Making Your Own Streaming Content
The following is a brief description of how to create a film for your site using footage captured from DV and Real Producer:

Use a package like Premiere to clean up or edit the footage you imported. If you don't have anything like this don't worry just try to be as accurate as possible when importing your original footage. Depending on how you captured the footage you could well have been provided with a basic editing package when you purchased your capture card/software etc. Check it out, it may be basic but could provide all that you need to start with. Remember when you 'make' your final movie to turn off any additional compression since RealProducer adds its own.

The next thing you need to do is install the latest version of Real Producer; this is harder than it sounds because they REALLY want you to buy it, this URL should get you to the right page: http://www.realnetworks.com/products/media_creation.html

Producing copies of previously made films may be one option for putting your work on the Net but there are other, more interesting alternatives. Making a film designed specifically for the Internet means bearing in mind all the limitation described above but may provide a far more rewarding result. Limiting tools to traditional implements such as a camera etc. could prove a lot less interesting than exploring a combination of different products designed specifically for creating moving image content on the Internet e.g. HTML with embedded animated gifs, SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language), packages such as Macromedia's Director, or even Flash. Interestingly, sites featuring work created in this way have become direct competition for the more traditional broadcasters. Shockwave (www.shockwave.com) is Macromedia's site for animations using the Flash or Shockwave programmes that have made such a difference to the moving image content of web sites.

Flash is animation software that has been optimised for Web use, creating tiny file sizes in comparison to other forms of Web animation: animated .gifs etc. The downside to using these products, as opposed to using .gif animation, is that they cost. As with much current Internet technology, the States are far in advance of us here in Britain. However, with the global economy of the Internet there is no reason we can't compete on an equal footage, especially in terms of creativity and content. With the low cost of setting up your own digital production studio, whatever your choice of product or means of production it is well within the means of UK filmmakers to produce their own work and put it on the Web.

In wider terms, streaming technology and related industries are currently riding high on the crest of digital media net-waves, with mergers, buyouts and new technologies springing up all the time. Attracting attention from speculators interested in the next money printing dotcom business with broadcasters jostling to establish themselves as the default provider of mass entertainment on the Internet. Pop.com, with backing from Steve Spielberg was rumoured to be merging with both Atomfilms (www.atomfilms.com) and ifilm (www.ifilm.com). Elsewhere, Historic Films entered into an exclusive agreement with iStreamTV to encode portions of Historic Films' library for streaming on the Internet. "With the tremendous growth in the streaming media market, and the extremely clear video, we are now able to make for both modem and broadband delivery." Istream's executive VP Joe Tripician.

David Bowie has been aware of the Internet and its possibilities for a while. He showed his approbation of streaming technologies when he held a special show at NYC's Roseland Ballroom in June for members of his online community BowieNet (www.davidbowie.com) demonstrating Beatnik (www.beatnik.com) and its music technology that enables artists and fans to collaborate with realtime, on-line mixing. All of this is an indication of the technology that is waiting to be adopted. Whatever direction this takes us in it is certain that digital video and filmmaking will be essential in shaping the media content of the future.