Overview
Streaming Audio: The FezGuys' Guide will introduce you to streaming audio and teach you how to work with the most popular formats, including RealMedia, Windows Media, QuickTime, and MP3. It begins by giving the reader a comprehensive overview of the most up-to-date streaming technologies available and the process of preparing audio for streaming. Then, it walks the reader through encoding into both live and on-demand streams in each format. Following an in-depth walk-through of serving the audio, Streaming Audio: The FezGuys' Guide offers several case studies that carefully break down how streaming audio is used in the real world: the internationally acclaimed rock guitarist Joe Satriani's web site, primarily using on-demand files with the occasional live stream for special events; the ultrahip drum 'n' bass, downtempo and ambient music Internet-only radio station SomaFM offering several live MP3 streams in multiple bi trates; and the FM station that started it all, KPIG-FM, terrestrial broadcast radio that streams it's programming online. Finally, the FezGuys illustrate a variety of advanced techniques, including optimizing, equalizing, creating playlists, batch encoding, dealing with legal issues, and more.Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewStreaming audio from your web site is (somewhat) easier than you think. Especially now that there’s a start-to-finish guide to the entire process.
The “FezGuys” -- Jon Luini and Allen Whitman -- have been doing streaming audio since ’94. They’ve got this stuff down cold. In this book, they walk you through making some important up-front decisions, preparing your computer for authoring, then creating streamed audio content with RealMedia, Windows Media, QuickTime, and MP3. Each format gets its own detailed, step-by-step chapter -- and the FezGuys review all your software options, including freebies like RealProducer Basic and Windows Media Encoder.
There’s detailed coverage of serving streaming audio, with overviews of running your own server, using a remote host, and the mechanics of uploading streamed files and linking them to your web pages. (We’d have liked a discussion of the typical ISP costs involved in adding streaming media support to the typical low-end site. Oh, well. For those who plan to do lots of streaming, though, there’s a handy shortlist of the leading Content Delivery Networks.)
The FezGuys present detailed case studies that address on-demand delivery, special event live streaming, delivering multiple live streams, and Internet radio, and they close with some slick techniques for the serious streamer (including batch encoding and SMIL presentations).
There’s still some effort involved, but streaming media is gradually getting simpler and more practical -- and this book makes it accessible to anyone, not just web media experts. (Bill Camarda)
Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.