Know Jesus Fully: Steps to Live Broadcasting- The ASX file

Step 1- For your viewers to view the output from the encoder, you'll need a special file called an ASX file.  It tells Windows Media Player where to find the live stream and some other information.  The file you are going to make is very simple and will play the live broadcast output.  More information about ASX files can be found at the Microsoft web site.

Here's what we'll need to accomplish the task at hand:
1)  An HTML editor such as CuteHTML or Windows Notepad.  ( "Start, Programs, Accessories, Notepad")
2)  If you don't have an FTP program, FileZilla is free and works great.  You can download it here.  Use it to upload the ASX file to your web site server.
3)  The service providers' publishing point information.  Generally, the prefix on the file is either mms:// or http:// and consists of the server name and the publishing point combined into a file name.

Here's what a simple, complete ASX file looks like...

Step 2- Type the above file into your Notepad.  Change the underlined sections to the correct information.  You will notice the green arrow pointing to the red underlined text.  Change that to the information provided to you by your service provider. 
 
You will notice the line is repeated 2 more times.  This allows the file to make 3 requests to the server.  The way the ASX file works is that it will move down the list as each line is "used".  This allows you to put more than one source of video into the ASX file.  In our case, it helps to re-establish a lost connection if that were to occur.  Nifty feature!  Be sure to name the file live.asx and save it.  You will be making more of these, one for each archived file, so I suggest that you create a folder within your web site and save it there. For now, save it somewhere where you can use your browser to access the file.


Step 3- Testing the whole works----

1)  Fire up the encoder and start a broadcast.

2)  Referring to step 2 above, type into the address bar of your browser the red underlined text starting with mms and without the quotes . We'll be sure that the line works, then we'll test the whole file.  Assuming this works OK,

3)  Open your browser and open the "live.asx" file.  Along with the video and audio, you should see all the other information you placed in the ASX file.

Congratulations!   Place the ASX file on your website and you are all set!
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