playing avi files directly from FTP server

[rigel]

does anybody know of a player capable of playing avi files directly from FTP servers, without downloading the whole file beforehand?
thanks in advance :)

[stef24]

i guess thats called streaming but you would need a very fast connection to feed all the frames to your player. dont think an adsl would be capable of that

[Vincent Vega]

the ftp server should allow you to do that in the first place.
and if it does then any player supporting streaming media should do.
for me WMP always worked for that just fine.
hows good old tallinn?

[Peter Cheat]

The FTP would have to be resumable to allow streaming. I dont think that avi's can be streamed, but someone can correct me if I am wrong. ASF/WMV can, RMV can, but I am not sure about any others.

Why not just download the whole thing and watch it?

[rigel]

Yes I can download the whole thing, but it would be just nicer to start watching immediately :)
I did some testing meanwhile and it seems that most programs just start to download the whole thing to [Temporary Internet Files]... that's probably the behaviour of the "File Source (URL)" DirectShow filter in case of AVI files.
After seeing that, I tried the VLC because it's not DirectShow based, and even has specific support for FTP...yay....
but doesn't work for me... I only get an error that it can't start a passive transfer mode :(
And yes.... I know that AVI files are not meant for streaming because they have an index block at the end of the file... but if the server supports resuming then as much as I understand it should be possible to download it beforehand.
As for speed - the server in question is my ISP-s server meant for file sharing, so I get the full 1 MBit/s from there - should be enough for most files :)

[eb]

VLCPlayer is very good for different tests on broadcasting over the net.
It is nice working on the LAN, so tvbroadcast is possible.
AS example when i am recording tv show on my computer the rest of my neighbours /from the same LAN can watch/play this file at the same time and even to use time slider to go back/forward up to the current transmited frames.
Ofcourse live tv broadcasting ,and playing avis with no need to load all file is possible and easy.

eb

[sheppaul]

I recommend this one.
Just try it.

First, download avi file to the local folder.
After some seconds, open it from this player.

http://210.181.96.45/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=59

If your ftp server supports http protocol, it's possible to play
avi or mpg files directly during transmission.
(yet has some bugs,...)