Random Start Time
Is it possible to have a random start time on a video?
19 Community Answers
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
0
rated :
There is a variable called “start”, which can be set to any number of seconds. You wanted this to be a random #, you could make a JS variable that is random, and then use this variable as the “start” variable for the player.
http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player/jw-player-for-flash-v5/12536/configuration-options
start ( 0 )
Position in seconds where playback should start. This option works for HTTP Pseudostreaming, RTMP Streaming and the MP3 and YouTube files. It does not work for regular videos.
JW Player
User
0
rated :
Thanks it worked!
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
0
rated :
Np!
JW Player
User
0
rated :
I am struggling with the same feature, unfortunately all the solutions I see are for JW player 5 and do not seem to be working for me on 6.
bc.. jwplayer('player_1631').setup({
file: "http://localhost/vid/test1.mp4",
width: "480",
height: "360",
image: "http://localhost/vid/vidplaceholder.png",
start: "535",
});
Video loads fine and is progressively downloading (ie it starts playing before it finishes downloading) but I can't figure out how to get it to start at 535 seconds in? Bonus if you can ALSO tell me how to do the same thing when it is a youtube video.
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
1
rated :
You need to cut the videos server site, the start variable is removed in V6.
JW Player
User
0
rated :
Ouch! If I purchase v6 premium does that give me rights and support to the v5 equivalent to premium?
JW Player
User
0
rated :
What does the JW 6 startparam do if not this? I tried to research this via your documentation but you end up with 2 not very detailed pages (with no examples) that point at each other for more information.
http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player/28855/pseudo-streaming-in-flash
bc.. Startparam
The querystring parameter that must be used to *_load video from an offset_* differs per module and CDN. Therefore, it can be set in the JW Player using the startparam configuration parameter. By setting this configuration option, you enable pseudo-streaming in Flash, using the parameter name you inserted.
Here is an example setup block, using the starttime value the H264 streaming module defaults to:
<code>
jwplayer("myElement").setup({
file: "/uploads/example.mp4",
height: 360,
image: "/uploads/example.jpg",
startparam: "starttime",
width: 640
});
</code>
Then on the Embedding the Player page it just refers to the page above:
http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player/28839/embedding-the-player
bc.. *startparam*
Querystring parameter for seeking to not-yet-download portions of FLV or MP4 files in Flash mode. Not needed for HTML5 (where this works by default). See Pseudostreaming in Flash for more info.
I have many 4 hourish videos I would like to be viewable on IOS/Android and all major desktop browsers. I would prefer to be able to have hyperlinks to relevant keyframes within each video so that viewers can easily skip to the content they are interested in.
I may also be interested in moving all of this to a youtube channel that can be either accessed directly or viewed through the player embedded on my site.
It looks like with JW player 6 the playlist feature might work, but if it seems to me I should be able to do a playlist and while only using 1 file with different start times? So something along the lines of this:
bc.. jwplayer("myElement").setup({
playlist: [{
image: "http://localhost/vid/vidplaceholder.png",
sources: [
{ file: "http://localhost/vid/test1.mp4" }
],
title: "Commission Meeting Intro"
},{
image: "http://localhost/vid/vidplaceholder.png",
sources: [
{ file: "http://localhost/vid/test1.mp4?start=2535" }
],
title: "Commission Meeting Reconvene"
}]
});
Thanks, Eric
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
0
rated :
The start paramater was removed, so was duration.
startparam is still used for psuedo streaming, but you can’t use “start” to make the player begin at a specific time.
If you want to order V6, email us and we can send you V5, sure.
JW Player
User
0
rated :
So the proper v6 way for me to produce the effect I am looking for is to slice/re-encode the video into the segments I want to create "entry points for" then create a playlist for the 10-15 files that are the result?
Is there at least a plan to reintroduce the start parameter?
Does the existing "startparam" actually do anything other than serve as a flag to say "hey I am psuedo streaming"?
Thanks,
Eric
JW Player
User
0
rated :
Does seek using the javascript api work in JW Player v6?
http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player/28851/javascript-api-reference#seek
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
0
rated :
Seek does work with JW6. Start didn’t work consistently in both Flash / HTML5 modes in V5, hence it was removed, not sure if we are going to add it back. Startparam actually does something. Certain pseudo streaming modules use different start params, so you need the right one in order to make the player actually, in fact, psuedo stream.
JW Player
User
0
rated :
So using pseudo streaming I have seek moving the player control to the correct position and starting play. The time on the player bar then correctly begins incrementing from that position but the video itself looks to be starting from the beginning.
bc.. <div id='player_1631'></div>
<a rel="1027" class="video_bookmark" href="#1027">Start of meeting</a><br />
<a rel="7200" class="video_bookmark" href="#7200">2 hours in</a>
bc.. jwplayer('player_1631').setup({
file: "http://localhost/vid/longvid.mp4",
width: "480",
height: "360",
image: "http://localhost/vid/vidplaceholder.png",
startparam: "starttime",
});
$(".video_bookmark").click(function() {
var start_time = $(this).attr('rel');
jwplayer('player_1631').seek(start_time);
});
jwplayer('player_1631').onSeek( function(event){
jwplayer('player_1631').play(true);
});
Also prior to clicking 1 of the links to jump ahead I am able to click on the playback timeline to any downloaded section and it will start streaming w/o re-downloading. If I attempt this after clicking a link the player behaves as if no content has been downloaded yet and starts downloading from the point clicked.
And finally if I click past the downloaded section of a video on the player timeline (w/o ever clicking 1 of the javascript links) the control flashes then snaps back to the current play position and playback remains uninterupted as if I never tried to skip ahead at all.
JW Player
User
0
rated :
The above seems to work great in chrome and mostly okay in ie, all the issues I described above were with FF 17 (also tried FF with all firebug panels disabled and had the same results).
Thanks,
Eric
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
0
rated :
Do you have the pseudo streaming module installed on your server?
If so, what happens if you use this? – startparam: “start”,
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
0
rated :
It will work in Chrome/IE because it’s rending in HTML5 mode, and HTML5 <video> doesn’t need a special pseudo streaming module instead, but Flash does.
JW Player
User
0
rated :
I do have pseudo streaming installed and have tried both:
startparam: "starttime",
and:
startparam: "start",
still behaves the same, maybe I do not have the H264 steaming module installed properly (although I think I do).
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
0
rated :
Maybe apstart is what you need?
JW Player
User
0
rated :
I guess I didn't thoroughly RTFM, I had missed a step when installing the H264 Streaming Module (did not set IIS app-pool up to allow 32bit).
Thanks for your help. My purchase request for premium is working through the system at this very moment.
Thanks Again,
Eric
Ethan Feldman
JW Player Support Agent
0
rated :
Np
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