Guidelines for Access to Videostreams
General Guidelines:-
Password Protection: For
copyright reasons, class videostreams are often password protected. To obtain
the password, contact your professor.
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Media Players: In order to watch
a videostream you will need a media player. WHETS classes are streamed in
RealPlayer. The lastest versions of RealPlayer (RealPlayer 10.5 or greater) is
required. Videostreams WILL NOT WORK with RealPlayer version 8 or previous
versions of RealPlayer.
Download RealPlayer for free:
Download Real Player
Download WindowsMedia for free:
Windows Media
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Connection Speed: Make sure that
your connection speed is set for the appropriate level. Streams may appear to
have poor quality even over a LAN connection if your connection is set to a 56
Kbps modem. You can set the connection speed in Real Player by going to "Tools"
and then "Preferences." Click on Connection speed and select your connection
speed from the "Bandwidth" drop down lists.
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Screen Size: If you like, you
can change the screen size of your media player. For Real Player go to "View"
then "Zoom" and select your screen size. For Windows Media, select "View" and
then "Full Screen" or "Zoom." Keep in mind that increasing the screen size will
make the image more blurry.
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Chat Rooms: Chat rooms are
available for some classes. Contact your professor for information on
chatrooms. Keep in mind that when accessing a class via videostreaming there is
a 20-30 second delay. This means that when your professor asks a question, you
hear it 20-30 seconds later. You can reply in the chatroom, which is
instantaneous, but by the time you question arrives in the classroom, your
professor may have gone on to another point. Most of the time, professors will
stop to address your question from the chat room.
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Archived Videos: Archived videos
will be available for all classes 24-48 hours after the live class or sooner.
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Linking Directly from Netscape: If
you know the direct address to a videostream and type it in directly to
Netscape it may not work. Netscape does not support direct access to a
videostreaming server, so typing the address of a videostream file directly
into the Netscape browser will not work. Use Internet Explorer for this
function. Netscape can still be used to access videostreams, but only through
links to "ram" or "asx" extensions.
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Interupted Streams: A
videostream might get interrupted for several reasons. There might be "net
congestion" (too much traffic on the Internet) or problems with our equipment.
If you lose the connection, try to reconnect. In most instances, just pressing
the play button (green triangle rotated 90°) should automatically reconnect the
stream.
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Some users may experience problems connecting to videostreams if their network
is behind a firewall. If you are using Real Player and are experiencing
difficulties connecting to the videostream, do the following:
- Open Real Player. Under the "View" menu, select "Preferences."
- Click on the "Trasnport" tab and make sure "automatically select best transport" is selected.
- Click the "Auto-Configure" button.
- Click "OK."
- Real Player will configure itself to work behind a firewall. When it's finished, click "OK."
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Click "OK" to close the Preferences Window
- For more information reguarding network transpostrs view our help file located at http://experience.wsu.edu/articles/real/NetworkTransport.asp.
- If you are still unable to connect after completing the above procedure, contact your network administrator.
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If you can see the stream when you click HERE
then you're all set