Preston's Picks
By Preston Gralla
Not too long ago I finally got a cable modem - and the access it gives is so screamingly fast that I found myself searching out all the streaming video, animation, and audio that I could find. On the Internet, of course, nothing is simple, so I downloaded and installed dozens of plug-ins and helper applications before finding the best ones. I went through the pain so you won't have to: Here's the inside scoop on the best shareware and freeware for handling the most popular Internet multimedia content. But first, a word to the wise: Before using video, change your setting to more than 256 colors, because at only 256 colors video is pretty funky looking. Also, be forewarned that videos play in little boxes on your screen, and the quality isn't up to TV standards. Still, it's astonishing to be able to view sporting events, news clips, and music videos on your computer.

The most popular format on the Internet for streaming video is RealPlayer. This update to the RealAudio audio player lets you view streaming video as well as listen to music and RealAudio files. RealAudio videos abound on the Internet, from music and entertainment sites to business and news sites. Especially nice is the way that RealPlayer lets you rewind and jump forward, as you do with a VCR. The player itself includes lists of places that offer videos. Many sites create different videos of the same clip - some for higher-speed connections and other for lower-speed connections - so that you can play the clip that best suits your connection speed. The main drawbacks to RealPlayer are the ones that afflict most video on the Internet: The motion is sometimes jerky, the picture quality can be low, and the sound sometimes gets out of synch with the picture.

A lesser-known but higher-quality video player than RealPlayer is VDOLive Player. It delivers the best-quality video I've seen on the Internet - the images are relatively crisp (compared to other video formats), the voice rarely gets out of synch with the pictures, and the animations are smooth. There are only two problems with the player: Not many sites use it, and it doesn't let you rewind and fast-forward, as RealPlayer does. However, if you want to watch video on the sites that support it, such as New England Cable News (www.necn.com), you'll want to get a copy.

Another video format you might come across is XTreme's Web Theater. It's not as popular as RealPlayer, and its video quality isn't up to the standards of VDOLive. But some sites, notably CNN, use this video format, so if you want to watch videos there, check out this streaming video client.

There are many other video formats on the Web. One of the older and more popular ones is the MPEG standard. If you want to play MPEG files, download a copy of Hyper MPEG Player. It plays a variety of MPEG formats, and includes VCR-style controls that let you move forward or backward through a clip. Best of all, it's free.

NET TOOB Stream is worth a look as well. It plays a variety of video formats, including QuickTime for Windows (.mov), Video for Windows (.avi), and MPEG, and it also streams the video well. Additionally, it plays audio formats such as wave (.wav) and MIDI (.mid) files.

Videos aren't the only kind of streaming format on the Internet. You'll also want to see streaming animations. The most popular animation format on the Internet is Shockwave, and to view Shockwave animations, you'll need the Shockwave player. Not only will it let you see animations, but it's a requirement for playing many online games as well.

If you only care about sound files, get a copy of Maplay. It does a great job of playing .wav, .mid, and MPEG audio files, and it's free. A similar (and also free) program is MidiPlus, which features a CD-like interface and plays .mid and .wav files as well as video files in .avi format.

For a look at one of the more amazing music and audio players you'll ever come across, check out the Beatnik Plug-in. It plays files posted in Headspace's Rich Music Format (RMF). Unfortunately, relatively few Websites post RMF files, but the ones that do make remarkable use of them. The plug-in allows you to interact with the music; for example, you can change the tone and pitch, and select which instruments in the track should play and which should remain silent.

To listen to music over the Internet, check out TheDJ Player. It lets you select from a wide variety of music styles such as Indie, rock, and show tunes. You play the music over the Internet using an interface resembling a car radio console; if you find a CD you want to purchase, you can click through to a Website that lets you buy.

Finally, I'll recommend a file that has nothing to do with multimedia - but it's a free utility that anyone with Internet Explorer 4.0 might want. Microsoft PowerToys for IE4 juices up Explorer, just as the popular Windows 95 PowerToys helps you get more out of Windows 95. It lets you send selected text to search engines, zoom in and out of pictures, and do much more.

Go to ZDNet's Software Library for more!