Streaming Media

TLT’s Streaming Server    (Updated Per ITAP, July 26, 2011)

If you want to make video or audio files available online for your class, “streaming” it through a streaming server is a good idea, for two reasons:

  • Students can begin viewing the video or listening to the audio much more quickly than if they had to wait for it to download,
  • Streaming the video or audio will protect its integrity and copyright because students cannot easily download a copy for themselves. 

Three important issues to note: 

  1. TLT’s streaming server is only for instructional use. 

  2. Copyright and intellectual property issues are of growing concern in the educational, business, and publishing communities. As the saying goes, ignorance of the law is no excuse. And “fair use” may not cover as many situations as you may think. 

  3. The TLT streaming server is Windows based, so video and audio must be in the Windows Media format: .wmv for video and .wma for audio.

Note: If you have video or audio that is in a different format, Windows Movie Maker can most likely convert it to the proper format for you.  Windows Movie Maker is a free program that comes with the Windows XP operating system (it is also available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx  ). Windows Movie Maker can import video in a large variety of formats, then convert the video to .wmv. 

Mapping a Drive 

All faculty members at Purdue have a directory ready for their use on TLT’s streaming server.

To add videos to the streaming media server, you map (connect to) a network drive.   Please follow these instructions to connect to the streaming media server:

 

For Windows 7

  1. Open Computer.
  2. Click Map network Drive.
  3. Type \\streamer.ics.purdue.edu\asfroot\username next to Folder, replacing “username” with your Purdue career account login.
  4. Click the check box next to Connect using different credentials.
  5. Click Finish.
  6. When prompted enter ONEPURDUE\your-username and your career account password.
  7. Click Ok. Once the drive is mapped, you can copy or move the files into that folder.
  8. When linking to your content on the streaming server, use the following URL.  Substitute your username and filename:  

 

http://streamer.ics.purdue.edu/username/filename.ext  or 

mms://streamer.ics.purdue.edu/username/filename.ext. 

EXAMPLE: http://streamer.ics.purdue.edu/jdoe/myfile.wmv

Note: If you are providing the link from within a Blackboard course, make sure you use 'http' only. The Microsoft Media Services protocol (mms://) is not supported in Blackboard.

 

For Windows XP

  1. Open any folder in Windows, and go to the tools menu.
  2. Select Map Network Drive.
  3. In the folder box, enter \\streamer.ics.purdue.edu\asfroot\username, replacing “username” with your Purdue career account login.
  4. Check Reconnect at login.
  5. Click Connect using a different user name.
  6. Enter ONEPURDUE\your-username and your career account password.
  7. Click Ok.
  8. Once the drive is mounted, you can copy or move the files into that folder.
  9. Link to your content on the streaming server.  Use the following URL, substituting your username and filename:  

http://streamer.ics.purdue.edu/username/filename.ext or 

mms://streamer.ics.purdue.edu/username/filename.ext. 

EXAMPLE:  http://streamer.ics.purdue.edu/jdoe/myfile.wmv. 

Note: If you are providing the link from within a Blackboard course, make sure you use 'http' only. The Microsoft Media Services protocol (mms://) is not supported in Blackboard.

If you run into any trouble or have any questions, please contact Ben Holmes at tlt-supportspecialists@lists.purdue.edu.