Posts in category Video
Wirecast V4 loses Serial
Although I am not streaming a great deal, I do tinker from time to time with Wirecast, in case your not sure what Wirecast is or does – then head to there website for the full low-down. The last time this software broke was in Version 3 when Apple updated Quicktime and it just so happens that Quicktime recently had an update. I Started Wirecast today and was met with the Watermark, this only happens in the Demo Version by chance. I checked my Preferences and sure enough, there is no Serial listed:
Streaming Sites suffer downtime
First the issue started with Justin.TV and then later on visiting the Ustream main page – I got the above error. This leads me to believe that they may be swapping things around on the back end, introducing new features maybe? This is probably the first time I have come across the sites displaying this type of info and having actual downtime. Did this stop anybody from broadcasting? Did you notice the numbers much lower than normal? Did you get some warning of this before it happened?
Stats do not tell the full story
If you pop along to any show on Justin, they include some figures on the bottom of each show which shows you how many people are currently viewing the show (if live), how many people follow the show and finally how many ‘views’ that show has had. These figures are great but what confused me was how a show that had 35-50 people while live managed to have almost 1 million views yet another show that had well over 1000 people while live (and it was live for many hours) only just managed to break through the 1 Million viewer barrier while the first show I mentioned was now at 2 million – go figure right!
Streaming HD Video
As ISP’s provide faster bandwidth speeds, webcams get higher resolution and computers get faster and more core’s – it begs the question – can you now stream in full HD resolution to offer the best video possible as well do it on a free service? I recently watched what was claimed to be full blown HD Stream but after making this full screen and seeing ‘jaggies’ on the diagonal lines (such as the nose for example) – I questioned if this was really HD and what was at fault.
Ustream vs. Justin.tv
I thought I would revisit the age old Ustream.TV vs. Justin.TV debate and look at how they have changed, problems encountered and write something from the end-users point of view – after all without people visiting and interacting with the chat, you might as well be talking to yourself. The quick background is that these sites along with others allow anyone with a webcam and a microphone to stream a live show, anything from pointing the webcam at some kittens to a full blow show with lower 3rds and transitions.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: The CGI Trailer
Assassin’s Creed II was one of the best games of last year (or this year, if you’re a PC gamer). It fixed nearly all the faults of the first game, and now Ubisoft is hoping to take it a step further with Assassin’s Creed 2.5.
TV vs. Streaming
It has been said that streaming sites such as Ustream or Justin.TV are here to replace conventional TV and it puts the power of content in the hands of normal people as well as been fully interactive. While these people may live in this self made dream that what they are doing is overtaking television, I am here to tell you otherwsie – they have a long way to go yet.
