RELEASE: IIS Smooth Streaming Client (SDK)

Posted by: kurtsh | June 12, 2010

RELEASE: IIS Smooth Streaming Client (SDK)

Ever wonder why, with all the supposed plans around HTML5’s capabilities Silverlight and Flash bother to continue to develop their own streaming media capabilities?

It’s because contrary to what the media seems to believe, HTML5 is going to have only the most basic media capabilities, and for most organizations streaming content, it lacks all the most important functions that allow for the monetization of content. All you have to do is look at the features in the new IIS Smooth Streaming Client to see all the important features – such as CONTENT PROTECTION, REAL TIME AD PLAYBACK & INSERTION, ANALYTICAL REPORTING OF USAGE STATISTICS, etc.

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The IIS Smooth Streaming Client allows you to build rich Silverlight user experiences that take full advantage of live and on-demand IIS Smooth Streaming capabilities. Examples of available client-side features include simple controls, such as Play, Pause, and Stop, as well as more complex functionality, such as Instant Replay, Live Ad Insertion, Multiple Camera Angles, and Fast Forward / Rewind.

The Smooth Streaming Client consists of the Smooth Streaming Media Element (SSME) SDK. It enables developers and designers to build rich IIS Smooth Streaming player experiences using a .NET Framework-based SDK for Silverlight with full XAML support. It is a core component of the broader open source Silverlight Media Framework. The Smooth Streaming Client APIs provide an easy interface for developers and designers to create rich Smooth Streaming experiences using the Silverlight platform. Documentation for the Smooth Streaming Client APIs is available on MSDN.

For most scenarios, the Silverlight Media Framework is the simplest, most robust way to build a new Silverlight player that supports Smooth Streaming, skinning, analytics, live ad insertion, etc. The Smooth Streaming Client may be ideal for some scenarios, however, such as adding rich Smooth Streaming features to a Silverlight media player based on a different framework, or where unique scenarios cannot otherwise be addressed.

The Smooth Streaming Client supports these high-level features:

Basic Playback controls
- APIs such as Play, Pause, Stop, etc.
- Events for Playback and Diagnostics
- Properties to track position, etc.
Advanced Playback support
- DVR support for Live Smooth Streaming
  - Support for keeping track of the Live event while in DVR mode
- Trick Play: Slow Motion
- Trick Play: Fast Forward / Rewind
H.264 / AAC support
Monetization
- Ad Playback integration – scheduling capabilities, tracking Ad progress
- Live Ad Insertion with Live Smooth Streaming
- Rich Analytics with IIS Advanced Logging
- Support for specifying markers and ad ingestion points outside the main manifest
Content Protection – PlayReady integration for VC1 content
Composite Manifest Support for scenarios such as Rough Cut Editing
Selecting Tracks for playback (e.g., restrict the bit-rates available, support multiple camera angles in a single stream, etc.)
Support for progressive download ads and content