I have been discussing with David Smith and Gabe Della Fave the idea of
using RealVideo clips of various instruments for the purpose of setting
up a virtual MM museum. RealVideo has come a long way and with the new
Smart Stream technology and they are getting close to the frame rate we
would need to produce such a site.

The major problem with the technology is the frame rate and the
synchronization of the sound and the video for real-time video
streaming.  There is nothing more enjoyable than to SEE these wonderful
instruments as they play, but at the same time it would be very
frustrating (for me anyway) to have to watch a herky-jerky video.

One could  have a download only site but not many people would be
willing to sit around and wait for the download. I would love to add
to my Player Piano Restorations Illustrated site the virtual video
museum.

Another drawback would be the cost of the actual hardware and finding
folks who would agree to allow their instruments to be placed on the
web. I have over 6 hours of various instruments I have video collected
over the past few years and I would like to see them shared by way of
the Internet.

Another point of consideration is modem speed. I have a 56kflex modem
and at home the best connection is at 44,000 and at work only 24,000.
If there is to be consistent streaming of video we may have a year or
two to wait.

At this time RealVideo, AVI and MPEG formats have been studied, and in
my opinion the technology just is not there for the smooth streaming of
high frame rate video via the net. If you disagree and have a site that
is currently using a video streaming technology that could be used I'd
appreciate you passing the link along.

If any one has any other ideas about how to make the video museum work
I'd really be interested in hearing what you have to say about it.

Sam Harris - Greenville, North Carolina
sam@greenvillenc.com

Player Piano Restorations Illustrated
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/9374

 [ I'm intrigued with the idea of perusing this.  Eventually many
 [ people will have cable modems and speed will be less of an issue.
 [ In the meantime, perhaps we could publish a CD periodically
 [ with the virtual museum and perhaps selected portions or all
 [ of the MMD indexed Archives.  I somehow imagine the CD might
 [ be sent to any subscriber who'd made a donation in the
 [ last year  ;-)
 [
 [ I'd be interested to know how people feel about the prospect
 [ of such a "publication" ?     -- Jody
 [
 [ P.S.  Several people have already indicated an interest in
 [ participating as Website editors.  Once Robbie gets back I'll
 [ see about trying to coordinate a serious effort to upgrade
 [ the "museum" portion of the website.