The process for viewing digital video is
simple. If you click on a video clip, your
browser will look for the plug-in required
to play it. If you have the relevant plug-in,
the video plays in a window on your computer.
If you are using Internet Explorer version
6 and up, your default media player may
have been set to play in the IE v.6 Windows Player.
If so, you will see the small pop up video
player appear at the bottom left of your
browser screen. You can enlarge this by
clicking on the small arrows at the top
right of that Windows player .
What is Streaming Video?
Streaming
Video is a method of dowloading and viewing
video clips that allows the video to begin
playing without waiting for the entire clip
to download. Play starts shortly after request
and the file is downloaded while you watch.
How
do I View Streaming Video?
To download
and view streaming video files, you'll need
appropriate player software. Three of the
most popular are Real
Player , Windows
Media Player and QuickTime .
To download the latest versions of these
players, click the links above. Note: The
free version of Real Player works just
fine, even though the link to it may roam
around the site. Keep looking!
I Can't Seem to View a Video Clip. What
Can I Do?
1. First, make certain you have
the latest version of the recommended player
installed. If you don't know what version
you have, use your computer's find feature
to search for the player. If it is found
on your system, you should see the version
number listed next to the player's name.
2. Make sure you have the latest version
of your browser installed. Internet
Explorer and Netscape
Navigator are the two more popular
choices, although there are other viable
options, including Mozilla, Opera, and
Omni-Web.
3. If you click the
link for the video clip and nothing
happens, make note of the URL for the
video file. You can usually view this
address at the bottom of your browser
in the status bar. It will look like
a web address with a video file extension
e.g. http://www.webvalence.com/streamingvideo/video.mpg.
Alternatively, right-click the link
(control + click for Mac) and select "copy
link to clipboard"
4. Open your media player and, under
the file menu, select "Open URL." Enter
the address of the video clip. If you copied the link to the clipboard,
you can paste it in by typing Control
+ v (command + v for Mac).
5. If you're a Windows user, make sure
you have the most up-to-date drivers
for your sound card and video adapter.
More instructions can be found at Microsoft's
Support Site.
6. If you get an error code, it may help
you diagnose the problem. Check out error
codes for Windows
Media Player or Real
Player .
7. It's possible that the server hosting
the video file is temporarily down, network
traffic is unusually high and the connection
is timing out, or the URL for the file
is just plain wrong. It may help to take
a break and try again later. At least
you'll feel better. If it's still not
working, try emailing the site owner
to make sure the reference is fresh.
8. You may be behind a firewall without
the proper open ports to allow streaming.
If you suspect this is so, contact your
network administrator.
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