Video and audio from the University of Cambridge
Streaming media service: Frequently asked questions
How much does using the Streaming Media Service cost?
At present the Streaming Media Service does not charge for bandwidth or storage. It's a free service.
The computing Service reserves the right to charge one day, but there will be no back dated bills for using the sevice.
Who has access to media on the Streaming Media Service?
Access to media on the Streaming Media Service is not restricted, all content is available to the public.
How do I upload files?
Firstly, you need to be a registered SMS user, to register visit http://upload.sms.cam.ac.uk/register.
Secondly, you will need a web browser with a functioning Java Runtime Environment and a Raven account.
- Go to: http://upload.sms.csx.cam.ac.uk/
- Either create a collection, or if adding media to an existing collection, navigate to it
- Click on 'create media'
- Enter media details via the form, then upload your media file via the java applet.
What type of files can I upload?
At the moment the SMS can handle the following file upload types:
- Video
- DV stream
- DV in an avi container
- Audio
- PCM audio in a wav container
- PCM audio in an aiff container
Why can't I upload the media player files I already have?
Files in formats such as .wmv .mov .rm and .mp3 are already compressed, transcoding them into other formats would be unlikely to produce useable results.
How do I produce a DV file ready for upload?
See the video production page (available soon)
You don't seem to offer the final file format that I want?
There are lots of file formats, and lots of bitrates, if the SMS transcoded into all of them it would grind to a halt fairly quickly. We plan to offer more choice later, but for now we believe we offer a small but useful set of transcoded files that should allow the majority of users to use your media.
Which combinations of web browsers and media players are likely to work?
See the media players and browsers page. (available soon)
There is a long pause before media clip playback starts, why?
Some delay before playback commences is inevitable as the streaming server initializes streaming of the clip to your media player. However, if you experience long delays it could be that a firewall between you and the SMS servers is causing problems, if you suspect that this is the case, please contact your local computing support team. If you are the local computing support team, email sms-support@ucs.cam.ac.uk.
The answer to my question isn't here, who should I contact?
Email sms-support@ucs.cam.ac.uk.