I'm a newbie working with a Sony Anycast AWS-G500. I want to send raw video out to a video encoder (e.g., Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder 3). Will the iLink output connector on the Anycast work for this purpose?

yup, you have to assign one of the dv inputs on the cards as an output. Then a laptop or dv deck can capture the dv stream as if it was a camera. Works well.

Kinda off topic, but it might be relevant....

We use our Sony PMW-EX3 camera with a 4-pin iLink output to broadcast HD (16:9) video/audio to the web. Telestream Wirecast (software) and Justin.tv (free web host) is how we make it work. Great quality! Just make sure the remote viewers have enough bandwidth to view the stream. (don't ask how I know)

Right now on the Sony Anycast, we use the onboard Real encoder. I have it set for 64K output stream because anymore than that and the Real Player SD (free player client) won't play it saying there isn't enough bandwidth (even on broadband cable home networks). I find that very odd. I'm thinking I need to find a way to use the higher streaming rates available on the Anycast. I've been told I should capture the raw video and encode it using a more universal format such as flash (hence the question I posted earlier on this thread) and send it to a streaming hosting service. Assuming I do this, will I be able to up my Anycast output streaming rate? Will that give my viewing customers a better video picture?

yes, once you get the stream into your laptop you can encode it whatever way you want. I consider real to to obsolete and flash is decent quality for the bit rate you get. The trickiest part is getting a compromise between bitrate and quality. Don't forget an easy way to save bandwidth is to use mono audio if suitable. No use sending stereo and therefore using double the bandwidth for audio if it's not required.

Out of curiousity do either of you have a decent server for distributing flash video streams?
M.