Streaming Media - December 2007/January 2008 - (Page 73) each interface element to the new video resolution; it may be easier to simply start from scratch. Not to be obnoxious, but I played around with the multiple skins offered in Adobe Flash with both 16:9 and 4:3 source videos. Not only can you preview these at will, but they all conformed to the video file without letterboxing, though my tests weren’t exhaustive. Again, most large producers will create their own Silverlight template, and this won’t be a problem for them. However, many smaller producers without programming resources will find the lack of preview and limited numbers of templates frustrating. to link to and/or embed the video file into your own webpages (Figure 12). Conclusion Overall, despite some rough edges, I’m impressed with Expression Encoder 1.0 and Silverlight as a whole. Over my time with the product and technology, my view switched from “Why Silverlight?” to “Why not Silverlight?” at least as it relates to Windows Media producers. Again, I’m not taking on the deeper question of Flash versus Windows Media. Rather, if you’re producing Windows Media Video files today, you should strongly consider Silverlight for future projects. True, there are a few notable limitations—lack of DRM and multicast among them—that disqualify the current version of Silverlight for some producers. On the other hand, if these or other technology issues don’t apply to you, you should strongly consider switching over to Silverlight. Jan Ozer (jozer@doceo.com) is a frequent contributor to industry magazines and websites on digital video-related topics and is the coauthor of Hands-On Guide to Flash Video published by Focal Press. Comments? Email us at letters@streamingmedia.com, or check the masthead for other ways to contact us. Publishing Your Silverlight Project After rendering your project, Expression Encoder produces a number of files that you can simply upload to your web server to produce the Silverlight Experience. One of the files is an HTML file that will load and play the video in a separate window, or you can embed playback in another page. Small producers should consider using Microsoft’s Silverlight Streaming Service, which is currently in Alpha testing and free, but it will become fee-based in the future. Microsoft provided an Expression Encoder plug-in that automatically uploaded my project to the service, which provides a page with all necessary HTML codes WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM 73 http://mediazone.com http://WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM
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