Live Event Web Streaming?

[Matt Fowler]

I was just curious if anybody does this and what equipment it take to stream?

Thanks,
Matt

[Kyle Root]

Good topic. I just began experimenting with this 2 weeks ago. I've done some test runs out of my house and plan to do my first ever live wedding webcast on March 6, if I can get access to the network at the church I'm filming at.

If that goes well, I have a reception I'm filming on March 13 that I'm going to broadcast as well.

I use livestream and it works fantastic, based on the runs I did at my house.

[Kyle Root]

Oh, the equipment is just your camera, connecting cable, and a computer with internet.

[Matthew Craggs]

I was recently asked for a quote for the streaming of a series of live events, and I was in the same boat. I didn't know anything, but after about a day of research I was caught up to speed.

What you need in terms of hardware is, quite simply, a computer and a camera.

Then you need someone to provide the streaming service. So your system feeds to signal to the streaming service, then the streaming service feeds it to everyone else.

I am sure there are a million services out there, but I wound up giving the quote using Netro Media because they have calculators on the site where you type in the length, number of visitors, and a few other options to get a pay-per-use cost. So it was easy to quote.

It's really just a matter of hooking up the camera and typing in a few details. I recommend researching a few and signing up for a couple of free trails so you can see for yourself which one you like best.

[Philip Ly]

Hi everyone, I'm the founder and owner of idostream.com and liveeventstream.com.

I just want to chime in on our experience with setting a live stream.
Streaming live on location as you've discovered is no longer so difficult today. But having an internet connection and the right equipment is only half of what you'll need.

There are other factors that needs to be considered as well such as:

1. Technical support both for you and the viewers.

a. Do you have someone you can call if there's a problem with the live stream? Will someone monitor it in real time and let you know if the live stream stops for whatever reason?
The live feed can go down for various reasons, i.e. loose cable, internet connection at venue went down, etc. A live stream is only as good as your weakest link.

b. Do you really want potentially 50-100 viewers calling you if there's a problem when you are already under the gun onsite? People have different computers, firewalls, viruses,
or people simply typed in the password wrong. These people will call you and you will need to deal with them or have a very unhappy customer.


2. A customized experience. Do you have the time to setup a web page with the embedded player, with a wedding guest book and chat application and password protect everything? Livestream and Ustream provides some of these integrated applications but through a generic web interface that doesn't have the feel of a "wedding" or other specialized events.

3. Worldwide delivery. Is the streaming provider you are using a CDN (Content Deliver network?) that has the ability to allow a viewer to watch from anywhere in the world with minimum buffering? You will find that many streaming service providers allows you to stream to a particular server but viewers also connect to that same server. So do you think a viewer watching from India connecting to a server in California will be able to watch with no latency issues?

We are based in Connecticut and I belong to the Connecticut PVA. I've talked to many videographers in order to come up with a solution that is simple to use and that will address all the issues mentioned above.

Our pricing is lower than that of Livestream. There is no monthly fee just a per event fee. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at philiply_at_idostream.com

Philip Ly
Founder & Managing partner
idostream.com