Best Practices for Streaming to social platforms like Facebook Live and YouTube
I recently read an really great article on the best practices for streaming to places like Facebook and YouTube with Epiphan products written by Jordan Sheldrick.
Streaming to Facebook LIVE and YouTube has loads of benefits!
The amount of people you can reach, communicate, and interact with simply by broadcasting live is nothing short of astonishing. And Epiphan Video can help with this.
Tip 1: Use What You Got
We all have smartphones with cameras or laptops. Those alone can let you live stream with just a single camera setup without any additional encoding devices.
Using smartphones is quite common now. As someone who"runs and guns" I use my phone frequently to broadcast quick updates or just something really cool. But most importantly, it's still in HD. If you don't have an HD Camera on hand. chances are you actually do right in your pocket.
Unfortunately only Facebook LIVE offers mobile streaming.
What about your computer? A webcam is extremely low cost compared to HD Cameras on the market. But these are still in a lower resolution. And who can forget how difficult it can be places the thing! An un-flattery image does no one any good.
Tip 2
Streaming using an HD camera is ideal for professional vloggers or video personalities looking to share topical issues, answer questions from fans, or comment on the day’s events. And streaming using an HD camera is an excellent option for content creators looking to deliver the best quality broadcast possible.
Jordan Sheldrick (Epiphan Video)
With so many HD Cameras out there, which one do you get? Well.. that's up to you. And that's a good thing. What's good for you might not be good for the other vlogger down the streat.
But now you'll need a capture device which gets the camera's signal.
Incomes the Epiphan Webcaster X2! It's small and easy to use.
...
Sheldrick
simply connect your camera to the device and enter a unique device code into a web field to begin the stream. No capture tools or encoders required.
Tip 3: Streaming with multiple cameras!
Time to start live switching! My favorite!
Multi-camera live streams are extremely popular right now and helps increase individual creative output. This can be using picture in picture, cropping, tutorial videos (like above), live switching, and loads more!
Time 3a: Encoding Software
Like everything else... there are tons of options for an encoder software. I used OBS for the longest of times (sometimes still do). It's free and quite simple to set up and link up to where you want to stream.
But be warned! You'll need a high end capture computer and at least one video capture device.
This involves connecting the cameras to each capture device. This brings the signal to your computer. Then you'd use whatever software you are using to customize your setup, layout, and setting to wherever you are going to stream.
You can easily use the the Epiphan Video AV.io HD or their AV.io 4K! Both are affordable for those (like me) working on a tight budget.
Tip 3b: Encoding Hardware!
You can also cut out a lot of the hassle by simply using encoding hardware which takes care of a lot of this for you. These are made for using multiple camera setups.
{Epiphan's} Pearl-2 was built as an “all-in-one” live production mixer, meaning it offers simultaneous multi-source capture (up to 4K resolution), encoding, streaming, and recording in addition to features that are specific to live productions, such as custom layouts, live switching, and more.
Sheldrick
One major benefit of using encoding software is that your computer remains available to use. There's no worrying about overloading the system or frying your laptop. The encoder takes the worry away!
But these aren't cheap. But it's worth the investment! This brings to mind what my father always says. "It takes money to make money." Live Streaming is no exception.
So there are three tips when looking forward to the live streaming world!
Read the original article HERE!
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