http: defines a port that normal web servers use to deliver content. Port 80, to be precise. Sometimes that content is .html, sometimes it is .jpg image files, sometimes it is mp3’s or video files. You want to know that your video is being served from a streaming server. At GravityLab, it is.

Your multimedia, when pushed through mms://, rstp:// or http://via the 554 port protocol, is being pushed through Windows Media Services 9, Helix Universal, or Quicktime Streaming Server respectively. What http:// can, considering video MIME types with apache, is port 80. So if you link to video through http: but you specify the 554 port (ie:http://helix.gravlab.com:554/youraccount/yourfile.mov) http: loses all meaning in terms of defining a standard Port, because it is using the Quicktime Streaming Server 554 port.

To set up a movie for streaming over the Internet, compress the movie so that its data rate is appropriate for the bandwidth at which your users will connect. You can use the hinted streaming format with QuickTime Streaming Server or Darwin Streaming Server. The hint tracks, which are stored in the movie along with the video, audio, and other tracks, provide QuickTime Streaming Server software with information about the server, the transmission packet size, and the protocol to be used–in short, how to send the movie data over the network.

When you choose hinted streaming, “hint tracks” (information needed to stream the movie) are added to the movie. If the movie is already in the desired format, you can prepare a movie for streaming by opening the movie in QuickTime Player and choosing Export from the File menu, then Movie to Hinted Movie. If you want to change the movie’s format, follow the steps below.

Converting a movie for real-time streaming

1. Open your movie in QuickTime Player.