AVChat Software Product Blog

Yesterday Adobe released Flash Player 11.2 but the new Flash Player version seems to have changed something again because our HDFVR product does not finish uploading anymore and it gets stuck as in the screenshot below.

This is something we will look into over the next few days and issue a patch. Hopefully it will be a client side patch (involving replacing the swf) and not a media server patch.

This is the second time the Flash Player team makes a change that breaks app functionality and it’s getting ridiculous. 2 weeks ago they made a small change in Flash Player that caused us 2 weeks of 0% productivity and 100% issuing patches and explaining the issue to customers.

HDFVR Patch for Flash Player 11.2:

With the launching of Flash Player 11.2 we’ve experienced some problems after finishing recordings due to some missing functionality in the new Flash Player (there are some NetStream events that are not sent by this version of Flash Player such as NetStream.Buffer.Empty,NetStream.Record.Stop and NetStream.Unpublish.Success).

We’ve reported the problem to Adobe (here) but in the mean time we’ve compiled a new build that contains a workaround for  this problem.

The new build is 499.

Those who downloaded the build 496 and 498 they can use only the swf files with those form version 499 to resolve this problem.

Today we’ve made 2 small updates to our audio recording and video recording software, here they are:

FLVAR build 124:

• added the ability to specify the name of the recorded file trough the streamName variable in avc_settings.xxx

HDFVR build 440:

• fixed issue with snapshots showing white bands sometimes
• I situations where HDFVR asks from a webcam a resolution that the webcam does not support:
  • the displayed video stream is not distorted
  • snapshots now are the size of the actual stream resolution and not the size of the resolution configured in HDFVR
• new onPlaybackComplete RAD JS API cal
• Continue and Cancel buttons from the settings window can be translated

How to update:

You can download these new builds from your client/trial area.

Only the client side files have changed, so just overwrite those with the new client files.

We have a new build of our video recorder today, there are several new features and quite a few bug fixes.

Here’s what’s new:

• new JS API (onCamAccess) lets you know if the user allowed or denied access to the camera
• Logo overlay: ability to overlay a logo over the video, in the top right corner using the new overlayPath option in avc_settings.xxx
• Loopback microphone: there’s a new option (loopbackMic in avc_settings.xxx) that allows you to loop the mic back to the speakers/headphones during recording
• Countdown timer: ability to display a countdown timer until the recording will stop (countdownTimer in avc_settings.xxx).
• Butonless mode: ability to hide the menu entirely with the showMenu option in avc_settings.xxx  (Some people want to contro the HDFVR from Java Script entirely).
• HDFVR will only show the Privacy tab now (with Allow, Deny and Remember options) when trying to access the webcam microphone
• Lots of bug fixes especially regarding the Settings panel

You can go grab the new build from your client/trial area. To update just overwrite the old HDFVR files. You will loose your existing changes. Make a backup first just in case.

Just the client side files and the hdfvr app for FMIS have been changed. If you’re running HDFVR on Wowza or REd5 there’s no need to update your hdfvr app.

We’ve got a new build of our video recorder ready for you today. This build includes fixes for a few bugs we received trough the forum and small changes in the looks & usability departments.

• Videos for which the user had not pressed the SAVE button did not have any snapshot and the video file did not had the right permissions set in avc_settings.xxx [FIXED]
• Added 4 HTML files to the HDFVR archive, each one embeds HDFVR in a different way. The same HTML files are available online in our HDFVR demo area: http://hdfvr.com/demo/weblauncher.html
• The progress bar+buffer will now show during playback (independent of the scrubber when it is clicked and dragged )
• Only one press of the SAVE button is allowed per each recording
• Fixed this issue mentioned in the forum regarding the SAVE button
• When the SAVE button is turned off the scrubbar will occupy the remaining space
• Changed the SAVE icon and improoved the rest of the icons
• The menu can be in any colors (some colors caused issues in the past)
• The up/over/pressed states of the buttons have been revised (similar to YouTube)
• Padding between the scrub bar and it’s container
• Visible vertical lines between the buttons
• While dragging the scrub button the red playback line and white buffer line are still updated
• Better comments and explanations for some variables in avc_settings.xxx

You can go grab the new build from your client/trial area. To update just overwrite the old HDFVR files. You will loose your existing changes. Make a backup first just in case.

Just the client side files have been changed , the hdfvr app that goes on the media server has not suffered any change so there’s no need to update it or restart the media server.

Later edit: build 396 is now available and it solves a playback issue in 394

A new build of  HDFVR is available now.This build contains a lot of bug fixes and an improved UI.

The new UI:

• The fps counter is aligned to the left bottom corner.
• The backround color property is now functional.
• The sound level display is tinier.
• Corect paddings for all the elements in the scene.  A  padding var was added to avc_settins.xxx so that you can control the padding between the elements.

Issues fixed:

We’ve fixed a lot of small bugs from UI and functionality and a few critical ones:

• Spellchecked and corected docs.We’ve added better comments in avc_settings.xxx.
• We’ve fixed the issue with streamName change that was not working properly.
• We’ve fixed the issue with the size of the snapshot.
• We’ve fixed the issue with taking a snapsot for each video when recording more than one video in a session.
• The kfps info inside the quality files is actualy doing something.
• We’ve corected some of the error messages (proper error when wrong domain name and proper error when coming from an unlicensed domain ).

Where can you get it?

You can download the new build from your client/trial area.

How to install the new version?

Just make a clean install or overwrite the old files (including the files on the media server) and restart the media server.

How do I get HDFVR?o

You can buy it from here: http://hdfvr.com/buy-now or get a 30 day trial from the HDFVR web site.

You want to find out what version of Red5 is running on your server?

There are a few ways:

1) Look at the Red5 welcome page on port 5080.

To see the welcome page just go to http://yourred5server.com:5080 in your web browser. It’s not the most accurate but it’s the fastest and you don’t need access to the Red5 installation. Here are the welcome screens for different versions.

Red5 0.8 welcome page:

Red5 0.9.1 welcome page:

Red5 1.0 RC1 welcome page:

2) Look in docs/changelog.txt

Look in the Red5 installation folder/docs/changelog.txt . You will immediately see the Red5 version there:

3) Pay attention to the Red5 startup log

During startup, Red5 will show the Red5 version, here is where to look when starting Red5 standalone on Windows:

4) Look in log/red5_service.log

When starting Red5 as a service on Windows it will create a new log file: Red5 installation folder/log/red5_service.log . In it you will find the Red5 startup log mentioned above and thus the Red5 version.

You know any other way? Post the method in the comments section below.

Today we’re releasing a new build of HDFVR that contains a feature that has been requested for a long time by you guys: write JavaScript API. That and a few bug fixes.

New features:

• there is a new JavaScript write API. With this API you can make calls from JavaScript to HDFVR to perform different actions like start recording, stop recording etc. You can viw the documentation regarding it here: http://hdfvr.com/api#jswrite and you can view a demo with it in action here: http://hdfvr.com/demo/apilauncher.html .
• a new JavaScript function is availabe: onFlashReady() that tells you when HDFVR is ready to accept calls from JavaScript

Issues fixed:

• the allow/deny screen has been replaced with a new one t the settings that allows you to remember (save) your privacy settings
• there was a yellow rectangle appearing over the video,  we ve fixed that.
• when you chose to deny access to the camera  the recording button will be disabled (until now it  was remaining enabled even if there was no cam)
• recordAgain setting in avc_settings.xxx was ignored when recording was stopped due to  the maximum recording time being reached

Where can you get it?

You can download the new build from your client/trial area.

How to install the new version?

Just make a clean install or overwrite the old files (including the files on the media server) and restart the media server.

How do I get HDFVR?

You can buy it from here: http://hdfvr.com/buy-now or get a 30 day trial from the HDFVR web site.

New HDFVR build is up and it has a new [Settings] screen:

More new stuff:

• new [Settings] screen (show during intialization and via the Settings button)
• auto remember mic/cam selection
• when you are asked to allow Flash Player to access your web cam & mic you will get the REMEMBER screen not the ALLOW/DENY screen
• you can switch between cams and mics during recordings (works, kind of)
• updated tool tips

You can test our new video recorder online at: http://hdfvr.com/demo/weblauncher.html .

To get it download it again from your client/trial area.

We’ve spent some time recently updating our hd video recorder and boy do we have a full basket of gifts new features and bug fixes for you!!! Just in time for Christmas!

New features:

• HDFVR will now remember your selection of web cam and microphone (if your computer has more than 1 webcam or mic)
• You can now specify the name of the stream/file! . This will allow you to record streams with your own file names AND play the stream live (trough a flv player) while it’s being recorded, there will be an article soon on how to do this! See the streamName variable in avc_settings.xxx
• You can also specify the permissions for the newly created .flv files in case you are using a linux based media server. See the chmodStreams variable in avc_settings.xxx .
• You can disable audio recording entirely. See disableAudio variable in avc_settings.xxx .
• You can now start/stop recording using SPACEBAR .
• Updated JS API with a new call: userHasCamMic(cam_number,mic_number) and new variables for existing functions: onSaveOk(streamName,streamDuration,userId,cameraName,micName) . API documentation will be updated soon!

Bug fixes:

• While uploading/streaming the video to the media server the remaining time was all over the place! It now decreases correctly!
• There were some issues with minimum recording time  that were also solved
• The positioning of the tooltips has also been improoved
• Not all words/phraes could be translated, fixed that too!

How to get it: just download HDFVR again from your client/trial area!

How to update your currnt installation: just overwrite all the old files including the files on the media server OR perform a clean installation!

It has yet to snow here in Bucharest but Christmas is getting near nevertheless!

We’ve extended the $100 off HDFVR offer until 24 December 2010!

The offer is available for both the SD and HD editions!

You can buy HDFVR now at a discounted price from http://hdfvr.com/buy-now .

The offer will expire on 24 December 2010 23:59.