Update on progress towards BigBlueButton 0.8-beta
Fred Dixon
BigBlueButton 0.8 beta.
In short, were only a few weeks away from a beta test cycle, with
emphasis on ‘few’ and ‘weeks’ (not months).
At the moment, we’re working on finishing up the core development
(details below), doing internal testing, and fixing as many bugs as
possible that would prevent our community from giving BigBlueButton
0.8 beta a good shakedown.
While much of the effort for 0.8 has been in implementing new features
-- record and playback is the foremost -- we’ve also invested effort
in upgrading components, removing some unneeded ones, and refactoring
the code. This refactoring is an investment in the architecture of
BigBlueButton itself. We trying to avoid the scenario where, over
time, the project gets too large, too bloated, and too hard to
maintain. Fundamentally, if we can increase the capabilities of
BigBlueButton in an iteration while simplifying the code and UI, we
know we’re headed in the right direction.
** Record and Playback **
Implemented, merged into master, and now in internal testing. The
main effort was to (a) record individual media streams and events
(stored in a file called events.xml for each recording) and (b) ingest
and processing scripts to process the recorded content into one (or
more) playback formats.
Much of this was covered in
http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/RecordPlaybackSpecification
We’re currently finishing the implemetation of the API as described in
http://groups.google.com/group/bigbluebutton-dev/browse_thread/thread/c214cbe9bdb2268a#
and an API example to show how to use it. See
http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/issues/detail?id=961
** Pre-upload of slides **
Like record and playback, we are now in the process of writing API
examples (in JSP) to test the API works.
** Preflight checklist **
There needs a bit more work. We want to make the user interface as
easy as possible. We’ll be updating it during the beta test.
For the beta test, we’ll be releasing according to the following process
1. Setup a test server at test.bigbluebutton.org for testing record
and playback
We’ll watch the server closely for any problems and fix any show
stoppers for a public beta. When all looks good, move to step 2.
2. Make available BigBlueButton 0.8 as package install
We’ll watch the mailing list closely for any problems with setup of
BigBlueButton and fix any show stoppers. Once everything starts to
settle down, move to step 3.
3. Make available a BigBlueButton 0.8-beta VM
This will give us a wider level of testing. At this point we’ll be
making sure documentation is updated, closing off any remaining issues
tagged for 0.8
http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/issues/list?can=1&q=milestone=Release0.8
and getting ready for release. At this point, we’ll watch the mailing
lists closely to see when there are no more blocking issues.
4. Release BigBlueButton 0.8.
Details on the upcoming Beta
1. Support for echo cancellation
This may not make it into 0.8.
This is triggering us to switch from Flex 3.5 to Flex 4.5 compiler,
and there are lots of small changes that we need to test, and we’re
not sure we want to do a platform shift for 0.8.
We’ve also experimented internally with echo cancellation and found it
adds about a second delay to the audio.
2. Moving the build environment to maven
This may not make it into 0.8.
Lots of work done on this, but shifting your entire build system is
not done overnight. We have all the work in a branch, but spending a
few more weeks to get to a new build system is starting to look like
something we can do in 8.1.
3. API examples will be their own package
For BigBlueButon 0.8, API examples will move into their own package.
They will be accessible from
instead of
http://demo.bigbluebutton.org/bigbluebutton/demo/demo1.jsp
The package will be bbb-demo and will make it easier for us to
independently update the API demos and the bigbluebutton-web (bbb-web)
package.
4. Building on Master
Master is still not stable, but it’s getting close. As part of the
beta cycle we want to ensure others have the ability to build and test
on their development environment. Again, we’ll be updating the
instructions on how to do this.
5. Integration with Matterhorn
This was a very good project as it ensured we had the architecture
right to have multiple ingest and processing scripts on a
BigBlueButton server.
http://opencast.jira.com/wiki/display/MH/Personal+Lecture+Capture+with+Big+Blue+Button
The Matterhorn scripts will be in their own package
(bbb-playback-matterhron) that can be installed on a BigBlueButton 0.8
server. We’ll be providing instructions on how to setup and integrate
BigBlueButton with Matterhorn as part of the beta.
In short, BigBlueButton will provide two forms of lecture capture.
- slides and audio served from bigbluebutton server
- audio, video, and desktop served from the Matterhorn server
6. Packaging for BigBlueButton 0.8 may be install only (not upgrades)
There are a lot of underlying changes with BigBlueButton 0.8. At the
moment, we’re focused on making sure the packaging can install
BigBlueButton 0.8 on a new server. There’s more work left to
determine if it’s possible to automatically upgrade 0.71a installation
to 0.8.
7. Underlying changes
Here’s a quick summary of some of the underlying changes that is
occurring in BigBlueButton 0.8.
New components
- The ingest and processing scripts are in ruby
- The messaging between bbb-web and bbb-apps is now handled by redis
- Update red5 to a snapshot of Red5 trunk (RC1) to get proper
recordings of video
- Update FreeSWITCH to a snapshot of trunk (1.0.7) to get the needed
API events for recording
Packaging
- Package our own version of redis (2.2.4) and FreeSWITCH (1.0.7) as
neither were available as default packages in Ubuntu 10.04
Regards,... Fred
http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/FAQ#BigBlueButton_Committer
Hà Quang Tấn
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Nico
We tested the demo server: http://m4.blindsidenetworks.com/Welcome.html
and the audio delay is almost gone. We connected with people within
Spain and then with people in Brazil and the result was very positive.
Do you reckon this audio improvement will be included in version 0.8?
Regards,
Nico.
> and an API example to show how to use it. See
>
> http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/issues/detail?id=961
>
> ** Pre-upload of slides **
>
> Like record and playback, we are now in the process of writing API
> examples (in JSP) to test the API works.
>
> ** Preflight checklist **
>
> There needs a bit more work. We want to make the user interface as
> easy as possible. We’ll be updating it during the beta test.
>
> For the beta test, we’ll be releasing according to the following process
>
> 1. Setup a test server at test.bigbluebutton.org for testing record
> and playback
>
> We’ll watch the server closely for any problems and fix any show
> stoppers for a public beta. When all looks good, move to step 2.
>
> 2. Make available BigBlueButton 0.8 as package install
>
> We’ll watch the mailing list closely for any problems with setup of
> BigBlueButton and fix any show stoppers. Once everything starts to
> settle down, move to step 3.
>
> 3. Make available a BigBlueButton 0.8-beta VM
>
> This will give us a wider level of testing. At this point we’ll be
> making sure documentation is updated, closing off any remaining issues
> tagged for 0.8
>
HostBBB.com
testing .80, have a bunch of customers that are willing to help test.
Question on record and playback architecture... If the freeswitch
server is located on a standalone server, will record and playback
still work in 8.0?
I have BBB running now for a couple of customers with 2 dedicated
servers.. One exclusively for Freeswitch the other for the rest of
BBB, When located in the same EC2 region, and availability zone it
works great.
Seperating them was fairly easy, just needed go open ESL ports, and
modify a few lines in sip.properties.
I was going to try and install red5 on the freeswitch server and try
to get just the red5 phone module running on same server as freeswitch
to get all audio processing on one server, But not sure if the there
are shared objects needed from the main server that need to be synced
to make this happen, and if this would break the record and playback
cababilities.
Any insight on this would be great.
Regards.
Stephen.
hostbbb.com
Fred Dixon
coming in 0.8.
Regards,... Fred
--
http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/FAQ#BigBlueButton_Committer
Fred Dixon
> server is located on a standalone server, will record and playback
> still work in 8.0?
By designed, the install scripts for BigBlueButton 0.8 installs
everything in a single server. Unlike BigBlueButton 0.71a, there is
more tight coupling between the components.
FreeSWITCH is now responsible for capture of audio, and the audio
files get written to a specific directory. When the meeting ends and
the ingest and process scripts are run by /etc/init.d/bbb-record-core,
these scripts look for the captured audio files in a specific
directory.
The scripts are very modular. For example, the scripts to create the
simple playback format (slides + audio) start with processing the raw
data. Here's the source:
After processing is complete, /etc/init.d/bbb-record-core runs another
script is run to publish the processed files for playback.
The modularity should let you modify, update, or replace the logic of
the scripts to account for whatever setup you create.
Richard Alam
On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 9:16 PM, Fred Dixon <ffd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Question on record and playback architecture... If the freeswitch
>> server is located on a standalone server, will record and playback
>> still work in 8.0?
>
> By designed, the install scripts for BigBlueButton 0.8 installs
> everything in a single server. Unlike BigBlueButton 0.71a, there is
> more tight coupling between the components.
>
> FreeSWITCH is now responsible for capture of audio, and the audio
> files get written to a specific directory. When the meeting ends and
> the ingest and process scripts are run by /etc/init.d/bbb-record-core,
> these scripts look for the captured audio files in a specific
> directory.
>
FreeSWITCH will record into /var/freeswitch/meetings. So if you create
this directory in
your FS server and mount it in the BBB server, then the
ingest/processing should work.
Richard
> The scripts are very modular. For example, the scripts to create the
> simple playback format (slides + audio) start with processing the raw
> data. Here's the source:
>
> https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/blob/master/record-and-playback/simple/scripts/process/simple.rb
>
> After processing is complete, /etc/init.d/bbb-record-core runs another
> script is run to publish the processed files for playback.
>
> https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/blob/master/record-and-playback/simple/scripts/publish/simple.rb
>
> The modularity should let you modify, update, or replace the logic of
> the scripts to account for whatever setup you create.
>
> Regards,... Fred
> --
> http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/FAQ#BigBlueButton_Committer
>
> --
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HostBBB.com
distribute .71a over a few more servers this weekend. Looks like
your design for .80 will allow for this work to continue with no
problems.
Going to move just the red5 phone module over to the freeswitch server
next, then look at the HA stuff done on 2600 to see how it works.
Suppposedly you can shut down a FS server, and have another one resume
everyones calls in 3-5 seconds!
I'll let you know how it goes.
regards,
Stephen
hostbbb.com
> >> Question on record and playback architecture... If the freeswitch
> >> server is located on a standalone server, will record and playback
> >> still work in 8.0?
>
> > By designed, the install scripts for BigBlueButton 0.8 installs
> > everything in a single server. Unlike BigBlueButton 0.71a, there is
> > more tight coupling between the components.
>
> > FreeSWITCH is now responsible for capture of audio, and the audio
> > files get written to a specific directory. When the meeting ends and
> > the ingest and process scripts are run by /etc/init.d/bbb-record-core,
> > these scripts look for the captured audio files in a specific
> > directory.
>
> FreeSWITCH will record into /var/freeswitch/meetings. So if you create
> this directory in
> your FS server and mount it in the BBB server, then the
> ingest/processing should work.
>
> Richard
>
>
>
>
>
> > The scripts are very modular. For example, the scripts to create the
> > simple playback format (slides + audio) start with processing the raw
> > data. Here's the source:
>
> > After processing is complete, /etc/init.d/bbb-record-core runs another
> > script is run to publish the processed files for playback.
>
Martin Unger
sounds great!
Thanks for doing all this work :)
btw. the record and playback document is a little ambiguous about video
recording...is it included in 0.8 or only audio and slides?
Keep up the fantastic work.
Cheers
Martin
Am 13.07.2011 17:41, schrieb Fred Dixon:
> We want to give everyone an update on our progress towards releasing
> BigBlueButton 0.8 beta.
>
> In short, were only a few weeks away from a beta test cycle, with
> emphasis on �few� and �weeks� (not months).
>
> At the moment, we�re working on finishing up the core development
> (details below), doing internal testing, and fixing as many bugs as
> possible that would prevent our community from giving BigBlueButton
> 0.8 beta a good shakedown.
>
> While much of the effort for 0.8 has been in implementing new features
> -- record and playback is the foremost -- we�ve also invested effort
> in upgrading components, removing some unneeded ones, and refactoring
> the code. This refactoring is an investment in the architecture of
> BigBlueButton itself. We trying to avoid the scenario where, over
> time, the project gets too large, too bloated, and too hard to
> maintain. Fundamentally, if we can increase the capabilities of
> BigBlueButton in an iteration while simplifying the code and UI, we
> know we�re headed in the right direction.
>
> ** Record and Playback **
> Implemented, merged into master, and now in internal testing. The
> main effort was to (a) record individual media streams and events
> (stored in a file called events.xml for each recording) and (b) ingest
> and processing scripts to process the recorded content into one (or
> more) playback formats.
>
> Much of this was covered in
>
> http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/RecordPlaybackSpecification
>
> We�re currently finishing the implemetation of the API as described in
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/bigbluebutton-dev/browse_thread/thread/c214cbe9bdb2268a#
>
> and an API example to show how to use it. See
>
> http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/issues/detail?id=961
>
>
> ** Pre-upload of slides **
>
> Like record and playback, we are now in the process of writing API
> examples (in JSP) to test the API works.
>
> ** Preflight checklist **
>
> There needs a bit more work. We want to make the user interface as
> easy as possible. We�ll be updating it during the beta test.
>
>
> For the beta test, we�ll be releasing according to the following process
>
> 1. Setup a test server at test.bigbluebutton.org for testing record
> and playback
>
> We�ll watch the server closely for any problems and fix any show
> stoppers for a public beta. When all looks good, move to step 2.
>
> 2. Make available BigBlueButton 0.8 as package install
>
> We�ll watch the mailing list closely for any problems with setup of
> BigBlueButton and fix any show stoppers. Once everything starts to
> settle down, move to step 3.
>
> 3. Make available a BigBlueButton 0.8-beta VM
>
> This will give us a wider level of testing. At this point we�ll be
> making sure documentation is updated, closing off any remaining issues
> tagged for 0.8
>
> http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/issues/list?can=1&q=milestone=Release0.8
>
> and getting ready for release. At this point, we�ll watch the mailing
> lists closely to see when there are no more blocking issues.
>
> 4. Release BigBlueButton 0.8.
>
>
>
> Details on the upcoming Beta
>
>
> 1. Support for echo cancellation
>
> This may not make it into 0.8.
>
> This is triggering us to switch from Flex 3.5 to Flex 4.5 compiler,
> and there are lots of small changes that we need to test, and we�re
> not sure we want to do a platform shift for 0.8.
>
> We�ve also experimented internally with echo cancellation and found it
> adds about a second delay to the audio.
>
> 2. Moving the build environment to maven
>
> This may not make it into 0.8.
>
> Lots of work done on this, but shifting your entire build system is
> not done overnight. We have all the work in a branch, but spending a
> few more weeks to get to a new build system is starting to look like
> something we can do in 8.1.
>
> 3. API examples will be their own package
>
> For BigBlueButon 0.8, API examples will move into their own package.
> They will be accessible from
>
> http://server/demo/demo1.jsp
>
> instead of
>
> http://demo.bigbluebutton.org/bigbluebutton/demo/demo1.jsp
>
> The package will be bbb-demo and will make it easier for us to
> independently update the API demos and the bigbluebutton-web (bbb-web)
> package.
>
> 4. Building on Master
>
> Master is still not stable, but it�s getting close. As part of the
> beta cycle we want to ensure others have the ability to build and test
> on their development environment. Again, we�ll be updating the
> instructions on how to do this.
>
> 5. Integration with Matterhorn
>
> This was a very good project as it ensured we had the architecture
> right to have multiple ingest and processing scripts on a
> BigBlueButton server.
>
> http://opencast.jira.com/wiki/display/MH/Personal+Lecture+Capture+with+Big+Blue+Button
>
> The Matterhorn scripts will be in their own package
> (bbb-playback-matterhron) that can be installed on a BigBlueButton 0.8
> server. We�ll be providing instructions on how to setup and integrate
> BigBlueButton with Matterhorn as part of the beta.
>
> In short, BigBlueButton will provide two forms of lecture capture.
>
> - slides and audio served from bigbluebutton server
> - audio, video, and desktop served from the Matterhorn server
>
> 6. Packaging for BigBlueButton 0.8 may be install only (not upgrades)
>
> There are a lot of underlying changes with BigBlueButton 0.8. At the
> moment, we�re focused on making sure the packaging can install
> BigBlueButton 0.8 on a new server. There�s more work left to
> determine if it�s possible to automatically upgrade 0.71a installation
> to 0.8.
>
>
> 7. Underlying changes
>
> Here�s a quick summary of some of the underlying changes that is
Fred Dixon
> recording...is it included in 0.8 or only audio and slides?
playback of slides + audio -- not a video playback. A video file for
a 2 hour lecture will be quite large, where as the comparable playback
of slides + audio (which in many cases achieves the same effect) is
much smaller.
The slides will be PNG images, and the audio will be a vorbis audio
file enclosed in an OGG container. Playback requires an HTML5 client
that can play a vorbis audio (such as Chrome and FireFox). The HTML5
playback will let you seek anywhere in the audio and keep the current
slide (PNG image) in sync. In this way, the playback files can be
easily served by any web server and streaming media server is needed.
When using Matterhorn, you can use BigBlueButton to capture the audio
+ desktop (creates an flv file) + webcam (creates a second flv file).
The ingest and processing scripts for Matterhorn will send this media
to a Matterhron server in a format for Matterhorn to process and
playback in their video client.
We know that many people want video playback of a recording, and you
can expect to see video playback in a future iteration. For
BigBlueButton 0.8, the bulk of the effort was to create the proper
architecture that would make it possible to create multiple playback
formats from a recorded lecture.
A beta of BigBlueButton 0.8 should be available soon. We look forward
to getting your feedback in it.
Regards,... Fred
--
http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/FAQ#BigB:q!lueButton_Committer
On Jul 14, 5:25 am, Martin Unger <un...@basisklasse.de> wrote:
> Hey Fred,
>
> sounds great!
>
> Thanks for doing all this work :)
>
> btw. the record and playback document is a little ambiguous about video
> recording...is it included in 0.8 or only audio and slides?
>
> Keep up the fantastic work.
>
> Cheers
> Martin
>
> Am 13.07.2011 17:41, schrieb Fred Dixon:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > We want to give everyone an update on our progress towards releasing
> > BigBlueButton 0.8 beta.
>
> > In short, were only a few weeks away from a beta test cycle, with
>
> > At the moment, we re working on finishing up the core development
> > possible that would prevent our community from giving BigBlueButton
> > 0.8 beta a good shakedown.
>
> > While much of the effort for 0.8 has been in implementing new features
> > the code. This refactoring is an investment in the architecture of
> > BigBlueButton itself. We trying to avoid the scenario where, over
> > time, the project gets too large, too bloated, and too hard to
> > maintain. Fundamentally, if we can increase the capabilities of
> > BigBlueButton in an iteration while simplifying the code and UI, we
> > ** Record and Playback **
> > Implemented, merged into master, and now in internal testing. The
> > main effort was to (a) record individual media streams and events
> > (stored in a file called events.xml for each recording) and (b) ingest
> > and processing scripts to process the recorded content into one (or
> > more) playback formats.
>
> > Much of this was covered in
>
> > http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/RecordPlaybackSpecification
>
>
> > http://groups.google.com/group/bigbluebutton-dev/browse_thread/thread...
> > and an API example to show how to use it. See
>
> > http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/issues/detail?id=961
>
> > ** Pre-upload of slides **
>
> > Like record and playback, we are now in the process of writing API
> > examples (in JSP) to test the API works.
>
> > ** Preflight checklist **
>
> > There needs a bit more work. We want to make the user interface as
>
> > For the beta test, we ll be releasing according to the following process
> > We ll watch the server closely for any problems and fix any show
>
> > 2. Make available BigBlueButton 0.8 as package install
>
> > settle down, move to step 3.
>
> > 3. Make available a BigBlueButton 0.8-beta VM
>
> > tagged for 0.8
>
>
> > and getting ready for release. At this point, we ll watch the mailing
>
> > 4. Release BigBlueButton 0.8.
>
> > Details on the upcoming Beta
>
> > 1. Support for echo cancellation
>
> > This may not make it into 0.8.
>
> > This is triggering us to switch from Flex 3.5 to Flex 4.5 compiler,
>
>
> > 2. Moving the build environment to maven
>
> > This may not make it into 0.8.
>
> > Lots of work done on this, but shifting your entire build system is
> > not done overnight. We have all the work in a branch, but spending a
> > few more weeks to get to a new build system is starting to look like
> > something we can do in 8.1.
>
> > 3. API examples will be their own package
>
> > For BigBlueButon 0.8, API examples will move into their own package.
> > They will be accessible from
>
> > http://server/demo/demo1.jsp
>
> > instead of
>
> > http://demo.bigbluebutton.org/bigbluebutton/demo/demo1.jsp
>
> > The package will be bbb-demo and will make it easier for us to
> > independently update the API demos and the bigbluebutton-web (bbb-web)
> > package.
>
> > 4. Building on Master
>
>
> > 5. Integration with Matterhorn
>
> > This was a very good project as it ensured we had the architecture
> > right to have multiple ingest and processing scripts on a
> > BigBlueButton server.
>
> > The Matterhorn scripts will be in their own package
> > (bbb-playback-matterhron) that can be installed on a BigBlueButton 0.8
>
> > In short, BigBlueButton will provide two forms of lecture capture.
>
> > - slides and audio served from bigbluebutton server
> > - audio, video, and desktop served from the Matterhorn server
>
> > 6. Packaging for BigBlueButton 0.8 may be install only (not upgrades)
>
> > There are a lot of underlying changes with BigBlueButton 0.8. At the
> > BigBlueButton 0.8 on a new server. There s more work left to
> > determine if it s possible to automatically upgrade 0.71a installation
>
> > 7. Underlying changes
>
Fred Dixon
I wrote
> In this way, the playback files can be easily served by any web server and streaming media server is needed.
but meant to say
In this way, the playback files can be easily served by any web server
and streaming media server is *not* needed.
Regards,... Fred
Andrew E
but will there be any changes in 0.8 that could break existing
implementations using the API to create and join meetings?
Really looking forward to the audio improvements in 0.8!
Andrew
Fred Dixon
All API changes are backwards compatible. In the recent post on
upcoming changes to the API for BigBlueButton 0.8
http://groups.google.com/group/bigbluebutton-dev/browse_thread/thread/c214cbe9bdb2268a#
We stated:
All the API changes and additions are backward compatible.
Applications using API version 0.7 calls will work unchanged on a
BigBlueButton 0.8 server.
Regards,... Fred
--
http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/FAQ#BigBlueButton_Committer
Andrew E
On Jul 14, 9:11 pm, Fred Dixon <ffdi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Andrew,
>
> All API changes are backwards compatible. In the recent post on
> upcoming changes to the API for BigBlueButton 0.8
>
> We stated:
>
> All the API changes and additions are backward compatible.
> Applications using API version 0.7 calls will work unchanged on a
> BigBlueButton 0.8 server.
>
> Regards,... Fred
>
> read more »