Customer Reviews

Mastering Internet Video: A Guide to Streaming and On-Demand Video

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Internet video and streaming media mystifies people. Stolarz does a great job of cutting through the sorcery so that you can understand just how streaming media really works. The text is easy to read and the illustrations are well thought out. This is a great reference for the video engineer or Web master that is tasked with purchasing or implementing Internet video services. Extremely valuable is the "Quick List of Problems and Concise Solutions" (Appendix A) that will allow the reader to jump directly into specific topics of the book.

If you are looking for a definitive (and eventually time-dated) how-to manual on making streaming media, I would recommend Mack's "Streaming Media Bible." That will give you screen shots on using the big three (WindowsMedia, QuickTime, and RealNetworks). But at the very least, "Mastering Internet Video" should be an accompanying reference. And if you want to build an overall streaming media solution for your organization, "Mastering Internet Video" is your required reading.

The author does a great job of explaining streaming in great detail for the layman or more advanced user in plain easy to understand language. This book is good for web master, video engineer, student, or just about anyone who has an interest in a detailed guide about Internet video.

I found this book easy to read and understand. It is very complete in regard to today's technology. I have recommended it to several of my co-workers. A feel this book is required reading for anyone looking to deploy streaming into their organization. Damien Stolarz seems to be a person that is not just a tech writer but a seasoned engineer that has spend much time in the trenches of Internet video. This book is well worth the money.

This book goes into the high level technical details of creating an online video service. As an absolute newcomer to the field, I found it an invaluable tool for dealing with the knowledgeable professionals that I rely on to do such things as analog to digital conversion and the set-up and maintenance of media servers. This book will not give you the expertise to do any of these jobs - for that you have to get your hands dirty and actually perform some of the tasks yourself. But it will give you a grasp of the concepts and terminology you'll need to manage the issues that come up.

The book is solid all the way through, but some topics are treated with more detail than others. The sections at the start about video capture, compression, and file formats are in depth and somewhat technical. Later section, including one on transport protocols and DRM, are considerably more vague, probably because they are such complex topics that even an overview takes up the alloted space. Still, when I was able to dive into the details of capturing video from analog sources, compressing it, and setting up the software to serve it, but I could not have even begun to attack the problems of setting up a transport standard or a DRM scheme.

It should also be noted that one chapter out of the 8 provided is on a topic (enterprise multicast) that is not relevant to most consumer focused video services.

If you're going to be involved with online video at all, this book is an excellent technical overview. Highly recommended.

If you are at all interested in the potential for delivering video over the internet today and in the near future, this is an excellent resource. With it, you'll understand all you need to do to create, prepare, host and deliver video in compelling ways... and what NOT to do as well. It's well-laid out, full of clear explanations and examples, and is very well written for a variety of experienc levels.

Mr. Stolarz knows his stuff and the book is well worth the money.

I'm a working digitial media pro; a 15 vet, and I like this book. It is substantially clearer and better organized than others I have purchased. Comprehensive, decent glossary.

It ain't the be-all-end-all, but it sits proudly on my desk as a late-night on-hand reference whilst I struggle to hit another ambitious deadline.

...This is the best book I've come across on the subject. There are a lot of articles and other books that just throw these terms at you without them really being understood. This book shows you how other media (TV, film, dvd) are put together and how they can be converted to become internet content.

maybe all your questions will not be answered, but at least now you can ask intelligent questions.

It is not a guide to streaming as indicated. It is more a video transmission history. I have the equipment. I was looking for a streaming software guide.

When I first received the book, I was quite happy with it. However, while reading, it appeared that it is somewhat superficial and does not reveal the hard facts and tricks of the trade in much detail. My guess is that anybody buying a book on media streaming already knows the general stuff. The best chapter was actually an appendix with some key information.

In conclusion, it did not help me much in setting up my streaming software. I still don't know whether I have chosen the optimal codec and color map for my system. I believe that anybody interested in an overview spends his/her time better reading Wikipedia.

Really enjoyed this book. It was a simple read of complex terms. I have so many computer type books but none like this one where I could read from start to finish and really learn the technologies.