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albertomoreno1982
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Streaming .flv video stops and gets back to the beginning

May 13, 2012 6:35 AM

Tags: #streaming #.flv #streaming_video

We have recently created a flash site in which a page simply opens a video using the video player and streams it - nothing else there.

 

The .flv movie is only 20MB (inside a folder in the main root of our server) - it starts loading fine and it streams, but after it reaches half of it (the movie is 3 minutes long), it simply stops and gets back to the beginning (you can press play to start it all again).

 

If I play the movie and stop it right away to let it load the complete buffer, the buffer starts loading slow but fine and suddendly it loads in one go to the end of the clip (it would have to take longer, like when it began). This is a sign it won't work -> if I click in the end area of it, no frames show (the end of the movie) meaning nothing has been buffered in that area.

 

The first days when we uploaded the site it all worked fine but now the movie stops - the buffer loads at one point in one go (bad sign...).

 

What could it be the problem? This is a professional flash template we are using. I've tried using a .mp4 (h264) movie and the same happens...

 

Cheers

1459 Views   10 Replies   Latest reply: albertomoreno1982, May 18, 2012 3:17 AM
 
Replies
  • adninjastrator
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    1. adninjastrator,
    May 13, 2012 6:51 AM   in reply to albertomoreno1982
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    It sounds like you may have a bad video file.

    Can you play the .flv by itself (not in browser) on your local machine (not over the Internet?

    Of course a link to the actual page would also be helpful so we could also test.

    Best wishes,

    Adninjastrator

     
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  • albertomoreno1982
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    2. albertomoreno1982,
    May 13, 2012 7:17 AM   in reply to adninjastrator
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    Hi adninjastrator,

     

    The video file plays fine - tested fully locally (we handle compressing video files pretty well) -> we used this Premiere Pro's export preset:

     

    Web - 768x432, 16x9, Project Framerate (23.97), 900kbps.

     

    Could it be the Bitrate Encoding - better to use CBR or VBr?

     

    Maybe the frame rate (we set it "same as source"), or Bitrate Level (we set it as high)?

     

    We often compress video with good results but when it comes to streaming video many doubts arise on how to set some parameters...!

     

    Thanks

     

    P.S. the website is for an enterprise and would prefer not to display it publicly

     
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  • adninjastrator
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    3. adninjastrator,
    May 13, 2012 7:37 AM   in reply to albertomoreno1982
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    The presets look just fine and neither type of bitrate coding would cause the problem.

    I still think you have a corrupted video file. Can you compare the video file size on your local machine with the one on the server... do they match?

    Did you create the video player yourself? using the FLVPlayback component? or is the player a 3rd party player?

    To eliminate whether it's your player or not, test the video file in JWPlayer here:

    http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player-setup-wizard

    Perhaps another troubleshooting step would be test using a different video file, one that is know to be working already on the Internet. Upload that video file to your server, temporarily rename your existing .flv to "myvideo_old" or something and rename the just uploaded, know to work video to whatever the original video was... don't worry about display size or aspect ratio... just see if the file correctly buffers and plays all the way through.

    Best wishes,

    Adninjastrator

     
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  • albertomoreno1982
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    4. albertomoreno1982,
    May 13, 2012 7:48 AM   in reply to adninjastrator
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    Great suggestions I'll follow adninjastrator, I think we'll get it working when we try all those options.

     

    I'll write back with the solution (hopefully)

     

    Cheers again

     
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  • albertomoreno1982
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    5. albertomoreno1982,
    May 15, 2012 3:10 AM   in reply to albertomoreno1982
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    Nothing - we have tried the videos in different players and also have tried videos that work on the internet (even from other flash websites we have that work online) and they don't work in that player.

     

    The problem is the same: the loading progress bar (buffer) starts loading little by little and then at one point, it suddendly loads the whole thing and---> from the point it did so the video gets black since is not loaded there and will never be (you can play up to that point but from there on nothing).

     

    This seems to be a problem with the player...?

     

    What solution do you guys suggest? This is a template we bought and the .fla file seems to be very fragile: if you open it and try to change things, when you save them the whole site breaks down (I don't know what they did but all layers seems to be "hidden" to be edited).

     

     

    Thanks

     
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  • albertomoreno1982
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    6. albertomoreno1982,
    May 15, 2012 3:38 AM   in reply to albertomoreno1982
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    We have found a VideoPlayerClass.as - inside the code seems to let change the buffer time.

     

    Does this mean it can load the video faster/slower and could this be a solution to the problem?   

     
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  • adninjastrator
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    7. adninjastrator,
    May 15, 2012 7:01 AM   in reply to albertomoreno1982
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    While you may be able to change the buffer time a little, I don't think that's the problem.

    Why not just replace the video player? It's pretty easy to set up a player using the FLVPlayback component or use NetStream to build your own player (a little more complex), or even use a third party player (like JWPlayer).

    While templates may have there place, they can be real trouble to edit or try fix... since you didn't build it yourself and may not exactly know how it comes apart/goes back together.

    Best wishes,

    Adninjastrator

     
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  • albertomoreno1982
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    8. albertomoreno1982,
    May 15, 2012 4:48 PM   in reply to adninjastrator
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    That should be the best way to go - we'll replace that video player.

     

    We have been thinking about the possibility to embed a vimeo video in a flash page - just the video - nothing fancy. Is there any suggestion you can make to do so in the easiest way? We tried some time ago and (since we are no flash experts) couldn't find the way to do so - it seemed pretty complicated .

     

    I'll search on the internet but if you have any suggestion to make things easier I'd follow that advice.

     

    Thank you!

     
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  • adninjastrator
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    9. adninjastrator,
    May 15, 2012 5:43 PM   in reply to albertomoreno1982
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    We have been thinking about the possibility to embed a vimeo video in a flash page

    Dispite what you may have heard, there is no such thing as a "Flash page" or a "Flash Website" on the Internet!

    All pages/sites on the Internet are .html, .php, .asp, etc pages.... none are .fla or .swf pages... So, lucky for you, it's very easy to place a couple Flash <objects> on the same .html page and make it LOOK like the two are part of the same .swf!

    Here is an example... actually using a Vimeo video over the top of a .swf:

    http://www.worldbarefootcenter.com/

    View the source code for details..

    but basically, you use your main .swf to file out the HTML Web page as normal, but leave a blank spot where you want the second .swf to appear... the Vimeo video. Set the dimensions and location of that blank spot to exactly match that of the Vimeo player you plan to embed.

    Then you use CSS to layer a second HTML container over the top of the main HTML container, making it appear as though it is all part of one .swf.

    You will be using CSS z-indexing to layer that second HTML container over the top of the first:

    http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_pos_z-index.asp

    you will also need to know to correctly position that second .swf <object> over the first:

    http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_positioning.asp

    So while this may seem a little foreign at first, it's a very good way to accomplish exactly what you are attempting. Most competent Web developers could work that out pretty quick.

    Best wishes,

    Adninjastrator

     
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  • albertomoreno1982
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    10. albertomoreno1982,
    May 18, 2012 3:17 AM   in reply to adninjastrator
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    Thanks adninjastrator!

     

    I hadn't seen your answer until today! We'll follow those links till we make it work - that indeed is the best solution.

     
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