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

PANASONIC AV-HS400AN / HS400 VISION MIXER

Available to hire at Trickbox TV, the Panasonic HS400 (AV-HS400AN) Vision Mixer is a powerful and compact multi-format vision mixer with multi-view display. Light and portable, the Panasonic AV-HS400AN can support up to 8 SDI inputs and 8 SDI outputs. Analogue component and DVI Inputs are supported with option boards. Outputs can be configured to your choice, including 3 choices of multi-view display, PGM, PVW and 3 AUXs. Features:

• HD or SD
• Each input has a 10 bit frame synchronizer enabling asynchronous video signal inputs
• Built-in UP converter on option board capable to mix HD and SD video signals
• Multi-View Display of PGM, PVW and input video on only one monitor to reduce total system cost
• Selectable split numbers (four, eight or ten) and selectable video image for each split area
• Still image file transfer by SD memory card
• Versatile Video Effects (Wipes, DVE, Keys, Chroma Key, DSK, P in P)
• 8-tally outputs and RS422 interface

Comes as standard with 4 SDI inputs and 4 SDI outputs. Option boards available.

Panasonic 50 Series Remote IP Camera Test: AW-HE50, AW-HS50, AW-RP50

We arranged with the guys from Panasonic to do a test of the Panasonic "50 Series" – an IP (Internet Protocol) network control based remote camera hot head system (AW-HE50H/S), including a remote camera controller (AW-RP50) and vision mixer (AW-HS50).

The AW-HE50 camera comes in two flavours – HDMI or HD SDI, starting at £2,400 for the HDMI version and £3,200 for the HD SDI output version (both prices exclude VAT). The vison mixer and remote control panel for the cameras both come in separate half 19" rack panels – so combined, they fit nicely into a standard broadcast 19" rackmount shelf or desk. Panasonic have kindly added a lip to the top of each to allow you to recess the body of the units into a desk or shelf.

The AW-HS50 vision mixer is £2,500 and the AW-RP50 remote camera control panel is just £1,500 (excluding VAT). The AW-RP50 and AW-HE50 cameras work over IP and the controller can control up to 100 cameras (if you had that many?!) The RP50 can also store 100 presets per camera and also supports conventional RS422 camera control too.

The AW-HE50 camera has a 1/3" Full HD MOS sensor and operates in either 1080/50i, 720/50p or 576/50i. Sony’s closest equivalent dome camera, the BRC-H700P uses three 1/3" CCD chips and also supports 1080/59.94i. However the price difference doesn’t go unnoticed. The Sony BRC-H700 comes in around £9,000 including the optional HD SDI board if you need it. But the two cameras are targeted for different markets. The Sony BRC-H700 makes for a good supplementary camera for broadcast productions – look out for those overhead shots of food being prepared in cooking shows at the weekend – plus reality shows and wide shots in studio shows. The Panasonic AW-HE50H/S caters more for the corporate, government, education and live event market.

The AW-HS50 compact live switcher is the really interesting unit in the 50 series. Initially, it may not look that impressive but once you’ve re-read the specs and physically had a play with it, you quickly change your mind. The HS50 has 4 SDI inputs and 1 DVI-D input as standard. Also as standard, it has 2 SDI outputs and 1 DVI-D output. Had it just been a simple 4 input, 2 output SDI switcher, it wouldn’t be much to shout about, but the inclusion of the DVI input and output instantly widens it’s uses. There’s also a frame synchroniser on every input and two switchable up-converters on two of the inputs and a colour corrector on each input. These features are all fairly standard these days but still mightily impressive for a unit that’s about half the size of a loaf of bread. And remember, just a few years ago, to do everything just listed, you’d need about 20 different bits of kit all whirring away – you’d need a handful of separate frame synchronisers for all your unlocked sources, a colour corrector for each input (if the synchroniser didn’t have that feature), a couple of separate upconverters for your SD sources and a DVI to SDI converter for that all-important PC you need to cut up.

One of the most notable features though of the AW-HS50 mixer is the multi-view output (with embedded audio level meters). This makes the HS50 switcher truly portable and user-friendly for those flyaway location productions – just plug and go.

Oh and did I mention it has an AUX output bus, two frame stores for graphics, PIP (picture in picture) and a chroma keyer too?!

Here’s some snaps of our test with the Panasonic 50 series (thanks to the guys from Panasonic for paying us a visit):

So all in all, the Panasonic ’50 series’ with IP network control is a great range of kit, and perfect for some applications. For low-end broadcast and flyaway productions, it makes for a very cost effective and portable multi-camera solution.  For something like a corporate AGM, live webcast or conference, the 50 series could be perfect – and more importantly, very budget friendly for the client. If you’d like to discuss hiring the Panasonic 50 series from Trickbox TV, please don’t hesitate to contact us.  

See below for the individual links to the Panasonic 50 series website:

Panasonic AW-HS50

Panasonic AW-HE50S

Panasonic AW-HE50H

Panasonic AW-RP50  

Here’s the Panasonic 50 Series Brochure

Trickbox TV Twitter Feed – @TrickboxTV – tweet tweet

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NAB 2011 Product Announcements – Blackmagic Design

NAB 2011 officially kicked off yesterday. News reports of product announcements from the broadcast industries big (and small) players came flooding in all day.

Here’s our pick of some of Blackmagic Design’s new product launches and announcements at NAB:

Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Studio

A compact, 1U file-based HDD featuring uncompressed HD recording (to two solid state drives) and playback. 10-bit SD/HD video via SDI or HDMI connections. It offers full VTR functionality with familiar jog and shuttle control and it even has a built in LCD screen for monitoring. It records to QuickTime .mov files which are compatible with AVID and FCP. At $999, the Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Studio could be a real game changer in the tapeless and file-based world.

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hyperdeckstudio/

Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Shuttle

A cut down version of the HyperDeck Studio, the HyperDeck Shuttle is designed for on-camera recording to optimise your camera’s uncompressed output. No LCD screen but at $345, it’s a bargain.

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hyperdeckshuttle

Blackmagic ATEM Camera Converter

Convert your camera SDI signal into optical fibre to extend SDI’s limited distance up to 28 miles. It also includes talkback, an external microphone input, a program return feed, a tally and a built in battery power source. Very impressive and at $595, Blackmagic Design have yet again produced a broadcast quality product at an unbelievable and unbeatable price. Although remember, you’ll need two (one at the camera, one at the control room).

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/atemcameraconverter/

Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio

A professional vision mixer with 6 SDI inputs, 4 HDMI inputs, multi-view monitoring and realtime H.264 broadcast quality encoding all housed in a 1U frame? Surely not. Blackmagic Design have extended their ATEM production switcher range to include the ATEM Television Studio.

You may have to see it to believe it, but the specs look pretty impressive. As standard, it comes with a software control panel which you can run on Windows or Mac OS, but physical panels can be purchased as well. Starting at $995, this could give the likes of NewTek with their Tricaster portable studio range, a run for their money.

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/atemtelevisionstudio/

Blackmagic Design UltraStudio 3D

Yes that’s the infamous Thunderbolt DisplayPort you can see there. It’s here. Finally. Fairly inevitable, that Blackmagic Design would announce this new product at NAB. Matrox and AJA also have SDI I/O boxes with Thunderbolt connectivity too. More on their release in another blog.

The Blackmagic Design UltraStudio 3D is a compact, portable capture and playback device for SD, HD, 2K and 3D and it’s all built on Thunderbolt™ technology – that’s 10Gbps. Will webcasting and video streaming software providers such as Telestream, with their Wirecast streaming software, support it? Blackmagic Design have priced the UltraStudio 3D at their familiar $995 price point.

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/ultrastudio3d/

Panasonic AV-HS400 Helps BBC Three Comedy Sketch Show – The Pranker

Our Panasonic AV-HS400AN came into it’s own last week on a hidden camera sketch for a new comedy show on BBC Three, The Pranker. Other kit that helped save the day was a portable P2 recorder - Panasonic AG-HPG20, a Redbyte MD-Quad Split and a Blackmagic HDMI – SDI Mini Converter.

Panasonic AV-HS400 Helps BBC Three Comedy Sketch Show

Our Panasonic AV-HS400AN came into it’s own last week on a hidden camera sketch for a new comedy show on BBC Three. Other kit that helped save the day was a portable P2 recorder - Panasonic AG-HPG20, a Redbyte MD-Quad Split and a Blackmagic HDMI – SDI Mini Converter.

Multi-Camera Portable Production Unit (PPU)

Location filming just got easier.

You might know it as a mobile studio, a portable production unit, a PPU, a flyaway or a de-rig – we like to call it The Trickbox®.

Trickbox TV Ltd have designed and built a bespoke gallery and studio in a box. It’s a cleverly engineered SD and HD file-based flyaway portable production unit (PPU) packaged in two small and compact flight cases, designed to be ‘live in seconds’, capable of any broadcast or corporate shoot, AGM, webcast, music event or festival.

You provide the space, we’ll provide everything else.

Trickbox TV launch new portable multi-camera recording system

Trickbox TV have designed and built a bespoke gallery and studio in a box. It’s a cleverly engineered SD and HD file-based portable production unit (PPU) packaged in two small and compact flight cases, designed to be ‘live in seconds’, capable of any broadcast or corporate shoot, AGM, webcast, music event or festival.

The Trickbox features a switchable HD or SD file-based workflow, an 8 input multi-format vision mixer, talkback, camera tallys, x2 multi-view screens for video monitoring, automatic mic mixing for up to 8 audio channels and is complemented by 3 new Panasonic AG-HPX371 cameras.