mikedowney|blog http://madowney.com/blog on microsoft, rich media, gadgets, and software Mon, 08 Aug 2011 01:22:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 MMP Player Framework 2.5 – new release, new name http://madowney.com/blog/2011/04/mmp-player-framework-2-5-new-release-new-name/ http://madowney.com/blog/2011/04/mmp-player-framework-2-5-new-release-new-name/#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:15:10 +0000 mike downey http://madowney.com/blog/?p=663 player framework screen shot

We have just released a new version of the Silverlight Media Framework (SMF) and we’ve given it a new name – the Microsoft Media Platform Player Framework (MMPPF). Yes, it’s a bit more difficult to say, and we don’t get to refer to it as the “SMurF” any more, but the new name represents how the framework is now a much more significant component of Microsoft’s media platform.

Over the last few weeks we’ve started to role out a new, umbrella brand for the various media technologies, tools, and frameworks that Microsoft offers. Aligning all of our media projects under the “Microsoft Media Platform” brand allows us to tell a much more comprehensive story about our end-to-end media pipeline. The Microsoft media platform currently comprises IIS media services, and smooth streaming on the server side (all components of Windows Server), Expression Encoder, the MMP video editor, the MMP Content Manager, the MMP Player Framework, and a number of other technologies. However, we’ll be incorporating more tools, frameworks, servers, and services in the future.

MMP Player Framework 2.5

This latest version of the Player Framework, built on Microsoft Silverlight, offers a number of new features and enhancements. One of the most important new features is our addition of stereoscopic 3D support. Now content providers can stream 3D video to consumers using the Player Framework and the Silverlight player. Here’s a video (WMV) demonstrating how to use this new feature.

In this new release we also put a significant amount of effort into developing an advertising plugin. This new plugin adds support for the VPAID, VAST, and MAST (PDF) standards. Check out this video (WMV) to learn how to use it.

Download MMPPF 2.5 here.

New in SMF 2.5

  • Stereoscopic 3D support
  • Standards based advertising support
  • Fixed several bugs
  • Uses SSME 1.5 Update 1
  • See the downloads pagefor a full, detailed listing of changes in v2.5
]]> http://madowney.com/blog/2011/04/mmp-player-framework-2-5-new-release-new-name/feed/ 0 SMF documentation and video tutorials http://madowney.com/blog/2011/02/smf-documentation-and-video-tutorials/ http://madowney.com/blog/2011/02/smf-documentation-and-video-tutorials/#comments Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:24:53 +0000 mike downey http://madowney.com/blog/?p=648 I’ve had a few people ask me where they can find how-tos, docs, and tutorial videos for developing with the SMF. We had originally added a bunch of video tutorials to silverlight.net but those never got updated when we release SMFv2. Instead, we hosted them on the CodePlex site. I’ll try to get the silverlight.net team to update their page as well.

Here’s a full list of the tutorials and docs that are now available, also found on the CodePlex site:

]]> http://madowney.com/blog/2011/02/smf-documentation-and-video-tutorials/feed/ 1 Microsoft Silverlight Media Framework v2.3 now available http://madowney.com/blog/2011/01/microsoft-silverlight-media-framework-v2-3-now-available/ http://madowney.com/blog/2011/01/microsoft-silverlight-media-framework-v2-3-now-available/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:10:26 +0000 mike downey http://madowney.com/blog/?p=645 We have just released version 2.3 of the Microsoft Silverlight Media Framework (SMFv2.3). This minor release focused primarily on supporting the new version of the IIS Smooth Streaming Client (v1.5) and fixed a number of bugs.

Download the latest version here.

Note: due to a schedule crunch we did not update the installer (MSI) for this release so you will have to organize/swap out the binaries manually and download the Smooth Client separately. We plan to make an installer available for the next release (v2.4) coming in the Feb/Mar timeframe.

Fixes/Updates

  • Upgraded to version 1.5 of the SmoothStreamingMediaElement control
  • Fixed crash when changing current playlist item and old playlist item had queued text chunks
  • Added exception handling to VideoSyncManager
  • Resolved issue where OnCurrentPlaylistItem was firing twice with AutoLoad set to true
  • Phone template styling improvements
  • Fixed handling of encoded characters in caption text streams
  • Fixed issue where captions with line breaks would display in reverse order
  • Caption parsing performance improvements
  • Added IsStartPositionOffset to list of valid initparams
  • Added new stream selection methods to add/remove from currently selected list instead of providing a complete list of streams to be selected, SelectedCaptionStream and SelectedAudioStream properties modified to use new methods
  • Fixed PlayStateChanged event not firing Opened after manifest download fails
  • Changed PluginsManager property of SMFPlayer to protected so that subclassed players can access list of plugins
  • Added support for choosing the chunk download strategy for captions and other text streams as the playlist item and player level. Downloads now default to only asking for chunks near the current position.
  • Resolution property of MediaTrack is now populated properly.
  • Attributes collection of underlying track object is now available in MediaTrack object
  • Windows Phone version now supports RestrictTracks method on IMediaStream. This enables Windows Phone apps to use existing manifests.
]]> http://madowney.com/blog/2011/01/microsoft-silverlight-media-framework-v2-3-now-available/feed/ 0 MIX11 early bird registration heads’ up http://madowney.com/blog/2010/12/mix11-early-bird-registration-heads-up/ http://madowney.com/blog/2010/12/mix11-early-bird-registration-heads-up/#comments Wed, 15 Dec 2010 01:15:55 +0000 mike downey http://madowney.com/blog/?p=641 Registration for Microsoft MIX11 will open in late January with a special offer for early birds. If you register for MIX11 by February 11 you will save $500 on your conference pass and you’ll receive one free night for your hotel stay when you book two or more nights at the Mandalay Bay.

If you want to catch all of the announcements about MIX11 and get notified when registration opens just sign up here for the MIX email newsletter.

MIX11 event details

When: April 12-14, 2011; MIX Boot Camps on April 11

Where: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

Cost: Full Price Conference Pass – $1395

MIX Pre-Conference Boot Camps – $295

More Info: http://live.visitmix.com

]]> http://madowney.com/blog/2010/12/mix11-early-bird-registration-heads-up/feed/ 0 Windows Phone 7 development for beginners now on Channel 9 http://madowney.com/blog/2010/11/windows-phone-7-development-for-beginners-now-on-channel-9/ http://madowney.com/blog/2010/11/windows-phone-7-development-for-beginners-now-on-channel-9/#comments Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:37:38 +0000 mike downey http://madowney.com/blog/2010/11/12/windows-phone-7-development-for-beginners-now-on-channel-9/ wp7_ch9_beginners

If you’re considering writing an application for the new Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series devices you now have a great, free training resource available to you courtesy of Microsoft’s Channel 9 site and fellow Evangelist Clint Rutkus.

We have just launched an all new series that teaches beginning developers with little programming experience how to develop applications for Windows Phone 7.  This series assumes that they have absolutely no knowledge of C#, Silverlight, or mobile development.  In just a few hours, they will understand the needed concepts to build applications.

Head on over to Channel 9 to start training now! Also, make sure you have the free Windows Phone 7 developer tools installed (and watch this video for instructions on how to install said tools).

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