The problem:
Live video streaming would play on Macs in SL but not on PCs, despite it playing fine in the PC browser.
The solution:
1. On the PC, open QuickTime Player
2. Go to Edit —> Preferences —> QuickTime Preferences
3. In Preferences, choose Advanced tab
4. Transport set-up: Custom
4a. This opens a pop-up. If it was already on Custom it won’t pop-up – select Automatic, then re-select Custom.
5. Switch Transport Protocol from UDP → HTTP. Port ID switches automatically from 554 to 80
Then log in to Second Life again – and it plays!
Now this is obviously not an ideal solution as asking every single viewer to change the default settings on QuickTime is unlikely to be an easy or successful process. But it does work and neither Streamzilla nor Linden Lab have been able to suggest any alternative method at the moment. Streamzilla, in fact, said that the QuickTime format is not very popular at all for streaming video which may explain why there have been no complaints to them about this before. That doesn’t explain why this problem doesn’t seem to be common in Second Life, and I’m pretty sure there must be a better solution out there somewhere, but for now, it does work.
For my future record, the full details of our settings are below the fold.
One more reason I’m glad I use Macs :)
You and me both!
I think people are getting tired with Second Life and its media issues. Why no web pages on prims? Why are they still using quicktime? The time is ripe for a competitor to take over.
I agree, Andy – there has been a lot of talk here this week about trying out different options (VWs and otherwise) because it’s just too temperamental for us to feel confident on a regular basis.
I think you have to view any virtual world as a work in progress at the moment and for the foreseeable future. I think the “dream” with SL is that people acquire a degree of familiarity that enables something more valuable than the typical Elluminate experience and one, moreover, that carries into other VWs. LL seem to be touting the llMedia API as the flexible way forward for media. As Andy well knows, you can display web pages on a prim, just that there are significant limitations.