Webcast: Help

URLs, Requirements, and Troubleshooting for the Engineering Webcast

We are offering two versions of our webcast of the Engineering Senior Design Project Presentations on MEB Scholarship Day: a simple video cast and an enhanced webcast that includes both video and presentation slides. Please consult the requirements below to see which version is right for you, then select the appropriate link. If you wish to test your system, read the section entitled “Test Video URL” and follow the instructions.

Please note that the actual webcast URLs will not be live until the day of the webcast, May 2, 2008.

Webcast URL

To launch the webcast, please click here:
mms://media.messiah.edu/engr_webcast

To launch the webcast with enhanced content enabled, please click here:
http://www.messiah.edu/departments/engineering/webcast/2008/webcast.wvx

If clicking these links does not work for you, please read the “Enhanced Webcast” and “Troubleshooting” sections below.

View the schedule of events to be webcast.

Test Video URL

If you wish to test your system, please use the following links to try out our test video:

To launch the test video, please click here:
mms://media.messiah.edu/engr_webcast_test/test.wsx

To launch the test video with enhanced content enabled, please click here:
http://www.messiah.edu/departments/engineering/webcast/2008/webcast_test.wvx

You should see pictures rotating into view atop a blue and green background, eventually forming a poster for MEB Scholarship Day. In the background, you should hear classical music playing. If you are viewing the enhanced content test, you should also see a slide showing the presentation schedule to the right of the video. If all of these things happen, then your player is working properly!

Note: This test video is not the same URL as the actual webcast will be; please see above for the URL of the actual webcast.

If clicking these links does not work for you, please read the “Enhanced Webcast” and “Troubleshooting” sections below.

Viewing Requirements

To view the webcast and use the feedback system you will need:

  • Windows Media Player version 7 or higher, or a compatible streaming media player
  • A medium to high speed internet connection
  • A modern web browser
  • (Enhanced webcast only) A version of Internet Explorer which supports frames
  • (Enhanced webcast only) Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader

Windows Media Player will automatically update itself to obtain everything that it needs to view the WebCast (if you have not disabled this feature). If you have do not have Windows Media Player version 7 or higher, or you have any problems, you can download the latest version of Windows Media Player from Microsoft.

If you plan to view the enhanced webcast, then you will also need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. This will allow you to load and view the slides to accompany the webcast video feed. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you may download the latest version from Adobe.

Enhanced Content

Again this year we have created the option for you to view our webcast with enhanced content. If you have a recent version of Windows Media Player, you can simultaneously view both the video feed and a feed of the presentation slides by opening an enhanced version of the webcast. Viewing the enhanced webcast is very similar to viewing the regular webcast, but there are a few additional software requirements (see “Viewing Requirements” above).

When you load the enhanced webcast, you may see a dialog box asking you if you wish to view the “web enhanced content.” Click “Yes” to enable and view this content. (If you click “no” then you will get only the video feed.) After clicking yes, you should see the webcast video playing at the left side of the screen and accompanying slides displayed at the right hand side of the screen. These slides will change automatically as the presentations progress. The slides are PDF documents; if you right click on them you will find a menu which allows you to zoom in, zoom out, pan, or execute other commands.

Please note that the video feed for the enhanced webcast is not the same video feed as for the regular webcast. In the regular webcast, we video a broad view of the room so that the viewer can see both the slides and the presenters. In the enhanced webcast, we zoom in the video on the presenters since the slides are available by other means. Thus, if you have trouble viewing the slides, we recommend using the regular webcast instead.

If you are having trouble launching the enhanced webcast, please read the troubleshooting section below.

Linux and Macintosh Users

Although Windows Media Player is not available for Linux or Macintosh, there are other programs which will allow you to view streaming media in Windows Media Player format. MPlayer is a free, open source video player for Linux which will play Windows Media streams. Macintosh users may use QuickTime player with Windows Media components installed. (A binary version of MPlayer for Macintosh OS X is also available.)

At this time, we are not aware of being able to play enhanced content on any player except Windows Media Player. Therefore, you will likely not be able to view accompanying slides if you are not using the Windows platform. (If you do get enhanced content to work for you, however, we would love to hear about it!)

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to access the test video or the webcast via the links we provide, then you might try launching the webcast directly from within Windows Media Player:

  1. Open Windows Media Player
  2. In your web browser, copy the URL from the link to the webcast you are trying to view (either the test video or the live webcast)
  3. Select “Open URL…” from the File menu in Windows Media Player
  4. Paste the webcast URL into the dialog box which Windows Media Player brings up
  5. Click “Ok”
  6. If you are trying to load the enhanced webcast, please click “Yes” if you are asked to allow “web enhanced content” to be shown

Note: If you are using a streaming media player other than Windows Media Player, simply point your media player to the same URL as described above.

If this method of launching the webcast does not work either, then you may be experiencing one of the following problems:

  • Your media player may not meet the requirements. Please review the requirements listed on this page to ensure that you have a compatible player installed.
  • If you cannot view the slides in the enhanced webcast, Acrobat Reader may not be installed or configured properly. Please review the requirements listed on this page and download a recent version of Acrobat Reader.
  • Your computer may be behind a firewall. (Unfortunately, we can’t help with this.)
  • Your internet connection may not have sufficient bandwidth to properly view the webcast, or your computer may not have enough processing power to display streaming media. (Unfortunately, we can’t help with these either.)

If you need more help setting up your computer to view the webcast, please feel free to post a comment to this page. I will do my best to help you, although I can’t guarantee that the webcast will work for you.