Streaming Video Production, Encoding and Delivery

Planetcast is a pioneer in the vision and application of web streaming video and digital video for business applications.

DETAILED BELOW:
- Business Uses for Streaming Video | LINK
- Live-Event Webcasting | LINK
- On-Demand Webcasting | LINK
- Superior Video Server Infrastructure | LINK
- Digital Video Production | LINK
- Television Studio and Editing Facilities | LINK

ON RIGHT SIDEBAR:
- Tools of Our Trade | LINK
- Supported Streaming Video Formats | LINK
- What is Streaming Video? | LINK

Business Uses for Streaming Video

Equipped with reliable high-speed internet connections and capable desktop PCs, almost all businesses today can benefit from smart application of web streaming video technologies. Practical applications include point-to-point conferencing, remote monitoring and imaging, network broadcast of meetings and presentations, and distance learning and training.

Planetcast can develop return-on-investment projections for any streaming video proposal. We are often called upon for vendor-neutral advice and expert recommendations for implementation of streaming video applications within companies. Planetcast is your trusted source for unbiased, practical solutions in web streaming video.

» Contact Planetcast For Details

Live-Event Webcasting

Planetcast is a pioneer in live webcasting for business applications. Since 1996 we have enabled clients to transmit shareholder meetings, employee events and private conferences live over the internet to targeted audiences. Over time we have also learned the limits and practical factors for success in live webcasting. Unlike others in this field, we avoid hype and never over-promise to our clients.

We also offer considerable experience in building webcast studio facilities within companies, and portable webcast suites for remote production, including the use of wireless web video technology in vehicles. Planetcast is your premier source for live webcasting solutions of any scope.

» Contact Planetcast For Details

On-Demand Webcasting

As compelling as live web video may be, we know that few applications justify its high expense and technical complexity. On-demand webcasting is a more practical alternative, and involves recording video files in advance, fully edited and approved by the client, then encoding them to web-ready formats (see sidebar at right) and uploading to video servers for release on a web site.

Planetcast hosts on-demand video files on our technically superior video server array, available continuously 24 hours per day (see details below). You get reliable, controlled video delivery with global audience reach, at a fraction of the cost and technical complexity of live webcasting. Planetcast is an accomplished producer for on-demand video webcasting projects of any scope.

» Contact Planetcast For Details

Superior Video Server Infrastructure

Planetcast operates a superior technical infrastructure for serving of web video. We can deliver any length or size of video file, at any bitrate and format, to any audience of any size, anywhere in the world. Our streaming video servers support all three major file formats: Windows Media, Real Video, and Quicktime at delivery rates from 28 to 512 Kbps (near VHS quality over the web), for both live and on-demand delivery. Use this video server file size calculator for a preview of how much server space will be required for storage of video files on our server systems.

We provide daily, weekly or monthly summary viewing statistics, viewer technical support by e-mail, and can host pay-per-view video files for revenue-generating projects and ticketed events. Monthly service fees are based on storage volume of your files, cumulative bandwidth served, and consultative support time for special projects; please contact us for your custom quotation. Planetcast offers special discounted video server fees for registered charities.

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Digital Video Production

Equipped with state-of-the-art digital video cameras (see sidebar at top-right), Planetcast can shoot video in the field, in your offices, or in our studios for any purpose. We also can script-write corporate videos, direct complex shoots, and video-record live events of any description.

We specialize in journalistic- and documentary-style video. The portability and discrete profile of our equipment and videographers makes our presence almost transparent. After shooting, we use advanced digital video editing tools to package your message and deliver it by tape or as streaming video over the internet. Planetcast is a capable provider of practical digital video solutions for any purpose.

» Contact Planetcast For Details

Television Studio and Editing Facilities

Through our close association with a fast-growing television production company in Toronto, Planetcast is also able to script-write, shoot, edit, package and deliver television broadcast video for infomercials, corporate presentations, and any other high-end purposes. Planetcast can handle any post-production video project of any scope or complexity.

» Contact Planetcast For Details

Planetcast exclusively uses SONY® digital video equipment, such as the state-of-the-art DSR-PD-150 professional field camera (below). Notable for its portability, this camera is ideal for use in demanding field conditions, and also was in action with numerous BBC and CNN television news crews covering recent military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Planetcast augments the PD150's advanced video capabilities with multi-channel wireless microphones as well as a floating stabilization platform that delivers amazingly smooth fast-action motion shots.

The video camera feeds directly into digital capture and editing applications such as Adobe® Premiere® and Apple® Final Cut Pro, both of which which our video team uses as post-production tools in the studio or in the field.

PLANETCAST SUPPORTS WEB STREAMING VIDEO IN ALL MAJOR PLAYER FORMATS:
WINDOWS [download player]	REAL [download player]	QUICKTIME [download player]
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTED STREAMING FORMATS: MPEG   MP3 e-mail us for details

Streaming video on the internet is a practical way to view video but avoid the burden of downloading and storing huge encoded files. Video and audio, when encoded to digital formats, become large and cumbersome files for transfer over data networks, making them impractical to deliver through normal HTTP web servers.

Streaming server technology allows for managed, controlled playback ("streaming") of video and audio files over the internet, in proportion to the user's bandwidth. Your computer's video player establishes communication with the dedicated video server, pulls down the first few seconds of the video file, and plays it - even as the balance of the file is being received.

Your computer never actually saves the entire video file; it only holds small part of it in sequence for the few seconds necessary to display in the player, then deletes it. The end result is that you can watch web streaming video within moments of first click, at maximum possible quality and bitrate, without ever having to worry about where to store the large file or first wait for complete download.

Planetcast operates an advanced streaming video server array and can deliver any length of video file, at any practical bitrate, in any format, to any audience of any size, connected anywhere in the world. Check out our video server file size calculator for a preview of how much server space is required for storage of video files on our system. We invite you to contact our video team for any additional details.

“I invite you to contact me for full details on all the specialized digital video production and streaming services that Planetcast offers.”

— William C. Stratas, President