What Gear does Everyone use to Broadcast

[Chris Harding]

Again thanks to Chris Hurd for creating this new section.

I thought it might be useful to know what gear/systems people are using to get their video out to the masses so if one had a problem it's nice to know who to talk to!

We are fairly simple at the moment and use Livestream Broadcaster Pro encoders and a 4G wifi Hotspot out in the field where there is no power. Back in the office (and maybe shortly in the field) we are looking to use the encoders as remote cameras only going back to Livestream Studio software to do the live switching and also stream out and record.

I'm sure there are a lot more pro setups out there but we are newbies to something that previously was restricted to TV studios, a huge crew and OB trucks so it is an exciting new venture

[Andrew Smith]

Sony PMW-300 camera, encoded through the Matrox Monarch HDX encoder to whatever ethernet connected internet connection we can get our hands on at the venue.

It's possible to stream out through a 4G data connection via an associated laptop that it would be running off, but I think it involves a little bit of networking 'bridging' geeky-trickery. I'm not going there unless I really have to.

Andrew

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Andrew

If I'm outdoors shooting with a single camera I don't need the laptop at all ..just stream direct from my encoder via the 4G hotspot. It's great for a portable handheld live broadcast scenario ..I did a Real estate "home open" last Saturday and needed the flexibility to take a handheld camera thru the home, down the stairs and into the garden .. worked very well to as the home sold today!! We only use the laptop if we need graphics or other media/titles dropped into the stream.

[Donald McPherson]

I'm just a starter at this and I'm a skinflint.
usung a Sony x70, gopro or canon 600d (with magic lantern for clean hdmi output.) Elgato hd 60. I bought two but can only get one to work at a time. Thinking of buying another brand to see if this will work. software Xsplit broadcaster on laptop and Sony xperia phone for 4G. Would like to get the Roland video mixer looks to be a good reasonable priced video mixer £800 Oh and HDMI wifi sender reciever.

[Chris Harding]

Me too Donald ... Does the Roland mixer have built in encoders with an HDMI input or do you have to supply one for each camera? The Livestream Studio software provides a brilliant GUI and multi mixing (if you use Livestream as your CDN the software is free but limited a bit to 2 cameras) However if you want to broadcast to Facebook, YouTube and the rest then it costs US$799 and has 25 camera inputs and multi-monitor facilities and really nice graphic and audio mixers. and yes it has either a virtual T bar to transition switch from preview to live or an auto function and all the usual push/pull buttons ... worth a download from them just to see how it works ..the free version of course!!

[Craig Seeman]

Telestream Wirecast Pro usually on MacBookPro Retina or newMacPro. It's cross platform so I've used it on Windows as well.
Blackmagic Pocket Ultrastudio MiniRecorders (Thunderbolt based) which have both SDI and HDMI inputs. Cameras have varied but most often the Sony PXW-X70 with an occasional Canon Vixia. Logictech C910 always ready to go if I need to cut myself on to interrupt. Also Skype for guest interviews or virtual panel discussions.

The new Epiphan 4K HDMI to USB3 looks interesting but the Magewell HDMI or SDI to USB3 is interesting as well. They are driverless.

BTW you can easily do a 3 camera shoot with the MBPr.

Wirecast has a killer ISO Recording and Instant Replay feature. It also comes with a free version of NewBlue Titler Live for very nice looking titles.

[Donald McPherson]

Hi Chris, Looking at some of the YouTube videos it has four in two out one for streaming and the other that gives you a four times picture in picture for monitoring. If I go this way I would plug the Roland into the Elgato then PC then Xsplit. Then you can add any lower thirds etc etc into the mix. I would need to get a job or two lined up before I can justify the spend. My wife is already complaining that too many parcels have been arriving for me. Don't you just love technology.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Donald

I'd like a Livestream Studio HD550 but it would be instant divorce if I spend $7.5K on a toy!! I really need something that will run on battery but have been told that if you use a laptop to stream HD video you really need an i7 6 core processor!! From the office we run thru my i7 quad core and if I stream HD I get the occasional warning from the software that my CPU usage has gone over 95% .. Scary how much processing power is needed to stream even a 1280x720 video at around 4mbps. However even in the field we still seem to get pretty reasonable quality at wedding ceremonies running fully portable. We shot this one at the beginning of this month

http://livestream.com/videohouse/events/6144482

[Donald McPherson]

With the Roland V-1HD Portable Compact HD Video Switcher you would control the streams. Up to four in. Output one, then use a USB encoder to bring it into the laptop. Using Xsplit Broadband where you can add graphics then output to you desired choice.

The website for Xsplt quote :

Minimum Specifications

Software:

Windows XP SP3, Vista SP2 for 1.3. Windows 7 SP1 for V2
.NET Framework 3.5
DirectX 9.0c
Internet Explorer 7
Adobe Flash Player for IE

Hardware:

Processor : 2nd Generation Core i3 CPU or equivalent
Memory: 4GB
Graphics Card : Must have support for 3D acceleration

Recommended Specifications
Software:

Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8 **
.NET Framework 3.5
DirectX 10.1 or better
Internet Explorer 9.0
Adobe Flash Player for IE

Hardware:

Processor:
For HD 720p Recording/Streaming: 2nd Generation Core i5 or equivalent
For HD 1080p Recording/Streaming: 2nd Generation Core i7 or equivalent
Memory: 8GB
Graphics Card : GeForce/Radeon Class (DirectX 10.1 compatible or better)

PS I have the i7 6700HQ, 16gb ram and GeForce 950m
Test runs with the Elgato and Sony X70 wifi in looks not too bad for my amateur use.
Do we really need 1080 for YouTube and the like? My old eyes struggle to see the difference.

[Chris Harding]

I also find it hard to differentiate between 1280 streams and 1080 especially on just a computer or tablet. Maybe on one's 65" smart TV the 1080 would look a lot better but on anything else 1280 is plenty. The link I set on my last post was 1280x720 at a variable stream rate which was between 2 and 4 mbps. I haven't done anything to YouTube yet. They have a pretty aggressive music detection system so what would happen if you were streaming innocently at a wedding and the venue DJ played a copyrighted song in the background. Would YT suspend the stream or try to put advertising on it while it's live?

[Miggy Sanchez]

I did a gig with lots of copyrighted music. Streaming on YouTube Live. Completed the 3 hour stream. Soon after, 12-24 hours, the video lit up like a pinball machine with copyright claims. The video was made unavailable until it was sorted out. That was about 12 months ago.

I'd probably be checking if things have changed and that they now pull streams owing to copyright claims...

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Miggy

A wedding ceremony would basically have an entry song, a signing song and an exit song in the short 20 minutes that it runs for and all are usually the bride's choice too so pretty much guaranteed they will have copyright issues. Imagine if you did a dance recital! Every routine would trigger a YouTube copyright claim!! That's why Facebook and YouTube are not good sites to do a stream to unless you are streaming an event that doesn't have any recognisable music playing that your mics might pick up. I think you have to choose your event and CDN very carefully depending on the live content and potential music issues even though you are not adding or generating it! In fact if we do a wedding we have a DVR backup so family can watch the event as soon as it's over which would allow You Tube to pick up the music clip and at best slap an ad over it before you have even started broadcasting the next section or at worst make the video unavailable as there is nothing you can do if you are at an event and they start doctoring your video. Sometimes "free live streaming" isn't a good solution !

[Craig Seeman]

Perhaps it's worth starting another thread on "Streaming to YouTube and Facebook and copyrighted music" or maybe "What CDN do you Stream to?" These are different than Gear questions so they might serve better as separate topics.

While I've streamed to both FB and YT they haven't involved copyrighted music yet.
I have uploaded clips to both (in fact the same clips to both) and found that FB didn't flag them. YT flagged them but mostly ran ads and in a couple of cases banned them from Germany specifically. The music ran the gamut from classical recordings to a few pop tunes to some live covers. I spoke to the organization before hand and they told me they've never had a song pulled and gave me the green light. As noted, YT didn't actually pull any of the music.

I have heard YT pulling streams offline in the middle over copyright violations but this is why I think it's worth starting a thread specific to that.

[Donald McPherson]

Managed to get two HDMI cameras into Xsplit Broadband using Elgato HD 60 and AVerMedia ExtremeCap U3 HDMI > USB converters. Took me a bit of time to synce both cameras but finally sussed it. Next I need to try my Wi-Fi transmitter receivers on one of the cameras.

[Chris Harding]

Sounds like you are winning there Donald. Wireless cameras would be the way to go especially if the computer is a little way from the cameras. I just use my Broadcaster Pro to act as a "remote cam" and it connects via wifi on the same 4G unit that the software is using to stream.