AVChat Software Product Blog

The latest build of AVChat 3, made available for download today, packs some awesome new features:

• Tool tips on most buttons in the UI.
• Better UI (you can now re size your cam and the users list, other cams are now floating on top of the text chat area,cam borders are drawn correctly, slightly skinnier interface with default padding set to 6px).
• YouTube videos now play (again) in the actual YouTube player.
• Added option in the UI to show join/leave messages in the text chat.
• Lots of small updates for the text chat (proper html encoding for html characters, better detection/highlight mechanism for links, in some cases text chat would go over YouTube videos/pictures previews).
• Some small changes to the upload mechanism in php to go around some wierd web server security settings we’ve met : “http” not allowed in GET variables, not even HTML encoded !!!
• Added a new video/audio quality profile for 768kbits/s streams .
• Ghost users should now be detected and disconnected in max 17 seconds on all 3 media servers.
• Changed the way the fps, free time, nr of viewers shows up in the cam areas.
• Clicking the [Add IT] buttn in the YT submit button now adds the video directly.
• Spaces in usernames are not replaced by _ anymore.
• New option in avc_settings.xxx to disable YouTube previews.
• Added memory usage display (off by default, you can turn it on from avc_settings.xxx)

and bug fixes:

• The info  about who is someone watching visible in admin.swf was not exact all the time.
• When cliking ACCEPT/DENY for someone’s request to your private stream some wierd text would fill up the text chat input box (bug introduced in build 609).
• Window padding value in style.css now actually works.
• Sorted out some sorting issues for the users list.
• When a  YT movie preview was shown in the chat the whole movie was downloaded even tough you weren’t watching it.
• private streams were not working on Wowza 2 (they were on Wowza 1.7)!

and some updates to security too:

• Added the possibility to add an ip range for the ips from where admin.swf is allowed to connect.
• Admins now see the ip of each user in the text chat, you can double click the ip to select it.
• The allow localhost connections option is now available for all 3 media servers: Wowza, FMIS, Red5.
• The Rooms List in admin.swf  now shows the ip of the creator of the room.
• Admin can now enter closed rooms.

How to get the new AVChat 3 release

You can obtain the latest AVChat 3 build by downloading the software again ( using the download link from the delivery/trial email) and:

• doing a clean install
  or
  
• overwrite all the old files including the FMIS/Red5 server side files and the translation files

Just like the title says, we now provide a native AVChat 3 Plugin for WordPress that handles the integration between the user management system in WordPress and AVChat 3.

Some of the Features:

• automatic username recoginition (AVChat 3 will automatically recognize the usernames of users logged in the WordPress web site )
• allows different permissions and settings for each user role directly from admin area
• it installs as any other WordPress plugin
• is compatible with SEO friendly URL’s in WordPress
• administrators can configure basic AVChat 3 settings (like the rtmp connectionstring) directly from the admin area

The price for the AVChat 3 Video Chat Plugin for WordPress is $49 and it’s available when you buy AVChat 3.

To buy it go to the purchase page and select one of the  AVChat 3 licenses + the WordPress plugin.

Visit the AVChat 3 Video Chat Plugin for WordPress page for more details and screenshots.

PS: We are also working on some other features for this plugin like a Who’s chatting module that will allow you to show on your WordPress website who is actively logged in the video chat. If you have other great ideas drop us a line at contact@avchat.net.

Changes:

• small changes to the source code
• added Red5 0.9 server side files, however audio recording in Red5 0.9 seems to be broken. None of the resulted .flv files played back properly in Flash Player or in deskop flv players. Running the flvcheck tool (shipped with FMIS) on any .flv file recorded using Red5 0.9 brings out the following error: Error -11 Found backward timestamp. However the latest Red 5 trunk version (rev 4047 right now) works properly.
• build 63

So, if you’re into audio recording with Red5, use Red5 0.8 or skip Red5 0.9 and use the trunk version.

How to get it:

• just download the software again using the link you got in the email from contact@avchat.net when purchasing it!

http://flvar.com/

Based on our customers suggestions we decided to improve the Drupal 6 Module for AVChat 3 . We reorganized it, we changed the way it works, and most important we added some cool new features:

• User profiles can now be accessed directly from the chat.
• The users list now shows the profile pictures (works only if “User Settings->Picture Support” is enabled from Administer)
• Settings for each user role. If one user is assigned to more user roles, then the module will take the best value (Example: A user is assigned to two roles: authenticated and gold member. Free Video Time for “authenticated” role is 1 hour and for “gold members” role is 2 hours. The module will allow the user to have 2 hours of Free Video Time)
• The possibility to choose in “Administer” between two modes of displaying the chat: Popup Window or Embedded in a web site page.
• New permissions added for users who have access to “Flash Video Chat Admin Area”.
• Clean Url friendly

What’s changed:

• Less cookies (no more than 3)
• It can be installed in /modules/ folder directly (it can still be installed in /sites/all/modules/)
• No more paths incompatibility: the paths to the swfs are now relative to $base_url
• Updated permissions page

All these goodies are available in the Drupal 6 Module from our latest build (603).

To get the new Drupal 6 module download it again from your client download page. The link should be in your delivery email.

New features:

• Wowza Media Server compatibility (more on that in a later post).
• We switched to the AS3 You Tube API, which means you can now see more than 1 video in the chat. The You Tube controls had to change tough to something simpler! .
• The color of the Top Status Bar is now the same with the color of the windows.
• The user’s avatar is now shown in the Top Status Bar and avatars now have rounded corners. The radius is controlled via style.css (cornerradius property from the windows class):
• Avatars now keep their aspect ratio.
• Admins now have the ability to close rooms ( users can not join closed rooms ):
  
• The Rooms List now shows separate column for # of users in the room, the description (when available) is shown in parenthesis.
• Major modifications to the AVChat 3 Module for Drupal 6 (more on that in a later post).
• Added a red glow around the tab containing the last received message.
• Added check box to disable auto scrolling ( this will allow proper viewing of pictures and videos in crowded rooms):
  
• Revised upload system:
  • editable filetype filters for security,useful variables are now sent to upload.xxx via GET (file size, file name, etc…)
  • upload system is now independent of the default uploadedFiles folder
  • you can modify upload.php to put the files anywhere on your web server).
• The admin interface (admin.swf) can now be fully limited to only the features of the user interface.
• Changed the color for the following text to red: USER requests permission to view your Webcam
• You can now control the width and height of the preview area for images (imagePreviewAreaWidthAndHeight in avc_settings.xxx)
• You can now translate the Loading Settings… message via the lstext flash var.
• Moved the Who Is Typing text box to the top so that it will not cover most recent messages
• added DOS protection to writeuserlist.xxx
• added functionality to make AVChat 3 work with a license key added to settings.asc

Bug fixes:

• several issues regarding the Community Builder integration inside the Joomla 1.5 Component
• added more missing texts to the language file
• issue with maxStreams limitation not working properly when autoStartOthersWebcams was on
• room names and text messages are now properly trimmed before they are created/sent.
• issues with rounded corners not scaling properly
• issue with the rooms-I-am-in counter not increasing when you were automatically dropped in a room

How to get the new AVChat 3 release

You can obtain the latest AVChat 3 build by downloading the software again ( using the download link from the delivery/trial email) and:

• doing a clean install
  OR
• overwrite all the old files including the FMIS/Red5 server side files and the translation files

Several intermediate builds were silently posted since the last major one so some of you already benefit from some of the above features.  We have some cool new features in development, hopefully we will get a new build out with some of them in the following weeks.

As we promised, the  AVChat 3 video chat module for phpFox 2 is ready. Besides compatibility with phpFox 2, this module is more powerful, easier to install and easier to use than the one we had for 1.6 .

Features in the phpFox 2 module:

• automatic user name, gender and profile picture integration
• independent permissions control for each user group (in admin control panel)
• user profiles integration
• automatic integration with the user and admin menus
• it installs as any other phpFox 2 module
• compatible with SEO friendly URL’s in phpFox

The price for the video chat module for phpFox 2 is $49 (includes the video chat module for phpFox 1.6 too) and its available when you buy AVChat 3.

To buy the AVChat 3 Video Chat Module for your phpFox 2 website go to the purchase page and select a AVChat 3 license + the phpFox module.

For more details and screenshots visit the AVChat 3 Video Chat Module for phpFox 2.0 page.

HDFVR embedded in a HTML page

Today we’ve rolled out the second build of our HD Flash Video Recorder. We have fixed the issues that were discovered by our first clients and also added some new features.

New features:

• added tool tips on buttons
• updated all video quality profiles to use 30fps by default
• added minimum recording duration setting
• added setting to enable/disable the snapshot taking feature (snapshotEnable in avc_settings.xxx, enabled by default)
• added setting to enable/disable the automatic deletion of UNSAVED flv’s (deleteUnsavedFlv in avc_settings.xxx, disabled by default)
• added option to add the userId to the file name (useUserId in avc_settings.xxx, false by default)
• added min:sec estimation of the time remaining until the entire video data streams to the media server
• added 2 new JS hooks to the API: onSaveJpgOk() and onSaveJpgFailed()

Fixed issues:

• when the automatic snapshot was taken the video recorder would freeze for half a second, this pause was also present in the resulting .flv files.
• the record button would sometimes start as disabled
• lots of other smaller fixes

We are launching today a new application, the HD Flash Video Recorder:

HDFVR allows you to record up to 720p HD video directly on your website from your users.

Some of the features:

• Record video up to 1280×720px @ 30fps (720p HD).
• Java Script and PHP/ASP API for seamless integration with your recording procedure.
• Design flexibility: you can change the colors and size to better fit your website.
• Works with all media servers: FMIS , Red5 and Wowza (our first Wowza compatible product).
• Takes jpeg snapshots automatically.

You can read all about the cool features here: http://hdfvr.com/features .

Demo

You can start the demo from the HDFVR home page:  http://hdfvr.com .

Pricing:

• $195 for the SD version (records video of up to 640×480 resolution)
• $245 for the HD version (records video of up to 1280×720 resolution)

You can purchase the HDFVR right now from http://hdfvr.com/buy-now .

Upgrades for previous customers

All our previous customers who have bought the video recorder will get a free upgrade to the SD version of our  HD Flash Video Recorder, just drop us an email at contact@avchat.net .

30 day trial

To get the trial email support@avchat.net with the domain on which you want to test the new recorder.

Future Plans

We hope you like the new video recorder. Some of the features (like the snapashot taking functionality) have been requested by our customers for a long time and we are happy to finally deliver them.

We’ve also tried to take the video recorder to the next step by allowing HD video to be recorded trough it. We’ve successfully recorded 720p video @ 30 fps using the Microsoft LifeCam Cinema HD, but more on that in a future post!

As of today this new app will replace our existing video recorder app.

The plans are now to extend the JS API even further, support for the new Speex audio codec introduced in Flash Player recently and improve the overall design/usability/experience of the app.

This is also our first product to be hosted on a new website/domain. In the following months we will move all our apps to their own websites. This will mean the existing and potential customer will get better, more customized information (requirements, FAQ’s , support info, purchase and refunds info, pricing,  source code availability) about the specific app.

Changes:

• added build number visible on right click
• the recording now starts when the user clicks [Accept] in the dialog box asking for permission to access the mic. Previously the recording would start when the user pressed the [Record] button but because of the need to accept access to the mic recording ended up  having empty space at the beginning
• added a new variable recorderId (that can be passed via flash vars ) which is passed back with every JS call. This allows you to use 2 or more audio recorders on the same HTML page. When you get a JS call now you know which of the 2 or more audio players issued the call!
• added specific server side files for Red5 0.7 and 0.8

How to get it:

• just download the software again using the link you got in the email from contact@avchat.net when purchasing it!

More info about the Flash Audio Recorder is available on the flash audio recorder area on our website.

We are pleased  to announce that we have finished work on 2 new integration kits for AVChat 3:

AVChat 3 Product  for vBulletin:

• automatic username and avatar picture detection
• administrators can edit access to video chat features and limitations for each usergroup
• administrators can enable/disable features from the AVChat 3 Admin Area for moderators and super moderators (kick, ban, etc…)
• fully allow/disallow access to the video chat for any usergroup
• profile links integration
• installs as any other vBulletin product/plugin

You can find more info about the AVChat 3 Product for vBulletin here. Currently only vBulletin 3.8 is supported but we are working on making it compatible with 4.0 . If you’re using older versions like 3.6 let us know.

AVChat 3 Module for Jamroom:

• automatic username and avatar picture detection
• different features and permissions for different quota (Guests, Members, Artists, etc…)
• profile links integration
• Jamroom administrators have access to the AVChat 3 admin area from where they can kick, ban, etc… .
• installs as any other Jamroom module

You can find more info about the AVChat 3 Module for Jamroom here.