Although we don't have a Real Audio/Video server, we do support the streaming of Real audio and video files over HTTP (the normal web interface).
Streaming means that the audio or video file will begin to play almost immediately, even before the file has been fully downloaded. By the time the section of the file that has already been downloaded has finished playing, the next section of the file should have had time to download. Over a very good Internet connection this should allow large audio or video files to play smoothly as they are simultaneously being downloaded, allowing your visitors to experience them in real time without first waiting for large files to download.
In order to stream Real Audio/Video files at Efficient Hosting you will need to embed a "metafile" (which references the realmedia file itself) in a web page, as explained below. If you don't follow this procedure then the file(s) may not stream properly, in that they may not begin playing until fully downloaded.
As an example, suppose that the Real Media file you wish to stream is located at the URL:
http://www.yourdomain.co.uk/realfiles/filename.rm
Then you need to create a .ram file, or "metafile", which contains just the address of the Real Media file in the format:
http://www.yourdomain.co.uk/realfiles/filename.rm
This URL goes in a .ram metafile, not in the HTML code that makes up your web page.
Finally you can include a link to the .ram metafile in your web page. So, for example, your HTML code might look something like this:
<a href="filename.ram">Click here.</a>
In summary, the HTML code in your .html web page calls the .ram metafile which, in turn, references the realmedia file. The web page shouldn't link directly to the realmedia file. You need to use a .ram metafile for each realmedia file and each .ram metafile will simply contain the URL of the appropriate realmedia file.
The Real.com web site, with plenty of support and links to various utilities for creating and processing Real Audio/Video files can be found at http://www.real.com. |
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