NewBlueFX Titler Live 4

If you’re trying to stream live over the internet you have a dizzying array of options and service providers. In this buyer’s guide, we’ll categorize these providers, tell you which category you should consider, and how to choose between vendors within a category.

Jumping right in, Figure 1 breaks live streaming platforms and services into four categories. Here’s a brief description of each:

• Free social media services. These are free services offered by Facebook, YouTube, and other providers.
• Standalone paid services. These are services that primarily stream live video for a fee, supplying encoding, players, delivery, and other features. Prominent examples include Livestream, BoxCast, Vzaar, and StreamShark.
• Platforms. These are providers that perform live streaming as a component of a larger service offering. These include the most prominent online video platforms (OVPs) like Brightcove, Kaltura, and Ooyala, and other providers like DaCast, JWPlayer, and IBM Cloud Video (formerly Ustream).
• Developer products. These are providers that offer developer-oriented products for integrating live streaming into custom applications. Examples include Bitmovin, Microsoft Azure, Softvelum (Nimble Streamer), and Wowza.

As always, the lines around the edges get blurry for some companies who could claim membership in two or more categories. In addition, these company references are meant as examples, not as an exhaustive list; if your company isn’t listed, feel free to add a mention in the comments.

Not addressed in this article are turnkey platforms for OTT providers like those supplied MLBAM, Verizon Digital Media Services, Anvato, and iStreamPlanet. Our focus is primarily on companies seeking to produce their own live streams; not to become their own Netflix competitor. …read more

Live video has been through many iterations over the past several years. There was a brief period, right around the launch of Periscope and Facebook Live, when it looked like it was going to become the new new thing, but that quickly faded. Yet live video itself didn’t fade and has gone on to win over new fans while keeping the old ones.

It just didn’t become the next Snapchat, which, all things considered, might not be a bad thing.

Two areas where live video is increasingly becoming hot are e-commerce and corporate training, which is interesting in that the former is consumer-facing while the latter is strictly B2B.

E-commerce was somewhat obvious—QVC and others have been selling live over the air for a while now. But training was a surprise, mostly because it seemed way too technical for most companies. And yet, a recent study from IBM and Brandlive revealed that over 55% of corporate respondents used live video to train retail associates, 50% used it to train sales reps and over 47% used it to train customer service reps.

I spoke with Brandlive’s CEO Fritz Brumder to get some more insight into what exactly was going on there. “Companies that have gotten more comfortable with live video for social are starting to see it as more than just a gimmick and are looking for other ways to use it,” he says. “The notion of using live video for training has really been directed by our customers who love the agility of live video. And they’re telling us if we could just start using it to train people and then maybe do some kind of lightweight testing and validation to ensure that people are actually absorbing the content, then we would love to invest more in live video for training.”….read more

This tutorial will take a look at how we can add clickable calls-to-action to the YouTube platform.

Welcome to this tutorial series on adding interactivity into some popular online video players. This is part one of two, and will cover YouTube interactivity.

As video creators and publishers, it’s important for us to create a great user experience for our viewers. Not only does that include producing a compelling video for our audiences, but also considering what happens after they’re done watching our videos.

There are some pretty cool interactive features that are built right into some of the more popular online video channels (Figure 1, below). Let’s take a look at how we can add clickable call-to-actions to the YouTube platform.

Figure 1. Calls-to-action in YouTube videos

YouTube’s Interactive Features

Starting with YouTube in the fully free account option, I fully recommend researching the YouTube help page to get a full overview on their interactive features (Figure 2, below). Cards and end screens are what we’ll discuss in this tutorial. Both of these allow for publishers to create clickable callouts within a YouTube video.

Figure 2. Researching Cards on the YouTube Help page

These callouts can prompt your viewers to watch more of your videos, subscribe to your channel, and even go to an approved website (Figure 3, below). They also work on mobile devices, which is a huge improvement from YouTube’s old interactive feature, called Annotations….read more

How to multistream live video from your program channel in Pearl-2 using an RTSP loopback and stream to both YouTube and Facebook at the same time.

Epiphan Pearl-2 is the easiest 4K live video streamer, switcher, and recorder. (4K Requires additional 4K firmware upgrade). With less setup, less supervision, and higher overall confidence, Pearl-2’s integrated live event production workflow allows you to sit back, relax, and concentrate on producing your event. Start and stop online live streaming, local recording, and real-time video switching with the touch of your finger.

Pearl-2 works with video sources from SD to 4K. Connect up to six sources at once to encode and stream one 4K Ultra HD program or up to six 1080p Full HD programs. Use any combination of your video sources connected to the HDMI, 4K HDMI, 12G SDI, or USB video input ports, or from IP cameras over your network.

Epiphan Video was kind enough to send us a Webcaster X2 to take a look at. This video shows how to go live on Facebook and YouTube, as well as our thoughts on the device.

Sample YouTube Stream: http://bit.ly/2lSf3O9
Sample Facebook Stream: http://bit.ly/2CCUYpb

Timestamps
00:00 – Intro and unboxing
00:15 – Disclaimer
00:30 – Who this is for
00:56 – Tour
01:46 – Setup
02:18 – Streaming to YouTube
03:04 – Streaming to Facebook
03:33 – Other important features
04:28 – Pros
05:19 – Cons
06:27 – Price

Watch on YouTube

Preparation is an essential step in making sure you are ready to send your services live to devices.

Over the past nine months, I have had the opportunity to learn about how to best livestream through trial and error, researching, and being a member of various Facebook groups, as well as attending great annual conferences like WFX, held two months ago in Dallas.

When I began this journey, I had the naive notion that we could plug in a camera, feed in an audio connection, hook it all up to our cable connection, and then we would be set.

What I found is that there are a lot of variables within each step that need to be accounted for.

One of the quickest things that I learned is that not all connections are the same. The vast majority reading this will be from areas outside of major metropolitan areas, where internet speeds are likely not fiber. In our case, we have once cable provider who is not among the big three, and business connections are expensive and slow. Our connection was stated to be 5mbps upload speed, but the actual results were much lower.

Since data is key to a successful stream, we started looking at options. Around that time, we were blessed to have a new visitor arrive who is the vice president of a company who pioneered data delivery through a series of towers in our region. We were shortly thereafter provided by that company with a 20mbps connection, though we are capable of accessing a 300mbps connection, if needed. The unique factor about our newest provider is that the connection is symmetrical, so it features the same upload and download speed. Having 20mbps upload fits our needs at Lighthouse of Hope Church in Cumberland, Maryland.

Once our bandwidth was addressed, the next step in the process was to look at the actual production.

Over the last few months, a number of amazing products have been announced and released to help ease the technical difficulty in streaming for those working in houses of worship. These include products from NewTek, Blackmagic Design with their ATEM HD switcher, Sling Studio from DISH Networks, and vMix Production Studio.

With the recent announcement of Network Device Interface technology, or NDI, from NewTek, the products that take advantage of that standard are poised to gain market share quickly. NDI has been around for many years, and it initially was more commonly referred to as IP Video….[continue reading]

Whether you’re giving the nightly news or announcing an Oscar winner, the last thing you need is for your live stream to go down on the world’s largest social media site. Despite the fact that Facebook Live is now more popular than YouTube among weekly live-stream viewers, connectivity and streaming problems are all too common for broadcasters on this platform.

Professional streamers and broadcasters demand equally professional quality out of their Facebook Live streams. And their followers now expect it, as well: 90 percent of viewers say quality is the most important aspect of Facebook Live videos. However, in our recent report on Facebook Live streaming, 76 percent of respondents report errors that interfere with stream reliability and quality playback.

Luckily, there’s a solution: the Wowza ClearCaster appliance. It’s purpose-built for reliable, broadcast-quality streaming to Facebook Live. In this single, rack-mountable device, the benefits of industry-leading Wowza streaming software meet seamless integration with the Facebook Live APIs.

Broadcasters Report Widespread Challenges Streaming to Facebook Live

From international media companies to mid-market affiliates; live event producers to universities; broadcasters and streaming professionals need solutions that can be configured quickly and easily, and that fit naturally into their existing production workflows. But our survey respondents say equipment, setup and integration are the biggest challenges when streaming to Facebook Live.

“Of all the services out there, Facebook is the most difficult technically.” —Anonymous survey respondent

This is partially because Facebook Live has specific bandwidth and resolution requirements that must be met. Even one incorrect hardware or software setting can cause performance issues—but it can be difficult to determine what exactly went wrong.

That’s where Wowza ClearCaster comes in. It directly connects to the Facebook Live API, keeping you up to date. And it automatically configures and monitors streams for maximum resiliency and reliability. Regardless of bandwidth and connectivity issues, your stream keeps going strong. Just plug it in, and we’ll take it from there.

ClearCaster Delivers Reliable, Broadcast-Quality Streams

ClearCaster’s many benefits for broadcasters and streaming professionals include:

Auto-Configuration and Stream Health Monitoring

The Wowza ClearCaster simplifies streaming success by auto-configuring the optimal encoding settings for your on-site conditions and use case. What’s more, its real-time stream health monitoring capabilities automatically adjust stream settings on the fly, adapting to changing conditions and ensuring the maximum allowable quality and uptime.

High Resolution for Professional Productions

Plugging in ClearCaster allows broadcasters to deliver in crisp, 1080p30 content: the highest possible resolution supported by Facebook. It includes x264 for encoding high-quality video, H.264 video streams and is H.265-ready. ClearCaster even encodes and delivers in 4K and Ultra High-Definition (UHD) when supported, so you can syndicate to Facebook Live while meeting high-definition broadcast standards.

The Best Path to Facebook Live Success

Working directly with Facebook, the Wowza ClearCaster was designed with the needs of broadcasters and streaming professionals in mind. It easily integrates into existing production workflows—no changes required.

Initial setup takes less than three minutes and involves just five simple steps. After that, you can start new live streams in seconds, making ClearCaster both the best and the simplest path to broadcast-quality streaming on Facebook Live.

Wowza ClearCaster comes with an HDMI or SDI input for all your professional-grade equipment. Just plug it in, and deliver programming directly to Facebook Live from the editing bay or live production studio. You can also control ClearCaster from the Wowza web app, and start and stop streams directly within the Facebook user interface—enabling you to manage streaming from any remote location.

Attract and Engage Facebook Followers

ClearCaster’s Talent View functionality allows on-air talent to see live-streams exactly as they appear to followers, so they can instantly leverage Live Reactions and respond to comments and questions. This also allows you to immediately gauge what resonates with audiences during broadcasts.

To further enhance the experience for viewers, an integrated countdown clock lets on-screen personalities know the exact moment streams go live—no more awkward pauses or truncated content. These features help create engaging conversations that inspire loyalty from followers and build broadcasters’ brands.

We’ve Got Your Back

Keep ClearCaster plugged in, and we’ll handle push updates, so your software always has the latest fixes and features. It even comes with three years of 24/7 phone, chat and email maintenance and support for your hardware and software—so you always have expert help when you need it.

The Wowza ClearCaster was designed with the needs of industry experts like you in mind, and was purpose-built to increase your Facebook Live streaming success. Whether you’re streaming a local town hall or the Super Bowl, it’s the easiest way for professionals to connect with confidence on Facebook Live.

StreamingMedia

As recently as two or three years ago, most live streams were distributed by a single service provider like Livestream or Ustream, whether on a page on their websites, via an embedded player on your website, or both. With the rise of YouTube Live, Periscope, and particularly Facebook Live, the focus has changed from publishing to a single platform to getting your video on every platform possible. As with all things streaming video related, there are multiple ways to get this done. This article will cover the most prominent alternatives.

One great thing about most alternatives is that you don’t have to be a technology guru to use them. Understand a few key concepts that I’ll cover at the start, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a multiple-platform streaming maven.

Before we jump in, note that the companies discussed below are meant to be a representative sampling, not an exhaustive list. As you’ll see, many of the products and services are ones I’ve reviewed or discussed in the past. If you feel like your product or service should have been included, feel free to add it via comment below.

Technology Backgrounder

The first point to understand is that from an encoder interface perspective, there are two ways to connect to services like Facebook Live and YouTube Live: via platform-specific presets or via generic configurable destinations. With most of the products or services that we’ll discuss, if you’re using a platform-specific preset, you choose the preset, log in to the service, and your encoding tool and platform shake hands and exchange all required information.

If you’re using a generic destination or preset, you’ll have to provide the same information manually, which I show how to do in Figure 1. On the right is the server URL and stream key information provided by Facebook Live; on the left are the corresponding input fields from a generic destination provided by livestreaming service provider Livestream. By way of background, real-time messaging protocol (RTMP), originally developed by Adobe, is the common language spoken by all live-streaming encoding tools and live-streaming services. If you must create a custom preset, you’ll have to dig around in your streaming service to find these parameters, then copy and paste them into the encoder setup screen. Easy-peasy…[continue reading]