This thread is for questions for the tutorial "The basics of using the DVR functionality in Flash Media Server 3.5".

http://www.fmsguru.com/showtutorial.cfm?tutorialID=31

Hello!

I have one question:

How could we save only last 10 minutes of video in file?

In "The basics of using the DVR functionality in Flash Media Server 3.5" tutorial we are saving all video from when we started publishing,
but I want to have only 10 recent minutes of live video stored.

(Like, for example surveillance systems, which store only last few minutes of video, than it's overwriting video which is older than these few minutes)

In other words... something like "saving buffer on disk"

Thank you for all your suggestions.

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p.s.
thanks for your tutorials - I really learned a lot from them

That's an interesting thought, I can't think of anything at the moment because neither FMS or Flash have something like that built in. I don't think it's possible really. Possibly you could save videos in 10 minute increments and delete the second to last one each time you start a new one. Then you'll always have at least 10 minutes saved and up to 20.

You're welcome on the tutorials, glad they are of help.

I am developing a conference application. I need to be able to record the conference. Please answer the following questions, and if possible give more than a Yes/No answer.

Can the server’s DVR function record all streams to 1 file keeping all streams synchronized?

Using an Air application is it possible to retrieve raw Audio/Video streams being displayed? That is, a conference is made up of 2 or more locations. So I would need the raw Audio/Video streams from the local and remote(s) locations. Related question, is it possible to link a c++ dll to an Air application?

If neither is possible, is there an avenue to combine all streams into 1 file while keeping streams synchronized?

>Can the server’s DVR function record all streams to 1 file keeping all streams synchronized?

No.

>Using an Air application is it possible to retrieve raw Audio/Video streams being displayed?

Not sure, you can do it with the Flash player itself so I suppose so. Can't give much more details than that, play around with it.

>Related question, is it possible to link a c++ dll to an Air application?

No idea..

Thank you Graeme

One more question. Using FMS DVR function to record each stream in a conference would produce multiple flv files, one for each stream? Is it possible to play each of these files in-sync with the other programmatically?

Specifically, if there are 3 audio/video streams in a conference, each joined the conference at different times and each leave the conference at different times. This produces 3 different files of different length. Using flex builder to develop a viewer to view these flv files, is there sufficient data in the flv files to know which 1 is first and when to start playing the second and third files such that they are all in-sync? I guess I’m asking what information does a flv keep. Does the file header have a start time? I guess it could be possible to use the file date time. But this would not be safe and/or accurate.

Graeme you stated, "you can do it with the Flash player itself so I suppose so," regarding my question "is it possible to retrieve raw Audio/Video streams being displayed." Could you please give me hints on how to do this.

The closest thing I have found for Video is:
...
var cam:Camera = Camera.getCamera ();
cam.setMode (320, 240, 20);
var video:Video (320, 240);
video.attachCamera (cam);
var bmd:BitmapData = new BitmapData(320, 240);
bmd.draw(video);
...

Is there a different way of doing this or is this the way you were thinking?

I have been unable to find any solution to get audio stream. Please give me some direction on how to do this. Hint anything.

I actually don't know because I've never bothered to try myself. The first place I would look would be the documentation for AS3. Bitmap data, Sound object etc. Perhaps I'll play with this later if I can grab a bit of time. What exactly are you looking to do anyways?

As for your question that I missed there, yes it's possible to play files in sync. Just match them up with their times. You have to run a timer or interval to constantly keep an eye on things, but it's possible to sync up videos and play them well enough together.

I am trying to find an alternative way to record all streams in a conference.
In a previous application, I developed a library that takes multiple audio/video sources and combines them into 1 file. So the idea is if I can get the audio/video byte arrays I could somehow send them to my library. There are several unknowns for me. But the first logical starting point would be if I have access to this data, and what format it is in.

Also, in 1 of your recent tutorials you were using a flex plug in for editing server side code. Can you tell me what that is? I needed it months ago! lol

Thank you for your website and the time you put into it. I have learned a ton. :)