14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has released the first Beta of the Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming Format SDK 1.0. The software development kit is designed to enable applications to multiplex (mux) encoded video and audio elementary streams into Smooth Streaming fragmented-MP4 format. The resulting format would be compliant with the Smooth Streaming Format and Protected Interoperable File Format (PIFF) specifications, Microsoft revealed.
“The IIS Smooth Streaming Format SDK includes a native C++ static library that can be linked into your applications to support the muxing of fragmented-MP4 into files or sent live via HTTP POST to a server running Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 and IIS Media Services 3.0,” John Deutscher, Sr. program manager for Microsoft IIS Media team at Microsoft, revealed.
According to Deutscher, the release of the IIS Smooth Streaming Format SDK comes to streamline the development of apps containing content that can be served to end users in various scenarios including video-on-demand and live streaming. Developers will also be able to leverage this specific SDK in order to encrypt content via standard AES encryption. Microsoft explained that AES encryption was a requirement of the PIFF specification, but the IIS Smooth Streaming Format SDK only came with support for the PlayReady specific protection headers.
“The components of the SDK include: a static-linked packaging library ssfsdk.lib, along with appropriate header files, that delivers f-MP4 wrapping capability to an application for use with the following video and audio codec combinations: closed GOP encoded VC-1 with Elementary Stream Sequence Headers and WMA Pro, or WMA audio; and H.264 (avc1) and AAC-LC audio. Sample source code for a basic on-demand muxing application,” Deutscher added.
It is important to underline that the SDK does not permit devs to do video and audio encoding. Microsoft recommends that devs turn to specific VC-1 and H.264 encoding solutions. At the same time, Beta 1 of IIS Smooth Streaming Format SDK can be considered a developer release. In this regard, the SDK can be used to test Smooth Streaming encoding implementations, but Microsoft hasn’t provided a go-live license.
Developers that will want to use the IIS Smooth Streaming Format SDK in production will have to do so starting with the Beta 2 release. Microsoft has already made public a list of features planned for Beta 2, including “subsample encryption support for encrypting H.264 content in compliance with PIFF 1.1, multi-language audio muxing, text tracks, sparse streams, and a sample for live streaming.”
Deutscher enumerated “the key features of this Beta 1 release of the Smooth Streaming Format SDK:
“- Support for Protected Interoperable File Format (PIFF) compliant fragmented-MP4 file output. - Support for ISO Base Media (ISO/IEC 14496-12:2008) spec compliance. - Support for muxing live and on-demand content. - Support for appropriate header boxes and formatting required for live streaming using IIS Media Services. - Support for AES-CTR encryption of VC-1 encoded content for use with PlayReady licensing servers and Silverlight 3.0 or higher. - Support for writing out a compliant server manifest files. - Support for writing out a compliant client manifest files.”
IIS Smooth Streaming Format SDK - Beta 1 is available for download here.