FFmpeg Support

[QHF]

I saw that GlowHost is now offering FFmpeg web hosting support. We would like to be able to use streaming video. Currently we are on the 4 Star Budget plan, and wondering if this is available to us and how do we take advantage of it if we are? We currently have a 35MB promotional video on our website (more video's to come) that takes time to download with a dial-up connection (forget about actually playing it off the website!). Broadband connections are much better but the visitor sees choppy play back until the download completes. They must then click on the play button again and everything is OK. FFmpeg sounds like a good solution.


Thanks for any information.

QHF

[Alexander]

Hello.
Now we provide FFmpeg support of all of our customers, no matter what hosting package is. If you have any problems with it, you just need to open ticket for tech support. We'll definitely help you.

[QHF]

Thanks for the quick reply. I don't have a problem with FFmpeg because I'm not using it. I just want to know how how to access it. Do I have to open a tech support ticket and request it, or is it available somewhere in cPanel?

QHF

[Matt]

The FFmpeg binary is located at /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg if you plan on coding your own software, or, there are some scripts out there that are pre-built that can do the conversions and straming for you. PHPmotion is one such script that comes to mind.

[QHF]

Thanks for the information, I'll take a look. I'm not familiar with coding, so some existing script will have to do.

QHF

[QHF]

Mat,

I'm in file manager and can't locate the "/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg" path. I have looked in my Home Directory and the Web Directory. is /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg located in some other location?

QHF

[Matt]

Its a server module, you cannot access it in your file manager. Your scripts will be able to connect to it however.

[QHF]

Listed on the GlowHost features page are several "Pre-installed modules". Does this mean all I need to do is state which one I would like from the selection? Also, how will I add code,
will I be able to cut and past the code to the appropriate spot on my website.

I'm not sure how all this will work, for example;how will I get an mpeg converted to .flv? Does this process happen automatically in the background or is there a conversion process that has to be initiated. Is there a tutorial available?

QHF

[Matt]

We don't have any programming tutorials here for FFmpeg though I am sure there are some on the web.

All of those modules play some part in the ability to convert and stream the video.

Typically a script like PHPmotion has all the required components to "talk" to these modules. Essentially, you upload an mpeg through the script, and then on the server-side, the server will perform the necessary conversions to turn the mpeg into .flv and the script will also then embed the video on a page or pages of the script.

I would assume that you can examine the source code of the script and take only the parts you need, for example, the uploader and then the parts of the code responsible for displaying the video.

You would probably need to ask the script vendor how flexible the software is and if it is open source so that they can offer suggestions on how to modify it for your particular needs. Some vendors may even offer to code your site for you if you ask them nicely and the price is right.

PHPMotion may be overkill for your needs but outside of that you would be writing the php code by hand.

[QHF]

I want to keep things as simple as possible, so I don't plan on downloading scripts. Mplayer and Mencoder are listed as pre-installed modules, so how would I go about using it?

QHF