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diff --git a/doc/ffserver-doc.html b/doc/ffserver-doc.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8e5c9f7d95 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/ffserver-doc.html @@ -0,0 +1,306 @@ +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<!-- Created by texi2html 1.56k from ffserver-doc.texi on 19 November 2002 --> + +<TITLE>FFserver Documentation</TITLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY> +<H1>FFserver Documentation</H1> +<P> +<P><HR><P> +<H1>Table of Contents</H1> +<UL> +<LI><A NAME="TOC1" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC1">1. Introduction</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC2" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC2">2. QuickStart</A> +<UL> +<LI><A NAME="TOC3" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC3">2.1 What can this do?</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC4" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC4">2.2 What do I need?</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC5" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC5">2.3 How do I make it work?</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC6" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC6">2.4 What happens next?</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC7" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC7">2.5 Troubleshooting</A> +<UL> +<LI><A NAME="TOC8" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC8">2.5.1 I don't hear any audio, but video is fine</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC9" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC9">2.5.2 The audio and video loose sync after a while.</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC10" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC10">2.5.3 After a long while, the video update rate goes way down in WMP.</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC11" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC11">2.5.4 WMP 6.4 behaves differently to WMP 7.</A> +</UL> +<LI><A NAME="TOC12" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC12">2.6 What else can it do?</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC13" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC13">2.7 Tips</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC14" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC14">2.8 Why does the ?buffer / Preroll stop working after a time?</A> +<LI><A NAME="TOC15" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#SEC15">2.9 Does the <CODE>?date=</CODE> stuff work.</A> +</UL> +</UL> +<P><HR><P> + +<P> +FFserver Documentation + + + + +<H1><A NAME="SEC1" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC1">1. Introduction</A></H1> + +<P> +FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video. It supports +several live feeds, streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds +(you can seek to positions in the past on each live feed, provided you +specify a big enough feed storage in ffserver.conf). + + +<P> +This documentation covers only the streaming aspects of ffserver / +ffmpeg. All questions about parameters for ffmpeg, codec questions, +etc. are not covered here. Read <TT>`ffmpeg-doc.[texi|html]'</TT> for more +information. + + + + +<H1><A NAME="SEC2" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC2">2. QuickStart</A></H1> + +<P> +[Contributed by Philip Gladstone, philip-ffserver at gladstonefamily dot net] + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC3" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC3">2.1 What can this do?</A></H2> + +<P> +When properly configured and running, you can capture video and audio in real +time from a suitable capture card, and stream it out over the Internet to +either Windows Media Player or RealAudio player (with some restrictions). + + +<P> +It can also stream from files, though that is currently broken. Very often, a +web server can be used to serve up the files just as well. + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC4" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC4">2.2 What do I need?</A></H2> + +<P> +I use Linux on a 900MHz Duron with a cheapo Bt848 based TV capture card. I'm +using stock linux 2.4.17 with the stock drivers. [Actually that isn't true, +I needed some special drivers from my motherboard based sound card.] + + +<P> +I understand that FreeBSD systems work just fine as well. + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC5" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC5">2.3 How do I make it work?</A></H2> + +<P> +First, build the kit. It *really* helps to have installed LAME first. Then when +you run the ffserver ./configure, make sure that you have the --enable-mp3lame +flag turned on. + + +<P> +LAME is important as it allows streaming of audio to Windows Media Player. Don't +ask why the other audio types do not work. + + +<P> +As a simple test, just run the following two command lines: + + + +<PRE> +./ffserver -f doc/ffserver.conf & +./ffmpeg http://localhost:8090/feed1.ffm +</PRE> + +<P> +At this point you should be able to go to your windows machine and fire up +Windows Media Player (WMP). Go to Open URL and enter + + + +<PRE> + http://<linuxbox>:8090/test.asf +</PRE> + +<P> +You should see (after a short delay) video and hear audio. + + +<P> +WARNING: trying to stream test1.mpg doesn't work with WMP as it tries to +transfer the entire file before starting to play. + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC6" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC6">2.4 What happens next?</A></H2> + +<P> +You should edit the ffserver.conf file to suit your needs (in terms of +frame rates etc). Then install ffserver and ffmpeg, write a script to start +them up, and off you go. + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC7" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC7">2.5 Troubleshooting</A></H2> + + + +<H3><A NAME="SEC8" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC8">2.5.1 I don't hear any audio, but video is fine</A></H3> + +<P> +Maybe you didn't install LAME, or get your ./configure statement right. Check +the ffmpeg output to see if a line referring to mp3 is present. If not, then +your configuration was incorrect. If it is, then maybe your wiring is not +setup correctly. Maybe the sound card is not getting data from the right +input source. Maybe you have a really awful audio interface (like I do) +that only captures in stereo and also requires that one channel be flipped. +If you are one of these people, then export 'AUDIO_FLIP_LEFT=1' before +starting ffmpeg. + + + + +<H3><A NAME="SEC9" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC9">2.5.2 The audio and video loose sync after a while.</A></H3> + +<P> +Yes, they do. + + + + +<H3><A NAME="SEC10" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC10">2.5.3 After a long while, the video update rate goes way down in WMP.</A></H3> + +<P> +Yes, it does. Who knows why? + + + + +<H3><A NAME="SEC11" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC11">2.5.4 WMP 6.4 behaves differently to WMP 7.</A></H3> + +<P> +Yes, it does. Any thoughts on this would be gratefully received. These +differences extend to embedding WMP into a web page. [There are two +different object ids that you can use, one of them -- the old one -- cannot +play very well, and the new one works well (both on the same system). However, +I suspect that the new one is not available unless you have installed WMP 7]. + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC12" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC12">2.6 What else can it do?</A></H2> + +<P> +There seems to be a bunch of code that allows you to replay previous +video. I've never tried it, so it probably doesn't work properly. YMMV. +In fact, in order to get some level of stability, ffserver now deletes +all the previously sent video whenever it restarts. + + +<P> +You can fiddle with many of the codec choices and encoding parameters, and +there are a bunch more parameters that you cannot control. Post a message +to the mailing list if there are some 'must have' parameters. Look in the +ffserver.conf for a list of the currently available controls. + + +<P> +It will automatically generate the .ASX or .RAM files that are often used +in browsers. These files are actually redirections to the underlying .ASF +or .RM file. The reason for this is that the browser often fetches the +entire file before starting up the external viewer. The redirection files +are very small and can be transferred quickly. [The stream itself is +often 'infinite' and thus the browser tries to download it and never +finishes.] + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC13" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC13">2.7 Tips</A></H2> + +<P> +* When you connect to a live stream, most players (WMP, RA etc) want to +buffer a certain number of seconds of material so that they can display the +signal continuously. However, ffserver (by default) starts sending data +in real time. This means that there is a pause of a few seconds while the +buffering is being done by the player. The good news is that this can be +cured by adding a '?buffer=5' to the end of the URL. This says that the +stream should start 5 seconds in the past -- and so the first 5 seconds +of the stream is sent as fast as the network will allow. It will then +slow down to real time. This noticeably improves the startup experience. + + +<P> +You can also add a 'Preroll 15' statement into the ffserver.conf that will +add the 15 second prebuffering on all requests that do not otherwise +specify a time. In addition, ffserver will skip frames until a key_frame +is found. This further reduces the startup delay by not transferring data +that will be discarded. + + +<P> +* You may want to adjust the MaxBandwidth in the ffserver.conf to limit +the amount of bandwidth consumed by live streams. + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC14" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC14">2.8 Why does the ?buffer / Preroll stop working after a time?</A></H2> + +<P> +It turns out that (on my machine at least) the number of frames successfully +grabbed is marginally less than the number that ought to be grabbed. This +means that the timestamp in the encoded data stream gets behind real time. +This means that if you say 'preroll 10', then when the stream gets 10 +or more seconds behind, there is no preroll left. + + +<P> +Fixing this requires a require in the internals in how timestampts are +handled. + + + + +<H2><A NAME="SEC15" HREF="ffserver-doc.html#TOC15">2.9 Does the <CODE>?date=</CODE> stuff work.</A></H2> + +<P> +Yes (subject to the caution above). Also note that whenever you start +ffserver, it deletes the ffm file, thus wiping out what you had recorded +before. This behaviour is a temporary fix to various crashes. The aim is +to fix it so that the old data is saved if possible. + + +<P> +The format of the <CODE>?date=xxxxxx</CODE> is fairly flexible. You should use one +of the following formats (the 'T' is literal): + + + +<PRE> +* YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS (localtime) +* YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ (UTC) +</PRE> + +<P> +You can omit the YYYY-MM-DD, and then it refers to the current day. However +note that <SAMP>`?date=16:00:00'</SAMP> refers to 4PM on the current day -- this may be +in the future and so unlikely to useful. + + +<P> +You use this by adding the ?date= to the end of the URL for the stream. +For example: <SAMP>`http://localhost:8080/test.asf?date=2002-07-26T23:05:00'</SAMP>. + + +<P><HR><P> +This document was generated on 19 November 2002 using +<A HREF="http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/dis/texi2html/">texi2html</A> 1.56k. +</BODY> +</HTML> |