Microsoft NetShow Road Kit

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NetShow 2.0 provides an easy, powerful way to stream multimedia content across intranets and the Internet, giving content providers, corporations, developers, and Web professionals the ability to integrate audio and video into any Web application or site.

Product Overview

Only a few years ago, the business world communicated through text documents, and adding graphics to them was not easy. Now the race is on to offer Web sites that attract and retain visitors through the latest in graphics and animation. Audio- and video-enabled Web sites and applications are the next wave. The integration of audio and video into applications such as online training, corporate communications, customer and sales support, news, entertainment, and product promotions will provide individuals and organizations with new and exciting ways to communicate.

Microsoft® NetShow^TM provides a complete platform for integrating audio and video into online applications, bringing the vibrant power of networked multimedia to the Internet and corporate intranets. NetShow uses a client/server architecture and sophisticated compression and buffering techniques to deliver live and on-demand audio, video, and illustrated audio (synchronized sound and still images) to Web users.

Using NetShow, organizations and individuals can offer streaming multimedia content over networks that range from low-bandwidth dial-up Internet connections to high bandwidth switched local area networks.

Key features make NetShow 2.0 the compelling choice for delivering streaming multimedia content:

Powerful. NetShow 2.0 is a complete, high-performance system for delivering audio, video, and mixed-media content. By taking advantage of Windows NT Server® scalability and an open-architecture format, NetShow allows developers to build innovative applications that take advantage of media streaming and multicast technologies.
Easy to use. Standard multimedia authoring and HTML programming tools make it easy to develop content. End users will appreciate NetShow's tight integration with Internet Explorer 4.0 and its cross-platform support.
High quality. NetShow 2.0 delivers high-quality streaming with new, next-generation compression technologies that allow complete flexibility and scalability for most content providers. NetShow also provides the capabilities to synchronize live and on-demand streaming of audio and video with pictures (for example, JPEG, BMP, GIF files) as well as script (Jscript^TM and Visual Basic^TM script), URLs, and text.

How NetShow Works

NetShow provides a wide variety of features that allow customization of the system, so how NetShow is used depends on the types of media to be streamed, as well as the network used to deliver the data. Understanding these basic NetShow concepts will help users determine how to deploy NetShow for specific applications.

NetShow Streaming Video

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Media Compression. To transmit multimedia files smoothly and completely, the content's data or bit rate must be smaller than the bandwidth of its target network. Codecs (compressors/decompressors) analyze the content and decide which bits of data can be removed or merged with minimum impact on viewers. Quality and fidelity levels depend on bandwidth availability and which codec is used to compress the content. That's why NetShow is codec-independent, a significant improvement over other technologies that use proprietary codecs. NetShow 2.0 offers content authors and end users a well-rounded suite of bundled and stand-alone third-party codecs for voice, music, images, and video, at a variety of bit rates. This provides more options, greater flexibility, and the ability to deliver high-quality content.

Active Streaming Format (ASF). ASF, the foundation for NetShow content creation, is an open, standards-based file format that prepares multimedia content for streaming and is the key format for the future, eventually replacing data types such as WAV and AVI. ASF adds error correction and other features necessary for streaming and content delivery. ASF content can be hosted on a local hard drive, an HTTP server, or a specialized media server such as NetShow, providing optimum flexibility.

Media Streaming. Most audio and video content currently hosted on intranets or the Internet must be copied to the user's local PC before it can be played. NetShow uses a client/server streaming architecture to deliver multimedia content. Streaming is a significant improvement over the download-and-play approach to file distribution because it allows content to be delivered to the client as a continuous flow of data with little waiting time before playback begins. NetShow gives users the benefit of instant play, and eliminates the frustration of waiting for content to download.

Delivery Techniques. NetShow combines the best of two delivery techniques, enabling network managers to choose the system best suited to their applications. Unicast is networking in which computers establish two-way, point-to-point connections. Most network operations today work this way. Multicast refers to networking in which one computer sends a single copy of the data over the network and many computers receive that data. The advantage of multicast is that only a single copy of the data is sent across the network, preserving bandwidth.

To multicast NetShow files, a channel must be created to communicate between the server and the multicast clients. Once the channel is set up, it can be populated with content. Programs can be live feeds or on-demand content scheduled at specific times.

NetShow Components: Features and Benefits

NetShow is a comprehensive, tightly integrated platform consisting of the Server, Player, Tools, and several Software Development Kits.

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NetShow Server: a set of services running on Windows NT Server 4.0 that allows users to unicast and multicast multimedia files to client computers. The server also includes the NetShow Administrator, a set of administrative tools to manage, configure, and monitor NetShow services.

Tight integration with Windows NT Server and Internet Information Server provides easier management, better connectivity, and lower support costs.
Easy scalability, from small-scale implementation to enterprise-class multiprocessor systems.
Optimized distribution enables a higher number of streams, geographically diverse servers, and the use of less powerful, less costly hardware.
Versatile administration and management, including single or multiple computers, remote administration, and faster deployment of custom solutions.

NetShow Player: The NetShow player allows intranet and Internet surfers to play audio, illustrated audio (synchronized sound and still images), and full-motion video files. By simply activating a link to a file, the player launches automatically and begins playing the requested file within seconds, with no download required. The player has the same functions as a regular VCR, allowing the user to stop, pause, and start content.

Integrated with the Internet Explorer 4.0 setup.
Provides a plug-in for Netscape Navigator.
Rich programmability built on ActiveX technology to provide quick and easy custom business solutions.
Support for Windows NT® and Windows 95 operating systems, as well as Windows 3.1, Macintosh, and UNIX platforms.

NetShow Tools: Simple tools that allow the conversion of existing multimedia content (for example, WAV, AVI, and QuickTime files) to Active Streaming Format (ASF). NetShow provides a set of simple editors (the NetShow ASF Editor and the NetShow Add-in to PowerPoint 97®) to enable content providers to create rich mixed media. Also, NetShow provides a Real-Time Encoder for live content delivery.

Wide range of audio and video compression to meet the content and bandwidth needs of any network, including MPEG Layer 3 audio, MPEG 4 video, Vivo G.723 audio, Vivo H.263 video, Voxware's RT24 and MetaSound audio, Duck's TrueMotion video, Lernout & Hauspie audio, VDOnet VDOwave video, etc.)
Easy to use tools create new and exciting streaming multimedia content that includes audio, still images, video, script events, URLs, and text.
A large selection of pre-configured settings makes it simple to setup and uses the NetShow Real-Time Encoder.
The NetShow Content Authoring Guide, a complete and extensive documentation for designers.

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Software Development Kits: NetShow comes with Software Development Kits for these major components:

Client: documents interfaces to the player, giving developers all the information they need to integrate NetShow functionality into their products, as well as complete control over audio and video rendering, and the ability to interpret script commands transmitted as part of the NetShow stream.
Server: interfaces to the three administration controls, giving application authors complete local or remote control over a network of NetShow servers, for example, an overall enterprise management system.
Real-Time Encoder: interfaces to the Real-Time Encoder itself, giving application developers the ability to automatically insert script commands into the NetShow stream alongside audio and video.

NetShow v2.0 System Requirements

NetShow Player for Windows95/NT (NSPlay.exe)

Minimum: 486/66 with 8 MB RAM, 16 color display card, 16-bit sound card, 14 Kbps modem, Windows 95 (audio, audio + images, some video)
Recommended: Pentium 120 MHz or better with 16+ MB RAM, 256+ color display card, 28.8+ Kbps modem or Ethernet card, Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 (audio, audio + images, video)

NetShow Player for Windows NT 3.51 (NSPlay.exe)

Minimum: 486/66 with 16+ MB RAM, 16 color display card, 16-bit sound card, 14+ Kbps modem, Windows NT 3.51 w/ SP5 (audio, audio + images, some video)
Recommended: Pentium 120 MHz or better with 24+ MB RAM, 256+ color display card, 28.8+ Kbps modem or Ethernet card, Windows NT 3.51 w/ SP5 (audio, audio + images, video)

NetShow ASF Real-Time Encoder, Content Creation Tools, Tools and Client SDK for Windows 95/NT (nstools.exe)

Audio Card: Any Windows sound card. In addition, we have tested NetShow 2.0 with the Antex StudioCard.
Video Capture Card: A card that supports Video for Windows. We have tested NetShow 2.0 with many capture cards. Please see release notes for issues related to these devices.
Minimum: 486/66 with 16 MB RAM, 3.6 MB disk space, Windows 95 (real-time encoding of audio only)
Recommended: Pentium Pro 200 MHz with 32 MB RAM, Ethernet card, 9 MB free disk space, Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 (real-time encoding of audio and video up to 320 x 240 x 15 fps). Note: The NetShow ASF Real-Time Encoder has also been tested on Dual, Quad and MMX processor systems. These systems can provide significant additional encoding capabilities over single processor machines.

NetShow Server and Administration Tools (nsserver.exe)

Minimum for Administration: Pentium 90 MHz with 16 MB RAM or DEC Alpha 1000a 5/300 with 32 MB RAM, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01 or higher, Ethernet card, Windows NT Workstation 4.0, Windows NT Server 4.0 or Windows 95 w/ DCOM95
Minimum for Server: Pentium 75 MHz with 32 MB RAM or DEC Alpha 1000a 5/300 with 48 MB RAM, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01 or higher, Ethernet card, Windows NT 4.0 Server w/ SP3 or higher
Recommended: Pentium 100 MHz or better with 48+ MB RAM or DEC Alpha 1000a 5/500 with 64 MB RAM, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01 or higher, Ethernet card, Windows NT Server 4.0 (Server and Administration) w/ SP3
Disk Space: 6 MB for system files, 15 MB for installation. Does not require additional disk space for ASF file storage.

NetShow Content Creation Authoring Guide (CCAG.exe)

HTML-based documentation in self-extracting ZIP file
Recommended: NetShow Player and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01 or higher

The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.

© 1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Visual Basic, ActiveX, NetShow, Windows and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

© 1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Legal Notices