based Push 39 Allowing packet resend requests 42 Archiving 36 Aspect ratio 58 Attempt to Reconnect 41 Audience files creating 104 Audience statistics 76 Audience Templates 60 creating 66 editing 67 Audiences choosing 59 editing 61 overview 55 Audio codecs 64 live as source 29 monitoring levels 74 resampling 58 Audio Bit Rate statistics 76 Audio mode selecting 56 Audio Video encoding 65 Audio only encoding 65 Author 53 author attribute in events file 110 B Batch encoding 24 Bit rate 61 Black Level Correction 31 Broadcasting Account based Push 39 Multicast 46 Password only Push 43 Clip information changing 84 setting 53 clipinfo parameter in events file 110 Clips playing 17 19 Codecs audio 64 defined 9 high response 116 mono music 117 RealAudio 113 stereo 114 surround 116 video 57 voice
122. re for Broadcast The following example captures audio and video and streams to a standard Helix Universal Server using streamname live rm producer v 0 2 ac 0 s janedoe pass realserver mycompany com 4040 live rm Capture with Audience Targets The following example captures audio and video and streams both to a server and to a file It also targets the 56k and 150k audiences producer v 0 2 ac 0 s me letmein realserver abc com 4040 Live rm 0 archive rm ad 56k 150k Clip Information The following example shows you how to encode using clip information a title author and copyright producer i myfile mov o output rm t Summer Vaction a John Doe k Cape Cod Summer Vacation 2001 de Video from summer vacation in Cape Cod Prefilters The final example shows you how to use prefilters Here the example uses the audio gain with a value of 4 audio mode of music resizes to 240 high by maintaining aspect ratio uses high quality resize applies a black level filter and performs auto detection of De interlace and Inverse Telecine producer i vacation mov o vacation rm ag 4 am music rs 240x0 rq high bl di auto Encoding With a Job File When you use a job file all encoding options are listed within the file and you need to pass a maximum of two options on the command line Use the following syntax when encoding with a job file producer j job filename sa Username Password ServerDefinition 103 RealNet
123. ream for 28k Dial up 28k Dial up Wireless 26 kbps Substream for 56k Dial up 56k Dial up 64k Single ISDN 128k Dual ISDN 150k LAN Local Area Network 256k DSL or Cable modem 384k DSL or Cable modem 512k DSL or Cable modem 768k DSL or Cable modem Download VHS quality Download DVD quality 12 kbps 16 kbps 20 kbps 20 kbps 26 kbps 34 kbps 45 kbps 80 kbps 150 kbps 225 kbps 350 kbps 450 kbps 700 kbps 750 kbps 1500 kbps To use an Audience Template to define an audience for your encoding job 1 Open the Audiences dialog 2 Select an Audience Template from the list of Templates 3 Click the right arrow button gt A copy of the settings is the selected Audience Template is transferred into the job and the audience name appears in the list of audiences used for the job 4 Use the templates to copy as many audiences as you need to your job While you can add a number of audiences each one that is added adds more encoding time and uses computing resources during the encode It is recommended to use two or three different ones that you know you need You can also remove an audience that has been added to a job CHAPTER 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job gt To remove an audience from your encoding job 1 Open the Audiences dialog 2 In the list of Audiences In Job select the audience that you want to remove 3 Click the Delete button to delete the audience from the li
124. reated if the limit is met preserving the old information 7 Select the contents that you want to be logged a Choose the log format Short format logs only the job name and message and Detailed format also logs the category functional area time and message number b Choose the types of information to be listed Error Warning Information and Diagnostic c Choose what functions to be logged from the Functional Areas list 8 Click OK to save the preferences 9 EDITING REALMEDIA FILES RealMedia Editor allows you edit existing RealMedia files You can edit the length of a file cutting either the beginning or end ofa clip You can change the title author and other clip information You can also can merge image maps or interactive events into a RealMedia file Overview RealMedia Editor RealMedia Editor is installed automatically when you install Helix Producer either the Windows or Macintosh version Click on File Edit RealMedia File from the Helix Producer main window to begin Once you have started RealMedia Editor the main window opens for you Below is a brief tour of the main window introducing each element to you Main Menu the menu items at the top of the window allow you to access different functions of this program Clip Viewer a video window that shows the video portion of the clip Timeline a graphical representation of the input file You can move the slider to any keyfr
125. rectory to the location where you want the file to be saved 3 Enter a name for the RealMedia file that will be created Note If you selected a media file as your source a default name will be created that you can keep or change 4 Click Save You ll learn more about setting up a file as a destination in Creating RealMedia File on page 36 Step 3 Encode Your Source into RealMedia Now that the input and the output are set you can encode the RealMedia file The encoded file will be created using default settings gt To encode a RealMedia file 1 Click che Encode button The encoded output video will appear in che Output video screen 2 If you are encoding a file you can wait for the file to finish encoding or you can stop early by clicking the Stop button 3 If you are encoding from a device click the Stop button For more information on encoding see Starting an Encoding Job on page 73 Step 4 Move Your Clip to a Server You can now use a server to deliver your RealMedia file to your audience You use a Helix Universal Server to stream your clip over the Internet or to an Intranet Helix Universal Server is a separate software product created by RealNetworks that allows you to stream live or recorded RealAudio and RealVideo files to anyone using a RealOne Player The server can work with CHAPTER 3 Getting Started With Helix Producer Web servers to stream media over the Internet or to users on a corporate
126. requency at which the video stream is updated with new frames This value is measured in frames per second A high frame rate gives a smoother appearance to the motion of the video because more frames are sent per second to the audience s players A lower frame rate can give a choppy appearance to the video And a very low frame rate will make the video appear like a number of still images Some examples of common frame rates are 24 frames per second fps is standard for film whereas 30 fps is the standard for NTSC broadcast video For lower bit rates a frame rate of 10 15 fps is generally the best compromise of motion and quality gt To set the target frame rate for an audience 1 From the Audiences palette select an audience from the list of audiences that you have selected to use with your job CHAPTER 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job 2 Click the Edit button The Audience Properties dialog for that audience opens 3 In the Target Frame Rate field enter a number from 0 01 to 30 4 Click OK to save the settings to this audience Adjusting Advanced Video Stream Options In addition to the above basic settings for che video stream you can adjust more advanced settings that give you more control about how the video stream is created Setting the Maximum Startup Latency This settings allows you to set the maximum time the clip will pre buffer before playing begins The pre buffer time is used by the video codec t
127. roadcast even though usually live audio and video is captured for a live broadcast You use the Input section of the main window to choose the source for the input 17 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide To select a source 1 In the Input section of the main window select either Input File Devices 2 If you select a file for the input a Enter the media file s full path and file name b Or click Browse and find the media file 3 If you select a device for the input a Select an audio device for encoding the audio portion of your input b Select a video device for encoding the video portion of your input if you are encoding video You ll learn more about setting up a source in Chapter 5 Defining the Input for an Encoding Job on page 27 Step 2 Select a Server Destination for the Output You can only use a Helix Universal Server to stream a live broadcast with Helix Producer In order to do this you must create a Server Destination Your system administrator will have all the information you need to create the Server Destination gt To create a Server Destination 1 In the Output section click the Server Destination button The Server Destination dialog opens As mentioned above these settings will have to be filled out with help from your system administrator 2 Enter a name for the RealMedia file that will be used by the server 3 Enter the name for the Server 4 Enter settings that al
128. rver and RealOne Player in a Password Only broadcast Password Only Push broadcast model Request Helix Helix RealOne Producer Server Player In Step 1 che broadcast connection using the correct password is made between Helix Producer and Helix Universal Server When the broadcast begins the encoded packets are sent to the server regardless of whether any players have requested the broadcast In Step 2 an audience member uses his or her RealOne Player to request the broadcast from the server In Step 3 Helix Universal Server sends the encoded packets that it has been receiving to the audience member s player which begins decoding and playing the streaming media broadcast This type of broadcast is recommended only if you have much experience setting up live broadcasts with servers gt set up a Push Password Only Login Server Destination 1 From the main window select File Add Server Destination The Server Destination dialog opens 2 Enter a Destination Name CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job This name will appear in the Output section in the main window And if you save these settings as a Server Template it will be the name of the template 3 Enter a Stream Name for the encoded output This is the name of the file that will be used for the live broadcast 4 Select Push Password Only Login Server 9 from the Broadcast Method list 5 Select the type of connection prot
129. s Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 176 kbps Surround Audio 44 1 kHz 264 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 264 kbps Surround Audio 44 1 kHz 352 kbps Stereo Music RA8 44 1 kHz 352 kbps Surround Audio 44 1 kHz Table Page 2 of 2 Stereo Music Basics The biggest difference between stereo and mono music is that mono music has one channel that gets sent to both speakers Stereo music has separate channels for the left and the right That means a stereo version of an audio clip needs to hold more data than a mono version Yet Helix Producer can make stereo and mono clips for the same bandwidth How can it do this The answer lies in the codecs frequency responses Remember RealAudio is a lossy compression scheme that throws out data The stereo codec squeezes 115 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide both channels down to the same size as the mono codec by throwing out more data for each channel This makes its frequency response lower To put it simply a stereo clip doesn t represent all frequencies as accurately as a mono clip You ll hear the two channels but they may not sound as crisp as a mono channel This means that a mono codec may be a better choice for low bit rates Stereo music steps into the limelight at higher bandwidths The higher che streaming speed the better the stereo frequency response The stereo music codecs were specifically created to create CD quality stereo music for broadband and portable music users A
130. se for encoding Job File Structure The following is an overview of the structure of the elements within the job file and how they are nested job enableTwoPass clipInfo entry gt input avFileInput captureInput prefilters gt output mediaProfile postfilters gt prefilters gt destinations fileDestination pushServer gt pullServer gt g2PushServer gt audiences audience streams 119 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide audioStream gt streamContext videoStream eventStream imageMapStream gt A job file s structure can be divided into five main sections job section clip information section input section output section and audiences section Each section and their sub elements are documented separately below Job Section The top level of the job file is che job section This section contains all tags within the job file enableTwoPass This setting determines whether 2 Pass encoding is used for the job Value can be True or False Clip Information Section In this section the metadata information about the encoded clip is stored For each entry included a name value pair exists This section is optional Structure clipInfo entry name value entry Each entry element contains one metadata information as a name value pair number of standard metadata name value pairs are supported by Helix Producer but you may add your own 120 APPENDIX B Job File Reference
131. sending the encoded streaming media directly to a server and then to your audience as soon as it is being encoded This method of encoding is called live broadcasting 37 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Live broadcasting Live Live HH Stream Stream nu lt 88 oo Helix Helix joris ayer eonicas Producer Server To initiate the live broadcast you need to tell Helix Producer some information about the server This information is saved as a Server Destination You can add more than one Server Destination to a job When a job has more than one Server Destination defined for it the encoded media is sent to each server at the same time There are two ways to use Server Destinations 1 Create a Server Destination just for the encoding job If you use this method you set up a server as your destination but che settings you use can t be used for other jobs 2 Use a Server Template as a destination If you want to use the Server Destination in future encoding jobs you can also save it as a Server Template Using this method a file is stored on your computer with all the settings you have defined for the Server Destination See Using Server Templates on page 51 for more information The rest of this section defines the different broadcasting methods available to you and shows you how to set up a Server Destination for each method The following is a summary of the methods Push using Acc
132. server sends the information needed to start a broadcast Also once a broadcast connection is made the server will continue to send requests that the broadcast is kept alive as long as the player is also requesting the broadcast keep alive requests In Step 4 the broadcast connection is made between Helix Producer and Helix Universal Server The broadcast will continue until the producer within a specified time does not receive requests from the server to keep it alive CHAPTER 6 Defining the Output For an Encoding Job In Step 5 Helix Universal Server sends the encoded packets that it has been receiving to the audience member s player which begins decoding and playing the streaming media broadcast gt To set up a Pull Server Destination 1 6 From the main window select File gt Add Server Destination The Server Destination dialog opens Enter a Destination Name This name will appear in the Output section in the main window And if you save these settings as a Server Template it will be the name of the template Enter a Stream Name for the encoded output This is the name of the file that will be used for the live broadcast Select Pull Server 9 from the Broadcast Method list Now enter the Server Settings for the Server Destination using the following list for a description of the settings a Local IP Address The IP address on the Helix Producer s computer where a server can loo
133. show the jobs that have been added and are waiting to be modified or encoded This section shows you some of the benefits of using multiple jobs and some tips on how to use them effectively Batch Encoding Setting up more than one job to encode one after the other is called batch encoding Batch encoding is most useful when you have a number of files that you need to encode using virtually the same settings 24 CHAPTER 4 Setting Up an Encoding Job gt To encode a batch of jobs 1 Create multiple jobs and add them to the Job Manager Tip To create a number of jobs with the exact same settings select a job and drag and drop media files into Helix Producer new job is created for each file with the same settings as che selected job You can also duplicate a job by right clicking on a job and selecting Duplicate from the menu 2 Select the batch of jobs that you want to encode To do this select each job by using the CTRL key while selecting or you can select a group of jobs with the SHIFT key 3 Encode the batch of jobs by clicking the Encode button Each job that is in the batch will encode in series This means that only one job will encode at a time For more instructions on encoding see the chapter entitled Starting and Monitoring an Encoding Job on page 73 Multi Tasking Between Jobs When you multi task you don t have to wait for a job to finish encoding before you can continue working with Helix Prod
134. source Use the format D h m s xyz Default is infinite audioDevicelD Sets the audio capture device that will be used as the source for the input audioDevicePort Sets the audio port that will be recorded from videoDevicelD Sets the video capture device that will be used as the source for the input 123 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide videoDevicePort Sets the video port that will be recorded from videoFormat The video transmission format for the source video Default is NTSC videoFrameWidth The width in pixels of the video image that will be captured by the video capture device Default is 0 the last device setting or default will be used videoFrameHeight The height in pixels of the video image that will be captured by the video capture device Default is 0 the last device setting or default will be used Example lt captureInput gt lt duration type duration gt 01 20 00 000 lt duration gt lt pluginName type string gt rn capture av lt pluginName gt videoDeviceID type string gt MSVIDEO XYZ Capture Driver lt videoDeviceID gt lt captureInput gt prefilters Prefilters can be used nested within either the avFileInput sub section or the captureInput sub section Using prefilters adjusts the input video or audio data before encoding They are optional Structure prefilters inputCroppingPrefilter enabled true left 0 top 0 width input width height input h
135. st 4 Select Push Multicast Server 9 from the Broadcast Method list 5 Enter the Broadcast Method Settings for the Server Destination using the following list for a description of the settings a Multicast Address The multicast IP address that Helix Producer will broadcast to This address is a virtual IP address that will be used by each server to access the broadcast b Path The directory path on the Helix Universal Server where your broadcast will be accessed by your audience example mydirectory This setting is optional c Port Range Specifies a range of ports on the server that will be sent packets Using a range of ports instead of just one minimizes the load on any one socket s memory thereby keeping the server from dropping packets from any one overloaded port The default range is 30001 30020 d Password Your password needed to connect to the server You can also select to remember your password for future connections to the same server 6 If you need to set the Advanced Broadcast options only recommended for advanced users click the Advanced Options button See Advanced Broadcast Options on page 41 for more information on setting these options 7 Optional To save these settings as a Server Template a Click che Templates button b Select Save as Template The Server Destination is now saved as a Server Template that you can use for other encoding jobs 8 Click OK to save the Server Destinatio
136. st Editing Audiences Selected for a Job While the Audience Templates that are installed with Helix Producer are created specifically for the target bit rate you can fine tune these settings once you have copied the template into your encoding job When you edit a job s audience the changes you make will only apply to the current job and not to the Audience Template itself See Creating New Audience Templates on page 66 for information on editing a template This section describes the different settings that make up an audience and shows you how to change them to suit your needs Adjusting Video Stream Settings for an Audience One component of an audience is the video stream The way in which Helix Producer creates the stream for the audience is based on a variety of settings that you can adjust Encoding a video stream is a complex task so there are a variety of settings that you can use to adjust how the video codec creates the output video stream You can set a target for the bit rate set a target frame rate and other advanced options Setting the Bit Rate for a Video Stream The bit rate for an audience s video stream is the rate at which encoded information bits will be sent to your intended audience You can adjust this to any number you wish but it should be realistic A 56 kbps modem won t be able to receive 100 kbps It won t even be able to receive at 56 kbps because of packet loss during transmission When an
137. streams depending on the number of target audiences a clip is encoded for 86 CHAPTER 9 Editing RealMedia Files RealMedia Editor allows you to easily view valuable information about each stream that associated with a RealMedia file To view stream information 1 Open a RealMedia file 2 Select Stream Info from the Tools menu The Stream Info dialog opens giving you the following information about the file Audio Mode the type of audio for the encoded clip such as music or voice Video Mode the quality of the encoded video such as normal or smooth motion Video Size the size and width in pixels of the encoded video File Type either single rate or SureStream This dialog also gives you the following information about each stream within the file Bit Rate the amount of bandwidth necessary to view the stream Preroll the amount of bits needed to download before the stream can play Frequency the frequency response of the encoded audio for the stream Codec the compression decompression coded used to encode the stream 3 Click Close to return to the main window Changing RealMedia Editor Preferences RealMedia Editor allows you to change how you preview a clip when it is opened in the main window You can set RealMedia Editor to view a clip quickly or you can set RealMedia Editor to view a clip more accurately If you choose to view a clip accurately it may take much mor
138. t Disable Audio da If used the audio from the input source will be stripped out No value is required For example da Disable Video dv If used the video from the input source will be stripped out No value is required For example dv 97 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Resize Quality rq Affects the resulting quality of an output file when resize is applied Choosing high results in a better quality resize but uses considerably more CPU Ignored if the rs option is omitted Values are fast default and high Example rq high Resize Video rs Sets the output video width and height in pixels If either is set to 0 its value is computed from the original video s aspect ratio Value is WxH Where Width of the video in pixels from 0 2048 Must be divisible by 4 H Height of the video in pixels from 0 2048 Must be divisible by 4 Examples rs 320x240 rs 320x0 resize width to 320 and maintain aspect ratio rs 0x240 resize to 240 high but maintain aspect ratio rs 0x240 resize to 240 high but maintain aspect ratio Audio Resampling Quality arq Allows you to specify the quality of audio resampling Resampling must be done if the sample rate required by the target audio codec is different from the input file or device sample rate The producer automatically invokes the resampler for each audio codec as needed Values are high or fast Choosing high results in an aud
139. t step In Step 3 the broadcast connection is made between Helix Producer and Helix Universal Server When the broadcast begins the encoded packets are sent to the server regardless of whether any players have requested the broadcast In Step 4 an audience member uses his or her RealOne Player to request the broadcast from the server In Step 5 Helix Universal Server sends the encoded packets that it has been receiving to the audience member s player which begins decoding and playing the streaming media broadcast 39 40 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide This type of broadcast is recommended if you do not have much experience setting up live broadcasts with servers because it requires the minimal amount of information regarding the Helix Universal Server you will be broadcasting to Get the following information you need to set up the broadcast from your server administrator Server address Server port User Name Password gt To set up a Push Account Based Login Server Destination 1 From the main window select File Add Server Destination The Server Destination dialog opens Enter a Destination Name This name will appear in the Output section in the main window And if you save these settings as a Server Template it will be the name of the template Enter a Stream Name for the encoded output This is che name of the file that will be used for the live broadcast
140. te using the Server Templates dialog This dialog also shows you all Server Templates that have been saved to your machine It allows you to quickly scan through the different templates so that you can edit them or review their settings When you make changes to an Audience Template you are only making the changes to the information saved in the template file Thus the changes will not take place in any jobs that were already created using the template To add these changes to a job you must remove the audience from the Audiences In Job list then select the template again to copy its settings into the job gt To edit an Audience Template 1 From the main window select Edit Audience Templates The Audience Templates dialog opens giving you a list of all Audience Templates saved on your computer 2 Select a template from the list 3 The template s name and settings appear in the dialog 4 You can now edit the settings for the template using the procedures described in the above sections 67 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 5 Click Apply to save the changes to the template Tip If you have altered and saved the original default templates you can restore the original templates that are included with Helix Producer by clicking the Restore Selected Template button or the Restore All Templates button on the Audience Templates dialog Using Variable Bit Rate VBR Audience Templates 68 For most video c
141. the Input Source files are pre existing media files that are compatible with Helix Producer and can be encoded into RealMedia These files are generally created with other media generating tools gt To add a file as the input 1 On the Helix Producer main window select Input File in the Input section 2 Click che Browse button to locate the file you want to add as the input 3 Change to the folder where che media file is located select it and click Open The path and file name of the media file is listed in the Input File field default destination file appears in the Output section using the input file s name with a rm extension You can use a variety of media file as sources for the input The following lists are based on software you have installed on your computer Platform Independent File Formats The following file formats can be used as sources on any platform supported by Helix Producer No other software needs to be installed to use these formats Uncompressed AVI Uncompressed QuickTime 3 4 and 5 WAVE audio files DirectShow Supported File Formats The following file formats can be used as sources only on the Windows operating system At a minimum you must have DirectX 6 installed Some 28 CHAPTER 5 Defining the Input for an Encoding Job formats require that DirectX 8 is installed For the latest version of DirectX go to www microsoft com or use the link provided at www realnetworks com
142. the server This log in name is created by a server administrator e Password Your password needed to connect to the server You can also select to save your password for future connections to the same server f Select the type of connection protocol that you will use See Transport Protocols on page 43 for a description of the protocols available to you 6 Optional To save these settings as a Server Template a Click che Templates button b Select Save as Template The Server Destination is now saved as a Server Template that you can use for other encoding jobs 7 Click OK to save the Server Destination Using Server Templates You can save a Server Destination as a Server Template Creating a template gives you the ability to use a Server Destination for later jobs You can also share the template with others who will be using the same server for their encoding jobs By creating a Server Template you are creating a text file that contains information about the server When you subsequently use the template as a destination for a job that information is copied into the job 51 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide gt To create a Server Template 1 From the Output section of the main window select a Server Destination that you have created for your encoding job 2 Click the Edit button The Server Destination dialog opens 3 Click the Templates button menu opens listing the Server Te
143. tle enter the name of the RealMedia clip that you want to appear in your audience s RealPlayers b Author enter the name of the person who created the clip 53 54 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide c Copyright enter the year and owner of the clip for example copyright 2002 ABC Corporation d Keywords one or two words that will help your audience search for your clip e Description type in a brief summary of what your clip is all about f Rating choose a rating for your clip based on its contents CHOOSING AUDIENCES FOR AN ENCODING JOB This chapter describes how you can set up Helix Producer to encode streaming media tailored to your audience You will learn how to choose the type of audio and video you are encoding to create a better output You will learn how to select your audiences either by using a preset audience or create a new one and save it as a template Finally you will learn about Variable Bit Rate audiences Overview Audiences When you are setting up a job you must choose one or more audiences that you will be targeting These audiences will be encoded as separate streams and each will be encoded with settings based on the bit rate for the audience For a summary of how audiences work within Helix Producer see Targeting Audiences on page 10 The basic steps to selecting audiences is as follows 1 Change the settings that determine how every aud
144. tput of the audio using the Gain palette The Gain palette allows you to reduce or increase the audio gain for che output audio according to a range that you specify gt To adjust the audio gain 1 From the main window select Settings Show Audio Gain Control from the main menu The Gain palette opens 2 Set the audio gain You can set it to increase up to 12 dB or reduce to 12 dB CHAPTER 8 Starting and Monitoring an Encoding Job Disabling Monitors While Encoding Disabling che Input video screen the Output video screen the Input audio meter and the Output audio meter can lower the amount of processing power needed during encoding Consequently it can increase the frame rate of your encoded file and decrease the time it takes to encode your clip gt To disable viewers during recording 1 Open the View menu from the main Helix Producer window Viewers that are currently active are designated with a checkmark Input Audio Meter Input Video Output Audio Meter Output Video 2 Deselect a viewer to disable it Adjusting File Location Preferences When you are using Helix Producer you can adjust different preferences that determine how and where support files are stored These preferences will be in effect for all jobs Changing the Default File Destination Location You can change the default setting for where Helix Producer creates the output files gt To change the default file destinati
145. type is assumed Basic address Any valid IP address or domain name CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line startPort Start port on the remote server to broadcast packets to Must be an integer from 1 to 65535 Default is 30000 endPort End port on the remote server to broadcast packets to Default value is same as startPort streamname Any valid stream name Example sp pass server co com 3000 30001 live rm Pull Server Server 9 si Settings required for a server initiated broadcast output stream using the Pull Broadcast method available in Helix Universal Server 9 and greater Value is password g listenAddress listenPort streamname Where password Password for encoding to server listenAddress Any valid IP address This is the address which the producer will bind to for receiving pull server requests from remote servers listenPort Listen port on the encoder to listen on Must be an integer from 1 to 65535 Default is 3031 streamname Any valid stream name Examples si pass 2192 168 224 221 3031 live rm si 205 198 34 3 wildlife rm Legacy Push Server sg Settings required for encoding to RealServer versions G2 through 8 01 Value 1s username password address port streamname Where username Username for encoding to server password Password for encoding to server address Any valid IP address or domain name port Port on he remote server to broadcast packets to Must be an integer fr
146. ucer While one job is encoding you can add a job or create a new job and begin defining the settings for the different components of the job 25 26 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide 5 DEFINING THE INPUT FOR AN ENCODING JOB This chapter describes how to define what the input will be for your encoding job You will learn what you can use as the source for the input and how to adjust the input video Overview Input and Sources The input for a job is a media source that will be encoded into streaming media by Helix Producer Whatever source you want to use will become the input for the job The following diagram shows you three different jobs each with a different type of source for the input Sources used as inputs Input File Helix Producer Input Audio Device Helix Producer Input Video Device Helix Producer This section discusses the different types of sources you can use for an input shows you how to add an input to a job and shows you how to use video filters to adjust the input s video 27 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide Setting the Source for the Input There are two types of media sources that you can use to create streaming media with Helix Producer You can use either files or an audio video capture device This section is an introduction to these sources that you can use when you set up an encoding job wich Helix Producer Using a File as
147. udience Templates 66 Creating an Audience Template gives you the ability to use your audience settings for later jobs You can also share your Audience Template with others who will be encoding for the same audience While you can simply edit one of the default Audience Templates to create your own template the best way to customize a template is to create a new Audience Template gt To create a new Audience Template 1 From the main window select Edit Audience Templates The Audience Templates dialog opens Select an Audience Template that is most similar to the template that you want to create Click che Duplicate button CHAPTER 7 Choosing Audiences for an Encoding Job copy of the Audience Template is made and it is added to the template list 4 Type in a new Template Name 5 You can now edit the settings for the new template using the procedures described in the above sections 6 Click the Apply button when finished Your new custom template appears in the list of Audience Templates And a new template file is saved on your computer so that it can be used when creating encoding jobs The rest of this section shows you how to adjust settings for an Audience Template Editing Audience Templates Editing an Audience Template is similar to adjusting settings for an audience The difference is that the changes you make to a template can be used for future jobs You edit a templa
148. wing sections describe in more detail the input and output options used with the producer command line application 92 CHAPTER 10 Using the Command Line Input File i The input file to be encoded located on a network or local drive Wildcards can be used to run a batch of jobs The value is a valid file name of a job file You can use either a relative path from the working directory or an absolute path Here are some examples i myfile avi i_c files movie avi i_c files avi Audio Capture Device ID ac Specifies the audio device ID for the input audio devices Using this option overrides the i option Use the Print Device Information pd option to list values on your system You can also use wildcards Here are some examples ac 0 ac Sound Blaster Audio Capture Device Port ap Specifies the audio port for the input audio devices Overrides the i option Use the Print Device Information pd option to list values on your system For example ap mic Video Capture Device ID vc Specifies the device ID for the input video device Overrides the i option Use the Print Device Information pd option to list values on your system Here are some examples vc 0 vc Osprey dev video3 Video Device Port vp Specifies the device port for the input video capture device If omitted the current mixer settings are used Overrides the i option Use the Print Device Information pd optio
149. works Producer for Helix User s Guide 104 Job Filename f Tells the utility to run a Job File from the command line The value is a valid file name of a job file You can use either a relative path from the working directory or an absolute path For example j MyJob rpjf Create Job File cj Generates a Job File from the command line options provided The value is a valid file name of a job file You can use either a relative path from the working directory or an absolute path For example cj NewJob rpjf Creating an Audience File Audience Files are XML based files that you edit using any text editor These files can be used with the command line application to customize the audiences that you will use for encoding Helix Producer is installed with a number of default Audience Files that you can use to modify and create your own These default files are located in the Audiences directory off of the application directory It is recommended that if you modify a default audience file you save it under a different filename Changing RealAudio Stream Sections in an Audience File Within the Audience File there is a section for each audio stream used For each stream you specify the codec name codec flavor and the context of che codec used Below are tables that lists codec names and flavors and also lists the corresponding RealAudio codec See Appendix A RealAudio Codec Reference beginning on page 113 for more infor
150. works together to stream your media Helix Producer to create streaming RealMedia clips such as RealAudio or RealVideo This process is also called encoding Helix Universal Server to stream the RealMedia clips RealOne Player for the audience to use to play the streamed RealMedia clips The following diagram illustrates how these RealNetworks products work together 11 12 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide RealNetworks software products Server Helix Producer RealOne Player Encoding and SMIL You are the person who creates the streaming media to be used with RealNetworks products As the content creator you will use Helix Producer This product is used to encode audio and video into RealMedia that Helix Universal Server can then stream You can also create a Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language SMIL file to synchronize several clips within a presentation SMIL is an extensible mark up language designed to be the standard markup language for timing and controlling streaming media clips A SMIL file coordinates the layout and playing of two or more media clips in parallel simultaneously or in sequence For an in depth look at SMIL and how to use it to create RealMedia productions refer to the RealNetworks Production Guide Helix Universal Server Just as a Web server delivers pages to Web browsers over the Internet Helix Universal Server serves streaming media clips t
151. you want to encode for For each audience a separate stream is encoded based on the type or speed of Internet or Intranet connection that your audience members possess For example if you predict that your audience will be primarily DSL or Cable Modem users you will want a stream tailored for that bit rate When you choose to encode for an audience you are telling Helix Producer to create a stream for that audience You can choose more than one audience for an encoding job but the size of the encoded output will grow with every stream added Helix Producer comes with a variety of audience definitions that have been created for a variety of audience types These installed audience definitions are Audience Templates An Audience Template is a text file that contains information about the settings for the audience When you subsequently use a template to define an audience for a job that information is copied into the job While you can change the settings in an Audience Template it is recommended that you become familiar with these default Audience Templates before you start changing their settings See Creating New Audience Templates on page 66 for more information on creating your own templates 59 60 RealNetworks Producer for Helix User s Guide gt Below is a list of the default Audience Templates that are installed with Helix Producer and their respective bit rates 12 kbps Substream for 28k Dial up 16 kbps Subst

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