Stefan Richter

Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX (popularly referred to as Flashcom) is becoming an increasingly popular platform for the efficient delivery of streaming video to large audiences. Many content delivery networks such as Speedera and Vitalstream have teamed up with Macromedia to offer their clients a platform to stream prerecorded videos easily and efficiently. However, the Flash Communication Server capabilities do by no means end there. The platform is also an ideal choice to deliver live-event broadcasts in real time across the globe - all through a familiar and very accessible Macromedia Flash front end. In this article I will walk you through the development of a simple live broadcast application which captures your local microphone and camera sources and publishes them with the help of Flash Communication Server over the Internet. You will also learn ho... (more)

Generating Thumbnail Previews Using Progressive FLVs

We probably all know by now how to play a progressive FLV without Flashcom: nc = new NetConnection(); nc.connect(null); ns = new NetStream(my_nc); ns.setBufferTime(0.1); // small buffer to limit motion in preview my_video.attachVideo(ns); // my_video is a video object on stage ns.play(thefile); To turn this example into a thumbnail preview of the actual FLV you could do this: ns.onStatus = function (info) { if(info.code == "NetStream.Buffer.Full"){ ns.pause(); } }; There's even a way of supressing the sound resulting in a silent preview: // soundholder is a simple movieclip on stage sound... (more)