Video
How Does Live Streaming Change Your Life?
Nov 4th
I came across this Video by Chris Pirillo on Youtube about how streaming Live 24/7 Can change your life and although I personally do not stream at all yet, it made me think about streaming in general. I think people come to expect you to be there almost like switching on a TV and you are there at any given moment to entertain them, talk to them and answer any questions they have.
I feel a lot revolves arond just wanting to be the main person with total control over the channel and fo people to look up to you as someone who knows what they are talkig about. I feel it is important to not let the streaming side take over your life to go out and spend serious money on equipment and spend way too many hours live just to keepyour choosen few. A consistant show is better in my eyes (4 hours per day) then a stream on 24/7 with nothing but monitors on show.
Comparing Streaming Hosts
Oct 16th
USTREAM.TV
Ustream has a font page where they have featured, most viewed and Popular and this lists a handful of streams you can watch. If your stream has been accepted into the right section (Tech, People etc) then this is another way people can find out about you. If you are outside these realms, there is little chance people can find you. The Chat server is an IRC sever hosted by Ustream but with one email to support, they can swap you to others. There is also an option to stream via Flash Media Encoder for better quality.
The Built in Chat allow for basic Admin duties but you won’t see who is joining and so forth. There is many programs which allows you to watch stream away from the web page such as StreamDesk for example. I find it easier to visit the site, use the POPUP window of just the video and join the stream via an IRC Client. Ustream offers both good and bad ideas and not easy to find the type of stream you are looking for.
JUSTIN.TV
Justin.TV is very similar but is ubale to allow people to use an IRC Client – they do have a server but unless your name is on a White List – you will never get in. This means all of the chat is focused on the web client they present. They do have groups and a means for people who stream to place there video in the right area – such as Tech for example. For moderation – they have SLOW Mode (a 10 minute time out from typing) and a Ban – which is all managed on your account. I found the stream very choppy either streaming myself or watching. Due to lack of IRC options – I am not in favour of this site.
BLOGTV.COM
BlogTV is another one I came across – On inspection I noticed it had the streams broken down into Country such as USA, Russia and UK for example – this allows me t personally find something in my own time zone instead of having to wade through all the USA Channels (which are on-line but asleep). Within this there is also Types such as Tech, LifeTV and various others – so finding the right type of show should be easy and if you hosted a show, an easy way for people to find you. I have no idea if it has a IRC Server, I personally coud not find the info on how to connect. On the subject of the Video – watching shows and people talk but I cannot see there moth move – this means it is a very low FPS and not able to capture the lips moving.
Live.Yahoo.Com
This is pretty new and not as many shows stream, people can add there picture into the bottom which is either good or bad – depending on what you want to do. The chat can be managed so that for example the chat is disabled when you are not broadcasting – this would stop spammers for sure. The quality of the picture is good but it is not suited to mass chatting – more of a MSN type program really. Chat is on the screen once again and easy enough to manage though I always prefer an IRC Client to manage these things.
Thoughts and Conclusions
You could set up a stream using any of the one’s above and there is probably more out there that I have not even mentioned. My View is that ustream seemed more professional BUT you could run a show for 5 days solid and not have one visitor as nobody would even know you were streaming. The other sites are good in the idea they present BUT without a proper IRC Server for Chat – I feel this lets them down. It is possible though for one more option:
1. Test them all out and work out which gives best quality.
2. Embed the Video Only on your own Web Site – which you promote to all.
3. Set up your own choice of IRC Server and use a Java Program for chat if required.
4. Diable all Chat on the Video site and put a link for them to register.
Feel free to try them out – watch a few streams and see how it goes, they all have there Pro’s & Con’s.
Streaming in Review
Sep 23rd
I thought I would go through my past month or so of watching various streams and also my intermittent streaming I have attempted from Time to Time. The first port of Call has to be “The Tech Buzz” and I must admit that this has had it’s fair share of both Up’s and Downs in the passing weeks. If the Host chooses to come on much later, this can indeed wipe out any chance of me watching or interacting with the show given that I am 5 Hours Ahead in Time. There has been some bumps in the road with over zealous OP’s banning first and asking questions later and no end of issues generally. I had stopped going for a few weeks to have a rest and while the first night back was fine, it was not the same to me with the worry of upsetting somebody.
I had in the mean time come across a guy from Ireland on Justin.TV called PCCareMan who I knew anyhow from the TechBuzz. I personally had trouble understanding what he was saying (Broad Irish Accent) as well as listening to his own stream on another computer which doubled the Audio with everything he was saying. I personally think he is opening himself up for abuse from any passing person as he knowledge of computers in my eyes is limited. He made me an OP maybe in the hope I would answer questions to passing people and I notice I also feature now in the Credits. I am not here to sit in front of a computer passing out free computer help – I do this at work and get paid for this, so I might not be going back there that often.
I had tested streaming myself in a few forms, one been streaming Music and even me sitting there but on Ustream nobody will ever find you unless you get featured on the front page. At least with Justin.TV there is sections and easy for people to see all the stream online now. I tested Justin.TV and within 30 minutes I had people on the channel talking to me. I am not sure I would like to sit there with any passing person asking me tech questions, I just do not see the point when you could google the answer quicker yourself.
Why is there no UK based Live Streams?
Sep 16th
Ustream, JustinTV, and any of the others out there allow anybody on the planet to stream a show of whatever nature yet for most part the show all come from either USA or Canada. I wondered why this was and even asked on a few shows and the answer I got back was the service was based in the USA.
I had a think about why I do not see loads of UK Based streams while looking around and come up with my own theory:
Bandwidth
The UK has either Cable or ADSL and for most part the upload is not a lot, we are talking 400K to 768K if you are lucky. On top of this, a lot of the services are throttled back if you start using them, it wont take long streaming live video to hit the 300Meg upload cap and your stream will be very laggy indeed.
Time / Work
One thing I seem to notice about the Yanks was how they seem to have all the time in the world to sit there and stream and even stay up to 2am onwards as required. I understand how some of them do not need to work as they have a disability but others seem not to have a 9-5 Job and thus can afford to sit there in front of the camera all day long.
People Visiting
As the audience is mostly Yanks, even if a person from the UK streamed, they would be doing so while most of the people across the pond slept and you would have a channel with only you watching it (pointless).
Conclusion
I feel there is a need for a show broadcast by UK people and watched by them also but if it is hosted by a child then this is pointless for myself, I cannot sit there while a 15 Year old talks about Guitar Hero. Maybe the UK is just not ready for Live Stream Web Cams service yet and we shall let the Yanks be at the forefront.
High End equipment for Streaming
Sep 4th
If you wanted to create a stream live to the world – what so you need to get the best picture, best Audio and the most viewers? Let us first talk about the Camera, a Webcam can do the job but they come in two different types and the quality between them is like night and day. They are either fitted with a CMOS lens (Rubbish) or a CCD (much better) and also the resolution can go from 320×240 all the way up to 2MP. Rememebr that the stream is a certain size, it matters not that your camera can push out a mega high resolution when in fact the stream can only cope with 320×240 for example. What about using a DV Camera via firewire instead of a web cam? Will this provide a much better picture? Well as it also uses a CCD Lens, it is going to be no better then a good webcam picture wise but a point to remember is that you can spend as much on a web cam as you can on a very cheap DV CamCorder, you can use the Camcorder for other tasks (general recording) but it won’t rest on top of your monitor.
Now onto Audio – a PC Mic or one’s that are built into Laptop etc are plain bad – they are not only going to pick up noise around the machine (fan noise) but also be bad quality in respect of your voice. The one built into my imac by all accounts though is quite good, as I move away, it raises the volume and I sound pretty much the same. The best but also the most expensive is the USB Mic’s you see Musician use – these can set you back a lot of money and unless you can afford this, can make money later or whatever – then find another way to get the audio across.
New Arrival at the Tech Buzz
Sep 3rd
Steve and his wife Erin have just given Birth to your new Daughter Samantha pictured above Yesterday – May I wish them all the best with there new member of the family.
