Live Streaming Explosion

[Geoff CB]

Anyone else getting a large amount of requests to do live streams? I am now doing 2 in the coming month and had to purchase equipment to accommodate. 

[EphraimP]

I've had one conversation about it with someone from a local nonprofit that works with the one I work with. I told them I'd have to purchase streaming equipment to do so with high quality video transition. That's where the conversation ended. #nonprofitlife

[kye]

I've seen lots of live streams pop up in my YT feed, which is normally much higher percentage of edited content.

I must admit I'm not a fan.  Watching someone read the chat in real-time mixed in with "is this on" and then deliver unrehearsed unfocused content just makes me angry that the person chose to waste my time instead of spending theirs editing.

Professional live streams are like TV talk shows or the news and require large amounts of hours of prep and a crew of multiple people.  Most streaming online is like watching the dailies from a set that never hit stop between takes.

The minimum number of people required for a professional live stream is three:

1. someone to control the tech
2. someone to present the content
3. someone to manage the chat and feed good questions to the presenter so we don't spend minutes at a time watching them read the chat

They also require a huge amount of preparation - to the extent that the presenter can deliver the content with crystal clarity and almost zero mistakes.

[jpfilmz]

Yep, churches, sports club programs, universities, and fitness clubs.  Looking at possibly a blackmagic setup.

[fuzzynormal]

2 hours ago, kye said:

Watching someone read the chat in real-time mixed in with "is this on" and then deliver unrehearsed unfocused content just makes me angry that the person chose to waste my time

Try being an older video pro that's had a long career and now has to deal with the devaluation and ad-hoc nature of this new video production reality.  It's hard not to keep one's head from exploding.

[kye]

34 minutes ago, jpfilmz said:

Yep, churches, sports club programs, universities, and fitness clubs.  Looking at possibly a blackmagic setup.

This stuff is different..  these people tend to actually prepare!  

[leslie]

i have been watching jeff dunham, the guy that does ackmed the dead terrorist, he's done a 3 part live stream of a new puppet. Which has been interesting i thought. I think perhaps some people do it better than others. I dont mind a few inconsistencies, as i figure i'd be at the same level or worse, but if its consistently annoying then i'll give it the heave ho. If you have done it for a living i can see how it would be grow annoying pretty quickly.

I bet the only companies making money would be internet providers, netflix and youtube at the moment. I'd prepare for an influx of          " new content " with everyone at home,  its either that or go stir crazy in some respects.

Presuming total lockdown is a few days away or maybe a week, i went for a drive to a larger town today and bought a meat smoker. I figure there's not much i got control over at the moment, but at least i can control the bbq. I didnt get a wood chips as i live in an orchard  growing area and i have already sourced all the plum, apricot, pear limbs i can use. Your all welcome, just bring a mask and your own potato salad. 😁

[MrSMW]

What @kye said.

Photographers are doing:

What’s in my camera bag?

What’s in my bottom draw?

What’s in my pocket?

What’s out of my window?

[Kisaha]

+1 to @kye

But in general, what one needs to make something professional these days?

Anyone have some equipment example?

[leslie]

58 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

+1 to @kye

But in general, what one needs to make something professional these days?

Anyone have some equipment example?

well a p4k for starters 😉

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, Kisaha said:

+1 to @kye

But in general, what one needs to make something professional these days?

Anyone have some equipment example?

To save me making a massive post (though I sure do have the time right now ) what sort sort of setup are you looking for?

Do you want single cam or multi-cam?

Self-operated or separate operator ?

Fixed location, portable or fully mobile?

 

[Geoff CB]

3 hours ago, Kisaha said:

+1 to @kye

But in general, what one needs to make something professional these days?

Anyone have some equipment example?

For the simple setup I'm going for I'm going to have OBS studio (Free) and have a USB camera by the laptop as a wide angle (safety) and my F3 through a SDI converter box as a movable camera. For one event I will setup the live stream as a picture in picture, and producer will be switching the camera. The other event is fine with just a one camera setup. That + lighting should be professional enough for their needs. 

I have a friend that I've been tossing bigger jobs because he was lucky enough to be working on a live event setup before this all went down. He has a teradeck wireless rig to a blackmagic switcher with three mobile Blackmagic 4K cameras. He has his moniter and switching in a van that he can just drive to a location and setup quick. 

 

 

[Kisaha]

3 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

To save me making a massive post (though I sure do have the time right now ) what sort sort of setup are you looking for?

Do you want single cam or multi-cam?

Self-operated or separate operator ?

Fixed location, portable or fully mobile?

 

I was thinking multi cam, USB cam sounds too low fi for us pros (or we say so!) but the friend with the van solution, too specialized.

Probably self operated, not dying to be in front of one after 25+ years behind so many of them.

Better portable, or fully mobile - but not extreme, like with a mobile phone, even though, if it is easy, that would be interesting as well.

I've got a gaming laptop and a Surface Go, a BMP4K and 4 Samsung NX cameras at the moment that I can use. Unfortunately I do not do business with my old company because I was working straight 2 years on TV daily comedy series and I have lost some of my older connections, so no GH5 and no JVC LS300 anymore.

 

[Geoff CB]

23 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I was thinking multi cam, USB cam sounds too low fi for us pros (or we say so!) but the friend with the van solution, too specialized.

Probably self operated, not dying to be in front of one after 25+ years behind so many of them.

Better portable, or fully mobile - but not extreme, like with a mobile phone, even though, if it is easy, that would be interesting as well.

I've got a gaming laptop and a Surface Go, a BMP4K and 4 Samsung NX cameras at the moment that I can use. Unfortunately I do not do business with my old company because I was working straight 2 years on TV daily comedy series and I have lost some of my older connections, so no GH5 and no JVC LS300 anymore.

 

As Kye said how are you going to deal with 4 cameras and switching between them by yourself? 

[Kisaha]

7 minutes ago, Geoff CB said:

As Kye said how are you going to deal with 4 cameras and switching between them by yourself? 

2 cameras are enough for most things, I just rather have 2 "real" ones - with interchangeable lenses - than a USB cam.

I do not have to be alone in this. Even if I was, I would prefer to have a wide and a different frame, probably more tele, or a lot more tele!

[BTM_Pix]

42 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I was thinking multi cam, USB cam sounds too low fi for us pros (or we say so!) but the friend with the van solution, too specialized.

Probably self operated, not dying to be in front of one after 25+ years behind so many of them.

Better portable, or fully mobile - but not extreme, like with a mobile phone, even though, if it is easy, that would be interesting as well.

I've got a gaming laptop and a Surface Go, a BMP4K and 4 Samsung NX cameras at the moment that I can use. Unfortunately I do not do business with my old company because I was working straight 2 years on TV daily comedy series and I have lost some of my older connections, so no GH5 and no JVC LS300 anymore.

 

I don't think you can really go wrong with the new BM ATEM Mini for that sort of thing.

It takes 4 HDMI inputs, has an easy to use control surface and has a webcam compliant output.

That last part is really crucial as it means you don't have to have an encoder or any messing about to get it out to the internet as the Surface Go would just see it as a webcam input and can then stream it to YouTube, Facebook etc or even Skype if you are using it for business type streaming.

Its tiny as well in terms of physical size and price as its under €350.

This is a good end to end demo of it from inputs to streaming output.

The big weakness with the ATEM Mini versus its bigger brothers in the ATEM range is that it doesn't have multi view preview output so you can't see all four inputs on an external screen.

This can be got around with some cheap HDMI splitters for the camera and a cheap 4:1 HDMI multiviewer should you need it.

If you were to use your gaming laptop with a software switcher such as OBS or vMix, that issue wouldn't be there but obviously using a software solution you would need four converters to take the camera HDMI inputs into it in the first place and good ones can easily run to not far off the cost of the ATEM Mini for just one.

The big advantage of the laptop route is that something like vMix can do more (virtual sets, bring in Skype calls etc) and is more expandable, particularly if you embrace the NDI standard for bringing in cameras as you can then have unlimited sources as long as they are on your network but you are in to significant extra cost and complexity.

To make any solution fully mobile then you can do that using the Teradek Vidiu Pro which is a standalone HDMI encoder/streamer that as well as ethernet and wifi connectivity also has a bonding function to gang together the data bandwidth of several cellular devices (including phones) to provide high quality streams when no 'real' internet connection is available.

https://teradek.com/collections/vidiu-family

[BTM_Pix]

13 minutes ago, Geoff CB said:

As Kye said how are you going to deal with 4 cameras and switching between them by yourself? 

One of the advantages of the ATEM system (which the Mini has too) is the ethernet control port which enables a range of remote control solutions to be used to operate them.

As well as apps these can include simple hardware solutions so, for example, MIDI footswitches can be used by a presenter so they can switch cameras themselves unseen etc 

[basilyeo]

I just did one yesterday and have a couple of requests in the next two months. I don't normally provide livestreaming services but it's really something to think about the way the world is changing.

[Kisaha]

Thank you very much @BTM_Pix !!

This is a nice little device, as I am old school, I prefer dedicated hardware for specific jobs. The cost is fine. 

I was considering streaming services for some time now, even though I am not sure how this thing can fit my business profile, but we have to adapt anyway..

At the moment I have lost all my income, while rent and bills running wild..

[fuzzynormal]

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

a bonding function to gang together the data bandwidth of several cellular devices

Thanks for that suggestion.  A few months ago I had a request for live streaming in a remote part of a state park.  Knowing that this technology could be used sounds promising.