webcasting equipment

D

Daniel Postilnik

Junior
Jan 14, 2011
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San Francisco, CA
Hi guys,

What does a typical webcasting setup consist of.

Obviously:
1) Camera (component or hdmi output)
2) Computer
3) Internet connection

What is the typical method for getting camera signal to the computer?
What software is used to handle input from camera?
What service is used to actually broadcast the stream?

Thanks.
 
Re: webcasting equipment

I think I found the answer to my own question.

The client wanted to use google hangout, or more specifically google hangout-on-air. This is a free webcasting utility that has some nifty features and utilizes youtube's server for the streaming bandwidth. The main problem is that hangout-on-air doesn't currently support hd video, which is probably fine for this situation.

However, I would like to know how one would stream an event like, say, a TED talk. If you're running it from a laptop, you can use a firewire input to capture the hd video. What software and what streaming service would be used that can support hd video input?
 
The people I work with mostly all have their own servers/ iT team etc. on the back end to deal with the distribution, streaming end of things (think big corporate & gov't groups). What actually shows up on the job-site can range from a single camera/laptop setup, all the way up to full-on tv broadcast trucks.

What shows up on the gig doesn't often dictate the size of the audience who will be viewing either... I've done single camera/laptop webcasts that were viewed by tens of thousands of people all logged on at the same time around the globe.... And huge (on-site) productions where the webcast audiences were much more modest. The back end (off-site) systems seem to really be where the bulk of the workload is handled though.

My experiences with google's technology has been as good as any other I've been involved with... But those jobs were actually for google, with their people at the helm.

Like anything else, the answers to your specific questions will be found in your specific needs, budget and expectations.
 
Re: webcasting equipment

Tim McCulloch said:
The word "TriCaster" comes to mind...

What's your budget?
Click to expand...

That nasty word should not even be allowed to soil a fine AUDIO forum such as this. Those damned things seem to invent a new way to F-up someone's day; every time I come across one. The fun part is when the poor unsuspecting owners of the crappy buzz-ridden older models, plonk down a HUGE pile of cash for the new, bigger, whiz-bang all-in-one model... and the problems just get more unpredictable and hard to solve.

When they work... they produce alright results... but they never seem inclined to do that very often, or at least not very consistently.
 
Re: webcasting equipment

Daniel Postilnik said:
Hi guys,

What does a typical webcasting setup consist of.

Obviously:
1) Camera (component or hdmi output)
2) Computer
3) Internet connection

What is the typical method for getting camera signal to the computer?
What software is used to handle input from camera?
What service is used to actually broadcast the stream?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you are thinking of a single camera setup, but this might help since you might have to overlay graphics and such.
Blackmagic Design: ATEM Television Studio Software

It has a built in H.264 stream output like the tricasters. The image quality is great and is easy to get started for a decent price. And depending on your expectation on quality, rent a camera with SDI out on it to get a great picture. Like others have said, you stream to a server, which handles the load of multiple people watching at once.
 
Re: webcasting equipment

I haven't. Our church was considering going with one of the Roland units, but decided against streaming. We are using a Grass Valley Indigo for our switcher.....
 
Re: webcasting equipment

Daniel Postilnik said:
Hi guys,

What does a typical webcasting setup consist of.

Obviously:
1) Camera (component or hdmi output)
2) Computer
3) Internet connection

What is the typical method for getting camera signal to the computer?
What software is used to handle input from camera?
What service is used to actually broadcast the stream?

Thanks.
Click to expand...


In reverse order:

UStream is a free webcasting service that can also record whatever you broadcast and save it to your channel on their website. The free version has obnoxious ads that pop up every 15-20 minutes. For a subscription fee you can go ad free, which is worth it. Other services exist, this is the one I'm familiar with.

If you're using a webcasting service like UStream, you'll use that program to control input from the camera to the computer. For a single camera system, this will be all you'll need.

To physically get the camera output into the computer you need a video capture card. So far as I can tell these are all a crap shoot; we've had cheap ones work great and expensive ones put out complete rubbish.


Check your internet upload speed. Most internet providers only advertise download speed and normal residential connections don't have the upload bandwidth available to broadcast anything but the worst quality live video. I assume you want to broadcast live since you're not just using Youtube.

In summary: for a single camera continuous broadcast, all you'll need is a camera, computer with video capture card, and some webcasting service. I'm sure a bunch of them exist, I'm just familiar with UStream. For multiple cameras you'll need a video switcher of some type.
 
Re: webcasting equipment

Tony Williams said:
It sounds like you are thinking of a single camera setup, but this might help since you might have to overlay graphics and such.
Blackmagic Design: ATEM Television Studio Software

It has a built in H.264 stream output like the tricasters. The image quality is great and is easy to get started for a decent price. And depending on your expectation on quality, rent a camera with SDI out on it to get a great picture. Like others have said, you stream to a server, which handles the load of multiple people watching at once.
Click to expand...

I was going to get one of these to upgrade our web streaming, but it seemed like the USB output was only for recording and would not work as a web streaming source directly. Do you know for certain that it will work this way. I was just going to get a separate capture card if needed, but it'd be great to not have to do that.
 
Re: webcasting equipment

brian maddox said:
[...] but it seemed like the USB output was only for recording and would not work as a web streaming source directly.[...]
Click to expand...

Okay, so I don't know this for certain, but I believe the USB H264 out on the ATEM TV is exactly the same as their H.264 unit. I have the H.264 unit, and have used it a couple of times for streaming of funerals to other countries. Both times I've used it I used LiveStream. Their software recognises the H.264 connected and lets you use it.

Just a small bit of advice though, try to have enough guaranteed bandwidth to supply multiple streams at different data rates. Can't always control what connections the punters have, or for that matter what devices. Livestream seemed to have about a 12 second delay both times I have used it.

[edit: and the livestream software (procaster?) allowed local recording at the same time.]
 
Re: webcasting equipment

Steve Anderson said:
Okay, so I don't know this for certain, but I believe the USB H264 out on the ATEM TV is exactly the same as their H.264 unit. I have the H.264 unit, and have used it a couple of times for streaming of funerals to other countries. Both times I've used it I used LiveStream. Their software recognises the H.264 connected and lets you use it.

Just a small bit of advice though, try to have enough guaranteed bandwidth to supply multiple streams at different data rates. Can't always control what connections the punters have, or for that matter what devices. Livestream seemed to have about a 12 second delay both times I have used it.

[edit: and the livestream software (procaster?) allowed local recording at the same time.]
Click to expand...

very interesting and useful information. i actually have the h.264 Pro recorder sitting on a shelf from a previous project. perhaps i should try it and see if it works.

we use UStream as our streaming provider. they provide software to stream with, and we use it with a dedicated windows machine. could we use Livestream to stream to a UStream provider? i'm still a little fuzzy on how all this actually works, so sorry if that's a stupid question.

i think i'm going to go over to our production room and try out the h.264 Prorecorder with our existing rig and see if that works. that might solve a number of issues for us. i'm using a DV deck to capture video and get it into our computer using a firewire card. using the BMD box straight to USB would be way cooler and might even allow for HD, which is where we're going.....
 
Re: webcasting equipment

I believe Ustream's software is actually done by Telestream, a product called Wirecast. I don't think it supports the H.264, although it does support all the uncompressed SDI devices that Black Magic make. i.e. the PCI cards and the Thunderbolt bits... Livestream's software directly supports the H.264

Prob not the answer you were after :(~:-(~:sad:

If you're not tied into ustream maybe you could try livestream, their new version has ad-free streaming in the free version, but only one event at a time, and does not have archiving.

[edit]

just did some sniffing around, and the Blackmagic Ultrastudio Mini looks good for not much money if you have a suitably specced Thunderbolt Mac. And apparently works on Ustream!
 
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Re: webcasting equipment

Steve Anderson said:
I believe Ustream's software is actually done by Telestream, a product called Wirecast. I don't think it supports the H.264, although it does support all the uncompressed SDI devices that Black Magic make. i.e. the PCI cards and the Thunderbolt bits... Livestream's software directly supports the H.264

Prob not the answer you were after :(~:-(~:sad:

If you're not tied into ustream maybe you could try livestream, their new version has ad-free streaming in the free version, but only one event at a time, and does not have archiving.

[edit]

just did some sniffing around, and the Blackmagic Ultrastudio Mini looks good for not much money if you have a suitably specced Thunderbolt Mac. And apparently works on Ustream!
Click to expand...

Giant pile of great info. Thanks so much. I'm still not exactly sure which way we are gonna go, but this gives me a lot of knowledge to go on. I've never been real happy with the ustream product anyway. Maybe moving to Livestream would make more sense. I'll check it out...
Thanks again..
 
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