In order to listen to RealMedia files, you will need to download and install a version
of RealPlayer 7 software. You have the option of downloading and purchasing the full version of RealPlayer 7 Plus or downloading the free player RealPlayer 7 Basic.

In order to create and manageRealMedia files, you will need to download and
install RealProducer 7software. You have the option of downloading and purchasing the full
version of RealProducer Plus 7 Beta or downloading the free version of Basic RealProducer 7.

For more information about products and services, see http://www.service.real.com.

• Audio (.au)
  
• Waveform audio (.wav)
  
• Video for Windows (.avi)
  
• QuickTime for Windows (.mov) requires DirectX 6.0
  
• Moving Pictures Expert Group (.mpg, .mpeg, .mpa, .mp2, .mp3) requires
  DirectX 6.0

Please note that currently, you cannot convert MPEG-2 files with RealProducer 7.

We recommend reading the RealProducer G2 Authoring Kit
to learn the basics for creating audio and video files.
To download the kit, go to the following link :
http://www.realnetworks.com/products/authkit/.

In order to convert your video file into a RealMedia file, you will need to use RealProducer 7 program. If you are familiar with converting files in RealProducer 7, enter in the appropriate data in the fields provided.

If you have never converted video files into .rm files, we suggest using the recording wizard as follows:

1. Open the RealProducer 7 program.
2. Click on File and then select Recording Wizards, next choose Record from Media Device.
3. Select the Input Sources either audio, video or both and click Next.
4. You will be asked to fill out a form concerning the clip and specific information. You may fill the form out or leave it blank, click Next to proceed.
5. You will have the option to select the type of file either Multi-Rate SureStream for RealServer G2 or Single rate for web servers. Once you have completed this task, click Next.
6. You will be asked to choose a target audience, we recommend selecting 56K Modem as this will accommodate most users. If users are running 28.8 modems, by selecting the 56K Modem option the clip may briefly timeout and resume. Once completed with your selection, click Next.
7. You will be asked to select an video device if your file has video capabilities. These options are based on the content of your video, most users choose Normal Motion. Once you have completed this task click Next . If your file does not include video features, proceed to the next step by clicking Next.
8. You will be asked to name your file, use the format "filename.rm". It is important to know that when naming a RealMedia file not to use the underscore ("_") character, it will not be interpreted correctly by the .ram file. Once you have completed this task, click Next.
9. A screen with all of the information concerning your file will appear, click Finish to close the wizard and return to the RealProducer 7 main window.
10. You do have the option of changing the recording. To do so click on Start to begin recording, once completed click Stop. A dialog box will appear asking you to confirm ending the recording, but the session will continue to record. You must click Yes to stop recording.
11. After the recording has stopped a dialog box will appear with three options. First, you may Add Your Clip to Janus Now! To place your file on a public listing of clips hosted by RealNetworks. Second, you may View Statistics to view complete information about your recording session. Or you may Close the dialog box and return to the RealProducer 7 main window.

Once you have completed the wizard, you have successfully converted your video file into a RealMedia file.

Yes, to take advantage of the new features that RealSystem G2 offers, you will need to modify your existing .ram files as follows:

Old Format as supported by RealAudio/Video 5.O:

• UNIX: pnm://<yourdomainname>/~userid/filename.rm
• NT: pnm://<yourdomainname>/userid/filename.rm

New Format as supported by RealSystem G2:

• UNIX: rtsp://<yourdomainname>/userid/filename.rm
• NT: rtsp://<yourdomainname>/userid/filename.rm

*Your existing RealAudio/Video 5.O .ram files will continue to work with the upgraded RealSystem G2 server. However, effective May 1, 2000 we will discontinue support of the RealServer 5.0.

I am currently using RealAudio/Video 5.O on Unix and the "~userid" format in the .ram file, will this work with RealSystem G2?

No, you will need to upgrade your .ram files to the RealSystem G2 format. It is important to delete the "~userid" and replace it with "userid".

How do I create a .ram file?

For each .rm file that you create, you will need to create a .ram file. First, use a text editor such as Notepad to create a text file with a .ram file extension. You should consider using the same file naming convention for example the "test.ram" file will launch the "test.rm" file. The .ram file should contain one line in the following format for both Unix and NT users:

rtsp://<yourdomainname>/userid/filename.rm

Substitute your domain name, userid and the complete filename including the ".rm" extension. This file can reside in the root directory of your account.

Once the .ram text file is created, you should save it and upload it to your web site using ASCII as the transfer mode.

Now that you have completed creating and uploading your .ram file, you should have both the .rm and the .ram files in your root directory.

How do I create the HTML code for a .ram file on my website?

The following HTML code can be inserting into your website's HTML source:

Please remember to substitute your own domain name and RealMedia file into the example HTML code above.

If you reference the .rm file directly from your HTML code, the file may play, but you will not benefit from the streaming media effect.

All .rm files should be uploaded in Binary mode to the root directory of your website.

All .ram files should be uploaded in ASCII mode to the root directory of your website.

Streaming media allows you to send small packets of information over a network connection. The user receives the information packets and plays your clip little by little. The process is transparent to the user, except for a small amount of buffering at the start of the clip.

Streaming media can be either RealAudio or RealVideo. Before the concept of streaming media, users had to wait for a file to download from the Internet or a network server in order to play it. When you create streaming media, users can view it almost instantly.

1. Open the RealProducer 7 program.
2. Click on Tools and then select Create WebPage.
3. The Web Page Wizard will appear, proceed by filling in the appropriate information for each item. The wizard will take you through selecting your media file (by default the last RealMedia File created will appear), select your file and click on Next.
4. You will now see a page called playback methods, choose the Pop-up Player method and click on Next.
5. The web caption page will ask you to enter the text that links to your clip, enter in the information and click on Next.
6. At the Web Page Filename form, enter the name and directory of the web page that you would like to create and click on Next. You will be informed that a web page and a RealMedia metafile have been created.
7. If you wish to preview you page with a browser just click on Preview on the Results page.
8. Exit the wizard by clicking Finish.

First, make a copy of your .ram file and save it as a .rpm file, then upload to the same directory as the .ram. Next, reference the new.rpm within the web page's HTML as follows:

To use the wizard click on Tools and then select Create Web Page and proceed as follows:

1. Open the RealProducer 7 program.
2. Enter the Web Page Wizard and proceed by filling in the appropriate information for each item. The wizard will take you through selecting your media file (by default the last Real Media File created will appear), select your file and choose Next.
3. In the Playback methods, choose the Embedded Player method and click on Next.
4. The Player Control Layout page appears, you can decide what components of the RealPlayer to include within the Web page. Select a layout and Auto Start if you want the file to play automatically when your web site is opened once you are done, click on Next.
5. The web caption page will ask you to enter the caption name that will appear as a title for the RealMedia file. Then, decide if you would like the caption to be above or below the files and click on Next.
6. At the Web Page Filename form, enter the name and directory of the web page that you would like to create and click on Next. You will be informed that a web page and a RealMedia metafile have been created.
7. If you wish to preview you page with a browser just click on Preview on the Results page. You must have RealPlayer installed to view your page correctly.
8. Exit the wizard by clicking Finish.
9. Web pages you create with the Web Page Wizard will point to files located on your hard drive. If you upload your pages to a web server, these local file references will update automatically.
10. You should avoid making manual changes to any file references in HTML files created by the wizard. Changes to these files or any file references contained in the .ram/.rpm metafile may cause errors when publishing your web pages to a remote server.