Live stream a wedding? at DVinfo.net

Chad Dyle · February 8th, 2009, 09:59 AM

I have a bride that wants to know if this is possible. Her grandparents are to old to travel and will not be able to make the wedding. The wedding will be at a church with no internet access. I will be able to use an ATT card for my PC/MAC. I was thinking about using Skype to video conference the wedding. I'm not sure how good the built-in camera on my Macbook will look though. I was thinking about buying a nicer ($100) webcam to see if that helps. Can I attach my HV30 and use its video feed? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Chad Dyle

Evan Kline · February 8th, 2009, 03:24 PM

I'm not sure about hardware and connectivity, but also check out a site like stickam.com. I've heard tech types talk about it, and it sounds like it might be designed for the sort of thing you want to do. You might just be able to give out a link (assuming their computer is up to spec with flash, etc.).

Glenn Fisher · February 8th, 2009, 08:37 PM

Evan already mentioned Stickam, but I'd like to add two more names to the list: Ustream and Mogulus.

I haven't used any of these products, but I know that they are quickly gaining users. Leo Laporte has been broadcasting live video at the same time that he records podcasts over at Twit (his live feed is: twitlive.tv). I believe he's using Stickam for that.

Some other podcasters that I follow have used Ustream to do the same thing, and they also have an interactive chat so they can talk to their listeners/watchers.

As far as using your HV30, I see no reason why not. I'm not sure how you generally film weddings (assuming that the bride is a client of yours), but as long as the HV30 is not the main camera in your shoot (i.e. constantly moving around) then I see no reason why you couldn't use it to broadcast live.

The only issue that you're going to run into is the bandwidth connection over the cellular phone networks. Video takes a lot of upload speed in order to send it out to one of these streaming services, so chances are, the ATT card will not be able to support it (and if it does support it, you might be piping so much data through it that you quickly surpass your monthly alloted bandwidth and find yourself paying overage costs for thousands of dollars!).

I would look into your ATT plan to see how much upload bandwidth you're alloted, and if you have enough, then try it out from home using your laptop to stream the video and then another desktop computer to check the quality online.

Best of luck! I hope this works out for you!

Giroud Francois · February 9th, 2009, 05:49 PM

possibly the church has a back office with some hi-speed internet connection already.

you would just need to bring an access point to connect wireless a laptop.
I got very good result with firewire input and windows media encoder, but netmeeting or skype can do as well.

the better the video source , and the better the stream, so forget about web cams as good as they are.

Srinivas Reddy · March 8th, 2009, 06:42 AM

Hi,

we are the team working on iWedlive.com, a web site dedicated to wedding media, streaming, video, and albums. we are still working on the site, the site is perfectly ready for live streaming live wedding video over the internet. Lastly most of the functionalities of the site are FREE subject to fair use.

we will be pleased if any of you are interested in live streaming wedding videos and use it to host albums and videos.

Thank You

iWedlive.com Team

Les Wilson · March 13th, 2009, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Dyle

Can I attach my HV30 and use its video feed? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Chad Dyle

I went thru this last year. I left 30 minutes to get the broadcast up and running but after testing it successfully days before, I was unable to get my Canon A1 to work on THE day. I went with the builtin for the broadcast and it stunk. Too wide. The name of the game is a tight shot of the alter for grandma and grandpa.

You may hit the same (operator err) problem with your HV30. I tested it with the camera in DV mode but of course, for THE day, I set it to record HDV. That was putting out HDV over the firewire and QT broadcaster would not even see the device. I'm not sure about the HV30 but if you plan to record HDV, you probably cannot send SD DV over the firewire at the same time. YMMV

Josh Chesarek · April 17th, 2009, 07:11 AM

You are correct. Most broadcasters cannot understand HDV signal. The only one I know of is Wirecast but it is a $400 program and to use HDV you need a $90 plugin. The way I record HDV and stream DV on my XL-H1A is to record in HDV mode, but then hook up the RCA output to a capture box which then feeds a standard DV signal to my encoder. This allows HDV on cam and DV to the computer. If you do not have a capture box then you just need to run in DV mode and forget about HDV for the camera that is hooked up to the stream. Compressing HDV on the fly to a streaming format is a hell of a task anyways. Most connections and computers that Grandma and Grandpa have will not be able to keep up with it anyways.

February 8th, 2009, 09:59 AM	#1
Chad Dyle Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 410	Live stream a wedding? I have a bride that wants to know if this is possible. Her grandparents are to old to travel and will not be able to make the wedding. The wedding will be at a church with no internet access. I will be able to use an ATT card for my PC/MAC. I was thinking about using Skype to video conference the wedding. I'm not sure how good the built-in camera on my Macbook will look though. I was thinking about buying a nicer ($100) webcam to see if that helps. Can I attach my HV30 and use its video feed? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Chad Dyle __________________ www.chaddyle.com www.chaddyleproductions.com

March 8th, 2009, 06:42 AM	#5
Srinivas Reddy Tourist Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: India Posts: 1	use www.iWedlive.com Hi, we are the team working on iWedlive.com, a web site dedicated to wedding media, streaming, video, and albums. we are still working on the site, the site is perfectly ready for live streaming live wedding video over the internet. Lastly most of the functionalities of the site are FREE subject to fair use. we will be pleased if any of you are interested in live streaming wedding videos and use it to host albums and videos. Thank You iWedlive.com Team

April 17th, 2009, 07:11 AM	#7
Josh Chesarek Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 978	You are correct. Most broadcasters cannot understand HDV signal. The only one I know of is Wirecast but it is a $400 program and to use HDV you need a $90 plugin. The way I record HDV and stream DV on my XL-H1A is to record in HDV mode, but then hook up the RCA output to a capture box which then feeds a standard DV signal to my encoder. This allows HDV on cam and DV to the computer. If you do not have a capture box then you just need to run in DV mode and forget about HDV for the camera that is hooked up to the stream. Compressing HDV on the fly to a streaming format is a hell of a task anyways. Most connections and computers that Grandma and Grandpa have will not be able to keep up with it anyways. __________________ Simple Thought Productions - Life @ 30,000 Words per second

February 8th, 2009, 03:24 PM	#2
Evan Kline New Boot Join Date: May 2008 Location: York, PA Posts: 17	I'm not sure about hardware and connectivity, but also check out a site like stickam.com. I've heard tech types talk about it, and it sounds like it might be designed for the sort of thing you want to do. You might just be able to give out a link (assuming their computer is up to spec with flash, etc.).

February 8th, 2009, 08:37 PM	#3
Glenn Fisher Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bridgewater, NJ Posts: 65	Evan already mentioned Stickam, but I'd like to add two more names to the list: Ustream and Mogulus. I haven't used any of these products, but I know that they are quickly gaining users. Leo Laporte has been broadcasting live video at the same time that he records podcasts over at Twit (his live feed is: twitlive.tv). I believe he's using Stickam for that. Some other podcasters that I follow have used Ustream to do the same thing, and they also have an interactive chat so they can talk to their listeners/watchers. As far as using your HV30, I see no reason why not. I'm not sure how you generally film weddings (assuming that the bride is a client of yours), but as long as the HV30 is not the main camera in your shoot (i.e. constantly moving around) then I see no reason why you couldn't use it to broadcast live. The only issue that you're going to run into is the bandwidth connection over the cellular phone networks. Video takes a lot of upload speed in order to send it out to one of these streaming services, so chances are, the ATT card will not be able to support it (and if it does support it, you might be piping so much data through it that you quickly surpass your monthly alloted bandwidth and find yourself paying overage costs for thousands of dollars!). I would look into your ATT plan to see how much upload bandwidth you're alloted, and if you have enough, then try it out from home using your laptop to stream the video and then another desktop computer to check the quality online. Best of luck! I hope this works out for you!

February 9th, 2009, 05:49 PM	#4
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	possibly the church has a back office with some hi-speed internet connection already. you would just need to bring an access point to connect wireless a laptop. I got very good result with firewire input and windows media encoder, but netmeeting or skype can do as well. the better the video source , and the better the stream, so forget about web cams as good as they are.