Video streaming on my website: Need an easy to use solution, free or cheap

Hi there.
I am putting together a website that I need to stream/play many 5 min 30 sec videos. I want them to be easy for people to play, so people don't waste time waiting for them to load, etc. I am totally new to this so have no idea what I am doing! Any advice, whether it is cheap or may cost me money would be much appreciated!

Rob

If you don't expect too many visitors on your web-site, you may install free stream broadcasting server software like red5. You may also use commercial server software like Flash Media Services,... Just make sure that your web-server(s) doesn't experience any overload and that your hosting provider allows to use as much traffic and server load as you need or more.

When you have a really large audience instead of your own servers you may use a Content delivery network (CDN).

There are lots of scripts of YouTube clones that you may use. If you need a custom web-site to be developed, you can always outsource your project via a freelance marketplace. They allows you to hire professionals from the U.S., Canada, India, Russia,.... And you can always select a person or a web-design company that possesses the skills you need. When choosing a freelancer you can rely on the feedback of other buyers of the marketplace. You should also evaluate his/her resume and/or portfolio.

Hi.
Thanks a lot for replying. Initially obviously there won't be many visitors, but over time I hope it will genereate more and more members.
As you have probably gathered, this technical side is not my strong point. When you say there are scripts of utube clones I could use, could you give a couple of names? Is there any way on utube or one of its clones to stream the videos through them but set some sort of privacy settings so they can't all be viewed by anyone?

I haven't used any youtube clones and I haven't seen their code, so I can't recommend any of them to you. You can see their demo versions, read reviews, but most of the time it is just like buying a black box anyway Besides all these products might not satisfy your needs (or may have features that you don't need, but eat the resources of your server).

The best way to restrict media usage is probably by using DRM (Digital Rights Management). If you choose this way, then Windows Media will be a good solution. However most web-sites prefer to offer flash videos. One of the reasons for that is that Windows Media DRM is limited to Windows only.

Some membership web-sites just use simple authentication and timestamp URLs. Such URLs expire shortly so there is very little opportunity for them for being watched by non legitimate users.

Hello,
I am streaming live events on a website. I want to tell you that is not very difficult and you don't need to know scripting. All you need is a computer, a video source as webcam or video camera and a broadcasting software. I am using one and I can stream thousands of channels at the same time.
Also now I m doing HD (high definition) streaming. I can show you some demos if you are interested.

Originally Posted by cata123

Hello,
I am streaming live events on a website. I want to tell you that is not very difficult and you don't need to know scripting. All you need is a computer, a video source as webcam or video camera and a broadcasting software. I am using one and I can stream thousands of channels at the same time.
Also now I m doing HD (high definition) streaming. I can show you some demos if you are interested.

Can you share a tutorial how to do live (HD) broadcasting? Or can you at least provide more details on the video cameras and streaming software that can be used?