S3Media Stream FAQ

When your video or audio refuses to play before full download in progressive download, it usually means the index is at the end of the file.
Converting the videos with HandBrake should remedy the problem, selecting the "Optimize for Web" option, or process your video with this tool: http://renaun.com/air/QTIndexSwapper.air

All file types can be downloaded: PDF, doc, xls, exe, mov, zip, txt, etc...
Executables may generate a warning in some browsers, depending on the antivirus settings of the customer's browser. Mobiles have restrictions on file types also.

No, you don't. You just have to make sure to use MP4 with H264 codec and AAC audio in the video to play it on browsers and mobile devices.  Here is a tutorial on how to convert videos successfully to ensure playback on iPad and iPhone:
How to encode a video simultaneously for web, iPhone, iPad, iPod & other handheld devices using HandBrake

Yes, it is if you set the HTML fallback bucket.  The player switches automatically to HTML5 mode as soon as it detects a non Flash browser.  However, it means that various features will not work on mobiles, namely: subtitling, related playlist, log/watermark and on some devices, poster images will not show up either.

Yes, most membership plugins work with S3Media Stream. As long as they allow you to work with posts and pages, it should work. We tested with DAP and S2Member without problems.

1. Wordpress 3.x or higher.
2. S3 account with CloudFront service enabled. Although you can work without an S3 account, it makes this plugin somewhat pointless. There are several free plugins to play non S3 videos.
3. PHP 5.x recommended, but works with PHP 4.x as well.

Yes, all major browsers Google Chrome, IExplorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera, in 32bit and 64bit are supported.

Yes, you can. Whether they are on your own domain, S3 Amazon or on a video service like YouTube, you can even mix various sources in one playlist. Vimeo videos are not possible as they use expiring URLs themselves.

We have a series of tutorials on S3 Amazon, which includes setting up an account. It is really simple but if you read the help files of Amazon, it will probably drive you insane with all the tech speak, so best use these tutorials and you can't go wrong: http://www.miracletutorials.com/s3-amazon-web-services/. See also the related articles at the bottom of that article.

Premium support means that you have priority when it is very busy. Generally, we respond within 24 hours, often much sooner. In the weekend, support is closed except in special circumstances. We understand that you want to move forward so we won't let you wait. That is our pledge to you. If you go to www.footprintaddons.com, where we sell the joomla version of this plugin, you will see some testimonials of customers who experienced Premium Support. We want you to be happy, period.

This is not regulated by the plugin but rather in your CloudFront account. CloudFront will automatically detect if an IP address has been set and check the plugin request against it. If the plugin requesting a video or audio is not accessed via that IP address, an access denied error will show up. But as such , it has nothing to do with the functionality of the plugin itself.

You are free to adapt the plugin for your personal use. We ask you not to remove the credit notices in the files. You cannot claim our work as your own and you are asked to add an extra line in the credits area to state that you adapted the code. Selling the plugin, adapted or not, is not allowed. Any changes make the money back guarantee void and we do not give technical support regarding changes you made.

No, it is not encrypted because that would be a childish act. You should have the option to adapt the plugin yourself to suit your needs and any WordPress plugin that encrypts its source code is in violation of the WordPress GPL license agreement.  Encryption also enlarges the code considerably and may slow down performance.

It is better to ask questions about the plugin upfront, of course. But you can get a refund within 30 days of the purchase. We do require a detailed reason why you do not like it and if it is a small matter, we may adapt the plugin to suit your needs. If we cannot adapt the plugin, we will refund your money. You will be required to remove all files from your computers (local and server(s)).

Yes, you can. We will give you a quote in that case. Please keep in mind that the minimal charge will be $300.00 USD.

Yes, you can. If it is not too much work, and if it is a feature that is worthwhile as an update, we don't even charge it. Example: a customers asked to set the bucket in such a way that he no longer had to fill in the full path to the streamer software, but only the CloudFront distribution name. As this is useful, we added the feature without extra cost.

No, you cannot sell it, but we are working on an affiliate program. If you are interested, contact us. You are not allowed to pass on the plugin to third parties. The license becomes automatically void when you become insolvent or in case you leave this Earthly paradise. It cannot be sold as an asset of your business. This means, when you sell your site, the plugin is not included and the new owner needs to buy a license.

Yes, you can use it on any of your own sites. Not on client's or friends's websites. As for the JW player license, you need to make sure your license covers more then one site. If you have already a JW player license which is not sufficient to cover the amount of sites you own, we can help you upgrade to a higher plan with longtailvideo. Just contact us.

Yes, it does if you set the HTML fallback bucket. In short, it will only work on HTML5 mode (from version 5.6 onward).  The current version 5.6.4 supports it. The player switches automatically to HTML5 mode as soon as it detects a non Flash browser.  However, it means that various features will not work on mobiles, namely: subtitling, related playlist, log/watermark and on some devices, poster images will not show up either.

No, live streaming is not possible. Live streaming is tricky business and it is a specialized niche we do not intend to cover at this time. This may change in time.

This is not included because we think there are better ways to make money from your audio and video by using the watermark feature. However, we are not dogmatic about it, if you want the AdSolution, let us know and we will adapt the plugin for you. There is no cost involved.

You can. You just need to give us the path to the streaming software so that we can send you an adapted version of the plugin. We have not tested the plugin with other software, though. Changes are at your own risk, and the money back guarantee becomes invalid.
If you want to use private streaming, you have to place the media itself on your S3 account.

No, you can't. In order to use expiring URLs, the files need to reside on your S3 account. The same goes for Private streaming.

Private streaming works like an expiring URL on streaming videos and audios. Thus, a link to a streaming video remains only valid for a period of time. After that, the URL becomes obsolete and the video will not play. This technique prevents other sites from sharing your media while you pay for the bandwidth. It is mostly used for video on demand(VOD) or for paid video/audio tutorials and courses.

MP3, M4a, AAC. Regard AAC as a video and treat it as such using the Video Wizard. MP3 is difficult to stream using the S3 CloudFront service, therefore you better convert those to m4a.

FLV, MP4, MOV, M4v.
MOV is a bit tricky if it is not saved as H264 with AAC for audio setting. Then the player will not recognize the Quicktime format. If most of your videos are like that, let us know upfront so that we can do a test (give us a link to a MOV) and adapt the plugin if needed.
For HTML5 compatibility, best use MP4.

EasyVideoPlayer is more marketing orientated, making money indirectly via videos. Their target audience exists primarily of blog owners while our plugin provides for multimedia professionals, video portal owners, entrepreneurial membership sites and visual artists.
With our solution, you make money directly from the videos themselves, either via membership programs, Video-On-Demand setup or private video exhibitions.
Our advertising options, being less intrusive, are regarded as more user friendly and therefore more effective in the long run.
Our plugin supports Private Streaming, which gives a double layer of protecting against theft, although you have to keep in mind that some hacker software can even download private streaming. Here is an article on the subject from another source: http://www.mediacollege.com/video/streaming/protect/
S3 Amazon uses Adobe® Flash® Media Server, formerly called Macromedia Communication Server.

To understand the advantages of streaming, Miracle Tutorials has a short article on this to demonstrate the difference between regular download and streaming: http://www.miracletutorials.com/s3-streaming-video-with-cloudfront/

The player supports iPhone/iPad (iOS), Android and Win7Phones (only Mango 7.5).  Blackberry is currently not supported.
Here is a report on the state of affairs regarding support for browsers and mobiles: http://www.longtailvideo.com/html5/.
And here is a report on the market share of various smartphones:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/smartphone-market-share_n_1388368.html

All skins with the xml extension are html5 compatible, the others are not. We are updating the skins currently. Polished Metal, Overlay and Beelden are already compatible now. HTML5 compatible skins will not show on Apple iOS devices but they will not prevent media from playing, as happens with Flash based skins. So if HTML5 compatibility is important, chose your skin wisely.
If a skin of your preference is not supported, let us know and we will update it for you. There is no additional cost involved.

Contact our sales department and we will respond as soon as possible. Often the same day.