Resurrection Online uses Adobe's Flash technology because it is the most common video format on the Internet and it works well on a very broad range of computers. Most viewers will have no trouble playing the video. 

If you click the video window and can't see the video, try downloading and installing the latest Flash Player from Adobe, then restart your web browser and try again. If you are using Firefox, you need to exit the browser and then run the installer before restarting Firefox. You will need at least Flash version 10. You can find out what version of Flash you are using with this test from Adobe.

If you are using a low-speed connection or mobile device such as a cell phone, try the Windows Media video here.  Though the video quality is lower, it will probably work better for you with a more consistent connection and fewer pauses. If you have a Mac, you can watch the low-speed video using Flip4Mac.  Download it here.

If the video pauses a lot or you're having other difficulties playing the Flash video on the web page, you should try the low-speed/mobile device video here. The low-speed video uses Windows Media Player to show lower quality video that is much less demanding on your Internet connection.  Even dial-up Internet users might be able to view the low-speed video or at least hear the audio.  Windows Media Player 9 or later is required to view video in this format. Windows Media Player is pre-installed on all Windows computers and Windows Mobile smartphones.  If you don't already have it, you can download it here. If you have a Mac, you can view the low-speed video using Flip4Mac.  Download it here.

If you are hearing an echo you very likely have two or more copies of the live stream open. They are probably one on top of the other, making this is difficult to detect. Closing everything down and opening just one copy of Resurrection Online should eliminate the problem.

Yes, it even works on Linux! Most browsers, including the latest versions of all major browsers, support Flash.

If you need to update your browser, choose from the list below:
  Safari
  Firefox 
  Internet Explorer

Windows Mobile

If you have a Windows Mobile smartphone or PDA phone that supports Windows Media, it is likely the low-speed/mobile video will work for you.  Try it here.

iPhone

Resurrection Online! is currently testing iPhone video streaming. The technology for this is still under development and we're looking for feedback. Try it here.

RTSP

If your device can't play the other two streams, try the RTSP stream. This is supported by most recent BlackBerry devices, as well as Android and HTC phones with the HTC Streaming Media player. Devices must support H.264 video and AAC audio. This is still in the testing phase, and we're looking for feedback. Try it here.

Flash

The Resurrection Online web page uses Adobe Flash technology to stream VP6 video at a resolution of 640x480 pixels, 30 frames/s (480p).  The audio is sampled at 44 kHz stereo and encoded in MP3 format.  

Total stream bandwidth is approximately 600 kb/s, which requires a fast Internet connection for reception and playback.  Dial-up users will not have a good experience with the Flash video stream.

Flash Player 8 or later is required to view video in this format. You can test your flash version here.  You can download the latest Flash Player here.

Windows Media

The Resurrection Online low-speed/mobile device stream uses Windows Media technology to stream video at a resolution of 320x240, 20 frames/s with 20 kHz mono audio. Total stream bandwidth is approximately 190 kb/s.

If you are using a low-speed DSL connection or mobile device such as a cell phone, try the Windows Media video here.  Though the video quality is lower, it will probably work better for you with a more consistent connection and fewer pauses than the Flash stream.

If you have dial-up Internet, you may be able to use the low-speed/mobile device stream.  Even with the low-speed stream, it is likely you will hear the audio only and not see the video.

Windows Media Player 9 or later is required to view video in this format. You can download it here.

iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch

The Resurrection Online iPhone stream is 320x240 at 30fps encoded with H.264 video at 200Kbps and HE-AAC audio at 96Kbps. It requires iPhone OS version 3.0 or better to function, and should be usable with little trouble most places on AT&T's 3G network.

RTSP

The Resurrection Online RTSP stream is a rebroadcast of the iPhone/iPod Touch stream. This is supported by most BlackBerry devices sold since 2009, as well as Android and Palm Pre/Pixi.

Video switching and capture

The Resurrection Online webcast is produced in the video control room of Resurrection's Central Campus sanctuary using Newtek VT[5] hardware and software running on a Dell Optiplex GX755 with a Core2 Quad 2.66 GHz processor (Q9550), 4 GB of RAM, and Windows XP Pro.  The VT[5] software makes the final video output appear as a video device in Windows.

Our VT[5] software currently has two external control surfaces, a NewTek LC-11 that provides video switching control, and a Behringer BCF2000 that provides audio mixer control via MIDI.

The webcast also has three dedicated cameras that are controlled remotely from the VT[5] workstation.

Flash stream

The Flash video stream is generated by Flash Media Encoder running on the VT[5] computer. It is then transmitted via RTMP over the Internet to a virtual Linux server at Amazon (EC2) running Wowza Flash streaming software.  Wowza in turn broadcasts the Flash stream to all simultaneous viewers. 

The Flash stream is decoded and played using JW Player, a combination of JavaScript and Shockwave code embedded in the web page that controls Adobe's Flash Player runtime. 

iPhone Stream

The iPhone stream is captured via a video output from the VT[5] system into a second Optiplex 755 equipped with an Osprey 210 capture card. This system also serves as a backup encoder in case the VT[5] system is inoperable. Video is encoded into h.264 by Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder version 3, using the MainConcept AAC plugin to handle audio encoding. It is transmitted via RTMP to another virtual Linux server in Amazon's EC2 cloud, running Wowza Advanced Media Server which handles packetizing and playlist generation.

Windows Media stream

The Windows Media Video stream is generated by Windows Media Encoder running on the VT[5] computer.  It is transmitted via MMS over the Internet to a virtual Windows 2003 Server at Amazon (EC2), which in turn broadcasts the stream to all simultaneous viewers. 

Windows Media Player plays the video on the end user's computer or cell phone.  Windows Media Player is pre-installed on all Windows computers and Windows Mobile smartphones.  It is also available for Macintosh computers. This stream can also be played on Linux, Windows, and Macintosh systems using the open-source VLC Player.

Transmission capacity

Our experience is that a "small" (single-core) instance of EC2 can transmit approximately 300 simultaneous Flash streams.  We currently run two servers for the Flash stream and can add capacity as needed. The iPhone stream currently runs off a single server which can itself handle around 1000 streams.

Delay

By the time the video plays on the viewer's device, it is delayed approximately 5-30 seconds behind live.

Learn More

You can find out more technical details by following the our online campus technical director's blog series on live streaming.