[PD] Advice on PD/Flash Usage

[Pall Thayer]

Hi Marcus,

I've done a bunch of stuff with PD and Flash at first using PHP scripts to
send data to PD but now I have a project that utilizes flashserver. It's a
very open project and you can find some informative files to help you get
started with Flash and PD:

http://130.208.220.190/panse

There's even a .fla file that has all the socket stuff already prepared. You
can't do this sort of thing without knowing quite a bit about ActionScript.
You can stream the audio directly to the flash movie but when I've tried
it's been very choppy and poor. Best way is to stream it seperately either
as Mp3 or Ogg. Mp3 is more widely supported but Ogg is true open source. You
pretty much need your own server. The PD patch has to run as a constant
process and somehow I doubt that many hosting deals will let you do that
kind of thing without paying extra (you'd have to install PD as well as run
your patch). Also, streaming audio isn't something that someone is just
going to give you free reign over. That's probably going to be another
(pricey) addition to your hosting service. Even if you do run your own
server, the Mp3 stream is going to get expensive if you're on a hired
connection. Best thing is to get a university or something to sponsor your
project and let you hook your server up to their connection for free (which
is what I did).

Good luck,


Pall Thayer
artist/teacher
Fjolbrautaskolinn vid Armula
http://www.this.is/pallit
http://www.this.is/pallit/isjs
http://www.this.is/pallit/harmony
http://130.208.220.190/panse

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marcus" <ubiquity7 at yahoo.com>
To: <pd-list at iem.at>
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2003 12:24 AM
Subject: [PD] Advice on PD/Flash Usage


> Hello,
>
> I'm interested in learning more about creating Flash
> frontends for a few PD patches of mine and hosting
> them on the web.
>
> I've installed the flashserver external; however, I
> only have a rudimentary working knowledge of Flash and
> I'm in need of some advice on where to tread next.
>
> A few questions:
>
> 1. Is it neccessary to learn Actionscript in order to
> create interaction between PD and Flash, or will just
> a few rote lines of memorized code suffice? At the
> moment, all I want to do is build some sliders and
> have PD recieve the numerical data.
>
> 2. I'm not hosting any webspace on a local box, though
> I do have telnet access. Will it be possible to boot
> my patch through my telnet-accessed comand line? If
> not, is there any way of pulling this off short of
> building my own webserver?
>
> 3. Has anyone tried to stream audio data back through
> Flash? Is this feasible? If not, what's the most
> widely-accessible way of sharing the audio data?
> Icecast?
>
> Any further tips and pointers on this task would be
> appreciated. Once I've successfully pulled this off,
> I'd like to write a simple tutorial for pure-data.org
> on how it was done.
>
> Thanks!
> Marcus.
>
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