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What's New

AACelerator 1.0

AACelerator and the QuickTime Streaming Server

AACelerator provides the easiest and quickest way to prepare streaming MPEG-4 audio files for use with the QuickTime Streaming Server. When used in combination, you can quickly create MPEG-4 playlists to stream across your local network or through the internet. This quick tutorial will provide some tips on how to configure AACelerator to encode optimal MPEG-4 audio files and serve them using Apple's QuickTime Streaming Server.

Setting up QTSS

If you don't already have the QTSS installed, the first step is to download the latest distribution of the installer from Apple's web site [download 8.5MB]. After running the installer, start the QTTS setup assistant by double-clicking the application "QuickTime Streaming Server" in your "Applications" folder.

If you need help configuring the server, here are some excellent resources to get you started:

These resources should provide you with enough information to get you started streaming content.

Setting up AACelerator

  1. Start AACelerator and drop some audio files into the file & folder list.
  2. Set the type of hinted track you want created for the MPEG-4 files by selecting either Basic or Optimized from the Streaming Options pop-up. Most often, the Basic hinting track is more than adequate. If you require Optimized hinting tracks, select this option, but be aware that the resulting file size can be almost doubled.
  3. Select a data rate for the encoded files using these guidelines as a starting point:
    4. AACelerator Window Screenshot
  4. Set the destination folder for the encoded files to the QTSS Media Directory. The default location of this directory on Mac OS X is:
      /Library/QuickTimeStreaming/Movies
    The General Settings section of the QTSS Administration web page will show the current QTSS Media Directory and allow you to change it if you are the QTSS Administrator.
    QuickTime Streaming General Settings Window
    QuickTime Streaming Server Administration Web Page - This clipping from a screen shot shows what you will see when you select the General Settings option from the server administration site. Here you can view and set the media directory for the QuickTime Streaming Server.

Creating MPEG-4 Audio Play Lists

Now let's create a new playlist with the media we've encoded. Click on the Playlists link in the main QTSS Admin page and when the Playlists page is loaded, click "New Movie Playlist".

QuickTime Streaming Playlist Settings Window
QuickTime Streaming Server Playlist Setup - This clipping shows what you will see when you select the Playlist link from any QTSS administration page. Here you can see the available playlists, create new ones and stop and start playlists.

Type in a name and mount point (we always keep these the same) for the new playlist. In the "Available Media" list, you will see the list of folders in your media directory. Double-click the folders to see contents of the folders. You can drag folders or individual songs over to the list of items for the playlist.

Set the Play Mode for this play list to either Sequential, Sequential Looped, or Random. Details on these options can be found in the QuickTime Streaming Server Help. When you're finished setting the options for this playlist, click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page.

QuickTime Streaming Playlist Settings Window
QuickTime Streaming Server New Playlist Setup - This clipping shows what you will see when you select the New Movie Playlist option from the Playlist setup page. Here you can name new playlists and add files to the playlists.

Once the playlist is added, you must tell QTSS to start playing the songs in the playlist. Simply click the play button icon in the list item for this playlist. The status will update indicating that the playlist has successfully started playing.

QuickTime Streaming Playlist Settings Window
QuickTime Streaming Server Playlist Setup - This clipping shows the new playlist called "Jazz" added to the list of available playlists.

There are a couple caveats worth noting. First is that the playlist will fail to start playing if there are any MP3 formatted audio files included in the playlist. The QuickTime Streaming Server has a completely separate mechanism for streaming MP3s. This mechanism uses the shoutcast/icecast method of streaming MP3 audio and you cannot mix MPEG-4 and MP3 audio files in the same playlist.

The second limitation is that you must encode all MPEG-4 media in the playlist with either the Basic or Optimized streaming option in AACelerator, otherwise the QTSS will not be able to start playing the playlist.

You can tune into your new playlist by opening the QuickTime Player application and opening a the URL for the movie in a new player. The URL will depend on how your network is setup, but should look something like:

Unfortunately, you can't listen to these MPEG-4 playlists yet in iTunes, hopefully an updated version will integrate full support for MPEG-4 playlists and streaming media. This would make a perfect office-wide jukebox setup, or be great for streaming playlists throughout your home!

enjoy!
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