Wowza ClearCaster Review
By Jim Bask
When Facebook originally launched its live-streaming service in 2015, it was limited to smartphone-toting celebrities. While the service has since rolled out to all users, going live is still most easily done from a mobile device — not a real camera, and certainly not a professional multi-camera setup. This is a bit of a problem for broadcasters, particularly news studios, for whom Facebook Live is no longer an optional addition to their over-the-air signals, but a requirement.
Fortunately, equipment to meet the live-streaming needs of high-end professionals is now available, and we had to chance to check out one such product in our Wowza ClearCaster review. Wowza Media Systems specializes in cloud-streaming solutions, and the ClearCaster was built in concert with Facebook to take full advantage of the Facebook Live API, promising effortless live-streaming from any HDMI or SDI source.
To be clear, the ClearCaster is not intended for consumer use. It is a $6,495 rack-mountable box that lights up like an aircraft on a landing approach — and is almost as loud, too. That said, we found it to be surprisingly easy to set up and use, with unexpected simplicity and worry-free operation that just works…[continue reading]