This week I've been trying to fix the capture application here at videoblip. The server is not running the commercial 'Flash Media Server' that would normally be used to record live video (as well as other things), instead I'm using the Open Source equivalent 'Red5'.

I initially thought the problem with capture (audiosync delays, frame-freezing, premature cutoffs) were due to using Red5. Instead the problems were in the way the flash capture application. Using AS3's Camera.setQuality(), I had to delve into Adobe's live docs to discover what was wrong.

Camera.setQuality() takes two arguments bandwidth, and quality. Setting one tells flash whether the feed for the camera should be optimised for speed (bandwidth) or quality (...quality), however setting BOTH means Flash attempts to satisfy both by dropping the frame-rate. And there we go. By trying to restrict both bandwidth AND quality I was creating videos with fluctuating frame-rates that could not be read properly. This was remedied by setting bandwidth only.

The quality of captured videos may fluctuate between 128k - 512k as I try to find a balance between quality and server load.

Since videoblip is still in beta, things are constantly being changed or updated. There are still some bugs with the site and some things haven't been implemented yet (private messaging, directed blips, reporting abuse).

As the community slowly grows, it is my aim to stick to some core values - videoblip must remain fast, easy to use, and robust - but most importantly it must remain fun. Feel free to post whatever you feel like (minding the rules of course!) and remember the target here is a sense of fun, not the smell of polish.

There have been numerous updates to the site lately. Video uploads and playback are now fully functional as well as registration, profiles, and making friends.

With the completion of the Flash webcam capture this week, beta testing will becom available to those users who have signed up. If you would like the opportunity to participate, please join the mailing list at videoblip.tv

At the moment videoblip is closed to the public, but a 'limited beta' release is coming soon. Sign up on the front page!

More posts coming soon.