Broadcast your live video or audio streams to virtually an unlimited audience whether it is one user or 100,000 users are assured your message can be seen worldwide. Real Player is the world premier video/audio broadcasting tool, and is more widely preferred over Media Player for streaming. Real Player supports real quality of service controls to guarantee your media is seen in its original high-definition digital quality. It gives the ability for ALL users to view a single stream with its automatic downward bandwidth connection capabilities. For the more basic user needing strictly audio broadcasting capabilities only, Shout Cast servers give you the ability to stream your own online radio station or online audio programs., and is extremely basic to operate and set-up.

Features

RealPlayer, beyond its function as an audio/video player, also contains additional features such as:

• Media Browser based on Internet Explorer which allows web browsing while playing media.
• Playlist editor similar to other media players, supporting "drag and drop" and playlist randomize.
• Theater Mode (full screen mode) video playback. The paid version offers a skinnable
• Toolbar Mode which uses less desktop space.
• Visualizations - graphical animations or "light shows". Five are included with RealPlayer set-up. Others are available from RealNetworks, including 3D Visualization Plug-In Surreal.FX.
• Continuous Play (Loop multiple songs)
• Shuffle Play (Play tracks randomly).
• Stay on top while playing option.
• Favorites menu to save and recall media locations for files or streams.
• Equalizer and Video controls.
• Crossfade and Gapless playback are included in RealPlayer Plus.
• Media library allows organization of media through track tagging and editing.
• Recording audio, (RealPlayer Plus only) which records audio via a sound card.
• LivePause pauses streaming video clips without having to stop the buffering.
• The Premium version adds Audio Converter to convert between RealMedia, MP3, AAC, Windows Media, and WAV formats, and others.
• Version 10.5 included Harmony technology, making the Music Store compatible with iPod and Windows Media DRM-compatible players.
• Both the basic and the plus version can burn CDs. The current burning technology is powered by NPI; formerly it was powered by Adaptec (Roxio). The free version can burn audio and data CDs; the premium version burns MP3 CDs.
• CD ripping into AAC (in MP4) (32 kbit/s - 320 kbit/s) (default), Real Audio 10 (32 kbit/s - 320 kbit/s), MP3 (32 kbit/s - 320 kbit/s), Real Audio Lossless, WAV (1411 kbit/s), Windows Media Audio (Requires Windows Media Player 10 installed) (64 kbit/s - 192 kbit/s) formats.
• RealPlayer Music Store allows users to locate, preview, and purchase songs, which cost $0.49 to $0.99.
• SuperPass - paid access to premium recorded and live video broadcasts. For Europe (except UK), this includes live broadcasts of BBC World Europe, Al Jazeera English, CNN International Europe, Euronews in seven languages, BBC News recent news clips, MTV UK music clips, and custom content from SportsNews TV, RealTV, Vidzone, and Comedy Time. Costs 17.50 € per month.

Supported Media Formats

• RealMedia formats: RealAudio (.ra, .rm), RealVideo (.rv, .rm, .rmvb), RealPix (*.rp), RealText (*.rt), RealMedia Shortcut (.ram, .rmm)
• Streaming: RealTime Streaming Protocol (rtsp://), Progressive Networks Streaming Protocols (pna://, pnm://), Microsoft Windows Media Streaming Protocol (mms://), Real Scalable Multicast (*.sdp), Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (*.smil, *.smi)
• Audio: MP3 (.mp3, .mp2, .mp2, .m3u), CD Audio (.cda), WAV (*.wav), AAC/aacPlus v1 (.aac, .m4a, .m4b, .mp4, .acp, .m4p), Apple Lossless, AIFF (*.aif, *.aiff), AU Audio Files (*.au), Panasonic AAC (*.acp)
• Video: DVD (*.vob), MPEG Video (*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.m2v, *.mpe etc), AVI (*.avi, *.divx) (installed DivX codec is required), Windows Media (*.wma, *.wmv and etc) (requires Windows Media Player 9/10), QuickTime (*.mov, *.qt) (Quick Time Player must be installed), Adobe Flash (*.swf) (Flash or Shockwave Player must be installed).
• Playlists (*.rpl, *.xpl, *.pls, *.m3u)
• Graphics: Bitmap (*.bmp), GIF Images (*.gif), JPEG Images (*.jpeg, *.jpg), PNG (*.png)

HELIX SERVER
Helix Server is the only multi-format, cross platform streaming server for delivering the highest quality experience to wired and wireless devices.
Key Benefits of Helix Server
Deliver RealAudio, RealVideo, Windows Media, QuickTime , MP3, MPEG-4, 3GPP* (H.263 and H.264) and more from one media server infrastructure.
           

• Reduces cost of reaching the largest possible audience
• Provides flexibility to adopt new formats in the future
• Deliver media from your platform of choice including Windows, Linux and Solaris.
• Provides flexibility to change platforms without changing streaming infrastructure over time
• Fits within an existing heterogeneous environment
• Deliver the highest quality experience to end users by leveraging highest quality codecs and most reliable infrastructure.
• Create a compelling experience for your audience
• Deliver content to wireline and standards-based wireless devices.
• Create the largest possible audience for your content by reaching your users wherever they are
• Reduce costs of reaching multiple devices
• Who Uses Helix Servers?
• The following organizations are eligible to purchase Helix Server Unlimited, Helix Server 100 and Helix Server 25:
• Corporations delivering streaming video and audio to their employees, customers, partners and other stakeholders
• Educational institutions delivering streaming audio and video to their students, employees, and the public at large
• Government agencies delivering streaming video and audio to their employees, other government organizations and the public at large
• Not-for-profit organizations (e.g. churches, political organizations, environment groups, advocacy groups, community radio stations etc.) delivering streaming audio and video to their employees, funders and the public at large
• Media companies who earn less than $50 million in annual revenue
• Service Providers (ISPs) with less than 200,000 subscribers

HELIX PROXY
Helix Proxy is a software solution for reducing bandwidth costs associated with content entering your network by eliminating redundant requests for streaming media.
Helix Proxy is intended for deployment on an intranet, acting as a gateway that services internal RealPlayer requests for streaming media that is hosted on Helix Servers inside or outside of the network. Helix Proxy can also be used by service providers looking for a solution to place at a POP such that they can manage requests for content originating outside their network.
Key Benefits of Helix Proxy
Reduce bandwidth costs — by eliminating redundant data transmission between the server and proxy, you require less bandwidth to receive the same amount of content. Lower bandwidth usage translates into savings to your bottom line.

The SHOUTcast audio homesteading system is comprised of a couple simple components:

LISTENING

Listeners tune in to SHOUTcast broadcasts by using a player compatible with streaming MP3 audio. Users can visit the SHOUTcast directory to locate a stream they'd like to listen to. Recommended players are listed below:

• Windows users should use Winamp.
• Mac users should use iTunes.
• Linux/X Windows users should use XMMS.

BROADCASTING

Persons wanting to broadcast will need to run their own server, as per the instructions below, or find someone willing to run one for them. Once a server's located, broadcasters use Winamp and a plug-in called the SHOUTcast Source for Winamp Plug-In to send audio from Winamp to the SHOUTcast server. The tools are available here, and there's an entire section of the documentation dedicated to the plug-in.

WHAT PLATFORMS ARE SUPPORTED?
    Users can listen to SHOUTcast on a variety of platforms. Recommended players are as follows:
        * Windows users should use Winamp.
        * Mac users should use Audion.
        * Linux/X Windows users should use XMMS.

    Broadcasters need to use Winamp and the SHOUTcast Source Plug-in for Winamp. There is no current solution for broadcasting from UNIX or Macintosh.
    The SHOUTcast DNAS server is available for the following platforms as of the writing of this documentation. There may be more recent information on the server download section of this site.
        * Windows 95
        * Windows 98
        * Windows NT
        * Windows 2000
        * Linux glibc (Intel)
        * FreeBSD 3.x (Intel)
        * FreeBSD 4.x (Intel)
        * BSDi (Intel)
        * Solaris 7 (SPARC)

SHOUT CAST ADVERTISING (Preferred one to use)
Camino-Net SHOUTcast Hosting is a streaming internet radio solution which permits anyone to broadcast audio to listeners across the internet from our secure reliable servers.
You basically become your own radio station, but instead of broadcasting through radio waves, you broadcast through the internet. Your listeners can tune into your SHOUTcast internet radio server through any supported media player, such as Windows Media Player, Winamp, iTunes, RealPlayer, etc.

Camino-Net SHOUTcast servers can play MP3’s you store on our servers, or allow you to deliver live audio.

What do I get with my Camino-Net SHOUTcast hosting account?
We offer INSTANT SETUP and NO SETUP FEES! With your Camino-Net SHOUTcast internet radio server, you will receive a login to our web-based control panel. You can control all aspects of your SHOUTcast radio server through this, including adding your audio tracks, building playlists, broadcasting your SHOUTcast server, and monitoring / controlling listeners. See below for a list of all the features of our control panel.

Streaming internet radio is one of the fastest growing and most exciting areas of the internet.
Now anyone may quickly and economically run their own radio station to advertise their musical creations or enjoy the songs of their favorite artists. Due to our easy to use web-based interface, no prior knowledge on the working internals of Camino-Net SHOUTcast is necessary. Also, streaming audio takes up a lot of bandwidth, often much more than you can support off your home internet connection. Our stable servers and high capacity bandwidth take over this strain and enable you to broadcast at a higher quality and support more listeners.
Camino-Net SHOUTcast hosting is an inexpensive solution for DJ's or bands who want to get their music out to the world and gain attention. Why bother with the cost and hassle of demo tapes, when you can direct interested parties to your Camino-Net SHOUTcast server and let them listen through the internet. If you have a website, or would like us to create one for you, you can have a link on your site that will directly open a user's media player and begin playing your Camino-Net SHOUTcast audio stream. It's the perfect way to get your music out to people all over the globe.
How do people find my station?
When you sign up for a Camino-Net SHOUTcast hosting account, we will automatically list your station with SHOUTcast.com, which is a directory of stations on the internet.  People across the globe go to that site to find stations to listen to by searching for particular genres, artists, track names, etc.  In your server control panel, you will be able to input the genre you wish your station to be listed under.  In addition, the artist and track name playing on your server will automatically update on SHOUTcast.com.  If you have or wish to create a webpage for your station, you can have a link on the site which will automatically open the users default media player and begin playing your station with one simple click.  Your Camino-Net SHOUTcast station will also have a specific web address which you can give out to people so they can listen.
How does Camino-Net SHOUTcast work?
Basic Components of Camino-Net SHOUTcast are the Server and the Transcoder. The server allows a client to connect using the transcoder, which may be hosted from the site of choice or from the servers at Camino-Net.
The Server has two basic functions:
1) To allow connections from a transcoder with password from a client. The transcoder may connect to the server from any location.
2) To broadcast the audio content to listeners anywhere on the planet.
Transcoder also has two basic functions:
1) Broadcast live audio content on the top of static MP3 content from any location or vise versa. Using this method a client may control the MP3 playlist on the fly using Winamp while speaking on the microphone connected to his PC. This is very useful if you intend to be a DJ.
2) Broadcast static audio content directly from Camino-Net. MP3's may be uploaded via a web interface or using FTP. Using a web interface, a client may create a play list with a preferred song order and allow the transcoder to broadcast the music to his listeners.

Streaming Media with Windows Media Technologies
There are three basic steps to delivering ASF files: create, serve and play. The Windows Media Technologies provide the tools and platforms necessary for all three tasks.

1. Creating Streaming
The content creation components of Windows Media Technologies include tools for authoring both live and on-demand content, and for converting other file formats such as WAV, AVI, MPEG and MP3 to ASF. The Windows Media Encoder creates live content for broadcast over the Internet or intranets. Content authors can encode live audio and video feeds and then add them to dynamic mixtures of other media. The tool synchronizes and compresses the media components into a single file, augments the file with error-correction information, and delivers it to a Windows Media Services server, which then transmits it over a network. The Windows Media Encoder can also encode stored content for on-demand playback.

The other Windows Media Tools provide simple ASF authoring tools for creating or editing on-demand content. The tools include the Windows Media On-Demand Producer, Windows Media Author, Windows Media Plug-in for Adobe Premiere, and the command-line utilities VidToAsf, WavToAsf, and PublishToAsf. In addition to the growing number of Windows Media content creation tools, there are also an increasing number of third-party tools that output .asf files.

2. Hosting and Delivering Streaming Media
To host an ASF file for streamed delivery, you simply place the compressed ASF file on a Windows Media Services server and link to this file on a Web server.

The Windows Media server components are a set of services running on Windows NT Server that can unicast and multicast audio, video, and other media to client computers. To deliver live, real-time content, the server works in conjunction with the Windows Media Encoder, which compresses the audio and video feed in real time and passes it to the Windows Media server for delivery to the network. On-demand ASF files must be stored on a server's hard drive and passed to the network by the Windows Media Services server. Windows Media Services offer the widest range of bandwidth, delivering live broadcasts or streaming stored multimedia content from as low as 3 Kbps audio to 6 Mbps of audio and video. Windows Media Services can scale to meet the heaviest demands; a single server can scale to support over 3000 simultaneous user connections, letting you host large Internet broadcasts easily and cost-effectively. And Windows Media Services automatically ensure top performance over the network for the smoothest video and richest audio experience to every end user.

3. Playing Streaming Media
Users play ASF content with the Windows Media Player. Intranet and Internet surfers can use the player to play audio, illustrated audio (synchronized sound and still images), and full-motion video files, plus RealAudio and RealVideo 4.0 (and earlier) content, as well as to offer playback of many other multimedia data types. With the advanced content compression technologies in Windows Media Technologies 4.0, Windows Media Player delivers superb audio and video quality at standard 28.8 kilobit per second (Kbps) Internet connections.