How can we pull this off? at DVinfo.net

Chad Nickle · February 15th, 2009, 09:07 PM

Hey everybody, we have a request from a client that I'm not quite sure how to execute and I thought I would throw it out here.

We will be shooting a multi cam concert using a switcher, which we have done a million times. The hard part is that the client wants us to record the set live and then upload or stream it to the internet within an hour.
Does anybody know what specific equipment we would need to rent in order to do this? The cameras will be SD so that makes it a bit easier.

Also we cannot use a streaming service because it has to go on the clients website.
I know we could just save it to hard disk but how do we convert it to a file small enough to get on the net that quickly?

Thanks.

Perrone Ford · February 15th, 2009, 09:22 PM

Well, I can tell you how WE do it.

When we have live events, we use the Windows media encoder. Essentially, the data stream is fed to a computer with a video capture card. The encoding software reads that stream and then sends it to the streaming server. That server software can be on the same machine, or can be a thousand miles away and linked via internet. The streaming server sees the stream coming over the internet (or from the same machine) and streams it to whatever audience you allow.

The encoder software allows you to both stream AND write an encoded file at the same time. If you don't want to do a live stream, you can simply encode the file on the fly, then create an "event" on the streaming server that points to that file, and streams it.

In our case, the encoder and streaming server are usually in the same room, but are not on the same machine. Sometimes we stream live broadcasts from other parts of the state. In those cases, the encoder is hundreds of miles from the streaming server.

Oh bonus, the software to do this is 100% free.

Chad Nickle · February 15th, 2009, 09:36 PM

Thanks so much for the info. Can you tell me what kind of capture card you guys use? How hard is it to set up WME to do all this?

Perrone Ford · February 15th, 2009, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Nickle

Thanks so much for the info. Can you tell me what kind of capture card you guys use? How hard is it to set up WME to do all this?

We have some old Osprey capture cards, but just about any windows compatible card will do. Does not have to be anything expensive. We aren't making movies here, just streaming video.

I recently installed the Windows Encoder on my laptop so I could create cleaner encodes than my NLE allows. Setup of the encoder took about 20 minutes if that. The streaming server is slightly more involved, but you should have it up and running in an hour or less.

David Stoneburner · February 16th, 2009, 09:07 AM

We do a similar thing and with a laptop and Windows Media Encoder. I bought a USB 2 device from a company called KWORLD It has stereo RCA in and either RCA or S-Video in. You have to also use the mic in on your computer. It works well with media encoder. My only suggestion is to fine something that does full frame video. Many of the USB adapters only do half or quarter frame. If you go full frame then it gives you more choices when encoding.

Giroud Francois · February 16th, 2009, 11:17 AM

the best result would be to feed an analog to DV converter and encode from windows media encoder. that can be done realtime, but if your event is one hour long (or more) , you better had to have a pretty fast connection to upload the resulting file to the customer, because the file will be very BIG and it could take hours to upload it.

On the other hand , you can cheat by saying it will be available from you computer at the minute the concert is finished (that will be true) , without mentioning that the upload could be very long (not your fault).

February 15th, 2009, 09:07 PM	#1
Chad Nickle Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 84	How can we pull this off? Hey everybody, we have a request from a client that I'm not quite sure how to execute and I thought I would throw it out here. We will be shooting a multi cam concert using a switcher, which we have done a million times. The hard part is that the client wants us to record the set live and then upload or stream it to the internet within an hour. Does anybody know what specific equipment we would need to rent in order to do this? The cameras will be SD so that makes it a bit easier. Also we cannot use a streaming service because it has to go on the clients website. I know we could just save it to hard disk but how do we convert it to a file small enough to get on the net that quickly? Thanks.

February 15th, 2009, 09:22 PM	#2
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	Well, I can tell you how WE do it. When we have live events, we use the Windows media encoder. Essentially, the data stream is fed to a computer with a video capture card. The encoding software reads that stream and then sends it to the streaming server. That server software can be on the same machine, or can be a thousand miles away and linked via internet. The streaming server sees the stream coming over the internet (or from the same machine) and streams it to whatever audience you allow. The encoder software allows you to both stream AND write an encoded file at the same time. If you don't want to do a live stream, you can simply encode the file on the fly, then create an "event" on the streaming server that points to that file, and streams it. In our case, the encoder and streaming server are usually in the same room, but are not on the same machine. Sometimes we stream live broadcasts from other parts of the state. In those cases, the encoder is hundreds of miles from the streaming server. Oh bonus, the software to do this is 100% free. __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

February 15th, 2009, 09:36 PM	#3
Chad Nickle Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 84	Thanks so much for the info. Can you tell me what kind of capture card you guys use? How hard is it to set up WME to do all this?

February 16th, 2009, 09:07 AM	#5
David Stoneburner Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 493	We do a similar thing and with a laptop and Windows Media Encoder. I bought a USB 2 device from a company called KWORLD It has stereo RCA in and either RCA or S-Video in. You have to also use the mic in on your computer. It works well with media encoder. My only suggestion is to fine something that does full frame video. Many of the USB adapters only do half or quarter frame. If you go full frame then it gives you more choices when encoding.

February 16th, 2009, 11:17 AM	#6
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	the best result would be to feed an analog to DV converter and encode from windows media encoder. that can be done realtime, but if your event is one hour long (or more) , you better had to have a pretty fast connection to upload the resulting file to the customer, because the file will be very BIG and it could take hours to upload it. On the other hand , you can cheat by saying it will be available from you computer at the minute the concert is finished (that will be true) , without mentioning that the upload could be very long (not your fault).