Producing Participatory Media
Week 5 - February 18

Topics:

  • Peer to Peer Distribution
  • Voice over IP as Production Tool
    •

    Peer to Peer Distribution (BitTorrent)

    Distributing large files across the internet has always been a challenge. While the internet itself is decentralized most content on the internet is served from a single location to many clients. In a sense, using the internet in this manner is akin to broadcasting. Unfortunately, as is not the case with broadcasting the more people that "consume" any particular piece of content drive up the cost of hosting that content. Bandwidth costs money.

    Peer to Peer file sharing networks were created in part to alleviate this problem. Unfortunately most of the peer to peer file sharing networks still contained remnants of the broadcast scenario. For instance, Napster ran a service that didn't host the content but had a central service to track where content is available on the network. Several of the Napster clones while getting better at true distributed content distribution still had some remnants of the original Napster model.

    Enter BitTorrent. Bram Cohen, developed BitTorrent as a way around these problems. He released it open source and it has quickly become the de-facto means for peer to peer delivery of media content on the internet.



    More Information:
  • The Official BitTorrent Home Page
  • Wired 13.01: The BitTorrent Effect
  • Azureus: Java BitTorrent Client


    • Some BitTorrent Services/Trackers:

  • DV Guide
  • btefnet
  • Legal Torrents
  • etree.org tracker Trade friendly music


    • Recently many of the BitTorrent/TV trackers have been shutdown by the MPAA (Supernova, et al..). This doesn't spell the end of BitTorrent by any means (see Hollywood Wants BitTorrent Dead). Because BitTorrent is not centralized and anyone can run a tracker and the fact that it is open source means that it will continue being used for both legitimate and illegitimate ways for a long time to come. I believe that the MPAA cracking down means more opportunity for independent producers and tracker operators for greater exposure, especially as the technology becomes easier to use and integrated with more and more applications.


    For your eyes only

    For our use, I have setup Azureus (which can act as both a Tracker and Seeder as well as a client) on a machine here that we can all use.

    To use our setup:

  • First you need to get a wired connection at ITP (either your machine plugged in via ethernet or one of the lab machines).
  • Use your favorite BitTorrent software (Azureus is a good choice) and create a Torrent of your media.
  • When creating your Torrent, specify "http://128.122.151.152:6969/announce" as the tracker.
  • Start seeding your Torrent
    • -- At this point you are done if you want to seed the torrent yourself --
    -- If you want our setup to do the seeding for you, continue on --
  • Use the Windows Networking (accessible on the Mac as well) and find "VANEVERY". It should be in "WORKGROUP".
  • Log into "TORRENTS" with the username "ppm" and password "ppm" and drag your Torrent in.
  • At some point less than a minute, you will see a download of your media occurring from your seed.
  • Check http://128.122.151.152:6969 for a new entry (right now there are 2, it would be a good idea to check this link before to see how many there are so you can tell if there is a new one).
  • Upload your torrent to your blog or website for people to access and download the media!


    • BitTorrent + RSS = Broadcatching

    Enter RSS.. Of course, using RSS with torrent enclosures you can distribute your media ala podcasting and videoblogging. This reduces the strain on your bandwidth and creates a more equal playing field for all.

    <enclosure url="http://dv.open4all.info/bblog/torrent_files/linux_virgin_1.1.mov.torrent" length="1195" type="application/x-bittorrent"/>

    Using the same means for including audio and video enclosures in RSS feeds for Movable Type we can add BitTorrent enclosures.
    See: MT-Enclosures.


    Broadcatching Applications

  • RSS Import Plugin for Azureus
  • WritTorrent - Rewriting BitTorrent distribution by providing a way to manage swarm topology using RSS.
  • Buttress - Bittorrent RSS application
  • TVMistress
  • Videora


    • More Information:

  • Hollywood Wants BitTorrent Dead
  • Broadcatching with BitTorrent
  • engadget - How-To: BroadCatching using RSS + BitTorrent to automatically download TV shows




    • Voice over IP as Production Tool - Recording Studio in a box (or laptop)

    Doing a podcast or live streaming interview with someone on the opposite side of the country?
    Want to have a live call-in show on the internet?

    Here's How to create your call-in studio in a box (instructions for MacOS X, I welcome a write-up about doing this on the PC):

  • Download and Install QuickTime Broadcaster, Line-In, Soundflower and Soundflowerbed then restart

  • In your Sound Preferences, change your input to SoundFlower (2ch) and your output to SoundFlower (2ch).

  • This allows your applications to both receive sound from the virtual audio devices as well as send audio to it.

  • Launch Soundflowerbed, you will see a little flower in your menu bar. Choose to monitor "Built-in Audio" for SoundFlower (2ch). Make sure your headphones are plugged in. This allows you to monitor the sound going through the virtual device.

  • Launch Line-In and choose input from your source (Built-in Audio Microphone) and choose SoundFlower (2ch) for the output. This allows you to send audio through a mic to the virtual device (soundflower)

  • Launch the application (iChat AV, QuickTime, iTunes, Skype, whatever) that you would like to receive sound from. If you have a Sound Output choice (as is the case with iChat AV), select Soundflower (2ch), if you don't (such as with iTunes) it should use the System Preference that you setup previously.

  • Launch the application that will be receiving the audio (QuickTime Broadcaster, Audacity, whatever). If you have a Sound Input choice, choose SoundFlower (2ch).

  • Record or broadcast away...! Any sound that comes from iChat AV, such as conversation with another user will get routed to the receiving application as well. Stream those conversations or talk over those tunes or ...



    • Voice over IP Software:

  • Skype
  • iChat AV
  • AOL Instant Messenger


    • More Information, Audio Routing and Capture:

  • Line-In - Audio In play-through for MacOS X
  • Cycling '74: Soundflower and Soundflowerbed - Multiple Channel Virtual audio device for MacOS X
  • Rogue Amoeba - Audio Hijack for Mac OS X - Record any sound source
  • Virtual Audio Cable - for PC..
  • WireTap Pro
  • Total Recorder - for PC..
  • ReWire


    • More about Skype and Podcasting:

  • Unbound Spiral: Skype + Podcast Recorder = SkypeCasters - PC Centric Instructions
  • SkypeCasting.mp3
  • Engadget: How-To: Podcasting (good information regarding sound routing for podcasting)