Table of Contents

Web Presenter versus SlideCast

Web Presenter
SlideCast

About Web Presenter

Creating and Directing a Live Web Presentation

Preparing HTML Presentation Pages
Creating a Scheduled Program Using Content Manager
Directing the Presentation
Viewing the Presentation Using IP/TV Viewer

Creating a Playback from File Presentation

Creating a Scheduled or On Demand Program from an .asf File
Viewing the Playback from File Presentation Using IP/TV Viewer

Using SlideCast

SlideCast with Live or Prerecorded Audio and Video
SlideCast with Live Audio
Maximum SlideCast Presentation Capability
Setting Up a SlideCast Presentation

Setting Up Web Presenter and SlideCast

This chapter describes how to set up and create presentations using Web Presenter or SlideCast. Topics include:

• Web Presenter versus Slidecast

• About Web Presenter

• Using SlideCast

Web Presenter versus SlideCast

Both the Web Presenter and SlideCast features let you create a live or prerecorded video or audio together with a slide presentation. However, each feature has its own distinct advantages and limitations. The following two subsections describe the advantages and limitations of each feature.

Web Presenter

Advantages of using Web Presenter include the following:

• You can achieve better quality and increased clarity for text and images.

• Only one server is required to serve the entire presentation.

• You can publish HTML pages from local files.

• You can quickly convert files you have created using common business tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word into Web pages.

• You can incorporate other published web sites into your presentation.

• Web Presenter streams can be shared with other audio or video programs.

Limitations of Web Presenter include the following:

• The Web Presenter stream is not recordable.

• Clients must have Internet Explorer installed to view the presentation.

• Presentations must be authored in standard Web formats.

SlideCast

Advantages of SlideCast include the following:

• The entire presentation can be recorded to an RTP file and replayed later.

• No Web authoring ia required; if it can be displayed on the desktop screen, it can be transmitted using SlideCast.

• Cross-platform viewers are supported. (An H.261-based SlideCast presentation is viewable on Macintosh and UNIX platforms.)

• SlideCast streams can be shared with other audio or video programs.

Limitations of SlideCast include the following:

• Two servers are generally required if it is used with another video source.

• Text clarity may not be of high quality.

• SlideCast is CPU intensive.

About Web Presenter

Web Presenter lets you create and direct web-based presentations. The types of Web presentations you can create include the following:

• A live Web presentation with a live-capture video and audio program.

• A live Web presentation with a playback from file program.

• A playback from file program that has embedded URLs. The file must be an Advanced Streaming Format (.asf ) file. The Web presentation consists of HyperText Markup Language (HTML) pages that are flipped in a designated sequence and at a designated time as determined by the URLs embedded in the program's .asf file. See Appendix B for more information about .asf files.

Creating and Directing a Live Web Presentation

This section lists and describes the steps for creating a live presentation. Although the web presentation is always live, the audio and video program can be live-capture or playback from file. The basic steps you need to perform are as follows:

Step 1 Prepare HTML presentation pages.

Step 2 Create a scheduled program using IP/TV Content Manager.

Step 3 Direct the presentation. Use the Presenter Server application (PresenterServerApp window) to enter URLs and control the presentation.

Preparing HTML Presentation Pages

Before directing the presentation, you need to set up the HTML pages that the director (the person who is flipping URLs) flips during the presentation. Setup methods include:

• Real-time browsing from the Web---You can flip URLs in a random manner or drag and drop shortcuts. You simply enter the URLs into the Address field on the PresenterServerApp window as desired (see Figure 8-3 later in this chapter) or click HTML links to access web pages directly from the Web.

• Pre-browsing and downloading to local cache---Prebrowse the URLs so the contents are cached on the same machine you are directing the presentation from. Prebrowsing is useful because at presentation time the server does not have to access the Web and all prebrowsed URLs are accessible from the URL dropdown list.

Creating a Scheduled Program Using Content Manager

Follow these steps to create a live capture scheduled program to be used in conjunction with a live presentation:

Step 1 Go to the New Scheduled Program page in your Content Manager.

Step 2 Select the Basic Live Capture Program option and click Create Program. The New Scheduled Program page for live capture appears.

Step 3 Scroll to the Multimedia Source Information section (see Figure 8-1).

Step 4 Select Multimedia Source Information options. Table 8-1 describes Web Presenter options. For all other options, refer to the IP/TV Content Manager User Guide.

Step 3 Scroll to the Multimedia Source Information section (see Figure 8-2).

Step 4 Select Multimedia Source Information options. Table 8-1 describes Web Presenter options. For all other options, refer to the IP/TV Content Manager User Guide.

Table 8-2: Media File with Live Presentation

Option	Description
Play This File	Enter the name of the file you want to use to create a scheduled program. This must be an .asf file.
Play Web Presentation	Indicates whether the program includes a web presentation in addition to video and audio. 1
Transfer HTML to Browser Cache	If checked (default), the HTML pages and embedded graphics files of the web presentation will be uploaded to the client's browser and cached. We recommend that you select caching when the web presentation uses static or a mixture of static and dynamic content. If only dynamic content is used, then unselect caching.
Share Presentation With	Indicates whether the program you are defining includes the presentation stream from the program you choose in the adjoining pulldown list. 2
Web Presentation Bandwidth	Sets the audio/video bandwidth in Kbps. The default is 256. You may want to use a smaller number for WAN or a larger number for LAN presentations.
Capture Live Web Presentation Data	Sets the program up to capture live web presentation data.
Start Page URL (Optional)	Specifies the HTML page that the user goes to at the start of the presentation. It can be either a URL Internet address or the full pathname of an HTML file on the server's local hard drive. For example, http://www.cisco.com or C:\BoardMtg\slide001.htm.
SlideCast/Web Presentation Server	Specifies the name or IP address of the IP/TV Server that will play the SlideCast or web presentation portion of the program. In the case of a web presentation, the server can be the same server as that of the video/audio server. Select a server from the list or enter the name of a new server.

1A scheduled program cannot contain both Web Presentation and SlideCast 2The start and end time of the program you are defining must be within the range of the program that contains the Presentation stream.

Directing the Presentation

Launch IP/TV Server on the same machine you plan to direct the live web presentation from. The Presenter Server (PresenterServerApp window) automatically launches at the time the designated web presentation program is scheduled to play (see Figure 8-3).

From this window you browse URLs, control which HTML pages are transmitted to IP/TV Viewers while you are browsing, and view the Web Presenter PGM (Pragmatic General Multicasting) source statistics (see Figure 8-4).

To browse URLs in real time enter a URL in the URL file on the PresenterServerApp window. Each time you enter a URL it is added to the URL field drop-down list and added to your local cache. You can also click links within a web page to flip to another URL, drag in shortcuts from Internet Explorer favorites, history, Explorer folders, or your desktop. You can also drag in links from an Internet Explorer window. You can also open HTML files stored on the server's local hard drive.

Table 8-3 lists and describes the toolbar button and menu commands on the PresenterServerApp window.

PGM Source Stats Window

Viewing the Presentation Using IP/TV Viewer

From the IP/TV Viewer, select the desired Web presentation program from the Program Listings window. A viewer window launches and begins to play the audio and video program. Simultaneously, the Presenter Client window appears and displays the presentation. If the Presenter Server has not yet sent a URL, then no Presenter Client window will appear on the client side.

Creating a Playback from File Presentation

The Web Presenter feature lets you create a playback from file presentation. A playback from file web presentation consists of an audio and video program that has embedded URLs.

Follow these steps to create and view a playback from file web presentation:

Step 1 Create or select the prerecorded file you want to use in your web presentation. The file must be in .asf format. Or, start with an .avi or.wav file.

Step 2 Convert the non-ASF media file to .asf format using the Windows Media Encoder tool.

Step 3 Insert URLs into the .asf file using the Windows Media ASF Indexer tool. Refer to the Windows Media Technology (WMT) documentation for more information.

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Note When you specify a URL ScriptCommand in an .asf file make sure you enter the complete (absolute) URL, such as http://www.nbc.com. You need to use http:// to distinguish between absolute and a relative path. Also note when you specify a frame name in ScriptCommand, that the frame name is case-sensitive.

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Step 4 Using IP/TV Content Manager, create a scheduled or on-demand program to play back the .asf file. See the "Creating a Scheduled or On Demand Program from an .asf File" section.

Step 5 View the web presentation using IP/TV Viewer. See the "Viewing the Playback from File Presentation Using IP/TV Viewer" section later in this chapter.

Creating a Scheduled or On Demand Program from an .asf File

Follow these steps to create a scheduled program from an .asf file and set the web presentation options:

Step 1 Go to the New Scheduled Program page in your Content Manager.

Step 2 Select the Basic Media File Program option and click Create Program. The New Scheduled Program page for a media file appears.

Step 3 Scroll to the Multimedia Source Information section (see Figure 8-5).

Step 4 Click the Select media file and select the .asf file from the listing in the IP/TV Browse Media Files window. Most multimedia source information options are automatically checked. If the file contains URLs, the Play Web Presentation option is checked. Or, you can enter the full media file path and manually select the multimedia source information options. Table 8-4 describes Web Presenter options. For all other options, refer to the IP/TV Content Manager User Guide.

Step 2 Scroll to the Multimedia Information section (see Figure 8-6).

Step 3 Click Select media file and select an .asf file from the list in the IP/TV Browse Media Files window. Most multimedia information options are automatically checked. If the file contains URLs, the Play Web Presentation option is checked. Table 8-5 describes Web Presenter options. For all other options, refer to the IP/TV Content Manager User Guide.

Viewing the Playback from File Presentation Using IP/TV Viewer

From the IP/TV Viewer, select the Web presentation program from the Program Listings window. A media window launches and begins to play the audio/video program. Simultaneously, a the Presenter Client window appears and displays the web presentation portion. The web presentation consists of HTML pages that are flipped in a designated sequence and at a designated time as determined by the URLs embedded in the program's .asf file.

Using SlideCast

The SlideCast feature allows you to capture screen information for transmission over a network.

SlideCast enables the IP/TV Server to serve the following:

SlideCast with Live or Prerecorded Audio and Video

SlideCast allows the IP/TV Server in live capture mode to show either or both a presenter speaking and computer-based presentation materials (such as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or even a computer screen to demonstrate software) for a presentation. You specify whether a server will use SlideCast and the SlideCast server address in IP/TV Content Manager. Refer to the IP/TV Content Manager User Guide for more information.

Figure 8-7 shows SlideCast with live or prerecorded audio and video.

SlideCast with Live Audio

You can use the same server to serve both SlideCast and live audio. Figure 8-8 shows SlideCast with live audio.

Audio with Alternating SlideCast and Video

You can use one server and manually alternate between live video and SlideCast while using one audio track. A good analogy for this scenario is a television studio switching from camera one to camera two. Figure 8-9 shows audio with alternating SlideCast and video.

Maximum SlideCast Presentation Capability

You can use the same server to serve both SlideCast and live-capture, or you can use different servers. If you use one server to serve both SlideCast and live-capture, the client sees both video and SlideCast on the same window. You must toggle between live-capture and SlideCast on the server computer. If you use different servers, both windows can be viewed simultaneously.

Figure 8-10 shows an example of maximum SlideCast presentation capability. The presenter would be to the right, making eye contact with the live audience and speaking into the camera and microphone for both the live and remote audience. Using Question Manager, the presenter would respond to queries from the live or remote audience members. The presenter's assistant would have a passive IP/TV Viewer to confirm that the audience is receiving the desired image or images. In addition, the assistant could alternate between live video, recorded video, and SlideCast presentations at the IP/TV Server console.

Setting Up a SlideCast Presentation

The Capture Options window, accessed through IP/TV Server, is used to control the area of the screen captured and sent by SlideCast. If you have set up a server for SlideCast, the Capture Options window automatically opens when IP/TV Server starts serving the program.

Table 8-6 describes the options in the Capture Options window.

Follow these steps to set up a SlideCast presentation:

Posted: Thu Oct 28 16:13:48 PDT 1999
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