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A
Anonymous
May 14, 2011
Question

Problems streaming video

  • May 14, 2011
  • 5 replies
  • 11420 views

Hi, I am using an online course that uses Adobe Connect to stream its on-demand videos. The videos are small 200x200 pixel streams with synced slides. Everytime I try to access these videos, they do not stream smoothly and pause every few seconds for buffering (however there is no buffering indicator anywhere). If I leave them paused for sometime and then play again, I am able to see the video for a longer time until the buffer runs out and the freezing starts again.

The course provider has cited internet connectivity as the problem but I am not convinced because first I tried accesing this course on a 1Mbps ADSL connection and then on a 2Mbps cable connection but the problem persisted. Surprisingly the speed test provided by Adobe says with an exclamation mark that I have a modem connection!! What does that mean exactly and what is the minimum speed required to access these videos? Usually during late night the problem does not occur and I am able to see the videos properly.

But its very surprising and ironical that I need a more than 2Mbps connection to stream a 200x200 pixel video whereas I am able to stream a 720p youtube video without a microsecond delay, any time of the day. I refuse two believe its an internet connectivity issue and the problem either lies at Adobe's end or the server where the videos are streamed from. They also have this other video section where they use Adobe Meeting or something and this works perfectly OK.

Here are the test results. Request you guys to provide me your inputs so I can confront the course provider with some meaningful data. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Player Version: WIN 10,2,159,1

App-Server returned: code:ok, servers=rtmp://fc30.acrobat.com:1935/_rtmp://localhost:8506/,rtmps://fc30.acrobat.com:443/_rtmp://localhost:8506/

FMS Server connected with protocol: rtmp

BW Test Results: = _ latency=1318 msec, down=80.2 kbit/s, up=78.4 kbit/s _

Add-in Installed

Add-in version:9,4,80,0

cheers,

Sid.

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    5 replies

    L
    Lipi5FBF
    New Participant
    October 26, 2021

    The Article is helpful. Thanks The Writter.

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    A
    Anonymous
    May 30, 2011

    Hi Everyone,

    Refined Data - a software development company that builds applications for Connect -  has a product called Talking Stick that will allow you to cache FLVs unknowingly to end users on their local machines so that when the video is finally activated on the screen, it will already have buffered to a certain extent, making for a smoother playback experience. The application also allows you to not only queue up an unlimited number of FLVs, but to also unsynchronize playback so that all users in the meeting room, irrespective of role, have full control over the view. The Host can then retake control by re-synchronzing the pod.

    The speed of the buffering will be contingent on your Internet connection, but is designed to be maximized taking your bandwidth resources into consideration.

    To learn more, please visit http://www.refineddata.com/adobe-connect/talking-stick

    You may download a free trial from the website, as well.

    Regards,

    Nas

    Nas@RefinedData.com

    D
    DHMerritt
    Inspiring
    May 24, 2011

    Good Day siddus1. I too live in Cape Town, South africa and we use Adobe Connect (AC) for all our training purposes. I have also experienced your problem and spent a lot of time working at solving the problem. At the end of the day most of it falls squarly into the bandwidth issue.

    I take it that you have purchased AC (Adobe Connect) and are running it off your server? The next question is, do you have any edge survers installed? Where are your clients situated?

    Our users use less than a mb line and I must say we are getting by. I think one has to understand your environment from start to finish.

    We use IS as our service provider but they ultimately feed into Telkoms back bone.

    I am also accepting the fact that you are talking about pre-recorded videos and not the videos in the virtual classrooms i.e. the presenters video pod?

    A
    Anonymous
    May 24, 2011

    @DHMerritt - Thanks. Yes, bandwidth and the long distance from the Adobe Connect server is the issue. The ISV could also have a latency issue or too many people using the same hub...lots of factors get in the way here....but Bandwidth is needed for all web conference technology. Our military customers found the use of Connect one of the best or only one that worked well consistently but they too have low bandwidth so they have to use less video or use it in small increments (use it to open a meeting then pause the picture broadcast).

    D
    DHMerritt
    Inspiring
    May 24, 2011

    Heyward - if siddus1 has purchased the product like we have and we are talking about streaming pre-recorded videos would it not be advisable for them to purchase and edge server? I mean that will distribute the load quite a bit?

    Dimitri

    A
    Anonymous
    May 18, 2011

    Hi. Right away I notice your network latency is 1318 msec....which is really huge....long delay there. My Adobe Connect server is located in San Jose, CA but I tested my connection here in Northern Virginia outside DC and I get 85 msec.  So, your problem really is the network latency which is a huge delay in my opinion.

    So, where are you located? Where is the Adobe Connect Server located you are streaming video from?

    I see you have a 1MB DSL line which really is pretty slow compared to a 10 MB LAN connection. Plus, DSL can be really slow if the provider of your DSL is overworking/oversaturating the hub where your DSL eventually connects to the internet. This stuff gets complicated.

    A 2MB cable line is also a challenge because cable providers load multiple users in a neighborhood with many users on that same line. You are subject to lots of slowdowns there when others are downloading stuff.

    Neither a DSL line or Cable line is a great business grade connection and is always subject to the whims of the ISP.

    But that being said, there are lots of people using Connect over 50k WAN lines with the US Military and they have no issues. The host of the meeting sets the speed of the room. If the Host sets the room as LAN then it will broadcast and expect a 10MB LAN connection speed. If the Host chooses Modem, then a 50K line would be expected and Adobe Connect manages the buffering accordingly. I suspect the provider has chosen LAN.

    With Connect 8, there is also a setting for video quality and speed. I suggest the Host may have that set to the highest but you need it at the lower end.

    I have attached a file that has all the networking specs in it.

    Understand, you cannot compare a YouTube situation with Adobe Connect becuase Google has servers located all over the world and they stream (using Adobe Flash Media Gateway/Server same as Adobe Connect uses) from the closest server to your location to provide low latency video. Your Host of the movies may be using a server very far away from you. Until I know the specifics, I'm just guessing. That latency is the reason though for the choppy video

    Adobe has servers in the US for North American users and servers in EMEA and Asia for those locations. If you were located in South America and were trying to use an Adobe Hosted server in California then you would have high latency issues like you describe.

    R
    Rob from Mustang land
    Participating Frequently
    May 18, 2011

    Dear Heyward:

    Thank you for your full reply. I truly appreciate it. First I am located in Cape Town South Africa.

    I have no problem believing my ADSL line is poor, indeed very poor.

    I enclose an email from my provider which contains some specs.

    Unfortunately I have no way of fully understanding either your reply or his.

    Carel claims the fault is with my line provider, namely Telkom.

    So I have booked a fault with them, but my internet speed stays stable at a miserable speed. I have good equipment namely a SMC barricade

    .65MB per sec.

    Now when I use Lynda.com which hosts many adobe videos, I have no problem, because I have learned

    that I can use Apple Quicktime, which allows the entire Lynda.com to be buffered onto my machine, so while I cannot really stream the video, I do have the ultimate satisfaction of watching it WITHOUT STUTTER.

    My question to Adobe is why will the Adobe servers and Flash programs allow the same buffering which will make the lives of all of us living in the third world infinitely easier.

    Thanks again.

    If you have time please do write with more information which I can then use to persuade my service providers to up their standards.

    Rob Shell]

    A
    Anonymous
    May 19, 2011

    Rob,

    Thanks for your reply. I do really appreicate where you are located and the issues of the third world. Those issues are not all that uncommon here in the States either in many places, so please understand we are more alike than you think!

    There is a place for Adobe Flash to store incoming data in advance. If you right mouse on your desktop while in Adobe Connect, you will see the Adobe Flash Settings screen:

      move it to the right to get the most space.

    Now that being said. The host of a meeting controls the actual video bandwidth of the meeting. In your case the host should be using the lowest setting which would be fine for the size video you have there:

    The other setting that affects you is this one:

    That lowest setting is what many on the US Military use and they are very happen with performance. Adobe Connect then throttles (well..FMG does that underneath Connect) the load of data so there is no stuttering like you report. The reason you are getting stuttering is because the room is sending you too much data at too high a rate for your connection and because of your high latency delay then there is a mis-match of the data not being able to stream smoothly as you would expect.

    Now that being said, let me explain that FMG that fuels Connect has tons of settings that can be tweaked but that only applies to the owner of the server. In this case your provider is in the States with many customers I suspect and so they have chosen the standard settings to accomodate many people.

    Understand that YouTube and Hulu all use the same technology as Connect (Flash Media Server) as their streaming technology. They have many server farms all over the world and so you might see great YouTube video because they have a server right near you. Our servers are located in the US, EMEA and Asia so your data is having to travel from the US to South Africa which is a very very long distance for a video stream. Not a problem but if you also have a slow pipe or many network hops in that connection the speed degrades the farther away you are. This is true with all web conference providers and why most of them don't offer any video streaming at all other than webcam support. It is eliminated by having lots more Connect Servers everywhere (we just began partnering with Amazon who can offer worldwide hosting in addition to Adobe's own servers).

    Very long answer. I understand. Maybe with the changes you will see improvements using the settings above...or work with your provider to use those if possible. I can talk to them if you like. As for your network provider, anything they can do to reduce hops and increase the pipe always helps a bit.

    My email is hdrummon@adobe.com if you want to communicate more in depth.

    R
    Rob from Mustang land
    Participating Frequently
    May 16, 2011

    I would like to add my name to this list as I have the same problem.

    It is interesting+that Lynda.com allows one to use Quicktime. Quicktime allows you to buffer the entire video. Thus no stutter.

    The Adobe flashplayer settings on the adobe server allows no buffering. Perhaps to avoid copying, who knows?

    This is such a problem especially for people who are not in the US with its fantastic download speeds.

    Rob Shell

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