Comments on: What do you need to live video stream your event?

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:50:40 +0000

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

By: Sanjay

Sanjay — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:33:28 +0000

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

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:59:36 +0000

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.

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:56:31 +0000

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.

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 02:01:43 +0000

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!

By: Dennis allen

Dennis allen — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:44:45 +0000

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?

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:57:19 +0000

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.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:53:02 +0000

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?

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:58:05 +0000

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.

By: Mark S

Mark S — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:05:31 +0000

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?

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:50:54 +0000

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.

By: musoni julius bob

musoni julius bob — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:47:36 +0000

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?

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:20:59 +0000

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.

By: Chris Williams

Chris Williams — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:04:15 +0000

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.

By: Ruben Garcia

Ruben Garcia — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 20:17:24 +0000

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.

By: Seth Feldman

Seth Feldman — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:55:27 +0000

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…

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:39:42 +0000

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.

By: Seth Feldman

Seth Feldman — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:14:21 +0000

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…

By: Ramo

Ramo — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:33:30 +0000

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,

By: Douglas E. Welch

Douglas E. Welch — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:04:34 +0000

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.