Let’s get technical.

No doubt you’re familiar with HTTP, the familiar hypertext transfer protocol that zips info to-and-fro on the web. You know, those pesky letters you have to type in before the www for a web address.

HTTP was designed for standard web pages made of text, graphics and images. Now keep in mind that as digital files swoop along, they sometimes runs into broken links and clogged areas, so info gets re-routed, just like you do in morning rush hour when there’s a bridge out ahead.

Detours are a lot more difficult for complex video information files than simple text files, which is another factor affecting transmission time and quality. Enter RTSP, or Real Time Streaming Protocol.

RTSP tackles streaming video content much like HTTP handles standard data transfer. RTSP was designed specifically for video transmission so it’s newer and works quite differently.

Both methods are used for video transmission; HTTP is so pervasive that you can’t get away from it. This is not something to sweat over; both methods have their advantages, pros and cons. Use whatever is available to you from your video host.

Since all information is useful, it’s good for an Internet video producer to know the difference. On a technical level, RTSP provides a cleaner, smoother file transfer for video than HTTP. To accomplish this, RTSP requires specialized streaming video servers which are expensive and not terribly common, YET.

These specialized servers control the streaming process and adjust the data rate speed based on the ebb and flow of internet traffic. This is good and bad. If the Internet is packed, clogged and jammed, transmission can be poor. One advantage for viewers is that they can jump ahead to the end of the clip because it is on the specialized server and viewer is watching that source.

When you stream video thru HTTP, it is called progressive downloading. The viewer has to wait for the video to download completely before he can see the end. No skipping around! This method is cheaper and easier, since no special servers are needed but some viewers like the ability to skip around.

When you stream via RTSP, it’s also called progressive streaming or true streaming. The viewer’s experience varies widely with based on connection speed and how clogged the net is at the moment. RTSP works best when traffic is low.

Real streaming video is more expensive and generally used by bigger producers. Don’t sweat if you can’t afford it.

Here is a list of sites where you can rent space on a streaming video server for free and/or cheap.
www.iclips.com
www.imagestation.com
www.playstream.com
www.singlereel.com

No matter which type of streaming your viewer will ultimately use to watch your video, it’s important to keep your file size as small as possible. (Pity the guy on dial-up) This means you need to keep resolution low and set your frame rate (frames per second, or fps) down to 15. (You do both of these things when you are saving your finished video for upload to the web.) Remember the general rule is: For clean Internet video transmission, small compressed files are the name of the game.

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