An Introduction to Microsoft NetShow Services and Advanced Streaming Format (ASF)

1
An Introduction toMicrosoft NetShow Services
and Advanced Streaming Format(ASF)

• By
• Huang Yi-Chin

2
Outline

• Part I NetShow Services
• Introduction
• Streaming media components
• NetShow Server
• NetShow Tools
• Windows Media Player
• Part II Advanced Streaming Format
• Introduction
• File Format Organization
• Sample Files

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Part I NetShow Services

• NetShow is ..
• NetShow Services is a platform for streaming
  multimedia content over networks that range from
  low-bandwidth, dial-up Internet connections, to
  high-bandwidth local area networks (LANs). 1
• Streaming is ..
• data that is streamed is transmitted so that it
  is accessible without delay 2
• not as the download-and-play technology.

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Introduction(1/2)

• How NetShow Services Work

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Introduction(2/2)

• Key Features
• Widest bandwidth range
• Intelligent streaming
• Build-in multicast service
• Codec independence

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Streaming media components(1/3)

• NetShow Server
• NetShow Administrator A set of administrative
  tools to manage, configure and monitor NetShow
  Services.
• Publishing Point(unicast)
• On-demand Unicast p.p.
• Broadcast Unicast p.p.
• Station Content(multicast)

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Streaming media components(2/3)

• NetShow Tools
• NetShow Encoder
• NetShow T.A.G. Author (Digital Renaissance)
• Media On-Demand Producer (Sonic Foundry Inc.)
• NetShow Indexer
• Adobe Premiere plug-in
• Publish to ASF(PowerPoint plug-in)
• Other utility program VidToAsf, WavToAsf...

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Streaming media components(3/3)

• Windows Media Player
• Based on DirectShow API architecture.
• An universal player.
• Automatic codec downloading.
• Supporting ASX (ASF Stream Redirector) files to
  enhanced content.
• Other features Marker menu, Logo, Banner,
  Playlist

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Part II Advanced Streaming Format

• What is ASF?
• An extensible file format designed to store
  synchronized multimedia data. 4

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ASF Features(1/2)

• Extensible Media Types
• easy to define new media types
• Component Download
• Stream-specific information (ie. Codec) is stored
  in the file header.
• Scalable Media Types
• It stores each band for a media as a distinct
  media stream.

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ASF Features(2/2)

• Multiple Languages
• supports multiple languages.
• Author-specified Stream Prioritization
• ex. Multiple streams for different bandwidth.
• Bibliographic Information
• Bibliographic Information can apply to either the
  whole file or a single media stream.

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File Format Organization(1/3)

• ASF Object
• the base unit of organization - ASF Object

16 Bytes
Object ID
Object Size
8 Bytes
Object Data
?? Bytes
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File Format Organization(2/3)

• High-level File Structure
• Three Top-level Objects
• Header Object
• Data Object
• Index Object
• Minimal Implementation
• 1 File Properties Object
• 1 Stream Properties Object
• 1 Language List Object
• 1 Data Object with only 1 Data unit

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File Format Organization(3/3)

• ASF Header Object
• is a container that can hold other ASF objects

File Properties Object Stream Properties
Object Content Description Object Script Command
Object Marker Object Component Download
Object Scalable Object
Prioritization Object Mutual Exclusion
Object Inter-Media Dependency Object Rating
Object Index Parameters Object Color Table
Object Language List Object
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• Stream Property Object

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• Script Command Property Object

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• Marker Object

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• Index Parameter Object

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• Data Object

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• Index Object

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Sample files

• Sample1

• Sample2

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Reference

• 1 Windows NT Server NetShow Service Deployment
  Guild
• 2 Microsoft NetShow 3.0 Reviewers Guild
• 3 NetShow Overview White Paper
• 4 Advanced Streaming Format Specification
  Ver1.0
• http//www.microsoft.com/ntserver/mediaserv/defaul
  t.asp
• http//www.microsoft.com/asf