One of the most common questions I get asked as a New Media consultant is “How do I live video stream my event?” The fact is, the technology part of the live streaming equation is easier than ever before, but it still requires a little bit of equipment and, more importantly, good planning to get your live video stream up and running.
Time to prepare
First, you need to give yourself some time. I often receive requests and questions about live streaming the day before, or the day of, and event. If you haven’t been streaming your events before, this is usually not enough time to do more than the most basic of video streams. This doesn’t usually have anything to do with technology, but more to do with logistics.
Depending on what you are trying to accomplish you might simply have a laptop and webcam which is pointed at a stage or a speaker. Even then, though, you will need to have some basic knowledge of the different types of live video streaming services out there and what they can do. Ideally, you will want to do a “sound check” earlier in the day or even the day before your event to make sure you don’t have any issues with the local network, web cam and service. You will need to set up your account with the streaming service and learn how you can embed and link to your stream during your event.
Time to promote
This points to another issue with time, too. If you want to attract an audience to your live video stream, you need to give them plenty of notice. They will need to place the event in their calendars and plan around it just as they would if they were attending in person. This is one of the limitations of live streams, of course, you still need to be in a particular place at a particular time, even if that place is only on your own sofa.
Ideally, you want to promote your event 2-3 weeks ahead. Then you will also want to remind people 1 week before the event, 1 day before the event and finally, right before the event starts. You will want to embed the player for the live stream on your blog and/or web site so people can easily find it and even stumble across it if they have forgotten about the event.
Adding complexity
Live video streaming from one location is the simplest to set up, but often show hosts and producers what to take live callers, or even live video calls, during their event. While it is possible to do this in a number of ways, be aware that the complexity of your production will increase dramatically.
You will probably want, if not need, additional computers, higher speed Internet connections and more people to handle the technology…at least initially. Once you get things up and running, you might be able to produce your show by yourself, but allow yourself some “helping hands” at the beginning.
Saving it for later
You will also want to make arrangement to capture the video from your event for those who weren’t able to watch it live. The fact is, the size of this audience is often much larger than the audience watching live. You can deliver this video via YouTube or other video sharing site, embed it on your web site or blog or even sell it on DVD to those who might want to own a physical copy.
Do you want to learn more about live video streaming and how to get it working for your event? Add your comments here or email me at me@douglasewelch.com to set up a phone or in-person consult.
Remember, allow yourself plenty of time before your first event so you aren’t struggling with the technology while also trying to organize your event.
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32 responses so far ↓
1 Adam kahn // Nov 28, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Hey Need quite a bit of advice really, hope you can help?
Our charity is called xtremedeen and we are based in the UK. We basically do extreme sports and crazy stuff to raise money for charity. We have an event coming up in April 2011 where volunteers will be cycling from Glasgow in Scotland to london in England. Roughly about 500 miles over 7 days. What we would like to achieve is a good quality live stream whilst we are on the move. Over the 7 days we will be in different towns and different locations. We would firstly like to know if this is possible and then what equipment we would need and the setup cost. We would greatly appreciate your help thankyou very much xtremedeen!
2 Douglas E. Welch // Nov 28, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Since you are traveling you will need some sort of wireless broadband service to connect you to the Internet from wherever you are. You will probably need to do some pre-planning to see if you have cellular coverage along your entire route and also if there are some places where you can use existing Wifi connections, such as villages and such.
One of the simplest solutions, although somewhat low quality would be to stream from an iPhone or other smartphone. uStream.tv, Qik.com and others have apps that allow you to stream wherever you have a cell connection, even on the go. For a step up in quality, you can go with webcams or full camcorders attached to a laptop PC with a wireless broadband card. With a little ingenuity you can mount these to cycles and develop ways to power them using Gel Cells or other battery methods.
It is possible, for sure. You will just have to be a little creative in how you accomplish it. Please let me know if there is any other information I can offer.
3 Adebayo Olayinka david // Feb 15, 2011 at 9:28 am
I need Information on the list of equipment I could use to setup quality live streem video broadcast on my website. and some hints to go about it.
4 Douglas E. Welch // Feb 23, 2011 at 12:27 pm
A basic list of equipment would include:
Camera (Camcorder or web cam)
A camcorder is best since it will usually have a nice zoom lens to frame your video shot
Firewire/USB cable – to connect camera to computer
Computer – as fast a computer as possibe. Working with video requires significant computing power
Internet Connection – the fastest and most stable connection you can get
This will prevent drop-outs and lower quality
Optional:
External microphone/mixer output
Lavaliere mics for people or a shotgun mic for bigger environments can help to improve your audio. Remember that audio is really more than half of your stream. If people can’t hear they will stop watching, even if the video is good.
Lights
If your environment is dark, consider investing in some lights to improve video quality.
5 courntey walls // Mar 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
Hi, we are trying to set up a live stream from our church to a community center in the next town over. we have no idea how much we should invest in a camera. we really want the sound and pic. to be good. i know we could spend big money, but what are your thoughts on what we really need in a camera? thanks
6 Douglas E. Welch // Mar 1, 2011 at 9:04 am
Any basic camcorder that does well in your lighting environment would be fine. If it records a good picture, it will also stream a good picture. There is no need to go with anything expensive. In my case, I typically stream with my older Digital8 camcorder as it is not being used for anything else at the moment. It is a good way to repurpose older equipment.
Once you have a decent picture, the quality of the stream will depend more on your Internet connections than anything else. Make sure both are running well at decent speed. Do a test before you try to use it for an actual event, too.
If you can, mic the speakers (pastor, etc) directly or place an omni-directional mic near the altar/podium/etc. People will forgive a slightly degraded picture, but will need to hear well to enjoy the stream.
7 Ramo // Apr 17, 2011 at 8:33 am
I’m looking into streaming snapshots of trafficked areas near to where I live to a website, do you have an idea on what would I need (Type of camera, Power supply, Internet Connection).
Thanks,
8 Seth Feldman // Jun 29, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Hi Douglas,
Thank you for this very helpful thread. I have an existing tv show that is being broadcast from a local tv station. The show is a live auction and customers will be calling in to make purchases during the broadcast. I’m doing research now to figure out how I can set up a website and stream the same signal to my site. The image quality has to be good enough for viewers to see my products clearly with as little lag as possible. I was wondering what kind of software I should buy, if any, to achieve this. Thanks in advance…
9 Douglas E. Welch // Jun 29, 2011 at 7:39 pm
I would start with something like uStream.tv for the streaming and embedding. This might serve your needs for quite a while. Then you could upgrade to hosting your own streming server, but that is much more complicated.
10 Seth Feldman // Jun 29, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Thanks for your reply. Will I need to purchase any extra hardware or services for analog/digital conversion / encoding?
Also, do you recommend HD or will SD be good enough?
Thanks again…
11 Ruben Garcia // Jul 10, 2011 at 12:17 pm
You should try StreamJunkie.tv for the streaming and embedding with out the adds on all the other sites. You could also try your own hosting server but why when there are so many free live video streaming services out there.
12 Chris Williams // Aug 16, 2011 at 10:04 am
I operate 4 big pool tournaments a year. I am looking to stream these events. The little bit, and I mean little bit, that I know is that I need a video capture card. My question is what type of card do I need. There are so many out there.
13 Douglas E. Welch // Aug 18, 2011 at 4:20 am
You only need to go the route of a video capture card if you want to have mutliple streams or other advanced features. Routing the output of your video camera(s) or video switcher to a computer via Firewire or USB would allow you to start streaming that video.
14 musoni julius bob // Aug 29, 2011 at 3:47 pm
thak you very much to the answer you have been providing above.i ask my self if there is a camera that can stream live with out getting wired to the laptop? since i need to be moving the camera and hence its hard to move with the laptop beside a camera?
15 Douglas E. Welch // Aug 29, 2011 at 3:50 pm
You could use a smartphone, iPhone, Android, etc) to stream live directly from the phone. The quality will be poorer, but you gain the ability to move wherever you need. There are also WiFi web cams that broadcast back to the laptop without wires. You could position several of them and then switch between them. With multiple camera, though, you are rapidly approaching the level where some dedicated wired video cameras and a video switcher hooked to the laptop would be the next step up in flexibility and quality.
16 Mark S // Sep 20, 2011 at 12:05 pm
I would like to stream my wedding.
I want to know if it is possible to stream the camcorder from the photographer?
If it is what kind of device or devices do i need?
It will be a handheld cam so i assume the device will need wireless connection?
17 Douglas E. Welch // Sep 20, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I am thinking something like an iPhone might be better. It would be more difficult to try and wirelessly send the camera signal and the phone would be much more mobile. You can use a service/app like Qik.com to provide the web page for the stream.
18 Eric // Oct 12, 2011 at 2:53 pm
I work for a large corporation and have a $100,000 budget to produce and stream live events on our website (think small scale X-Games). Content will be delivered to our users through our CDN via satellite communication with the production team on the ground. I’ve done a lot of research and have the process down but not having a production let alone a video background, I’m basically throwing a darts at a wall hoping to hit quality equipment based on how expensive it is relative to other decent/well marketed products out there. I would love some feedback from someone in the industry that knows a little more than I do in this area. As far as cameras, I’ve selected the Sony XDCAM EX PMW-EX1 not sure if this is overkill or if there are better cameras out there?? I’ve narrowed it down to a couple different switchers, the NewTek Tricaster and the Sony Anycast. The Tricaster looks far more robust but is about twice the price. Do you know anyone who has used either of these with or without success? Are there better ones out there? The 3rd piece to the puzzle is the encoder. I’ve looked at both the Viewcast 7550 and the Digital Rapods StreamEz live ABR but again not sure if there is something better in the market place. And last but not least, how are you supposed to power all this? What size generator would be needed?
19 Douglas E. Welch // Oct 12, 2011 at 2:57 pm
LOL! Wow, you are far above my knowledge level on this one. I tend to help individuals and small businesses, but you taking this to an entirely different level.
I have posted your comment in hopes that someone else will be able to offer some information.
20 Dennis allen // Oct 24, 2011 at 10:44 am
We are looking to expand our worship services by live streaming the preaching portion of our services to one other location. We want the off-site location to have a good experience and not be “punished” with poor quality video and sound.
We would have a live band for the music portion, a pastor their to MC and be available and when the preaching starts, the streaming would start.
What would you recommend for this type of setup?
21 Becky // Oct 27, 2011 at 6:01 pm
My husband is a high school basketball coach and we would like to broadcast the games live online. He has a laptap and an HD video camera and a firewire. But the HD camcorder doesn’t have a firewire plug on it … any ideas on how to connect the camcorder to the laptop via firewire? Or is there another way we could be doing this? He is working through a website called http://www.ihigh.com. Thanks!
22 Douglas E. Welch // Oct 29, 2011 at 12:56 pm
You might be able to use USB, if the camcorder supports that. You might be able to find an older camcorder that does support Firewire or use a midrange web cam to show the floor. That would be a wide angle shot, though and not allow you to zoom, which is one big advantage to the camcorder.
23 Douglas E. Welch // Oct 29, 2011 at 12:59 pm
I would recommend a camcorder with Firewire output which you can connect to the computer connected to a streaming server. This allows you to pan and zoom for a better experience for remote viewers. To get the best sound, you would want to take an audio feed of of your sound mixing board and connect that to the streaming computer, too. When using services like uStream.tv you can tell the software to take the video from the camera and the audio from the Line In port of the computer (i.e. the feed from the mixing board) You can also use a web cam for the video, although that would probably only provide a wide angle shot without any ability to pan or zoom.
24 Sanjay // Feb 9, 2012 at 5:33 am
hi
we do smaller motorsport events and have LED screens/Jumbotrons for the spectators. In total, 4 x camera, 1x graphics laptop into a video mixer. I would like to live stream these events. What equipment do i need from the mixer onwards?
much thanks for all your help
25 Douglas E. Welch // Feb 9, 2012 at 10:50 am
From the mixer you would take the mixed video and audio feed into a analog to digital video convertor. Something like this from Grass Valley.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TMWVUS/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=thewelchwritecom&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B003TMWVUS&adid=06R67C6JKFWKRJ2WNYQQ&
This would then allow you to use that video as input for any of the online streaming sites, such as uStream TV, Livestream et al
26 Sheila Gray // Feb 26, 2012 at 11:45 am
I just found you, and appreciate that you so generously share your knowledge & experience. My son and I started a video production company 18 months ago focusing on Sustainability Issues, and this info will help us a lot. Thanks again!
27 Bill // Mar 14, 2012 at 7:33 am
Doug,
Your advice on this post is great. Looking at setting up a skate park that I want to stream live, I want to be able to have like 8 cameras streaming live at the same time, possibly up to 16. I already am setup to have a T1 connection for stability. If I want the videos to stream to my own site, I need to know what streaming services I could utilize, and also what cameras are best. Quality is important. Also will each camera need its own computer? or can like 1 mac pro control a number of them? I have a really decent budget to get this started. any advice helps. Thanks.
28 Douglas E. Welch // Mar 14, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Bill,
Wow! Sounds like an amazing idea.
It doesn’t really matter what system is capturing the video itself, as long as you can connect the video output of the system to a computer, which can then stream that video out. This could be something as simple as a video security system that supports multiple cameras or a television switcher that can take input from all the cameras and allow you to mix them live.
For both of these scenarios, you would take the output of the security system or video switcher, run that into a video to Firewire or USB interface on the computer. This interface could then be selected as the input for whichever streaming service you might use.
For example, a typical use of these streaming services is to stream one webcam connected via USB. Replace that web cam with the Firewire or USB video interface which is receiving video from your cameras and you can now send video from any of the cameras to the stream. Video switchers can also allow you do picture-in-picture, and other effects to combine video from several cameras.
The Edirol V-4 4-Channel Video Mixer is one possibility for a small video mixer you could use in your installation.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002I6M02/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thewelchwritecom&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0002I6M02
29 Pauline // May 2, 2012 at 9:37 pm
I am wanting to live stream graduation ceremonies and banquets. I have two Canon GL2 video cameras. I have one laptop. Is it possible to hook up both to the laptop? I am looking for quality video and audio. What other equipment do I need to get started? Not sure what else to get in order to get started as I read in some of the other posts that good internet connection is a must. Is there a device that can provide good internet connection especially if the facility does not have internet connection and if the event is held out doors? Thanks in advance!
30 Douglas E. Welch // May 2, 2012 at 9:59 pm
Pauline,
In order to have two camera feeding one stream you would need to connect them to a video switcher of some type. That would allow you to choose between the two video feeds or intermix them i.e. picture-in-picture, etc. The video and audio feed from this switcher could then be sent to whatever streaming site you choose to use i.e. uStream, Livestream, dedicated streaming server.
As for connectivity. If you don’t have an Internet connection at the site you would need to use some form of wireless broadband cards that use the cellular system to connect you to the Internet. You may need a router that allows you to connect multiple wireless broadband cards to increase your overall bandwidth.
I also recently highlighted 2 different devices on my New Media Interchange site which you can connect directly to the cameras and then stream live via built-in wireless broadband capabilities. This would not allow you to mix the videos but it would allow you simplify your setup a bit i.e. have one, wandering, handheld camera for the event. See these posts for more information:
http://newmediainterchange.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/product-dashboard-live-shell-live-streaming-without-pc/
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/17/livestream-broadcaster-hands-on/
31 olatubi sola // May 4, 2012 at 7:24 am
Hi would like to know about the best streaming service or software and technical equipment needed to acheive smooth live streaming and a recorded version in the archive
32 Douglas E. Welch // May 4, 2012 at 11:12 am
Olatubi,
Unfortunately, if you ask 10 people what is “best” you will often get 10 different answers. It will depend greatly on 3 items:
* Your location (using a local streaming provider will be faster than something based elsewhere, such as the US, if you are not located there)
* You computer speed (you need that fastest computer you can and you need to dedicate it to streaming the video as much as you can. Sometimes you will have to run other software, but keep the processing load as light as possible)
* Your Internet connection (This is probably the most variable and it can change from moment to moment. As a backup, you should always try to shoot local video so that you can, at least, broadcast it at a later date if the live stream fails. Test the connection ahead of time, if possible. Also, try to maintain the entire connection for your video, if possible. If others are using the connection for bandwidth intensive activities, your stream will suffer.
I hope this helps!
Douglas
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