I would like to create an application that will take video input (from a
device) and create a video stream that can be sent over the internet.  I
have already built the part that reads the video and can preview it on
screen or save to an avi.

Do you sample frames and create a bunch of compressed images which you
"push" to the browser?  In other words, how is this done?

Hope somebody has some pointers or information sources to get me started.

The HTTP protocol doesn't allow for streaming data. The best you can do with
it is to change the MIME document type to video/avi and hope the client got
a streaming AVI reader. The probleme, at this point, is that the client will
probably try to save the AVI data to the disk and if you're sending a
continuous stream, it can result in quite large files.

Another way to handle this kind of probleme is to write a dedicated client
software (like the Real Video player) that will receive the data, buffer
some of it (to mke for the net's irregular data transfer rate), play it and
finally discard the outdated data (the one that has already been playeed).

Good luck,
Stephane

There are streaming AVI players?  Do you know where I can get one as this
seems like something I could use as a solution.

Also, do you (or anyone else) have an info on writing your own dedicated
client software to receive, buffer, and play streaming video.  In my
original note it still seems to me that it is done by taking a bunch of
snapshots of the video, compress the frames, and "push" them to the browser
plug-in or client software.

But if there is a streaming AVI player out there then I won't re-invent the
wheel.

Lyle

Miles,

You have two options:

If you MUST stick to avi, then try latest MoviePlayer from MS: it has a
limmited streaming capability in the sense that it can begin to display the
data before it has been fully downloaded and, if the bandwidth is
sufficient, that could get you close to the real thing.

If you can get away from the AVI format, then have a look at RealNetwork
(http://www.real.com/) sollutions. They propose quite good clients and
server sollution for audio and video streaming. They also propose client and
server SDKs so that you can integrate their technology directly in your
application.

Goo dluck,
Stephane