macromedia flash flashcom: Hello, all.

I'm having some problems with odd pauses creeping into our video streams.
What happens is that the server streams out data to the clients (which are on
various websites and other physical servers than our FMS box), but then stops
streaming for some reason. The clients then reconnect, but there is a
noticeable pause -- several seconds long -- while they do so. Tests so far
have shown nothing in the logs (which are collecting all available data
fields), despite the pauses showing up in the SWF files playing the video.

I'm using the workaround of telling the SWF to buffer the entire movie for
now, but this places too high a load on the end-users' systems. Has anyone
else here encountered a similar problem?

If the problem occurs consistently, I would guess there's something going on in
your actionscript that's causing it. If you post your code, it will be easier
to find the problem.

About buffering the entire video file, that's not a great idea unless the
video is very short. Buffered data is held in RAM, so if you try to buffer a
2gb video file, you'll consume 2gb of RAM on the client side, and things like
that lead to crashed browsers (and sometimes crashed OS's).

[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]JayCharles[/b][/b][/i]
About buffering the entire video file, that's not a great idea unless the
video is very short. Buffered data is held in RAM, so if you try to buffer a
2gb video file, you'll consume 2gb of RAM on the client side, and things like
that lead to crashed browsers (and sometimes crashed OS's).[/q]
I never said that it was a [i]good[/i] workaround, nor one that I want to
keep. :)

Here's the code, which is a one-frame job:

stop();

function tell_length() {
this.onResult = function (returned) {
_root.totaltime = returned;
output = format_time(returned);
progressBar_mc.time_total.replaceText(0,progressBar_mc.time_total.length,
output);
// format has to be reset in order to display the text
progressBar_mc.time_total.setTextFormat(myformat);
};
function checkBytesLoaded() {
progressBar_mc.time_now.replaceText(0,progressBar_mc.time_now.length,
format_time(totaltime-my_stream.time));
progressBar_mc.time_now.setTextFormat(myformat);
_root.progressBar_mc.bar_mc._xscale = my_stream.time/_root.totaltime * 100;
if (amdragging == false) {
progressBar_mc.scrubber._x = ((my_stream.time/_root.totaltime) * 220) - 6.5;
}
if (_root.totaltime == my_stream.time) {
clearInterval(loaded_interval);
}
}
var loaded_interval:Number = setInterval(checkBytesLoaded, 500, my_stream);
}

function majorversion() {
//get the major version of the player. We'll need 8+ for this to work
verstring = System.capabilities.version;
thisVer = verstring.split(",");
thisVerSpaceNum = thisVer[0].indexOf(" ");
//finally, a major version number (eg 6)
thisMajorVer = Number(thisVer[0].substr(thisVerSpaceNum));
return thisMajorVer;
}

function checkBytesLoaded() {
//movie for this player is known to be 207.504s long
var pctLoaded:Number = Math.round(_root.in_ns.time/207.504*100);
_root.progressBar_mc.bar_mc._xscale = pctLoaded;
if (pctLoaded>=100 && !isNaN(pctLoaded)) {
clearInterval(loaded_interval);
trace("checkBytesLoaded done");
}
}

function playBackVideo() {
// control path for pause/resume
trace("play_status: "+play_status);
if (play_status == "stop" || play_status == "play") {
var loaded_interval:Number = setInterval(checkBytesLoaded, 500, in_ns);
}
if (play_status == "play") {
_root.pp.gotoAndStop(2);
//next command will be 'pause'
play_status = "pause";
in_ns.pause();
return;
} else if (play_status == "pause") {
// next command will be "play"
play_status = "play";
_root.pp.gotoAndStop(1);
in_ns.pause();
return;
}
createConnection(my_nc);
}

function createConnection(nc) {
NetConnection.prototype.onBWCheck = function() {
return ++counter;
// Serverside, just ignore any return value and return the call count
};
nc.fpadOnly = false;
nc.fpadPort = Number(67);
nc.fpadZone = Number(-1);//was 0: now "do not use FPAD"
nc.connect("rtmp://video.fnord.co.uk/client/video/", true);
createStream(nc);
}
function createStream(nc) {
prefix = "";
if (_root.availbandwidth >450) {
buffertime = 3;
prefix = "400";
} else {
buffertime = 10;
prefix = "100";
}
buffertime = 5;
prefix = "400";

in_ns = new NetStream(nc);
in_ns.setBufferTime(buffertime);
// set short buffer to get metadata - was 1/10, but let's increase it
play_video.attachVideo(in_ns);
if (_root.whichmovie == undefined) {
_root.whichmovie = "fnord_";
}
nowplaying = _root.whichmovie + prefix;
// trace("movie name: " + nowplaying);

in_ns.play(nowplaying, 0);
// trace(in_ns.bytesTotal);

in_ns.onPlayStatus = function(info_object){
if (info_object.code == "NetStream.Play.Complete") {
stopPlayBack();
}
}
in_ns.onStatus = function(info) {
if(info.code == "NetConnection.Connect.Success"){
in_ns.call("getStreamLength", new tell_length(), _root.whichmovie);
}
if (info.code == "NetStream.Play.Stop") {
play_status = "stop";
}
if (info.code == "NetStream.Play.Start") {
play_status = "play";
}
if (info.code == "NetStream.Buffer.Full") {
_root.buffy._visible = false;
my_timer = new Date();
newbuffer = _root.in_ns.bufferTime * 2

trace(my_timer.getHours()+":"+my_timer.getMinutes()+":"+my_timer.getSeconds()
+"."+my_timer.getMilliseconds()+" buffer full, setting buffertime to
"+newbuffer);
in_ns.setBufferTime(newbuffer);
}
if (info.code == "NetStream.Buffer.Empty") {
_root.buffy._visible = true;
my_timer = new Date();

trace(my_timer.getHours()+":"+my_timer.getMinutes()+":"+my_timer.getSeconds()
+"."+my_timer.getMilliseconds()+" buffer empty, setting buffertime to 2");
in_ns.setBufferTime(2);
}
/*Netstream.Play.Complete is called by onPLAYstatus, not onStatus. */
};
// It's new to FMS 2 status event
// NetStream.Play.Complete event and etc are captured
in_ns.onMetaData = function(info) {
video_duration = info.duration;
if (autoSize_cb.selected && info.width && info.height) {
video_width = play_video._width;
video_height = play_video._height;
play_video._width = info.width;
play_video._height = info.height;
} else {
video_width = info.width;
video_height = info.height;
}
};
}

function stopPlayBack() {
trace("Playback stopped at "+in_ns.time);
my_nc.close();
play_status = "stop";
//show play button
_root.pp.gotoAndStop(2);
_root.progressBar_mc.bar_mc._xscale = 0;
clearInterval(loaded_interval);
in_ns.setBufferTime(0)
}

if (_root.introtext == undefined) {
_root.introtext = "fnord";
}

if(majorversion() < 8) {
gotoAndStop(2);
}

//test connection speed
nc = new NetConnection();
NetConnection.prototype.onBWDone = function(p_bw) {
// app logic based on the bandwidth detected follows here
_root.availbandwidth = p_bw;
// close the Netconnection to bwcheck
this.close();
}
NetConnection.prototype.onBWCheck = function() {
return ++counter; // Serverside, just ignore any return value, For now return
the call count
}
nc.connect("rtmp://video.fnord.co.uk/bwcheck", true);

//tween the title in
import mx.transitions.Tween;
import mx.transitions.easing.*;
import flash.filters.GlowFilter;
var iTweenObject:Number;
var theTween:Object;
var timeline:MovieClip = this;
//this.bitbox.introbit._alpha = 50;
theTween = new Tween(bitbox, "_alpha", Regular.easeOut, 5, 100, 3, true);
theTween.onMotionFinished = function() {
theOtherTween = new Tween(bitbox, "_alpha", Regular.easeOut, 100, 0, 1, true);
theOtherTween.onMotionFinished = function() {
theglow = new GlowFilter(0xffffff, .50, 10, 10, 1, 2, false, false);
_root.gogogo.filters = new Array(theglow);//_y = 105.5;
};
};

//initialize buffer monitoring bar