This page is only up to mid-2007

For more up-to-date information, visit http://www.upstage.org.nz

Technical Details

UpStage uses Twisted and Python on the server side, and swf/Flash for the client. The client and server communicate over plain TCP sockets. More information is available to download:

• UpStage 2 user manual - draft as at March 2007 (PDF, 1.7MB);
• "Setting up an UpStage Linux server for Windows users", doocumentation from the AUT student project group, May 2006 (PDF 208 KB);
• "Performers Go Web", article by Patricia Jung published in the Linux Journal, April 2005 (PDF, 460 KB)

A mailing list for developers and those installing UpStage on their server is available via SourceForge - to subscribe, go to http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=97481.

Twisted and Python

Twisted is a framework suited to creating event driven network applications such as UpStage. It is written in Python, a language which encourages you to do things quickly and well.

The server will also make use of Gstreamer (for video), Ming (for swf processing), and Festival (for text-to-speech).

swf/Flash

Flash is a ubiquitous browser plugin for displaying files in the swf format. It offers sophisticated graphics and interaction but demands remarkably little bandwidth or fuss. If you don't know whether you have Flash installed, you probably do.

There are other swf players out there (eg: GPL Flash, Swfdev, Tubesock) but we aren't promising support for them yet.

Web cam software

To use web cams with UpStage, you will need web cam FTP software. We are still researching but at the moment we recommend Dorgem for PC users, Oculus for Mac users and WebcamD for Linux users.