Expression Encoder Stuff

Managing multicast fragmentation in a typical Windows Media Services (WMS) environment

2013-04-26T07:14:00Z

On occasions you may notice your multicast clients experience unwanted behavior and you note one or more of the following

Some packets are lost on the network.
Video buffers or frames are dropped in Windows Media Player.
Network bandwidth appears to spike when looking at traffic at the sub-second level.
Packets are fragmented into multiple 1500 byte packets.

The link below will open a PowerPoint diagram of a typical WMS multicast configuration, it will display simple traffic flow and the 2 basic steps that can be accomplished to assist with handling t5he fragmentation. Note however , removing fragmentation for the sake of simply removing fragmentation is not necessary always required , especially if the network and its structure are robust enough to handle such fragmentation. The purpose of the tweaks are to hopefully assist where the network infrastructure cannot accommodate the fragments.

So basically there are only a couple of actions we can take from a media perspective to address performance when it is not as expected in multicast stream:
1. Set the UPD/TCP bust limits on the server
2. Modify the content (optimum maximum packet size; bitrate etc.)

If the modifications above do not remedy the issue, and if you are not using the Microsoft Expression Encoder, you will want to download the encoder and test using the same parameters to see if you get different behavior. Again, if that does not help you will want to troubleshoot the network and its components to ensure appropriate bandwidth can be achieved for each client

This sample is provided as - is for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied.
--------------------------------------------
Open the following link to view the PowerPoint slide:

(Please visit the site to view this file)

Using multiple Expression Encoder sessions to perform roll-over of smooth streaming publishing points (v4 SP2)

2012-08-26T07:37:00Z

In this scenario , I describe a method that you can use to keep your Silverlight clients connected to a smooth stream while performing maintenance on the main stream. This sample scenario uses 2 Expression Encoder sessions where they take turns rolling over to the other while maintenance is performed on the other. Follow the steps below they should allow you to shut down one encoder to perform maintenance while the other encoder is running to supply content to the Live Smooth Streaming publishing points.

Note: This sample is provided with the primary focus on using the Expression Encoder GUI, you can however use the Expression Encoder SDK

This sample is provided as - is for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied.

Using the Expression Encoder Create a Live Job i.e. LiveA.xej

Note: Use the steps below to make the appropriate modifications to the job

Step1
Fig 1. Chose a File Source as test media:
In this test we will use a file source instead of a live source the results should be the same

Step 2
Fig 2. Encode TAB:
Select IIS Smooth Streaming as the Output Format , you can change the Video to H.264 if required.

Step 3
Fig 3. Output Tab :
- Select "Publising Point" add the location to the server and publishing point.
- Generate an EventID and check the box to Automatically update on restart.
- Test the connection.

Step 4
Fig 4. Template Tab:
Select the " Silverlight Default" template.
Now click the Generate button to generate a template

Step 5
Fig 5. Generate Template Dialog:
For this test, generate the template to a local folder, browse to the directory to place the generated folder (i.e. your desktop)

Step 6
Fig 6. Open Folder:
Open the folder created , you should see files similar to those in the following list:

Now , Create a folder on the server to host the files i.e. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\<MyFolder>, then copy the files over to the server i.e. c:\inetpub\wwwroot\<MyFolder>

Step 7
Modify the Default.html file:
This will allow you to point to 2 publishing points , and if one encoder is stopped to one publishing point the other will start.

Open the Default.html file in notepad
Locate the <PlayList> item and verify or make sure the highlighted changes below are completed for the AutoLoad and AutoPlay paramaters
Locate the start of <PlaylistItem> in the file
Copy all the items between <PlaylistItem> </PlaylistItem> and past the copy below the liveA.isml entry
Rename the <MediaSoruce> file in your new Playlistitem to your 2^nd publishing point i.e. liveB.isml

       <param name="initparams" value='playerSettings =
                        <Playlist>
                            <AutoLoad>true</AutoLoad>
                            <AutoPlay>true</AutoPlay>
                            <AutoRepeat>false</AutoRepeat>
                            <DisplayTimeCode>false</DisplayTimeCode>
                            <EnableOffline>false</EnableOffline>
                            <EnablePopOut>false</EnablePopOut>
                            <StartAudioVolume>10</StartAudioVolume>
                            <SetFocusOnStartup>true</SetFocusOnStartup>
                            <SetHtmlPageTitle>false</SetHtmlPageTitle>
                            <EnableCaptions>true</EnableCaptions>
                            <EnableCachedComposition>true</EnableCachedComposition>
                            <StretchNonSquarePixels>StretchToFill</StretchNonSquarePixels>
                            <StartMuted>false</StartMuted>
                            <StaysFullScreenWhenUnfocused>true</StaysFullScreenWhenUnfocused>
                            <StartWithPlaylistShowing>false</StartWithPlaylistShowing>

<Items>

                                                                                                            <AudioCodec>WmaProfessional</AudioCodec>
                                                                                                            <Description></Description>
                                                                                                            <FileSize>0</FileSize>
                                                                                                            <IsLive>true</IsLive>
                                                                                                            <IsAdaptiveStreaming>true</IsAdaptiveStreaming>
                                                                                                            <MediaSource>http%3A%2F%2F192.168.2.2%2FliveA.isml%5CManifest</MediaSource>
                                                                                                            <ThumbSource></ThumbSource>
                                                                                                            <Title>live</Title>
                                                                                                            <DRM>false</DRM>
                                                                                                            <IsSrsAudio>false</IsSrsAudio>
                                                                                                            <VideoCodec>VC1</VideoCodec>
                                                                                                            <FrameRate>30</FrameRate>
                                                                                                            <Width>480</Width>
                                                                                                            <Height>360</Height>
                                                                                                            <AspectRatioWidth>4</AspectRatioWidth>
                                                                                                            <AspectRatioHeight>3</AspectRatioHeight>
                                                                                                            <CaptionSources>
                                                                                                                        <CaptionSource Language="English%20(United%20States)" LanguageId="eng" Type="Captions" Label="" Location=""/>
                                                                                                            </CaptionSources>
                                                                                                </PlaylistItem>
                        Paste new PlaylistItem here   -->                   <PlaylistItem>
                                                                                                            <AudioCodec>WmaProfessional</AudioCodec>
                                                                                                            <Description></Description>
                                                                                                            <FileSize>0</FileSize>
                                                                                                            <IsLive>true</IsLive>
                                                                                                            <IsAdaptiveStreaming>true</IsAdaptiveStreaming>
                                                                                                            <MediaSource>http%3A%2F%2F192.168.2.2%2FliveB.isml%5CManifest</MediaSource>
                                                                                                            <ThumbSource></ThumbSource>
                                                                                                            <Title>live</Title>
                                                                                                            <DRM>false</DRM>
                                                                                                            <IsSrsAudio>false</IsSrsAudio>
                                                                                                            <VideoCodec>VC1</VideoCodec>
                                                                                                            <FrameRate>30</FrameRate>
                                                                                                            <Width>480</Width>
                                                                                                            <Height>360</Height>
                                                                                                            <AspectRatioWidth>4</AspectRatioWidth>
                                                                                                            <AspectRatioHeight>3</AspectRatioHeight>
                                                                                                            <CaptionSources>
                                                                                                                        <CaptionSource Language="English%20(United%20States)" LanguageId="eng" Type="Captions" Label="" Location=""/>
                                                                                                            </CaptionSources>
                                                                                                </PlaylistItem>

Step 8
Fig 7. Modify the Default.html file:

Step 9

Test the scenerio:

Start Encoder LiveA
Open the Silverlight Player in the browser i.e. http://<ServerIP-or-Name>/<Folder>/default.html
Once the Player is playing Start Encoder LiveB
Now that both encoders are providing content to the publishing points, Stop Encoder LiveA
Once buffering is complete , the player should roll over to the LiveB Stream.
Start Encoder LiveA
Stop Encoder LiveB
Live A should start to stream again after buffering of LiveB is complete.

Determine the resulting stream when a particular Client, Server or Protocol is in use.

2012-08-23T21:28:00Z

I have created the chart below to help understand which resulting stream will be delivered depending on the Client Player, Server Type and Protocol in use.

Fig1. Resulting Stream Chart

Microsoft Expression Encoder feedback submission - all versions

2011-09-27T15:21:00Z

If you have feedback to provide to the Microsoft Expression Encoder team please use the following page to provide feedback.

Customer Feedback for Microsoft Expression Encoder

sample page

Using Microsoft Expression Encoder to display characters based on a dfxp (UTF-8) file format - Expression Encoder 4 SP1

2011-02-28T02:04:00Z

The Expression Encoder generated template has the capability to display captions using a different language. For this scenerio we used the Experssion Encoder 4 Pro SP1 to create the content to display Japanese characters as the displayed captions.

1. Configure the screen capture utility

2. Configure the Screen , Microphone and Camera settings appropriately. Then capture your content.

3. Once you have your content created, send it to the Expression Encoder.

4. Once the Encoder is open position any overlays as you would like, also perform any edits like cropping or cuts at this stage.

5. Add the appropriate language .dfxp caption file

Select the "Text" tab
Click the "+" (plus) next to the file you want to add the .dfxp file.
Browse to the directory that contains the .dfxp file.
Select the preconfigured .dfxp file
Click Open

Note: The contents of a .dfxp will look similar to the following files contents, you will want to change the parameter for the xml:lang and also add appropriate content using the characaters of the language you wish to use as captions. The file is saved with the .dfxp extension and as a UTF-8 format. Also note that you can create .dfxp formated files if you build the "CaptionConverter" application in the Encoder SDK sampless\CaptionConverter

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
               <tt xmlns='http://www.w3.org/ns/ttml' xmlns:tt='http://www.w3.org/ns/ttml' xmlns:ttm='http://www.w3.org/ns/ttml#metadata' xmlns:tts='http://www.w3.org/ns/ttml#styling' xmlns:ttp='http://www.w3.org/ns/ttml#parameter' xml:lang='jpn'>
               <head>
                <metadata>
                 <ttm:title></ttm:title>
                 <ttm:desc></ttm:desc>
                 <ttm:copyright></ttm:copyright>
                </metadata>
                <styling>
                 <style xml:id='backgroundStyle'
                  tts:fontFamily='proportionalSansSerif'
                  tts:fontSize='1.5c'
                  tts:textAlign='center'
                  tts:origin='0% 90%'
                  tts:extent='100% 8%'
                  tts:backgroundColor='rgba(0,0,0,0)'
                  tts:displayAlign='center'/>
                  <style xml:id='speakerStyle'
                  style='backgroundStyle'
                  tts:color='white'
                  tts:textOutline='0px 1px'
                  tts:backgroundColor='transparent'/>
                </styling>
                <layout>
                 <region xml:id='speaker' style='speakerStyle' tts:zIndex='1'/>
                 <region xml:id='background' style='backgroundStyle' tts:zIndex='0'/>
                </layout>
                </head>
                 <body>
                  <div> <p region='speaker' begin='00:00:07:00' end='00:00:08:27'>Microsoft Expression Encoder </p> <p region='speaker' begin='00:00:08:27' end='00:00:19:05'> 高度なアプリケーションを web に Microsoft Silverlight と滑らかなストリーミングシナリオでの再生の質の高い、編集したビデオプロジェクトまたはライブのブロードキャストをもたらすように設計です。</p> <p region='speaker' begin='00:00:19:05' end='00:00:32:09'>個人のモバイルデバイスにダウンロードするには、LAN サーバー上に複数のクライアントをストリーミングから何かのために複数のビットレート、フレームサイズ、編集したビデオプロジェクトをエンコードできます。</p> <p region='speaker' begin='00:00:32:09' end='00:00:42:29'>Expression Encoder を使用して、複数のビットストリームと高品質の VC-1 および H.264 コーデック </p> <p region='speaker' begin='00:00:42:29'>それを果たして高品質で、視聴者のバックアップします。</p>   </div>
               </body>
             </tt>

6. Select the appropriate language from the dropdown.

7. Select the Output tab, create a folder to store the encoded files

8. Select the Templates tab

Choose an appropriate template
Verify that "Show captions during playback" check box is checked

9. Select the Media Content tab to expose the Encode button

10. Note the encoding will proceed.

11. After the encode is complete a sample player will display, toggle the captions button to see the captions.

Click the Icon below to download Sample files:

Using file sources to broadcast a Live Smooth stream from IIS Media Services - Expression Encoder 4 SP1

2011-02-18T04:35:00Z

If your goal is to have clients connect to an in process live broadcast stream , using IIS Smooth Streaming which referes to file sources as its content then note that, at this time there is not a feature in IIS that will allow you to perform such an action by simply pointing to file sources similar to the options provided in Windows Media Services .

However , you can use the Expression Encoder to produce and push Live Smooth streaming content to a publishing point on the IIS server where you can refer to file sources to be used as the content for a live broadcast.

Using steps similar to those listed below you can accomplish this:

1. PROJECT SELECTION

· Select a Live Broadcast Project with the Expression Encoder

2. FILE SOURCES

· Select File Sources

· Add test files to be queued

· Also modify the Play then option to Jump To the files in the queue

3. OUTPUT FORMAT

· On the Encode Tab

· Set the Output Format to IIS Smooth Streaming

4. LIVE SMOOTH STREAMING PUBLISHING POINT

· Create a Live Smooth Streaming publishing point on the IIS server

· Also create a folder for the template files to reside

· Start the publishing point

5. CONNECT TO THE PUBLISHING POINT

· On the Output Tab

· Select the Publishing Point Option

· Location: http://server/ppt.isml

· Verify connection indicates connected after supplying necessary credentials

6. TEMPLATE CREATION

· Select a Template , once the files are generated

· You will place them in the folder on the IIS server

7. GENERATE TEMPLATE

· Click the Generate button Fill out the Generate Template with the appropriate information

· If you choose to use Publish template to server using WebDAV all the appropriate files

· Will be placed on the server in the location listed in the template

8. TESTING WITH SILVERLIGHT PLAYER

· Once finished start the encode session, then open the player from the browser

· You should see your files sources being streamed

Note: If you are familiar with the SDK you create an application perform the same steps above.

Sample to demonstrate how you could enable auto-naming functionality of the encoder in an Expression Encoder v3 SDK based application

2010-08-16T21:10:00Z

Thanks again to my collegue Mahatab Ur Rashid for his valuable input on creating the sample demonstrated here. The sample was created to demonstrate how you could enable auto-naming functionality of the encoder in an Expression Encoder v3 SDK based application ( EncoderAutoStop-04-08-2010.zip)

This programming sample is provided as - is for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. The sample assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Review the figures below then download the code sample from the link below. You can import the solution into your Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 project, build the project, to modify and work with the sample code provided.

Background:
The Microsoft Expression Encoder 3 SDK based applications ignore the auto-naming setting in the job file and it happens because the Expression Encoder 3 SDK doesn’t support the auto-naming functionality. The feature is an application layer logic for the Expression Encoder 3 application.

For example:

If you point an application based on the EE3 SDK to a .XEL file that is set to encode using the auto-naming convention "Live stream archive {date{time}{default extension}", it will create the initial recording correctly so that if you start the job at 2:30, the output will be named:

Live stream archive 3-24-2010 2.39 PM.wmv

However, every successive recording you make, no matter when you start it, will also always be named:

Live stream archive 3-24-2010 2.39 PM.wmv

So it just keeps rewriting the same file again and again. This is not reproducible with the Expression Encoder 3.

Workaround of the problem:

The following sample application will demonstrate how you can incorporate the auto naming functionality in your code.

This application takes a Job file name as input. The user can configure it to stop encoding at a specified date and time. It uses auto naming functionality to save output file name.

APPLICATION DOWNLOADS BELOW:

Click on the files below to download the appropriate applications:

Quick Reference charts to indicate the available video modes when choosing an Expression Encoder v4 project and a particular output format

2010-08-16T16:20:00Z

I created this chart to provide a quick reference to the avaliable video modes when you choose a particular project Transcode; Live Broadcast; or Silverlight Projects then want to quickly determine which video modes you have avaliable then performing you encoding project. Simply review the settings for the type project you are using.

VIDEO MODES REFERENCE CHART

Sample code to open the associated device configuration dialog prior to starting a live encode session using Expression Encoder v4

2010-08-11T18:23:00Z

The following program illustrates how to build a small Windows Application to perform the following actions:

    1. Select a Video and Audio Device Source (see Figure 2)
    2. Open the associated Device Source Configuration Dialog (see Figure 3)
    3. Start an Encode Session (see Figure 4)
    4. End the Encode Session (see Figure 5)

Keep in mind that this is only a sample application and provided to demonstrate the process to perform the steps mentioned above demonstrates the items listed above. Thanks again to my colleagues Rob Dil and Carmine Sirignano for their assistance and collaboration on this sample.

This programming sample is provided As-is for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. The sample assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Review the figures below along with the code sample them simply Copy and Paste the following code into your Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 VB.net project, build the project, add the necessary Expression Encoder references, controls, and change the encoding path to one you have available.

Sample below: ScreenCap.zip

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Application CodeImports Microsoft.Expression.Encoder Imports Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Live Imports Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Devices Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices Imports System.Windows

Public Class Form1

Private deviceSource As LiveDeviceSource
Private job As New LiveJob

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
End Sub

   'Button1 = "Configure Video"
    Private Sub Button1_Click_1(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Button2.Enabled = False
        Button1.Enabled = True
        Button3.Enabled = True
        Button4.Enabled = False

        If deviceSource IsNot Nothing Then
            deviceSource.ShowConfigurationDialog(ConfigurationDialog.VideoCaptureDialog, (New HandleRef(Panel1, Panel1.Handle)))
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Function Panel() As Object
        Throw New NotImplementedException
    End Function

    'Button2 = "Set Device Source"
    Private Sub Button2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
        domything()
        Button1.Enabled = True
        Button2.Enabled = False
        Button3.Enabled = False
        Button4.Enabled = False
    End Sub

Private Sub domything()
Dim video As EncoderDevice = If(EncoderDevices.FindDevices(EncoderDeviceType.Video).Count > 0, EncoderDevices.FindDevices(EncoderDeviceType.Video)(0), Nothing)

        Dim audio As EncoderDevice = If(EncoderDevices.FindDevices(EncoderDeviceType.Audio).Count > 0, EncoderDevices.FindDevices(EncoderDeviceType.Audio)(0), Nothing)

        Dim fileOut As New FileArchivePublishFormat()
        Dim stream As New PullBroadcastPublishFormat()

' Gets timestamp and edits it for filename

        Dim timeStamp As String = DateTime.Now.ToString()
        timeStamp = timeStamp.Replace("/", "-")
        timeStamp = timeStamp.Replace(":", ".")

        ' Sets file path and name
        ' Note: output folder must be already created in C:

        fileOut.OutputFileName = "C:\Capture " & timeStamp & ".wmv"
        stream.BroadcastPort = 8089

' Adds the format to the job. You can add additional formats as well such as
' Publishing streams or broadcasting from a port

        job.PublishFormats.Add(fileOut)
        job.PublishFormats.Add(stream)

       ' Create a new device source. We use the first audio and video devices on the system
        deviceSource = job.AddDeviceSource(video, audio)

        ' sets preview window to winform panel hosted by xaml window
        deviceSource.PreviewWindow = New PreviewWindow(New HandleRef(Panel1, Panel1.Handle))

        ' Make this source the active one
        job.ActivateSource(deviceSource)

    End Sub

    Private Function LiveDeviceSource() As LiveDeviceSource
        Throw New NotImplementedException
    End Function

    'Button3 = "Start Encoding"
    Private Sub Button3_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button3.Click
        Button1.Enabled = False
        Button2.Enabled = False
        Button3.Enabled = False
        Button4.Enabled = True

'Start(encoding)
job.StartEncoding()

End Sub

    'Button4 "Stop Encoding"
    Private Sub Button4_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button4.Click
        Button1.Enabled = False
        Button2.Enabled = False
        Button3.Enabled = False
        Button4.Enabled = True

        'Stop(encoding)
        job.StopEncoding()

        'Reset Buttons to default values
        Button1.Enabled = True
        Button2.Enabled = False
        Button3.Enabled = False
        Button4.Enabled = False

End Sub

    Private Sub Button5_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button5.Click
        Close()
    End Sub

End Class

Sample code to transcode a .wmv into a Smooth Streaming set of files using the smooth streaming default profile settings - Expression Encoder v4

2010-07-28T22:51:00Z

The following sample code demonstrates transcoding a .wmv file to a default set of Smooth streaming files. Thanks again to my colleague Random on Windows Media for colloboration on this sample.

Note the following references are also needed:

This programming sample is provided as - is for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. The sample assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Simply Copy and Paste the following code into your Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/2010 C# project, build the project, add the necessary Expression Encoder references and make avaliable the pinball.wmv or appropriate video file to transcode.

Microsoft.Expression.Encoder
Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Types
Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Utilities

Also note that the sample below is for a console application and may vary from a WPF based application.

//==============================

using System;
using Microsoft.Expression.Encoder;
using Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Profiles;

namespace EE4smooth
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (Job job = new Job())
            {
                string MediaFile = "d:\\Sample Media\\pinball.wmv";
                MediaItem mItem;
                try
                {
                    mItem = new MediaItem(MediaFile);
                }

catch (InvalidMediaFileException)

                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Error: Invalid Media File or Path");
                    return;
                }

mItem.OutputFormat.VideoProfile = SetVideoProfile();

// Output mode must be set for Smooth Streaming. Otherwise it

// will default to a WMV file

OutputMode outputmode = new OutputMode();

outputmode = OutputMode.SmoothStreamingMultipleFile;

Console.Out.WriteLine("Output mode is: " + outputmode.ToString());

job.MediaItems.Add(mItem);

// Sets one of the template profiles to make things easier

job.ApplyPreset(Presets.VC1IISSmoothStreamingHD720pVBR);

job.OutputDirectory = @"c:\output";

job.Encode();

}

static AdvancedVC1VideoProfile SetVideoProfile()

{

// Sets the video profile properties

AdvancedVC1VideoProfile profile = new AdvancedVC1VideoProfile();

// The SmoothStreaming property must be set to true on the video profile

// if you are using Smooth Streaming. This is not necessary for the audio profile.

profile.SmoothStreaming = true;

profile.AdaptiveGop = false;

return profile;

}