Summary

In this chapter we presented emerging Internet multimedia recording and playback technologies.

The main requirements for a video conference recorder are the following: when recording, multiple media streams need to be archived, with the possibility of having stream synchronisation; the record mechanism should allow a selection of the streams to be specified; the retrieval of recorded material needs to be easy for users to access, either for direct playback to the user or for inclusion in another multicast multimedia conference; users need to see which conferences have been recorded and are online for access in order to select streams for playback; and the recording system must be fully equipped with large storage capabilities.

To meet those requirements, the followings objectives were set:

• the ability to record multicast conference data whose source may be any of the conferees;
• the ability to playback recorded material either directly to one user or into another multicast conference;
• to provide synchronisation between streams from each source;
• to allow users to create their own segments of recorded material, and create their own material for playback;
• to provide a single point of contact for recording and playback;
• to supply a large repository of archive space which is accessible to authorised network users who wish to record or playback multimedia data;