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RealNetworks Opens SMIL Implementation
Rob Lanphier writes "RealNetworks just released the source code to their SMIL 2.0 implementation (along with JPEG, GIF, PNG, and WBMP implementations) as part of the Helix Community initiative, under the OSI-approved RPSL. Some neat tricks to do with the code: superimpose images on top of video, or transition effects between videos, using standard W3C-defined markup. More tech details in the Helix community datatype project page, or look at the SMIL production topics page. A precompiled release with this code will be coming out very soon."
Helix Developers Can Now Easily Create Helix DNA Client Products Supporting Synchronized Multimedia
Does this mean I can play real audio/real video files without realone? I hate installing that thing on my computer. However, alot of stuff is only available in that format, such as live audio of nfl games and clips from my friends local hip hop group (www.psychoward.com, yes it uses flash too, I tried to tell him, but nobody listens)
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Squirrel
I work with SMIL files on a download platform and the biggest problem is the poor implementation by the manufacturers.
So far, the only phones that use SMIL's correctly are the SonyEricsson T68i, T610, P800 and the SAGEM MY X-6. Other SMIL capable phones either:
- Pop up a message "unknown format"
- Show you only the first frame
- Force you to manually advance through each frame by pressing a button (all Nokia's do this)
SMIL's will only get popular if the handset manufacturers can implement it correctly - and so far, they haven't.Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
http://www.mpeg-4.philips.com.
Windows and PPC only I'm afriad.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
Anybody have a link to the WMA version? tia
give Real some respect for this. I don't see Microsoft opening up .asx, or whatever the hell kids are using these days.
Some sample W3C-approved markup from an image:
...
<image type="image/gif">
<pixels>
<pixel xcoord="0" ycoord="0">
<phosphor color="red">15</phosphor>
<phosphor color="green">60</phosphor>
<phosphor color="blue">20</phosphor>
</pixel>
<pixel xcoord="1" ycoord="0">
<phosphor color="red">14</phosphor>
<phosphor color="green">60</phosphor>
<phosphor color="blue">20</phosphor>
</pixel>
</pixels>
</image>
Using this method, the Slashdot logo takes up over 500 kB. Maybe it will be reduced using gzip, but I'm not buying into it for now.
For more information, click here.
* = Only if user is retarded enough to enter a real email adress.
Hate me!
Sorry, this doesn't make sense. If the image is type "gif", why would you specify every single pixel? It wouldnt be a gif, then, would it? Fucking MORON troll flamebait IDIOT
Is it just me or does Real make it unreasonably difficult to download their player? It seems to me that if you want to encourage proliferation of your media format, you don't want to force users to go through a dozen or so clicks on your web site and then ask for a credit card number when issuing a trial! Since Real stopped offering a free player, I no longer bother with the format. Dealing with all the players in nonsense enough, I do not need the added hassle or even financial burden of paying for another one. You might want to consider encouraging your friend to switch to something a little more accessible. Of course, this all could have changed in the past couple months. As far as I remember however, Real required payment for a media player (absurd, I don't even pay for an OS).
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Can it be used as a Macromedia Flash replacement? :-?
SMIL+SVG is the most logical output format and interchange format for Open source presentation programs. It would be terrific if they could get together to turn Mozilla into a standards-based multimedia presentation delivery platform.
I worked with SMIL on some Multimedia and E-learning projects. And I must say: Allthough Realplayer looks like someone did doo-doo on your screen and their interpolation algorithms and scaling was really crappy back then (and Flash ruled everywhere) the actuall intention and scope of this language is somewhat sophisticated. It goes from simple Text and Hyperlinks all the way thourgh to serious layering and Video output.
I'd actually trust SMIL to become the 'ogg' of multimedia data and Realplay with their opening Helix initiative seem determined to actually doing something usefull to the OSS community.
Let's hope it turns out well.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Now when one can use markup to subtitle an AVI (MJPG codec) with purely free software, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon bigtime - gotta have my Sailor Moon!
-uso.
Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
The Software embodies a serial copying management system required by the laws of the United States. You may not circumvent or attempt to circumvent this system by any means.
AC> Since when (and how) does the US Congress
AC> mandate copy protection of Real1's basic
AC> player software?
Note that this doesn't mean that it can play .SWF files, it merely provides more or less equivalent functionality.
While the OSI think the RPSL is Free, there's some disagreement on debian-legal. The primary issue is probably clause 2.1(d) which requires that changes be made publically available. Now, if you're a political dissident, you may want to modify existing code to some end not encouraged by your government. Under the GPL, you only need to provide your modifications to those that you trust - under the RPSL, you need to provide your modifications publically, which may be equivilent to a big sign saying "Please arrest me, Mr Totalitarian Government"
This is a contrived examples, but it's something that should be possible under a Free license - if you can't do that, then it suggests that the license isn't entirely Free.
(Yes, the idea of a group of political dissidents being worried about strict conformance to the license their code is under is a stupid one. But that's not the point - they ought to be able to modify the code and conform to the license without it then putting their lives at risk more than is strictly necessary)
Strictly speaking, it's probably against clause 3 of the DFSG as well - the unmodified code can be distributed without having to provide source publically, but the modified code can't.
Only if user is retarded enough to enter a real email adress.
I use a real email address. But then again I use "michael@slashdot.org"
The people of Kazaa Lite fame (if I am not mistaken) created this nice little package called Real Alternative which is Media Player Classic and the Real codecs package in one.
Play those nice Real movies without the cruddy Real player!
SMIL has almost nothing to do with cell phones! Who cares about the SonyEricsson T68i???
A precompiled release with this code will be coming out very soon."
As soon as it finishes buffering.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly affected when you come and go, you come and go)
You could also do an image like this:
...
<image type="image/gif">
<pixels>
<pixel xcoord="0" ycoord="0">
<phosphor color="yellow">15</phosphor>
<phosphor color="cyan">60</phosphor>
<phosphor color="magenta">20</phosphor>
</pixel>
<pixel xcoord="1" ycoord="0" shape="round">
<phosphor color="black">14</phosphor>
<phosphor color="white">60</phosphor>
</pixel>
</pixels>
</image>
See? You can have per-pixel control of the colorspace you are in, and even specify different pixel shapes!! You can mix monochromatic pixels right next to RGB or print space pixels!! It's the ultimate in imaging flexibilty!!
Implementation of said spec is left as an interesting exercise to cell-phone makers dealing with really low CPU power.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I really wonder the first moron to claim RealOne player is spyware, on this topic.
Also pointing me down is kinda same thing. Thats why I don't use "no karma bonus" button unchecked first time.
I use JetAudio to play Real audio / video files. It doesn't work as a plugin (I think) but I just save the files to my HD then play them back later. It's SO worth it not to have that ad-ware annoying piece of CRAP on my system. This program has no ads and lots of features I never use. It's not annoyned me or poped up anything after 5 months.
FREE Real Audio/Video Player
It also plays other formats, but I usually use Winamp for everything else.
Here's the URL to the free player:
http://www.real.com/freeplayer/
No, we don't require payment for the player.
Rob
I call this "Four Easy Steps To Defeating Potential Customers", and since Real has enacted these steps, I've completely stopped using their software.
You have pointed out a very easy link to get to the free software. Nevertheless, the average user out there is not going to stumble upon this Slashdot thread. Real is Really stupid for making it so hard to get to their media player (I keep emphasising that because this isn't something you should make hard to get or even charge for -- it's an avenue for your marketing and I don't want to fit the bill for that).
Whoever it is at Real that thought out your marketing flow is a real dipshit. You should never make customers work for you. There's a dozen alternatives to this in hooking customers. If people can actually get your software, they will more likely become customers. At this stage, you don't even give them that much.
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"Us geeks who have to write this stuff know it sucks ass. But can you imagine how many HTML web monkey can get their jobs back when they have to write out those images pixel by pixel. This could respark the dotcom boom."
US geeks are machovist (They use EMACS, for God's sake). There are tools that allow someone who's in it for the job, and not just the geek factor to deal with the verbosity that W3 standards generate.
Folks seem to have a lot of bitterness towards RealNetworks. I certainly agree the download process is self-defeatingly difficult. But of the Big Three propritary formats, RealNetworks is the only one shipping a *NIX player. It's community supported only, but is really pretty good, and they provide downloadable updates to the latest.
Real also provides authoring tools for Linux, albeit command-line only.
Also, the Real codecs are really quite nice. RealVideo 9 is second only to Windows Media Video 9 in terms of compression efficiency, and performs better on lower end machines. The audio codecs are getting a little long in the tooth, but are still more than adequate for real-time streaming applications.
My video compression blog
Since I agree with much of what you say, the answer to your implied question: "I don't know what pull you have over there..." is "obviously, not a lot". ;-)
I will forward your comments on, though. One thing that would be very helpful is posting your comments on our official comment form.
Rob
Check out doom9.org forums, specifically, the "new A/V format" forum. THE Senior Codec Engineer of RealNetworks posts daily there. He does it on his own free time and even lets the forum readers in on pre-release fuctions and code.
Specifically, EHQ encode mode, RealAudio 5.1 audio, and the Animation DropDupe Pre-filter are all new capabilites being discussed there. EHQ mode gives upto 30% improved compression efficiencey and the DropDupe pre-filter provides for variable frame rate encodeing of animation/cartoons, that plays back as if encoded at 24/30 fps, so since repeated frames are droped instead of being encoded, you save diskspace.
The cream of the crop, so to say, though would be the DirectShow filter for RealMedia.
Also a lot of discussion has gone on about the marketing department of RealNetworks being utterly retarded, which from as a result of the forum and internal pressure, has been made to relize a lot of their faults. Version 3 of the RealOne player we are told will be really nice (as in getting rid of ads and such).
I won't touch anything from Real with a 10 foot pole.
Is anyone else taking this stand against the most annoying company on the internet? (IMO)
The tags appeared when I previewed... grrr...
SMIL looks like this, I meant to say:
<par>
<img src="foo.gif">
<seq>
<video src="bar.ram">
<img src="quux.png">
</seq>
</par>
Only imagine lots more attributes specifying duration, position, z-index, alpha, etc...
All's true that is mistrusted
If I had known this would get passed up to someone, I would have been a little less crass. :)
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Just to add a note, if you're interested in authoring SMIL, but fear hand-editing,
http://www.smilgen.org/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/smilgen
SOOO portable!!! No need for assembly or c++ again!!!!
A breakthru in portable game development!
The problem with Real networks is that the player sucks....
"You do not support the root but the root supports you." - Romans 11:18
Well, I will be crass. I avoid the Realplayer and encourage everybody else to do the same.
If Real would place a link on their site that would lead STRAIGHT to their freeplayer, then I'd rethink my position.
"gah. PDF is an open standard with many free implementations. just because it originated in a company it does not mean it is not free. It is actually a very nice format."
And GIFs originated with a company, and had many free implimentations.
Thanks for being proof of that old saying. "Those who forget history are doomed to repeating it."