live streaming Archives - Mainstream | Live Video Agency

How to Improve Your Virtual Events: Tips To Drive Audience Engagement

Nick Bacon — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 13:02:32 +0000

This post was originally published on 8/6/19, and was updated on 11/10/22.

“DE-FENCE!” “DE-FENCE!” “Na na na na na na naaaahh!” “Encore!!!”

Whether you’re cheering on your favorite sports team, singing along at a concert or clapping at the end of a presentation, you don’t just experience the events you attend. You’re an active participant. In doing so, you elevate the experience not just for yourself, but for everyone around you. Participation can even alter the outcome of an event. So why is audience interaction such an afterthought when it comes to virtual events?

Making your webcasts interactive is one of our most important tips when it comes to improving your virtual events. Encouraging audience participation creates a more engaged community and a better viewing experience. So let’s take a look at some tips and tools that allow you to do that.

How to improve your virtual events

The basics: chat

One of the most basic ways to improve virtual events is a chat feature. Chat threads connect the audience to other viewers, creating community around your brand’s messages. Connecting viewers demonstrates that they are not in a vacuum: there are others, scattered around the world, who share common interests.

It also gives audience members a chance to engage with your brand directly, by giving them a chance to ask questions, click on any links you share, and more.

While a chat feature is one of the easiest ways to give your virtual events a boost, it does take some time investment on your part. An unmonitored chat feed can easily go awry, and too much chat clutter can overshadow the broadcast itself. Moderation is critical: it’s important to keep discussion healthy, but focused. Through thoughtful input, event producers can guide the conversation. Help steer conversation by establishing clear guidelines upfront about what types of communication will not be allowed.

Pinning a comment to your Facebook Live event keeps the audience focused.

If your webcast is running through social media, then chat is likely already endemic. But if you’re running an event through your website, you might need to leverage a third-party chat app. One embeddable solution we’ve used is Chatroll. Offering both free and paid models, it also includes branding and customization features that enable a live event producer (with some front-end web development chops) to create a chat application that matches brand style guidelines. Also important, audiences can log in with either social credentials, SSO, or a semi-anonymous “Guest” account.

More advanced: Q&A, polling, and real-time feedback

Audience feedback can influence an event’s outcome. Just like when the crowd’s chants drive a baseball player to hit a home run, a skillful event producer can take feedback from the audience and incorporate it into a webcast, making the event work better for everyone watching.

One easy way to gather that feedback? A Q&A feature. Giving attendees a chance to ask questions during your keynote or panel discussions means your event content will be even more tailored to their interests and needs. And it’s an easy add—most of the time, including a Q&A means simply adding 10-15 minutes at the end of your run of show.

If your live stream has natural breaks, like ad rolls or live video playback, then a Floor Director can relay one or two comments to your talent.

What is often overlooked is the best way to send the best questions to your presenters. If your webcast has an in-person component to it, then your digital audience’s questions can integrate seamlessly. Appoint a Q&A moderator who is physically at the event, and when the time comes, pass them the microphone to communicate any questions from your online community.

But if there’s no physical component to your event, it might feel stilted for presenters to scroll through a feed of questions or have an offscreen voice projecting questions. Mainstream normally solves this issue by monitoring questions that come in throughout the event and dropping them in a shared Google Doc. Then, we’ll display the Doc on a reference monitor just offset. An added benefit for this method is that Q&A moderators can be remote, allowing clients to participate from an offsite location.

Polls, another interactive webcast tool, serve a similar purpose to Q&A: they provide a limited set of data back to the presenters, who can analyze and interpret that information during the event. Like Q&A, polls have two components: the question, and the (collective) answer. When incorporating polls into a webcast, be sure to include plenty of time for your audience to respond to the initial survey. At minimum, you’ll want to give attendees 5 minutes to respond to each poll question.

You’ll want to avoid using polls if your poll data has a clear “correct” answer: due to heightened anonymity, polls tend to elicit more mischievous responses. Put simply: expect trolls.

As a webcast production company specializing in interactive content, we have leveraged (or built) many tools for polling, Q&A, and other real-time dynamic data displays. The best tool we’ve used is Sli.do. Importantly, it functions very well on mobile: real-time interactivity works best when it’s coming from a second screen. As with Chatroll, Slido easily embeds on your website. While pricier at $200 – $1,000 per event, Slido’s ease of use makes it worth the price.

The unexpected: unique ideas to improve virtual event engagement

While chat and Q&A are important for any virtual event, we’ve all attended enough events to expect these features at a bare minimum. So how else can we capture our audiences’ attention and get them to interact with us in new ways?

We recently collected unique virtual event ideas from event experts and Mainstream customers around the country, and they did not disappoint. From at-home dance parties to virtual competitions featuring audience voting, leading event planners are finding creative ways to drive audience participation and elevate what virtual events look like.

Check out the full list of ideas here >

Counterpoint: is simple better?

Interactivity creates engagement, but is it worth dividing your audience’s attention? Given too many distractions, your audience can lose focus. An even greater risk is asking your audience to participate by using a second device or looking at a different screen: when they look elsewhere, it can be a challenge to bring them back.

Amazon simplifies the interactive webcast into one screen, combining a live feed with a chat overlay.

Our recommendation is to leverage one activity at a time. Asking too much of your audience will drive them away. Also, focus their attention! For example: when you’re looking for messages in the chat, pin a moderated comment to the top of the chatroom. Afterward, remove the pinned comment. Last, stay away from duplicate tools. Q&A and Chat operate similarly, so only choose one.

Our recommendation is to leverage one activity at a time. Asking too much of your audience will drive them away. And focus their attention! For example: when you’re looking for messages in the chat, pin a moderated comment to the top of the chatroom. Afterward, remove the pinned comment. Last, stay away from duplicate tools. Q&A and chat platforms operate similarly, so only choose one.

What have we learned?

Adding interactivity to your webcasts can help bridge the gap between virtual and physical events. Tools like chat, Q&A, and polling create a more compelling live event experience for your global audience. When producing a webcast, try to leverage the built-in tools available on your platform: comments, live chat, and Reactions are all endemic to a live social experience. Drive optimal engagement through focused interactivity, and your audience will continue to grow.

Mainstream produces professional virtual events that engage, enrich and entertain.

Learn more >

4 Essential Elements of Successful Virtual Fundraising Events

Jon Silver — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 19:44:59 +0000

The past year of pandemic issues forced organizations to get creative with supporter engagement. From distance learning, and work meetings, to weddings, and social gatherings, more and more organizations are turning to virtual events. Non-profits, looking to engage with their supporters and raise funds for noble causes, are no exception. Virtual fundraising can have an impact and raise significant funds without an in-person gathering of supporters. With the right tools, we are helping our clients continue to engage with their supporters and thrive.

1) An Experienced Event Management Partner

With so many moving pieces and a dizzying array of platforms for communication, virtual events can be an intimidating undertaking. Non-profits looking to maintain their efficacy and grow their mission can rely on established and results-driven organizations like Mainstream Media. Mainstream Media simplifies the process of coordinating these types of events and brings the best options to light – creating dazzling events that appeal to donors.

2) Impeccable Organization

Produced by Civics Unplugged, Commence 2030 was a first-of-its-kind celebration of Gen Z “civic superheroes.” These individuals go above and beyond for their communities and “commence” a brighter future for our country’s democracy. The event featured speeches from world leaders: Senator Cory Booker, Andrew Yang (entrepreneur and founder of Move Humanity Forward), and Dwayne Johnson (Hollywood superstar) to name a few. In addition, Audrey Tang (the Digital Minister of Taiwan), participated. Kathy Roth-Douquet (the founder of Blue Star Families, the largest military families network) also spoke.

At the last minute, the event had to pivot from an in-person affair to a virtual gathering. But Commence 2030 did not diminish the lofty goals set for their event just because they went virtual. With impressive celebrities and an in-house events team keeping it all organized, everything came together and went smoothly.

Staying organized with Mainstream Media and using the Tiltify platform, Commence 2030 received dozens of donations throughout the event. With Tiltify’s built-in graphics overlays, the audience stays informed with up-to-the-second donation updates.

“From the ideation phase to the virtual production phase, the team was such a pleasure to work with and validated that virtual events need professional tech production. Overall, this was a huge success, and I would highly recommend using this team for future events.”
– Alexis Fritchy, Event Coordinator

3) Engaging Graphics and Lively Visuals

In 2020, the Project Glimmer hosted their 10 Year Anniversary show. They honored four-time Grammy nominee Jewel and co-host of The View Sunny Hostin with their Star Awards.

The Project Glimmer team had impeccable standards when it came to graphics. Keeping the audience engaged and entertained was a very high priority. Mainstream Media created dozens of dynamic graphic elements: text-to-call tickers, a live donor scroll, and a donation thermometer kept attendees engaged throughout. And some special “visual awesomeness” was a great addition for when they met their fundraising goal. Project Glimmer’s goal was to raise $100,000 during the event; they ended up exceeding it, raising over $125,000!

“Working with Mainstream Media has always been an absolutely easy process. They instantly tuned into the concept & execution of our clients Virtual needs and partnered with us seamlessly.
– Charlie Kennedy, Show Up Events!

4) Integrating Pre-Event and Post-Event Extras

For the Sacred Heart L’esprit de Sacre Coeur, Mainstream Media produced a virtual live stream auction on the GiveSmart platform. The client managed pre-event communications, live and silent auction bidding, and embedded a live streamed video into the platform. Utilizing this “one stop shop” for donors and viewers simplified the process and created a cohesive experience for attendees.

Mainstream Media coordinated a full day of pre-recording at the school with various members of the staff and committee. The videos included remarks from the Head of School, and a prayer given by a sister of the congregation. There was additionally a reflective message from a parent, and committee. Additional bonus extras were provided to VIP attendees, such as a cocktail recipe and demonstration video by a mixologist. Furthermore, an integrated virtual photobooth encouraged attendees to engage with the event and share it across their social channels. Families enjoyed taking fun pictures, and the resulting images provide useful marketing opportunities. To top it all off, attendees took home a virtual “SWAG Kit” to remember the event. As a result of all these efforts, the event exceeded the client’s goal and raised over $520,000.

The Valerie Fund benefit is typically hosted in a luxury New York City ballroom, with black-tie fashion and exquisite floral centerpieces. Major donors attend The Taste of Giving annual event and all funds raised go towards assisting children fighting cancer. Mainstream Media worked with The Valerie Fund’s webhosting team to stream right on their website. With an integrated donation button and chat feature, viewers could comment about live donations, and react to videos. Donors were even able to give well wishes to Valerie Fund kids.

The live stream event was supported with a graphics package that paid tribute to the beauty of the live event. Mainstream also incorporated glamorous pictures from past events and produced graphics with the feel of an in-person event. A celebrity auctioneer and a live auction bidding organization to host a live auction ensure success of meeting fundraising goals. Overall, The Valerie Fund exceeded their goal and raised over $1,000,000 at this event.

“I chose Mainstream to do my most important NYC fundraiser when I had take it virtual. Lauren, my producer, guided me through with all of the right questions. She listened to my ideas and was a wonderful collaborator who validated my concerns. We raised over a million dollars to help the kids with cancer and blood disorders. Our guests are still talking about how great it was, despite not being in the room together.”
– Lori Abrams, Director of Development

During these uncertain times, it’s more important than ever for organizations to keep their supporters involved and informed. You should hire the right production partner and use engaging graphics. So, if you provide a seamless guest experience , virtual events can enjoy the same benefits of in-person events. Clearly from the client testimonials above, Mainstream Media helps clients succeed in meeting fundraising goals and audience engagement. Online fundraising events don’t have to be intimidating, and don’t have to be a struggle. Hiring an expert like Mainstream Media makes it easy to clarify messaging and engage with supporters to achieve results.

Using YouTube for Corporate Webcasting

Nick Bacon — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 17:37:38 +0000

When was the last time your best friend sent you a YouTube video? Did you watch it? (Maybe a better question: how many times did you watch it, and how often do you quote it to each other now?)

What about the last time your boss sent you a YouTube video? Did you watch it? (If you did, probably not for more than a few seconds, right?)

YouTube is still the number one tool for video of all types. Despite its positioning as a consumer-based tool, there are many situations where it works very well in a corporate environment. Specifically, its webcasting functionalities fit very nicely into a corporate digital ecosystem. As a free-to-use tool, considering YouTube as an option for your next corporate webcast may save your company hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Here are some reasons to think about using YouTube for corporate webcasting:

Security

Let’s address the elephant in the room: security. As a public platform, YouTube is not designed to be a completely secure system. If you need to truly limit access, or the material you are broadcasting is sensitive, then YouTube is not the right platform to use.

The threshold for “sensitive data” is unique to each company. Companies that are publicly traded are required to report quarterly financial data, while most private companies would not consider sharing financial metrics with anyone but the highest-level employees. Every company is different.

YouTube offers three different levels of privacy for all its videos and webcasts:

Public videos are searchable, appear in your channel feed, and can be shared with anyone.
Unlisted videos do not appear in search or your channel feed, though they can still be shared with anyone and added to public playlists.
Private videos are only accessible to approved Google accounts; an administrator needs to invite individual users to access the video.

Taken from the YouTube support forums. Thanks Google!

For many events, simply creating an Unlisted YouTube video is often secure enough. This introduces enough of a barrier to keep uninvited guests away: the only way to gain access is by the host or attendee sharing access information. In that regard, its security is essentially as rigorous as any password-protected content.

Bandwidth & Firewalls

If you are employed at an educational institution, a government office, or anywhere requiring a security clearance, then your company likely has a corporate firewall preventing access to YouTube. In this scenario, YouTube (or any public video platform) is unlikely to be a solution: you will need to use an internal webcasting platform, such as Adobe Connect, Blue Jeans, Zoom, Skype, or something built internally.

Corporate webcasts (gasp) can actually be fun events!

As a live stream production company, we often assess our clients firewall settings prior to an event to determine whether a public platform would work. In situations where infrastructure will not support utilization of a public webcasting tool, we have built our own internal webcasting platform. Contact us for a demo!

Another important consideration is the number of concurrent viewers onsite watching the webcast. For the purpose of this question, “concurrent viewer” is defined as a single device playing back the live stream during its scheduled broadcast time. “Device” as opposed to “human being” is an extremely important distinction, because it’s the device that consumes bandwidth. From a bandwidth-perspective, there’s no difference between 100 people watching on a projector versus one person watching on their laptop. But 100 people watching on their phone will consume 100x as much downstream bandwidth.

100 people watching the same live stream consumes as much bandwidth as one person!

To Chat or Not to Chat?

There is no denying that chat can be a double-edged sword. Left unchecked and in the face of surprising or divisive content, it can sow seeds of discord. But companies who trust their audience can engender goodwill by enabling collective conversation through the means of a moderated chat.

(If you do not trust your audience, then perhaps using chat is even more important for you: it can provide you with valuable insights on morale while encouraging you to understand and trust your employees more. Don’t fear the trolls!)

YouTube’s chat feature provides a basic level of interaction that encourages audience participation. Since it requires Google account access, the veil of anonymity is translucent at best: you more or less know who is saying what. Basic moderation tools allow you to control the conversation to an extent, though over-utilization can ultimately backfire.

Examples: when to use YouTube as a corporate webcast platform, and which level of privacy to use

Having produced thousands of corporate webcasts, Mainstream has a good sense of what will and will not work for the platform. Here are some of our suggestions:

Public Events

Product launches. Your team has worked hard to launch a new product. Share its launch publicly and let them show off their work!
Press conferences. Especially announcing new partnerships or spokespeople, as these create an opportunity to co-mingle your network with new blood.
Fireside chats/panel discussions. Public conversations with corporate executives that showcase the human side of an enterprise can engender goodwill both with your community and beyond your walls.
Award ceremonies. Publicly acknowledging your team, even for an internal award, creates goodwill within your team’s social network. And for prospective recruits, it’s a great way to showcase your healthy corporate culture!

Unlisted Events

Town Halls. An unlisted event on YouTube creates a laid-back atmosphere where employees can feel empowered to ask questions with leadership that they might normally not feel comfortable asking. Since it’s unlisted, it’s still a “safe space” to have a conversation.
Executive announcements. Not all executive announcements are fit for public consumption, nor do they fit within the public-facing feed of your YouTube channel. Still, leveraging an unlisted YouTube event as opposed to an event license on a private platform such as On24 or MediaPlatform could save your company thousands of dollars per broadcast.
Financial reporting (for public companies). Creating an unlisted event to report your company’s quarterly financials helps a corporation control its messaging and conversation. By inviting key media figures to participate in the unlisted YouTube live stream, you can potentially cut down on pirate content streams.
Training. Most people learn and build their skills by watching YouTube videos. Rather than writing endless product guides or manuals, encourage the educators in your company to create unlisted YouTube live streams to train others on new skills. You can also do this with customers, offering training sessions with product developers or support specialists.
Internal events. Streaming keynotes, internal conferences, conversations, or even team parties can foster community growth, especially if you have multiple offices scattered across the globe.
Employee Recognition. Build trust across your departments by having standout employees explain their work and why it’s important. Let the Sales team ask questions of your top Marketing Specialists, or your Customer Support team chat with Product Development. With a more holistic understanding of your company and its products, everyone wins.

Private Events

Personnel or Administrative Changes. Commenting is disabled for private events, so any event where the news could be controversial – such as mass layoffs, mergers/acquisitions, restructuring, or relocation – works better as a completely private event.

A Comprehensive (And Animated!) Guide to Live Streaming Setups

Nick Bacon — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 20:52:54 +0000

Determining Your Optimal Setup for a 1-Camera Live Stream

While the majority of Mainstream Media’s live streams are multi-camera configurations, there are numerous situations where only one camera is needed. Events such as online learning modules, press conferences, electronic news gathering, and internal corporate broadcasts can be really successful with a simple one-camera setup.

If you have been asked to produce a one-camera webcast for your company – or you just want to cover a cool event that’s coming to your town – but don’t know where to begin, fear not! We’ll walk you through everything you need to know in order to have a successful broadcast.

The Fundamental Setup

First, let us quickly dissect exactly what is required in order to broadcast a camera feed online.

Ultimately, the camera at your event needs to communicate with your streaming platform of choice in real time. Below, we will look at various setups as determined by your initial equipment.

First: cameras! We’ve included a few important reminders for each type of camera.

Choosing the right camera for your live event

It’s not always the case that you need a full HD broadcast camera to cover your live event. Sometimes, even a simple web camera will do. Or perhaps you’re limited to the technology your media services department has on-hand. Whatever the case may be, fear not! We’ll go over setups for webcams, DSLRs, smartphones, and broadcast cameras.

Option 1: A USB Webcam

If you’re using a USB webcam, you are probably planning on broadcasting webcasts or webinars that offer training or online learning courses. Chances are, you’re expecting a concurrent audience – that is, viewers simultaneously watching your live stream – of fewer than 100 people.

In order to ensure proper connectivity with your USB webcam, make sure that you have downloaded the most recent drivers for your device. If you plan on capturing audio through your webcam, confirm that the microphone works, too!

Option 2: a DSLR (such as the Panasonic GH2/GH3/GH4, Canon 5D, Sony A7s, or others)

Using a DSLR? By our estimation, that means you’re likely covering an event such as a wedding, a local music show, a live event, or an internal corporate broadcast. You may also be exploring long-form live streamed content, streaming a particular space for hours, days, or even weeks on end.

First of all, it is important to make sure that your DSLR has clean HDMI output. Many DSLRs now include this, but some- notably, Canon DSLRs – require third-party firmware such as Magic Lantern. Install at your own risk and make sure you’re comfortable with the new setup before your event begins!

Next, you’ll need to determine what type of output your camera has. There are three options: micro-HDMI, mini-HDMI, and standard HDMI.

Option 3: Smartphone

Perhaps you’re offering floor coverage a cool event, exploring a new art gallery opening, streaming your favorite band (with their permission of course!), or just connecting with your digital fan base. Whatever the reason, smart phones now have a plethora of live streaming tools at their disposal!

Prior to broadcast, make sure you are on WiFi with great upload speeds (for an HD broadcast, you should have greater than 5Mbps). While you can broadcast from a 4G/LTE connection, streaming consumes your data very quickly.

Check your bandwidth by using SpeedTest, and run the test multiple times to get a better sense of your average upload speeds.

Also: consider investing in an external microphone and a stabilizer. Your audience will really appreciate the added production value!

Option 4: Broadcast Camera

It’s a high-profile event, and you’re bringing the best gear you have. Or maybe you’re stuck at the back of a room and you’re relying on your broadcast camera’s low-light ability and its big zoom. Either way, you’re broadcasting in full HD and you’re not going to miss a single second!

Because you are likely far away from the presenter, plan on bringing some additional audio elements to handle capturing sound. Often, the venue will be able to run you an XLR from their house mixing booth; if you run this into your camera, you’ll be able to capture all speakers exactly as they’re being output in the venue. Just in case, make sure you bring your audio adapters, an extra XLR run, and (if possible) a wireless lavaliere transmitter and receiver set.

Next: let’s select your platform!

Selecting the Right Platform for your Event

In order to determine the correct live streaming platform for your event, ask yourself these questions:

Is your event private or public?
Will you require user registration, password-protection, or paywalls?
Does your IT department already have a platform in place?

If your company does not already have a platform in place, then follow the guide below for selecting the one that suits your event best.

Live Event Streamed to the Public

With a public event, you are hoping for as many viewers as possible. The last thing you want is for your viewers to crash the stream because you’ve run out of bandwidth, so let’s look at platforms that support unlimited viewers. In our view, here are the three best options:

YouTube is the top choice so long as you do not have copyrighted content and you’re ad-free. It’s free to use, you can embed your stream on your website as easily as you would any other YouTube video, and their servers will never crash.

If you have concerns with copyrighted content or that your content might conflict with YouTube’s Terms of Service, you can consider Livestream. The basic plan is free, though your users will be required to sign up for a Livestream account. Premium accounts, which allow you to embed the stream on your website, cost $199/month billed annually or $399/month monthly.

If your content is related to either music or gaming, then Twitch is a great option. Twitch has a highly active community of stream-watchers, is free to use, and is very straightforward to set up.

Of course, there are many other live streaming platforms available. When deciding which one to use, you should choose based on your audience: where will they be most comfortable? What platforms are they already using? Make it as simple for them as possible!

Live Streaming a Private Event

Depending on how private your event is, you have a few different options. For example, you can still use YouTube if your event is private: simply change the access from “public” to “unlisted”, and turn off “promote when this event is live”. Then embed it on a page on your website, and direct all traffic there.

If you need further protection – such as a paywall, or password-protection – we recommend DaCast. Their plans start as low as $25/month, though you’ll likely need to purchase additional bandwidth if you’re expecting a large audience.

For an event that is exclusively internal to your corporation, such as a CEO town hall, consider an enterprise webcasting solution such as MediaPlatform. Their Webcaster platform, for example, allows you to collect registrations, deploy Powerpoint slides and live chats, and many more features that would be of value for an internal corporate broadcast. However, these platforms are comparatively expensive, often costing in the thousands of dollars for single events.

Direct Connection to Fans

If you want your fans to look behind the scenes with you, then your best bet is a phone-based app like Periscope or Meerkat. These apps, which caught on in a big way in 2015, tie directly into your social feeds (in particular Twitter) and encourage you to interact with your audience while you’re broadcasting.

For a more intimate connection with your fans – maybe you’re sitting at your computer, rather than attending a major awards ceremony – you can set up a simple Google Hangout and invite them to attend. By the way, you can run Google Hangouts through YouTube – so you can talk with some of your audience directly while others simply spectate. And it’s archived on your YouTube channel automatically, as well!

Okay, you have your camera and you’ve chosen your platform. But in between lies a challenge – how do you connect the two? For that, we’ll need to select a capture device.

Selecting the Proper Capture Device for your Camera

Roving Cameras

If you need to stay mobile – for example, side-line coverage of a sports event, field reporting or electronic news gathering – then you can use an on-camera encoder to send your signal where it needs to go. For this, there’s really only one clear choice: the Teradek VidiU Pro. Technically, it’s not a capture device – it handles the capture, encoding, and streaming of your feed all-in-one. While it is costly ($999), it offers the ability to stream your camera feed via WiFi, ethernet, or 4G/LTE (via a USB modem, not included) directly to any platform of your choice. This includes uStream, Livestream, YouTube, and any platform that accepts an RTMP stream.

If you’re using an SDI camera, you might need to go with the more costly Teradek Cube, unless you feel comfortable converting your SDI feed to HDMI.

Stationary

You’re settling in for a long day of conference live streaming. You have your camera set up at the back of the room, and you’re on the edge of your seat awaiting the first keynote speaker. If you won’t be moving around, then you can feed your camera into a capture device such as the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle or Blackmagic Mini Monitor.

For PCs, we recommend using the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle or Blackmagic Ultrastudio SDI, depending on your camera. These offer USB3 connections from your camera to your computer.

For Macs, use the Blackmagic Mini Recorder, which have Thunderbolt connections.

Note: there are many types of capture devices available. Avoid the temptation of purchasing low-cost or generic devices: these regularly have issues with latency, or cause the audio and video to drift slowly apart. We recommend Blackmagic devices because we have never experienced these issues using them.

Encoding your Signal

Whether you’re using a Mac or a PC, capturing the camera feed is only half the battle. the other half is encoding that feed for your platform of choice. (If you’re using a webcam, you’ll also need to use one of these encoders.)

With only one camera and no switching needed, you can feel safe using Adobe’s Flash Media Live Encoder. Select the appropriate input, type in your platform information, and then enjoy the fruits of your labor.

If, however, you need to do some occasional switching – maybe throwing in a “thanks for watching” graphic, or an occasional video, then you should plan on using WireCast. While costly ($500 for the basic version), WireCast is the de facto industry standard. It’s a great piece of software, and fairly intuitive to figure out. WireCast also offers other bonuses, such as being able to pull in smart phone feeds, a robust screen capture system called Desktop Presenter, and even social media integration with a live Twitter plugin.

As with all other categories, there are other encoding options available – notably, XSplit and Open Broadcaster System, which are both open-source encoders – but we believe WireCast and Adobe FMLE are straightforward enough that anyone can produce a simple broadcast with only a few hours’ training.

That’s it for this blog post! Thanks for sticking with us. As always, you can e-mail us at info@mainstreamchicago.com if you have any questions, concerns, or comments.

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Lessons Learned from Streaming a Summer’s Worth of Live Events

Nick Bacon — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 17:27:27 +0000

Top 5 Lessons we Learned from Streaming this Summer’s Live Events

The past few months have seen us busier than we have ever been before. Producing live streams on a nearly continuous basis has not left us much time to update our blog – sorry about that!

Having live-streamed weddings, brand relaunches, political events & town halls, live music, and graduation ceremonies (all in the last 6 weeks), we have learned some brand new lessons and reinforced older ones. We have also had the opportunity to work with amazingly talented people with decades of experience in event production, running the gamut from IT Directors to seasoned television engineers to marketing specialists. Over the next few months, we plan to have many of them sit down and chat with us so that we can impart their wisdom through our blog – you’ll see posts about Tricasters, intricate camera chain setups, the marketing side of running a service-based agency, and much much more. So stay tuned!

While those posts are coming, today we would like to focus on the valuable lessons about live-streaming and event production that we have learned over the last few months. And so, let us begin!

Lesson 1: Audio Adapters are your Best Friends.

Ah, Radio Shack. How we miss thee. Gone are the days where, while on production, you could casually stroll to your neighborhood electronics store to pick up spare connectors. In this post-Shack world, putting together a complete audio connector kit and carrying it with you to every event is of the utmost importance.

It’s been stressed many times by countless people, but getting good audio at an event is so, so important. An audience can tolerate lower-resolution video; they cannot abide inferior audio.

Unless your team is personally responsible for the entire audio run, you need to be prepared for any sort of connection the venue or audio vendor might send to you. While you can hope that it’s a balanced XLR feed, that might not be the case!

Here’s what’s included in our audio connector kit:

1/8″ to XLR
1/8″ f-f coupler
1/8″ m-f extension cable – 20′
1/8″ to 1/4″
1/8″ to RCA
1/4″ to 1/8″
1/4″ to XLR
XLR m-m coupler
XLR f-f coupler
XLR Y-cable
XLR cables – 15′ and 25′ (which you can daisy-chain if needed)
BONUS: Wireless transmitter/receiver (such as the Sennheiser G2 or G3
DOUBLE BONUS: shotgun mic
TRIPLE BONUS: field recorder such as the Tascam DR-40

With this setup, we have been able to save several productions by piece-mealing together a high-quality audio run. And here it is, all assembled, in one Amazon wishlist!

Lesson 2: Measure Twice, Cut Once

This old carpenter’s adage certainly applies to live event production, as well. When we live stream an event, we typically have two deliverables: (1) the live stream itself and (2) a line cut, or recording, of the broadcast. When you put in the work up front, it’s much more likely that your project is complete once you deliver the line cut. If you don’t, chances are you will have to make changes after the event is over – swapping in ISO recordings from the cameras, removing errant graphics, and so on.

If you are pulling in feeds from other vendors – say, an audio feed from the house A/V, or a Powerpoint presentation from a speaker’s computer – be perfectly clear about what you need for your broadcast. Rather than asking for “a feed from the computer”, ask for “a 16×9 feed via HDMI with embedded audio mirroring the exact display of the computer desktop.” And once you are on site, verify that you are getting exactly what you need.

As an example: this year, we produced the live pre-show to the Chicago legs of the Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well Tour. Produced on behalf of Live Alliance and LiveList, it was imperative that our pre-show match the superb quality of the shows that both those organizations regularly produce. Our line producer Charlie Fritschner did an outstanding job leading a team of segment producers, camera operators, and on-air talent every day, giving us detailed breakdowns of every minute of each show. Because of his hard work (and YouTube Live’s instantaneous auto-archiving), our job was done as soon as the pre-show was over.

Two additional tips to ensure you won’t have to re-edit your line cut: (1) Always get graphics pre-approved by the client prior to air, and (2) have multiple people double-check for typos.

In sum: preparing your event in excruciating detail ahead of time drastically reduces the amount of work you will have to do on the backend.

Matt Koerner, our on-air talent, prepares for the live show.

Lesson 3: Record Everything, Everywhere

Murphy’s Law, as applied to live event production, is as follows: “that which is not backed up will fail.”

To that end, it’s important to record all media at multiple points so as to ensure you are fully prepared in case of emergency. More often than not, you won’t need to access your recordings – but they’re always good to have.

For us, we have learned to always record ISO shots on each camera and audio straight from the mixer (prior to it feeding into one of our cameras). We also always get backup copies of Powerpoint files and digital graphics. And if we’re on a multi-cam shoot, we capture source audio from our B- and C- cameras as well.

As a quick aside: if you’re working in a venue that cannot provide adequate bandwidth to stream a full HD broadcast, it’s great to offer HD remasters for archival. With proper backup recordings, this is fairly simple to execute!

Lesson 4: Embrace Technology

When people ask if we can do something we have never attempted before, we almost always respond with a qualified “yes.” We appreciate the challenge, and love adding new tools to our tool belt.

Given enough time before an event, it is certainly possible to learn enough about a given technology to implement it. Lead time is important: you need to make sure you have adequate time to fully research, develop, and test a new idea. Because people approach us weeks or even months before their event begins, we can be confident in our ability to fully execute a new idea.

That said, it’s important not to over-burden yourself with ideas or processes that you have not used before. To that end, we often institute the “one new thing” approach – for every event, we allow ourselves to explore one new process. With only one independent variable, we can rely on the strength of our workflow and quickly troubleshoot anything that surprises us.

One example: during a recent graduation ceremony live stream, we were asked to stream a clean feed to an overflow room. The room was several hundred yards away from our control room, which would make a traditional cable run very challenging. Because the client brought the idea to us well in advance, we were able to work through a solution with them ahead of time. All it took was adding one $100 piece of equipment to our signal flow, and voila! Everything worked just fine. We have since used that piece of equipment on multiple occasions since then.

Lesson 5: Learn All The Things

Video production often puts you in the unique position of interviewing subject matter experts, giving you unfettered access to highly specific knowledge. Similarly, producing live events gives you behind-the-scenes access to events and locations for which people travel all over the world. Maintaining a thirst for knowledge and genuinely appreciating the opportunity to learn from experts keeps us passionate about the work that we do. Never take that for granted!

Conclusion

While it has certainly been a busy summer for us, we continue to look forward to producing more live streams over the ensuing months. We have been extraordinarily lucky to work with very talented folks and we will continue to learn from them. And we will certainly share what we have learned with all of you!

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Field of Streams: Comparing 4 Remote Live Streaming Methods for 2015

Nick Bacon — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 22:08:06 +0000

In a perfect world, all live stream productions occur in a controlled environment, away from the elements, with access to an ultra-fast and ultra-reliable Internet connection. The world we live in, however, is not perfect. Broadcasters are regularly asked to stream HD content from remote locations and in less-than-ideal conditions. Last year, we received such a request: to stream a massive parade on the Southside of Chicago. While that particular project didn’t pan out, we spent many hours researching remote broadcasting. And we would love to share that research with you!

Besides parades, there are numerous outdoor events that might call for special broadcasting tactics. These include:

Music festivals, such as Lollapalooza;
Political rallies or field reporting from national events, such as the Ferguson protests;
Sports, including mainstream, alternative, and e-sports;
And many, many more!

There are many methods to send a broadcast signal, and we’ve chosen to go over a few broad categories. Special thanks to Reddit’s /r/videoengineering community and the broadcast experts mentioned below for their input!

Remote Broadcasting Options

Option 1: Run a dedicated line from a local business or building

If your event is near a friendly building, you can run an Ethernet line from their hub. The maximum distance for an Ethernet cable run is 90 meters, or roughly 295 feet.

This is the least expensive solution for a remote broadcast. If you’re familiar with setting up live streams inside a building, then the process is essentially the same. However, there are several issues to be aware of:

Internet speeds can fluctuate depending on the network pull. If you’re coming from an office with many employees, you might see your bandwidth reduce dramatically over the course of your event.
You will need to run a full test before the event: make sure there are no corporate Firewalls blocking your streaming platform or limiting your upstream bandwidth!
You will need access to the building, which might be difficult to coordinate during your event. Make sure to discuss this very clearly!
You will also need to secure your cable run – make sure your Ethernet cable is protected from the elements!

Option 2: Use a 3G/4G/LTE mobile hot-spot

If there are no businesses nearby, you could simply turn your phone into a mobile hotspot. (Here is a great explanation on how to do that). This is by far the easiest solution, but also the least reliable.
Here’s the thing about public events: a lot of people show up. With so many folks pulling signal from the same cell phone antenna, you will find it difficult to produce a steady, reliable stream. There just isn’t enough bandwidth.

Additionally, broadcasting uses lots of data. This can result in expensive overcharges on your cell phone bill.

(Check out our calculator to find out how much bandwidth your event will use!)

Best advice: use with caution, only if there are no other options, and not at a well-attended event.

Option 3: Cellular Bonding

Put simply: cellular bonding is when you split your broadcast signal over several cellular networks. (For a more technical explanation, check out this article over at TVTechnology.

While technically more complicated and expensive than the previous options, cellular bonding is much more reliable. If you have mission-critical broadcasts that are going straight to the web, cellular bonding is the best solution.

One thing to keep in mind: you will need to get data plans with multiple cellular networks. According to Mushroom Networks’ CEO Cahit Jay Akin, “clients can use anywhere from 2 to 8 3G/4G cell cards, depending on their project requirements, but [we] recommend no fewer than 4 cell cards.”

Mushroom Networks, Teradek, and others produce cellular bonding hardware. Again, according to Akin:

The Streamer by Mushroom Networks provides a transparent bonded tunnel that works seamlessly with your existing streaming setup. The solution comes pre-configured, so all you need to do is to unplug that imaginary wired Internet cable and plug the Ethernet cable from the Streamer.

Mushroom also has the Streamer PRO version that comes with a built-in adaptive state of the art encoder, so that you can plug a video connector directly and webcast to the CDN of your choice.

Option 4: Rent a Satellite Truck

If you are delivering your live feed to broadcast networks as well as the web, you might consider going the traditional broadcast route: renting a production truck and broadcasting via satellite.
To touch simply on a very complicated subject, satellite works by beaming your signal to a satellite (your “uplink”) and then back down to an ingest location (the “downlink”). Each link requires specialized equipment, which can be very expensive: a day’s truck rental in Chicago can cost anywhere from $2,500 to well over $10,000 (depending on volume, availability, and complexity of broadcast).

There are multiple bands from which you can broadcast, with the most common being Ku-band, C-band, and Ka-band. Here is a white paper that offers a full comparison of the various satellite bands.

Dan Biggar, Executive Vice President at Satellite Technology Systems, has this to say:

Ku-band is 99% reliable. Once in a great while if you have a strong storm cell with heavy rain it could wipe out your signal either at the uplink or downlink location. Rain fade usually clears within 10 minutes… Also for a few days in the Spring and Fall you can get a solar outage when the rays of the sun line up directly with the receiver dish.

C Band is 99.9% reliable. There is no rain fade with C Band. If there was a catastrophic failure with the truck you could lose the feed but that is rare. On some big money major sporting events aired on Broadcast TV the network will book a second satellite truck as backup.”

It’s also important to book your satellite time well in advance. Biggar notes, “on a major news day like the US Presidential election, all the KU satellite space gets booked up a month in advance.”

Satellite rental is recommended for mission-critical events.

Ranking your Remote Broadcasting Options

Every crew and every production is different. As such, the method you choose for your remote broadcast will depend on a variety of factors. In an effort to help you streamline your decision-making process, here are our rankings for each method, according to cost, complexity, and reliability.

Cost

Your options can range from under $100 to into the tens of thousands. Choose the option right for your budget!

Dedicated line from local building – under $100. Just convince someone nearby to let you top into their high-speed Internet, grab for your 90m Ethernet cable, and you’re all set!
4G modem – under $100 depending on total data broadcast. (Verizon charges $15/GB – be careful!)
Cellular bonding – around $3,000 for the hardware, plus data plans with 2-8 mobile networks. The hardware is a one-time cost.
Satellite truck – starts around $2,500 per link (and you’ll likely need an uplink and downlink), plus satellite rental time (upwards of $450/hour).

Complexity

To understand the complexity of a given solution, you must have knowledge of that solution’s failure points. While initial set up for each solution is straightforward, being able to troubleshoot on the fly can be difficult. Keep that in mind when using new technology!

4G modem – Simply turn your smartphone into a wi-fi hotspot and you’re all set! (Just don’t expect to have reliable, consistent bandwidth.)
Dedicated line – You’ll need to coordinate with the building’s IT department, but this is quotidian for live stream producers.
Satellite truck – Sat trucks can become complicated, but the engineering side is pretty straightforward – and some include an engineer/operator for the day!
Cellular bonding – Pre-configured out of the box, cellular bonding hardware is simple to navigate. What’s difficult and annoying is setting up data plans with multiple networks. Furthermore, some cellular bonding solutions require setting up server software, such as Teradek’s Sputnik Server.

Reliability

It does not matter how cost-friendly or easy-to-setup your solution is if it doesn’t produce good results. For mission-critical events with hundreds or thousands of anticipated viewers, reliability is the most important factor!

Satellite truck – If your pockets are deep, then satellite trucks are the way to go. Trust the solution that’s been trusted by giants of industry for decades.
Cellular bonding – While 4G/LTE bonding is comparatively new, the technology is mature and reliable.
Dedicated line – It works great if you have unfettered access to the host, but there are many failure points – long cable runs, potential inaccessibility, and network fluctuations, to name a few.
4G modem – It’s almost guaranteed that your signal will drop out at some point – and broadcasting in full HD is completely out of the question.

Conclusion – and a bonus gift!

Hopefully, we have been able to take some of the mystery out of remote broadcasting for you. Have more questions? Feel free to e-mail us (info@mainstreamchicago.com) and we will do our best to respond right away!

As a bonus, we’ve created this bandwidth cost calculator to help you determine your budget. This is meant more as an estimate that an exact amount, but hopefully it helps!

[CP_CALCULATED_FIELDS id=”6″]

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The Must-Use Tools for Live Stream Production

Nick Bacon — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 00:05:43 +0000

With innovative products and platforms in the field of live streaming emerging at an exponential rate, it’s tough to keep up with what works, what doesn’t, and what might if it got a little bit more love. With that in mind, we compiled this review of some of our favorite tools of the trade!

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Hardware

Blackmagic Decklink Mini Recorder

Why? Over the last few years, the cost of live stream production has plummeted, largely thanks to technical innovations from companies such as Blackmagic. Gone are the days where complicated switcher setups are required just to perform a simple 2- or 3-camera stream. With HD-SDI and HDMI inputs, the Blackmagic Decklink Mini Recorder is a powerful tool – and at under $150, the price is hard to beat!

Best for: Custom-built live streaming computers (you need to plug it into the PCIe slot on your motherboard)

Not recommended for: Folks streaming from laptops, or who require an output feed from their capture card.

Worth mentioning: Don’t have a PCIe slot? Just get a Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle (USB3 or Thunderbolt)!

Runner up: Teradek Bolt Pro

Why? Oftentimes, the most time-consuming and frustrating aspect of live production is running, hiding, and securing the miles and miles of cable necessary to connect all your components. The Teradek Bolt Pro removes the need for big cable runs, and at a reasonable cost (under $2,000) it’s affordable for most production companies.

Best for: events where running cable might be problematic, like live music events; events that require lots of camera movement within a compact space

Not recommended for: long events (the internal battery on the Bolt Pro lasts about an hour, although it has a 0B 302 series LEMO connector for external power); events where line-of-sight between receiver and transmitter may be compromised by structural elements

Worth mentioning: Teradek makes three models of the Bolt Pro: the 300, 600, and 2000 – with the number corresponding to the total range (in feet) of the device.

Software

Wirecast 5

Why? Wirecast is the de facto standard for live streaming software, and has been in the game for a very long time. Wirecast 5 can stream to any live encoding platform with the exception of New Livestream, and offers fully manual control over everything from the resolution to the bit-rate and everything in between. With up to 5 layers of elements, you can create rich, engaging broadcasts very intuitively. You can even pull other RTMP feeds as an input!

Best for: Anyone who wants to produce a live stream on any platform other than New Livestream.

Not recommended for: New Livestream users.

Worth mentioning: 5 had a good run, but was lacking in some key features. Wirecast 6, which came out in November 2014, added pretty much everything Wirecast 5 was missing: playlists, instant replay, a Twitter feed, and better hot keying!

Runner up: Livestream Studio

Why? Okay, we’ll admit it. Livestream Studio is really great live streaming software. Its interface feels like a sexy control room, you can output to any platform you want, and it comes standard with everything that Wirecast was lacking. While it’s a bit of a resource-hog, it’s a fully capable live streaming solution and would make for a smooth transition for anyone coming from the analog broadcast world.

Best for: New Livestream users, broadcast engineers

Not recommended for: Mac users (there’s no Mac version), any computers that aren’t top-of-the-line or custom-built.

Worth mentioning: Unlike Wirecast, Livestream Studio does NOT give you fine control over resolution and bit-rates of your stream. Rather, it comes with several output profiles from which you can choose. Annoyingly, you can’t output a single HD stream.

Camera

Sony EX-1r

Why? This camera is a workhorse. Arriving on the scene in 2009, you still find these cameras in the field everywhere, and for good reason. Its low light capabilities are top-notch, the zoom is nice and smooth, and we’ve never experienced any back focus issues as with other similarly priced camcorders. One of the first cameras to feature dual-slot recording, you could record for an entire day and never even have to switch out cards!

Best for: ENG production, camera rental facilities, press conferences, back-of-the-room event videography

Not recommended for: cinematic production

Worth mentioning: While the EX-1r uses annoying expensive SxS cards, a simple SxS->SDHC adapter allows you to use SD cards! It also pairs well with the Teradek Bolt Pro, as both can run off the same battery for around 3 hours.

Runner up: Panasonic GH2/GH3

Why? The Panasonic GH2 is a phenomenally versatile camera with an excellent community of support, but one of its best features is probably its most overlooked: clean HDMI output. With the ability to give crystal-clear, 1080p, menu-free video from its mini HDMI port, the GH2 is a great camera for folks looking for a simple one-camera HD live streaming setup. The only downside: it won’t output audio, so you’ll need to figure out an alternative method to run audio into your computer.

Best for: Folks looking to upgrade from webcams or consumer camcorders like the Canon Vixia HFS200; b- or c-cam shots.

Worth mentioning: Because quality degrades rapidly over HDMI, you shouldn’t use an HDMI cable longer than 10 feet for any HD broadcast.

Video Streaming Platform

YouTube Live

Why? Another major contributor to the decrease in cost of live streaming, YouTube is the first major platform to offer its services completely free. As of December 2013, any YouTube account in good standing is eligible for live streaming. And it’s free to embed!

Best for: Branding your live content and embedding in your website

Worth mentioning: As discussed in this previous post, be VERY CAREFUL if your broadcast contains any copyrighted music. You might get yanked from the air!

Also worth mentioning: Like other platforms, YouTube Live occasionally struggles with audio and video sync issues if you’re using the x264 codec. We recommend sticking with h.264 for now.

Runner up: DaCast

Why? DaCast is a true white-labelled platform. For an incredibly low cost (about 5-10% of what other platforms charge), you can embed ad-free streams directly into your website. While the analytics are still questionable at best, DaCast is a truly powerful platform at a very attractive price point.

Best for: Regular production of live events with audiences <100

Worth mentioning: While DaCast does have the ability to create multi-bitrate streams, your computer has to output each stream separately. This puts a greater burden on your computer – so be careful!

Also worth mentioning: We really, really would love to see DaCast implement DVR sometime in the near future. Everyone else does it! C’mon, DaCast!

Communication Platform

Twitter

Why? Because of this:

Got a shoutout on @Toontrack live stream of Devin Townsend’s concert today. Indeeeeeed #Ziltoid #toontrackmetalmonth pic.twitter.com/F6nU5JqhIf

— Storyboard Concept (@storybconcept) November 27, 2014

With more platforms adopting Twitter APIs to allow for broadcast integration, Twitter is the go-to way to have a live discussion with a global audience about your event. Bonus points if you’re able to show their tweets on screen!

Best for: Quick interactions with fans, media, or interested parties Worth mentioning: Hashtagging your event and building up a conversation takes time – make sure to engage with your audience regularly before, during, and after your event!

Runner up: Instagram

Ozzie Guillen and his wife on the red carpet. #Emmys2014 #EmmyChicago A photo posted by TV Academy (@chi_natas) on Nov 1, 2014 at 2:38pm PDT

Why? Conversation flows freely on Instagram, where people love to give love. While it might not be the best platform for live audience interaction, it’s a great platform for your fans to interact with one another!

Best for: #Hashtags. #Lots #Of #Hashtags.

Worth mentioning: Don’t forget – you need a smart phone to sign up for Instagram!

So, did we miss anything? Let us know what you think!

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live streaming Archives - Mainstream | Live Video Agency

How to Improve Your Virtual Events: Tips To Drive Audience Engagement

How to improve your virtual events

The basics: chat

More advanced: Q&A, polling, and real-time feedback

The unexpected: unique ideas to improve virtual event engagement

Counterpoint: is simple better?

What have we learned?

Mainstream produces professional virtual events that engage, enrich and entertain.

4 Essential Elements of Successful Virtual Fundraising Events

1) An Experienced Event Management Partner

2) Impeccable Organization

3) Engaging Graphics and Lively Visuals

4) Integrating Pre-Event and Post-Event Extras

Using YouTube for Corporate Webcasting

Security

Bandwidth & Firewalls

To Chat or Not to Chat?

Examples: when to use YouTube as a corporate webcast platform, and which level of privacy to use

Public Events

Unlisted Events

Private Events

A Comprehensive (And Animated!) Guide to Live Streaming Setups

Determining Your Optimal Setup for a 1-Camera Live Stream

The Fundamental Setup

Choosing the right camera for your live event

Selecting the Right Platform for your Event

Selecting the Proper Capture Device for your Camera

Lessons Learned from Streaming a Summer’s Worth of Live Events

Top 5 Lessons we Learned from Streaming this Summer’s Live Events

Lesson 1: Audio Adapters are your Best Friends.

Lesson 2: Measure Twice, Cut Once

Lesson 3: Record Everything, Everywhere

Lesson 4: Embrace Technology

Lesson 5: Learn All The Things

Conclusion

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Recent Posts / View All Posts

Field of Streams: Comparing 4 Remote Live Streaming Methods for 2015

Remote Broadcasting Options

Option 1: Run a dedicated line from a local business or building

Option 2: Use a 3G/4G/LTE mobile hot-spot

Option 3: Cellular Bonding

Option 4: Rent a Satellite Truck

Ranking your Remote Broadcasting Options

Cost

Complexity

Reliability

Conclusion – and a bonus gift!

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Recent Posts / View All Posts

The Must-Use Tools for Live Stream Production

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Hardware

Blackmagic Decklink Mini Recorder

Runner up: Teradek Bolt Pro

Software

Wirecast 5

Runner up: Livestream Studio

Camera

Sony EX-1r

Runner up: Panasonic GH2/GH3

Video Streaming Platform

YouTube Live

Runner up: DaCast

Communication Platform

Twitter

Runner up: Instagram

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