RealVideo Encoder 1.0 for Windows
Release Notes

Using RMTools

RMTools is a Windows 95 and Windows NT editing utility, Windows 3.1 is not supported. This utility enables you to perform three basic editing tasks:

• Edit the file properties
• Examine the contents of a file
• Edit the data of a file

Editing File Properties

RMTools allows you to edit the static information about the file: title, author, copyright, and comment; and the stream name and mime type for each individual stream. You can also enable or disable PerfectPlay or Selective Record. Editing the file properties does not affect the data.

To edit file properties of RealVideo files using RMTools:

1. From the RVEncode folder, double-click RMTools.exe (or you can double-click the icon if you create a Windows shortcut). The RealMedia Tools window appears. Notice the window is divided into two panes, the source file pane on top and the destination file pane on the bottom.

2. Select Open Source from the File menu. The Open File dialog box displays. Select the file you want to edit. The file properties information is displayed in the source file window. To sort by the stream attribute, click the column. You can also resize the columns by placing the cursor over the column border and then clicking-and-dragging.

3. Select File Properties from the Edit menu. The File Properties dialog box appears. The file name is displayed in the source box and in the destination box. New file names can be selected by clicking Browse and selecting a new file from the dialog box.

4. To save changes to the existing file, do not change the destination file name. To save the changes to a new file, click Browse to select or enter a different name in the destination box.

5. Type the new title name, author, copyright information, and any comment in the appropriate boxes. (You can also type a new title, author, copyright, or comment directly in the fields on the source and destination panes.)

6. The total number of streams is listed in the Stream Properties box. If you want to change the name or the mime type of one stream, select the stream to be changed by clicking the up or down arrow.

7. If you want to change the stream name, type the new name in the Stream Name box.

8. Changing the mime type is recommended for advanced users only. If you are certain you wish to change the mime type, type the new mime type in the Mime Type box. If you change the mime type, the following warning will appear after you have applied the changes.

9. RealPlayer users with low bandwidth modems can experience files encoded for a higher bandwidth by partially downloading audio data before beginning playback. If you want to allow this, check the PerfectPlay checkbox in the Flag box.

10. If you want to allow RealPlayer Plus users to save your clip to disk, check the Selective Record checkbox.

11. Click Apply. The changes are applied to the file and displayed in the source file pane of the RealMedia Tools window.

Examining the Contents of a RealVideo File

RMTools enables you to view the contents of an .rm file by dumping the contents to a text file. You can then edit or print the file as you would any other text file.

To examine the contents of a RealVideo file:

1. Select New Session from the File menu.

2. Open the Source file from the File menu. The file information is displayed in the source pane.

3. Select Dump from the File menu. The Dump As dialog box appears. The default name is the same as the source file name, with the extension changed to .txt. You may also select or enter another dump file name.

4. Click Save. You will be prompted to view the file now. Click Yes.

5. The following error message may appear. Click Yes. The Notepad or WordPad window displays the contents of the file.

6. You can view, edit, and print the file just as you would any other text file.

Editing RealVideo Data

RMTools allows simple editing of .rm files. You can put multiple clips in one file; you can shorten the length of a clip; and you can take a video stream from one file and add the audio stream from another file. When working with more than one file, streams of the same mime type must have the same encoding parameters if they are going to be pasted together.

To place two RealVideo clips in one file:

1. Select New Session from the File menu.

2. Select Open Source from the File menu. The Open File dialog box appears.

3. Select the file you want to edit. Click Open. The source file pane displays the stream number, the stream name, mime type, and the start and end times.

4. Select Copy from the Edit menu. The Copy dialog box appears.

5. In the Stream Number box, accept the default, All Streams.

6. Do not change the start and end times. Click Copy.

7. Select Paste from the Edit menu. The Paste dialog box appears.

8. Click Paste. The destination pane displays the stream number, source file, mime type, start time and end time.

9. Right-click the source pane. A shortcut menu appears. Click Open Source. Choose a second clip to be added at the end of the first clip. (Both clips must have the same encoding parameters.)

10. Click Open. The source pane displays the information from the new file while the destination pane displays the information from the streams that were previously pasted.

11. Select Copy from the Edit menu.

12. Accept the default, All Streams, and the start and end times. Click Apply.

13. Right-click the destination pane. A shortcut menu appears. Click Paste. The Paste dialog box appears. The previous end time displays as the new start time.

14. Click Paste. The second clip is listed below the first clip.

15. If the following warning displays, you must select a different clip or re-encode the clip so that the encoding parameters are the same.

16. Select Save As from the File menu. The Save As dialog box appears.

17. Type the new file name. Click Save.

18. Use RealPlayer to view the new file.

To put the video stream of one file with the audio stream of another:

1. Select New Session from the File menu.

2. Select Open Source from the File menu. The Open File dialog box appears.

3. Select the first file you want to edit. Click Open. The source file pane displays the information from the file.

4. Select Copy from the Edit menu. The Copy dialog box appears.

5. In the Stream Number box, select the stream that contains the video. Click Copy.

6. Select Paste from the Edit menu. The Paste dialog box appears.

7. Click Paste. The destination pane displays the information from the new file. Notice only the video stream has been pasted into the destination pane.

8. Right-click the source file pane. A shortcut menu appears. Click Open Source.

9. Choose a second file with the same encoding parameters as the first clip, and of approximately the same duration. Click Open. The source pane displays the information from the file.

10. Right-click the source pane. A shortcut menu appears. Click Copy. The Copy dialog box appears.

11. In the Stream Number box, select the stream that contains the audio.

12. Do not change the start and end times. Click Copy.

13. Right-click the destination pane. A shortcut menu appears. Click Paste. The Paste dialog box appears.

    Click Paste. The audio stream is listed below the video stream. Notice both streams have the same start time, and should have similar end times.
    

14. Select Save As from the File menu. The Save As dialog box appears.

15. Type the new file name. Click Save.

16. Use RealPlayer to view the new file.

Command Line Editing of RealVideo Files

The RealVideo file editing tools, RMCut, RMPaste, RMEdit, and RMDump are run from a UNIX or DOS command line. The RMCut tool is used to cut a specific portion of a RealVideo file without changing the original source. The RMPaste tool is used to combine two or more RealVideo files. The RMEdit tool is used to modify the title, author, copyright, comment, mime type, or stream name. It can also be used to print the current values for the file or stream. The RMDump tool is used to examine the contents of a RealVideo file.

Editing RealVideo Files

RMEdit has five separate forms. The first form modifies any or all of the title, author, copyright, and comment for the file.

rmedit -i <input> -o <output> [-t <title>]

[-a <author>] [-c <copyright>] [-C <comment>]


The second form modifies any or all of mime type and stream name for the selected stream.

rmedit -i <input> -o <output> (-S <stream number> [-m <mimetype>] [-s <stream name>])


The third form prints out the current values for the file and for each stream that RMEdit is capable of modifying.

rmedit -i <input>

The fourth form sets or clears Perfect Play mode and Selective Record.

rmedit -i <input> -o <output> [-r [ON|OFF]] [-p [ON|OFF]]

The fifth form prints the RMDump version and copyright notice.

rmedit -v

where:

<input> is the path and file name to the input file.

<output> is the path to the output file that contains the edited file.

<title> is the title text.

<author> is the author text.

<copyright> is the copyright text.

<comment> is the comment text.

<stream number> is the stream number for the following two parameters. (May be repeated for any number of streams.)

<mimetype> is the mimetype for a specified stream.

<stream name> is the stream name for a specified stream.

-v prints the RMDump version and copyright notice.

-p is the perfect play mode.

-r is the set/clears selective record.

Note Only valid mime types (those accepted by the player) should be entered in the mime type field.

Note Input and output file names must not be the same.

The following examples demonstrate the use of the RMEdit tool:

1. To create a new file modifying the title, enter:

   rmedit -ioriginal.rm -onewfile.rm -t"My New Title"

2. To change the stream name of stream 1, enter:

   rmedit -ioriginal.rm -onewfile.rm -S1 \-s"New Stream Name"

3. To display the current contents of the file, enter:

   rmedit -ioriginal.rm

Note Long file names are acceptable, but file names containing spaces must be contained in quotes.

Cutting RealVideo Files

Use the RMCut tool to cut a specific portion of a RealVideo file without modifying the original source. A cut is made by setting the start and end times for individual streams. Not entering a start time defaults to the beginning of the file and likewise, not entering an end time defaults to the end of the file. RMCut can be used without RMPaste to remove the front or end of a file.

To create a copy of a piece of a RealVideo file:

1. View your original RealVideo file to determine the start and end times of the segment you want to copy (you can read the times on the status bar of RealPlayer).

2. Create a copy by typing:

   rmcut -i <input> ([-S <stream>] [-s <start>] \

   [-e <end>]) -o <output> -v

   where:

   <input> is the path to the input file

   <stream> is the stream number. If not specified, all streams are used. It can be repeated to grab one or more streams.

   <start> is the start time in Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds.Milliseconds format. If missing, this parameter defaults to the beginning of the file.

   <end> is the end time in Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds.Milliseconds format. If missing, this parameter defaults to the end of the start+input length. (Multiple start end sequences can be used to cut discontinuous portions of the stream.)

   <output> is the path to the output file that contains the edited file.

   -v is the print version and copyright notice

Note An image map stream's start and end times must go from the beginning to the end of the file. Use RMCut to strip out the image map before working with the RealVideo file. Then, to alter and re-merge the image map file with the video image, refer to "Image Maps".

The following examples demonstrate the use of the RMCut tool.

1. To create a new file with only stream zero, enter:

   rmcut -i source.rm -o cutfile.rm -S0

2. To create a new file with the first 30 seconds of stream 0:

   rmcut -i source.rm -o cutfile.rm -s0.0 -e30.0

3. To create a new file with the first 30 second of stream 0 and with the first 45 seconds of stream 1, enter:

   rmcut -i source.rm -o cutfile.rm \

   -S0 -s0.0 -S1 -s0.0 -e45.0

Examining the Contents of RealVideo Files

RMDump is used to examine the contents of a RealVideo file. RMDump accepts two input parameters: the input file and the output file.

To use RMDump, type:

rmdump -i <infile> -o <outfile>
rmdump -v

Where:

<infile> is the input .rm extension file
<outfile> is the output text file (use a text editor to view)
<-v> prints the RMDump version and copyright notice.

An example of how to run RMDump is shown below:

Example

>rmdump -i input.rm -o out.txt
dumping input.rm to out.txt . . .
dumping realmedia headers . . .
dumping stream packets
dumping stream 0 . . .
dumping stream 1 . . .
done
! Elapsed time = 556 milliseconds

The next step is to use an editor like Notepad on Windows NT/95, or vi on UNIX to examine the contents of the RMDump.

RealMedia File: input.rm
================
RM_HEADER_OBJECT
... deleted to save space ...
====================
RM_PROPERTIES_OBJECT
... deleted to save space ...
====================
RM_CONTENT_OBJECT
... deleted to save space ...
==========================
RM_MEDIA_PROPERTIES_OBJECT
object_id: 0x4D445052 (RPDM)
size: 155 bytes
object version: 0
stream_number: 0
max_bit_rate: 12062 bps
avg_bit_rate: 12062 bps
max_packet_size: 288 bytes
avg_packet_size: 288 bytes
start time: 0 milliseconds
preroll: 191 milliseconds
duration: 224898 milliseconds
stream_name: The Audio Stream
mime_type: audio/x-pn-realaudio
type_specific_length: 73
==========================
RM_MEDIA_PROPERTIES_OBJECT
object_id: 0x4D445052 (RPDM)
size: 116 bytes
object version: 0
stream_number: 1
max_bit_rate: 7000 bps
avg_bit_rate: 7000 bps
max_packet_size: 668 bytes
avg_packet_size: 564 bytes
start time: 0 milliseconds
preroll: 3474 milliseconds
duration: 228000 milliseconds
stream_name: The Video Stream
mime_type: video/x-pn-realvideo
type_specific_length: 34
====================
RM_DATA_OBJECT
... deleted to save space ...
==========================
Seek Time: 1 with reqtime = 0 and actualtime = 0
packet 0: stream 0 timestamp 0 size: 288 keyframe
packet 1: stream 1 timestamp 0 size: 639 keyframe
packet 2: stream 1 timestamp 0 size: 619 keyframe
packet 3: stream 1 timestamp 0 size: 599 keyframe
packet 4: stream 1 timestamp 0 size: 544 keyframe
packet 5: stream 1 timestamp 0 size: 639 keyframe
packet 6: stream 0 timestamp 192 size: 288 keyframe
packet 7: stream 0 timestamp 384 size: 288 keyframe
packet 8: stream 0 timestamp 575 size: 288 keyframe
packet 9: stream 0 timestamp 767 size: 288 keyframe
packet 10: stream 0 timestamp 958 size: 288 keyframe
packet 11: stream 0 timestamp 1150 size: 288 keyframe
packet 12: stream 0 timestamp 1341 size: 288 keyframe
packet 13: stream 0 timestamp 1533 size: 288 keyframe
packet 14: stream 0 timestamp 1724 size: 288 keyframe
packet 15: stream 0 timestamp 1916 size: 288 keyframe
packet 16: stream 0 timestamp 2108 size: 288 keyframe
packet 17: stream 0 timestamp 2299 size: 288 keyframe
packet 18: stream 0 timestamp 2491 size: 288 keyframe

The RM_MEDIA_PROPERTIES_OBJECT sections describe the stream type and stream number for each stream.

- The keyframe field is used to identify the start of a series of related packets.

- Keyframes are sometimes too large to form a single packet. In this case multiple keyframes will be seen with the same timestamps.

- Some codecs produce packets with the keyframe flag always set. And others produce a mixture of keyframe and non keyframe packets.

- Packet sizes can be identical in size or vary in size within a single stream.

- The RM_MEDIA_PROPERTIES_OBJECT sections contain attributes of each stream which include:

1. The stream number.

2. The stream type.

3. The total stream type (audio or video).

4. The total duration of the stream in milliseconds.

5. The preroll which describes how long to load buffers into the player before playing the stream.

Combining RealVideo Files

RMPaste assumes that streams on the input side are joined to streams on the output side based upon their mime types. Start and End times are specified to map the input file, which may contain one or more streams, to a new time range in the output file. Only one file can use default start and end times. Start and end times must not overlap. If streams overlap, packets from both streams are intermingled based upon timestamp.

rmpaste (-i <input> [-s <start>] [-e <end>]
[-f <from stream> -t <to stream>]) -o <output> -v

where:

<input> is the path to the input file. There can be one or more -i -s -e parameters sequences.
<start> is the start time in Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds.Milliseconds format. If missing this parameter defaults to the beginning of the file.
<end> is the end time in Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds.Milliseconds format. If missing this parameter defaults to start+input length.
<output> is the path to the output file that contains the edited file.
<from stream> is the input stream number to be sent to the to stream.
<to stream> is the output stream number.
-v is the print version and copyright notice.

Note RMPaste can paste in additional streams and add to existing streams. When streams are pasted together, the timestamps must not overlap.

Note If multiple streams are in the input file and the timestamps of the streams do not start at the same time, the start time applies to the earliest stream in the file. The start time plus the difference between the streams first packet is used for the remaining streams. See first example.

The following examples demonstrate the use of the RMPaste tool:

1. If you cut three streams from a source file using:

   rmcut -i source.rm -o cutfile1.rm \

   -S0 -s10.0 -S1 -s20.0 -S2 -s30.0

   resulting in an output file like:

   	Times
   Stream0:	0.3	1.1	....
   Stream1:	10.4	12.4	....
   Stream2:	22.0	32.0	....

   and mapped it using:

   rmpaste -i cutfile1.rm -s5.0 \

   -i cutfile2.rm -e5.0 \

   -o paste.rm

   the new stream times for cutfile1.rm would be:

   	Times
   Stream0:	5.3	6.1	....
   Stream1:	15.4	17.4	....
   Stream2:	27.0	37.0	....

   with cutfile2.rm placed from the beginning of the file to 5 seconds into the file. (packets not shown)

2. To create a new file using the first 60 seconds of the source.rm file swapping the first 45 seconds with the next 15 seconds in the file enter:

   rmcut -i source.rm -o cutfile1.rm -s0.0 -e45.0
rmcut -i source.rm -o cutfile2.rm -s45.0 -e60.0
rmpaste -onewfile.rm -icutfile2.rm -s0.0 -e15.0\ -icutfile1.rm -s15.0 -e60.0

3. To add a new stream to an existing file:

   rmpaste -ioriginal.rm -inewstream.rm -onewfile.rm

Continue to Creating Image Maps

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