I will be videoing an award distribution function indoors. I use a
Sony TRV 30 E handycam.

I need to stream clips of this video from a website. Would probably
have to video 60 minutes of footage.  Need answers to
the following points:

Would Pinnacle Studio 7 DV Plus be good enough for creating the
Windows Media /Real Media stream?

If no how can I upgrade from this to a later version?

Would Windows Movie maker suffice? Or is there any other video editing
software you would recommend.

What points should I observe whilst shooting, keeping in mind that I
will be streaming the clips over low bandwidth connections?

What would be the best encoding software for creating the streaming media?

I need to create multiple/variable bit rate streams to provide for
different bandwidth users?

How should I encode the video to ensure the right balance of quality
and speed. That is provide for 56 Kbps connectivty users at the same
time maintain decent quality video feedback.

Which would be the best hosting service for streaming video and what would it cost.

I do not expect too may concurrent users.

Should I encode for Real media or for Windows media If Windows Media
should I use a lower version of Media Encoder so as to provide for
most users and to avoid Windows Media player needing to upgrade.

Would appreciate details so as to enable me to come up with good
streaming video . I am a hobbyist and have some idea of videoing,
editing and encoding but not expert enough to handle an important
project, as is the case now.

Need the answer in a day or two at max.

Thanx

---

Clarification of Question by aarogya-ga on 04 Mar 2005 22:28 PST

Hello Checkmate ga

Thank you for the comment. Was your comment just that or an attempt to
give me a answer?

For an answer I would appreciate a detailed point by point reply.

To answer the issues raised by your comment:

I do not anticipate more than 5 users viewing the video simultaneously.

The hardware and software I mentioned are more than 4 years old. I
wanted to know if there would be a noticeable quality difference if I
use some other software. ( which I presume should happen) What would I
need to do to get decent streaming in Windows media and Real. I have
Real Producer 4 do I need to purchase Real Producer 10?

In my question I had mentioned that I will be videoing an award
distribution function indoors.

Cheers

One of the biggest factors to what you are asking is how many people
will be viewing this video simultaneously?  This will dictate the
needed bandwidth of your connection.  If it's being hosted on a
website (which I assume it is) then you have to ensure the host will
allow the video, and that their connection is sufficient.

You only have a limited number of options with any software encoders
that you work with and that is size of the frames, the amount you are
going to compress each frame, the rate you will replay frames, and the
total bandwidth available to all viewers (since it will be shared).

Some things that help are less compression, but smaller frame sizes
and changing the frame rate for low bandwidth connections.  Increasing
the number of keyframes sometimes helps in this area as well.

60 minutes of video is alot and the files with probably take up a
large amount of space.  You may want to break them into individual
components to help speed the playback so the clients don't try to
buffer the entire project.

The hardware and software you mentioned will probably do a fine job,
but you never mentioned what type of event you will be filming. 
Things without alot of motion will compress much better than something
like a sports event, etc.

Hope this helps.

I too started out doing this as a hobby.  I have learned short cuts to
a lot of things.

First, I think Window Movie Maker should work well.  I have a "high
tek" DVD creator but I still use Movie Maker quite a bit.  It's easy
to work with and I find it give me great results.  If you need help
figuring out how to output it to a file in a certain size, let me
know.

I have a small web design business and I use a company called
Startlogic for my hosting.  They are the best quality and the best
price.  I researched several services before choosing them.  There is
a link to their site from my site. www.brightideaswebdesign.com

They have great options of how long you would like to have the
account.  They are very inexpensive.

I think a .wmv file would be fine.  I have been using it and haven't
had any problems.

Hope this helps.

Hi visit http://www.WindowsMovieMakers.NET/Forums/Default.aspx and
post your question to the forums.

Hello,

I know you said you wanted the answer in 2 - 3 days max, but I didn't
come across this question till now.

So I was wondering i you still needed help with it. If you do, let me
know and I'll post a detailed answer to your questions.

You can email me: brucebeh[at]gmail.com