*CU-SeeMe ON OTHER PLATFORMS IS THERE A PC VERSION OF CU-SeeMe? IS IT LIKE THE MAC VERSION? Released as of now: 1. New Mac version, BETA, with audio (Maven-derived, thanks to cvk). 2. PC version, BETA, pretty much equal to the Mac 0.60. 3. New Reflector that handles Stand-Alone Maven and several new ways of interconnecting between multiple reflectors. Coming soon: 1. Mac version with a Slide Window for large hi-rez still images. Q: IS THERE AN X based VERSION OF CU-SeeMe? A: At this date there is no x based version of CU-SeeMe. Q: I HEARD RUMORS THAT CU-SeeMe WOULD BE PORTED TO UNIX. CAN YOU GIVE ME A DEFINITIVE ANSWER? A: We don't have anyone working on it now. One problem with Unix, at this point, is that the frame-grabber boards are either expensive or slow (or both) compared to those for Mac's and PC's--hence the notion of a port to BSDI is attractive as a means to get access to fast inexpensive video boards. There are CU-SeeMe encoder and decoder routines for nv, but the packet headers are incompatible. We should have some interoperability worked out here by fall. *CU-SeeMe ON Mac AVs Q: I AM ABOUT TO BUY A QUADRA. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHICH AV Mac Quadras WILL WORK WITH CU-SeeMe AND WHICH WON'T? A: All of the Mac AVs and Quadras work with CU-SeeMe as far as we know. We ask that you ftp the ReadMe and pay special attention to the pointers about AVs i.e. setting the monitor colors to 256, using the correct vdig, powering down to reset the VideosSpigot etc. Follow the ReadMe and you should have excellent performance depending on the speed of your Internet connection. Q:IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH USING CU-SeeMe ON THE NEW POWER MAC AV MODELS? THE BROADCASTED IMAGE IS DARK. A: The problem is a difference in the VDIG components used for digitizing. The VDIG on the original AV machines did not support brightness/contrast adjustments directly, so some code was written to modify the image on the fly. With the new PowerMac AV models, support was added for controlling brightness and contrast directly through the VDIG. However, the current release of CU-SeeMe does not know this, and so it leaves the brightness and contrast set to their default values (which end up being low and muddy). The next release of CU-SeeMe should automatically detect whether or not brightness and contrast are directly supported, and work appropriately in either case. *EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT REFLECTORS Q: WHAT IS A REFLECTOR? A: A reflector is a Unix computer, running the reflector program, that allows multiparty conferencing with CU-SeeMe. The CU-SeeMe Reflector was constructed out of necessity, there being no support in the Macintosh TCP/IP facilities for multicast. You need to use a CU-SeeMe reflector to have a multiparty conference using CU-SeeMe software on the Internet. CU-SeeMe reflectors provide the ability to send multicast but not to receive. Without reflectors only point-to-point connections connecting two CU-SeeMe users are possible at this time. Please Note: The CU-SeeMe reflector program is a Unix program which we have tested only on Sun Sparc workstations and on RS-6000 without Multicast (others have run on SGI and DECstation). If you are not familiar with IP networks, reflectors and/or your particular network set up, ask your system administrator for help in operating a CU-SeeMe reflector. Q: CAN I HAVE A MULTIPARTY CONFERENCE IF I DON'T HAVE A UNIX COMPUTER TO MAKE MY OWN REFLECTOR? A: Yes. But you have to use a public reflector (someone else's reflector). "PUBLIC" REFLECTORS If you are just starting to use CU-SeeMe and are not able to set up your own reflector, a number of reflector sites have announced that they accept connections for CU-SeeMe demos and testing. These reflectors are not really "public" but are private facilities operated by organizations for their own use and generously offered to the public as reflector test sites. Organization Reflector IP# Contact person email address NYSERNET 192.77.173.2 Jean Armour Polly jpolly@nysernet.org CORNELL 192.35.82.96 Dick Cogger r.cogger@cornell.edu PENN 130.91.72.36 Dan Updegrove updegrove@dccs.upenn.edu CNIDR 128.109.178.103 Jane Dunlap Smith jds@kudzu.cnidr.org QMS 161.33.3.1 James Hill jamesh@qms.com GTE 132.197.10.74 Alan R. Bugos abugos@gte.com U ofM Med 141.214.20.107 Mike Lee squids@med.umich.edu *Norway 158.36.33.3 Barre Ludvigsen borrel@dhhalden.no *Israel 132.76.64.143 MortonTaragin vsmorty@weizmann.weizmann.ac.il *There have been questions about a reflector in Europe and we do often have people logged in during European daytime. While there might be outages during holidays (like Easter), our aim is to keep the reflector going on a permanent basis as a service for users in Europe and as an effort to alleviate bandwidth load accross the Atlantic. When sending to these reflector (158.36.33.3 and 132.76.64.143) please keep the cap (Max. Kbps) to around 20. We only have a 256 K line and when traffic becomes heavy it does tend to slow down. Q: WHAT IS GOOD REFLECTOR ETIQUETTE? A: In consideration for those who operate reflectors, please observe the following practices when connecting to someone else's reflector: 1. DO email the contact person for each reflector to clarify your use of the reflector and how you are planning to use the connection and for (approximately) how long. 2. DON'T stay connected for extended periods (hours) unless invited to do so. "Hanging out" is something to do on your own reflector. 3. DON'T leave a transmission going with a still image (or worse) with a message crawling. It uses bandwidth on the net and capacity on the reflector. 4. DON'T play a VCR tape. CU-SeeMe opens up ready access to LIVE video. Canned video typically uses more bandwidth as well as conveying *only* old information better transmitted in another medium. 5. In general, DON'T select high resolution (240x320), since you'll be sending a lot more data. If you want to fool with hi rez, keep it confined to your own facilities. 6. DON'T set your Maxkbps (cap) above 100 kbps. DON'T set change threshold below 20. Preferably just use the defaults. 7. DON'T send or let anyone send "inappropriate" pictures. Gradeschool kids connect to these reflectors frequently. This works the other way too: Kids need to know that adults hook to these reflectors-- Somebody's parent may be watching! 8. DON'T hang around on a reflector if you see folks trying to run an orgainzed conference. 9. DON'T stay connected using a real slow connection, like a modem, as you will be dragging down everyone's cap with your loss reports. Open just one window. Check the loss shown with the stats button. ********************************************************* A GENERAL CAUTION Currently CU-SeeMe conferences are open to viewing by anyone who connects with an active reflector. Anyone who Òhangs outÓ on an active reflector can see anyone who Òtunes inÓ to that reflector as reflector software repeats all streams of a conference to all receivers (who have particular windows open). PLEASE TREAT THE INTERNET KINDLY--keep b/w limits set down under 100kbps, or less if you share limited bandwidth with others. Many, many folks connected to the Internet can use CU-SeeMe with default settings and cause no problem to anyone else; but unfortunately, not everyone. If you don't know whether using CU-SeeMe will mess up the network for someone else, CHECK IT OUT first, please. ********************************************************** Q: WHAT WILL THE REFLECTOR DO? CAN I USE IT TO CONNECT TO MBONE CONFERENCES? IS THERE ANY DOCUMENTATION AVAILABLE VIA FTP? A: The old v9 CU-SeeMe reflector provided ONLY a ONE-WAY interface to the mbone for CU-SeeMe video streams generated on Mac's or PC's. ONLY a Mac or a PC is able to generate a CU-SeeMe video stream. ONLY nv is able to receive a CU-SeeMe video stream from the mbone. A. Mac ---------> Reflector ---------> Mbone---------> nv \<-----------/ // \ // \---------> nv // PC ------------>// \<-------------/ B. Mac/PC <===========> PC/Mac The diagrams above show all the possibilities (except that Mac's and PC's can also run as Receive-Only participants. Also, the reflector now works for Maven Audio participants, and it may work for VAT as well. Clearly, everyone would like to see the following: 1. Two way connectivity, via the reflector, nv-to-Mac/PC as well as Mac/PC-to-nv plus the same for VAT. 2. Mac/PC direct participation in the mbone. (With respect to the Mac,we're waiting for Apple to put mcast support into MacTCP. Latest schedule: Jan '95; beta's in Sept. '94. We may get there sooner for the PC.) 3. Multiparty conference between Mac's/PC's without using a reflector (or maybe reflector function in the Mac/PC). 4. Reflector able to work for "stuff" other than CU-SeeMe streams (now works for Maven with v20b2, maybe VAT). But for now, none of those exists. The first is in active development. The second and third are somewhat likely within a year, maybe a lot sooner. The fourth is actually beginning to get done. When the definition of RTP settles down, we may be able to expand the usefulness of the reflector. One area of recent progress is to allow a reflector to receive as well as send CU-SeeMe streams to the mbone *between reflectors* to provide for conferences with larger numbers of observers. Check out the readme with the v20b2 (or later) reflector. Q: I AM INTERESTED IN USING VIDEO ON THE NET INCLUDING SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION. I HEARD I NEED TO GET CONNECTED TO THE MBone*? WHAT SHOULD I DO? *Short for Multicast Backbone A: You do not need to be on the Mbone to use CU-SeeMe. Someday, CU-SeeMe may support use of the mbone, but for now (6/94), only the reflector is able to use the mbone, but it doesn't have to. The following is an extract from the mbone FAQ. The MBone is a virtual network that has been in existence since early 1992. It was named by Steve Casner of the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute and originated from an effort to multicast audio and video from meetings of the Internet Engineering Task Force. The MBone shares the same physical media as the Internet. It uses a network of routers (mrouters) that can support multicast. These mrouters are either upgraded commercial routers, or dedicated workstations running with modified kernels in parallel with standard routers. Given adequate network bandwidth, you next need a designated MBone network administrator. Working part-time, it typically takes one to three weeks for a network-knowledgeable person to establish MBone at a new site. Setup is not for the faint of heart, but all the tools are documented, and help is available from the MBone list. Expect to spend some time if you want to be an MBone user. It is time-consuming because learning and fixing are involved and because it is lots of fun! You should read the FAQ a few times, ensure thatsoftware tools and multicast-compatible kernels are available for your target workstations, and subscribe to the mail list in advance to enable you to ask questions and receive answers. *AUDIO AND CU-SeeMe CU-SeeMe has a new Mac version recently released as a beta with Maven (an audio application) integrated. Or, if your machine can handle it, you can run CU-SeeMe and Maven as separate applications. This requires significant (56kbps or better) bandwidth. Please don't ask why you have poor quality with a dial-up connection. You don't have enough bandwidth to do the job. See the following Q & A for more detail. Note:You might try addressing audio-specific questions to the the Maven discussion list. Subscription details follow: To subscribe to the Maven discussion list, send e-mail to: listserv@cnidr.org Leave the subject line blank, and in the body of the message type: subscribe maven Your Name Q: CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF I AM PUSHING THE LIMITS OF MY 14400 SLIP LINK OR IF THERE IS ANY FIX FOR USING MAVEN AND CU-SeeMe WITH A DIAL-UP CONNECTION? I SEEM TO BE ABLE TO HEAR SOUND BUT IT IS QUITE BROKEN. IS THERE A WAY TO GET BETTER SOUND? I COULD GO TO PPP, WOULD THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? A: Maven is pretty hopeless on a SLIP link according to Charley Kline, UIUC Network Architect cvk@uiuc.edu, the author of Maven. This question periodically comes up. Maven audio (so far) requires a minimum of 32K bits/sec. What is being sent is already quite highly compressed, so it's unlikely that any modem compression will help much. So, with 14,400 you're going to get less than half of the segments, and that won't be intelligible. At some time in the future, Charley Kline, may be able to get one of the more ferocious compression methods going and get down to 10Kbps or there-abouts. Of course, you'll probably need at least a pentium to run the encoding/decoding. See if your telco can provide ISDN or if you cable company can get you an ethernet simulation. If they can't now, depending where you live, they will in 2-10 years IMHO. Q: I HAVE A SLIP CONNECTION AT MY HOME AND MY SCHOOL HAS A T-1 LINE. WE TRIED TO TALK TO EACH OTHER UNSUCESSFULLY. I HAVE AN LC3 AND THE SCHOOL IS USING A QUADRA 950. IS THE MAC SOUND MANAGER REQUIRED FOR MAVEN ALREADY ON OUR MACHINES ? DO WE NEED IT? I HAVE SEARCHED THE NET ALL I FIND IS THE NAME AND A NOTE SAYING APPLE DOES NOT ALLOW SM TO BE ARCHIVED. A: See above regarding use of SLIP on a Modem. All Macintoshes running system 6.0.7 or later have some version of the Sound Manager; many, including the LC3 and Quadra 950, have Sound Manager 2.0, which is really too slow to do what Maven needs, which is why Maven ships with Sound Manager 3.0. Without Sound Manager 3.0 you'll get annoying clicking in the played out audio, and your Mac will run very, very slowly while you're receiving audio, but it should do SOMETHING. You should also use Sound Manager 3.0 for CU-SeeMe with audio included. *CAMERAS Q: ANYONE HAVE A SOURCE FOR A REASONABLY PRICED PAN-TILT MOTOR SYSTEM WITH AN RS232 INTERFACE FOR A SMALL VIDEO CAMERA? A: Canon recently came out with an integrated camera/mic/pan/tilt unit with an RS232 interface. It's called the VC-C1. You can get a spec sheet from Canon's automated fax server 516-328-5960.