Solutions for Live Webcasting and Live Video Streaming

Ok, so you want to stream a live music event? Or you want to webcast a corporate meeting, AGM or conference? But you’re not sure how? 

The smartest option is to call the pro’s in but if you’re intent on doing it on your own, we’ve put together a quick list of some of the different software and hardware video streaming solutions out there.

So if you’ve got the hardware side of things already sorted – a mac or PC with a Blackmagic Decklink card or an AJA card for example – then you’ll need some video streaming / webcasting software. 

Telestream Wirecast is a fairly solid ‘pro’ video streaming and webcasting solution and given that it’s from Telestream, you know you’re in good hands. With built in vison mixing it’s a one-stop solution. Just connect your cameras and go. Wirecast also supports lots of CDNs and streaming servers: uStream, Justin.tv, Livestream, Stickam.com, Sermon.net, Brightcove, Akamai, Limelight, BitGravity, and Wowza

they say…

"Wirecast software lets you produce professional-looking live events with just a camera, an internet connection and a computer. Stream or record live internet shows, broadcast breaking news or sporting events, stream live concerts, transmit church services, corporate meetings, lectures and much more"

Boinx is similar to Wirecast. Lot’s of graphics options and it integrates nicely with streaming services such as uStream, Justin.tv, and Livestream

they say…

"BoinxTV is like your personal TV truck without the truck. Combine live camera video, clips, photos, 3D graphics, lower thirds, audio and more to create a stunning recording or live video"

If you’re a bit more hands on and you have an external AV setup already in place, and all you need is the video streaming element, then QuickTime Broadcaster or Flash Media Encoder might be the way forward.

So what higher end ‘all-in-one’ portable live video streaming and webcasting solutions are there?

TriCaster from NewTek has made a stir over the last few years and their newest 850 series certainly looks the part on paper. Combined with the external vision mixer control panel and built in streaming, the TriCaster truly is a multi-camera one-box solution. And NewTek’s TriCaster’s offer one of the most affordable virtual set solutions on the market.

If you want real portability in your streaming box, Digital Rapid’s, TouchStream is an attractive unit. It kind of does what it says on the tin. Touch and stream…

Enough said.

The Niagara range of video streaming encoders from ViewCast offer a lot features and are an interesting alternative to Digital Rapid’s, TouchStream range.

If size matters, miniCASTER could be the answer. Not only is it ‘pocket-sized’, it also supports: LAN, WiFI, 3G and 4G and Satellite technology. Powerful little unit!

Before miniCASTER, LiveU were the first big streaming solution to open up the ‘uplink’ market. And the LiveU streaming units are as portable as it gets – yes you can wear it like a backpack! It works by bonding 3G/4G sim cards. It’s designed for news gathering etc. but could be great for streaming live video of music festivals or events.

So, it’s clear live video streaming and webcasting is here to stay! (Watch out telly…) But it can be a minefield. Not only do you have to get the technical aspect of the encoding nailed, there’s the crucial element of the back-end. Which CDN do I use? Do I want unicast or multicast streaming? Can I stream to iOS devices? What upload speed do I need? Can I stream into Facebook?

We offer a full end-to-end video streaming service to our clients and we approach any live video streaming, encoding and webcasting production with a broadcast sensibility. We use our years of broadcast skills, experience and equipment to offer a robustness and level of redundancy that your production needs. Please contact us to find out how we can help your next live video streaming or webcasting project.

info@trickboxtv.com  

0207 193 9722

New Broadcast Equipment Launched at IBC 2011

Well, IBC 2011 is almost over. Here’s some of the new notable products launched at IBC 2011 that we liked:

Panasonic:

The AV-HS400 vision mixer has been a widely accepted small form compact vision mixer. The AV-HS410 is the successor with some nice new additions including a clip video store and 3D capability. It comes as standard with 9 inputs and has option boards to increase this to 13 inputs. Look out for some interesting new options boards that may be released next year.

Blackmagic Design:

At NAB 2011, Blackmagic Design released their SmartView Duo monitors – two 8" 3U rackmount monitors. At IBC 2011, Blackmagic launched the Smartview HD monitor – a 17" full HD resolution 3G HD SDI rackmount monitor for an unbelievably low price. Almost too low to mention – £565. As much as we asked the nice Blackmagic man to let us unscrew it from the display wall at IBC to test the weight, he wouldn’t let us –  but this thing looks light – and it’s very thin. And as you’d expect from Blackmagic – it’s very aesthetically pleasing. If you rackmount it above or below the SmartDuo monitor, you’ll notice the frames around the screens marry up perfectly.

Blackmagic have also introduced some new rugged field mini converters – basically the same as they’re previous (and well loved) mini converters but built for a bit more rough and tumble in the field – which makes sense given that’s often where you’ll find those Blackmagic Design mini converters.

Other interesting new equipment from Blackmagic Design included the ATEM Studio Converter. Remember the ATEM Camera Converter that Blackmagic announced at NAB 2011, rather than having two of these for each of your cameras – one at the camera and one at ‘control’ area, the ATEM Studio Converter allows you to connect 4 ATEM Camera Converters – all in a 1U frame. They also have a loop function if you have more than 4 cameras.

Datavideo

Other new kit launched at IBC 2011 that caught our eye included some new hot head cameras from Datavideo (that look suspiciously like Sony’s BRC dome range of hot heads – but without the price tag) and a low cost waveform/vectorscope.

Atomos

Atomos were proudly showing their great Ninja and Samurai tapeless recorders plus the new Connect converter units – HDMI to HD SDI and HD SDI to HMDI. Not groundbreaking technology but they’re nice little units – that also include a test pattern signal and tone generator.

Haivision

We saw a good demo of Haivision’s Viper portable video streaming unit – think Digital Rapid’s TouchStream on steroids. It can stream two HD signals simultaneously – great for a camera plus a PowerPoint presentation or synchronous slides. Using Haivision’s patented InStream player, your client/the viewer can rearrange and resize the two incoming streams. Nice feature.

For-A / NewTek

For-A gave a good demonstration of their new VRCAM2 sensor less virtual studio system. NewTek’s 450 and 850 series looked equally good and potentially more cost effective as NewTek provide an almost full studio end to end solution.

TVU Networks

The TVUpack from TVU Networks is a powerful bit of kit for live, location based video streaming – using 3G bonded sim cards. Turn it on and you’re streaming. Need to tweak a setting, just use your iPhone or iPod.

AJA

Aja launched the io XT at IBC 2011. Basically an upgrade of the Io Express with Thunderbolt connectivity.

Remember most of the new equipment launched at IBC 2011 won’t start shipping till Q4 – the end of the year. Just enough time to tweak those budgets and work out how to pay for it all!