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.

Ustream.TV

The first thing your going to notice if your not using an AdBlocker is the large number of adverts all over the place, both on the page itself and inside the video. The adverts come in and last for 30 seconds, this is even before you get to see the content on offer. They have a chosen streamer on the front page, this used to be the little guys before but now it features the larger stars. Along the top we have the sections but this is not all of the sections, you will not see ‘Tech’ Listed on there – for this we need to look at ‘All Live’ and drill down to the correct section.

A Look down the Tech Section will normally not bring you anything computer related as such but should you find a show you want to see – this is were it started to fall apart. You can be logged in but as soon as you type, the chat tell’s you that you need to log in and provides a login box. With some luck, you may get around to actually typing something but even though Ustream provide a IRC Server (of sorts) – most Tech people seem to have there own IRC Server and for you to venture off onto this new site of you want to chat. Before I go on about a separate IRC Server, there is more bugs – the chat does not scroll as people type (sometimes it does) and this is very annoying indeed having to keep scrolling down to see what is been said.

My Feeling on this IRC Server thing is of course two fold, I can fire up an IRC Client and chat away with the video listed (even on a separate computer) but I would only do this if I knew the person already. What I suspect will happen is people will stay on the Ustream page and not chat but just watch until they get bored (will not take long) thus you have now lost some visitors.

The other aspect of Ustream is the person streaming has to press record to save the show for later viewing but most do not it seems and unless you are there at the time, there is no way to go back over what is been watched or to watch later in the case of people with different time zones. If you do not feel part of the cast, you probably will not come back.

Justin.TV

This is much like Ustream, adverts coming at you thick and fast – the most annoying is the one played inside the video and a lot of times it will display an advert over the lower 3rds and even worse, a full screen popout for Poker, advised you go in with Firefox and adblock to get a better experience (Chrome and adblock does not block them it seems).

The Video part offers all of the controls inside the video so when you mouse over, you can mute, full screen and so forth. The chat for most part works, its not great but it scrolls down and if you are logged in, it works. They do run a sort of IRC server but make it next to impossible to connect to (White lists and such). Once again we see a lot of people diverting the chat to an IRC Server of choice – this means leaving the site of course.

The best feature though is the ability for the last 24 hours worth of broadcast to be automatically recorded – this means as long as the producer does not disable this feature – you can catch up with the last few shows. What is even better with this method is I can skip through a 2 hour show with great speed once it has buffered up. This feature alone is what I feel is good about Justin and I get to watch a lot of shows from people on a much different time zone and keep up with what they have been doing.

Thoughts

As a viewer to shows, if the show is on too late for UK people such as a show starting at 8:30pm EST – then the chance of me tuning in even on a Saturday is slim to none. If there is a way for me to catch up easily (such as Justin recorded feature) then I will probably keep up to date with what that show is doing but if they only record the odd segment or none at all – I will probably never get to see this show ever. To give a analogy, imagine a TV Show you heard about was on TV at 2am, unless you really wanted to see this you would neither stay up for this or set something up to record that show but had you the chance to ‘catch up tv’ and watch the show at your convenience, you may love that show and stay up late for the next one and so forth.

Should the die hard Ustream people stick with there choice and the low numbers or jump ship (like the rest) and come to Justin? If somebody keeps visiting your streaming page even on a recorded segment (and NOT Streamed over and over like many do) – they will learn of your website and you shall have more followers.

First for all the people that follow my blog, I would like to say sorry for the lack of posts of late, while I could have just re-posted news stories from other sources, I would prefer to write my own stuff if I can. As we move forward into Summer 2010, I have a feeling that people are moving away from there computers and back to the outside world and many have started to get fit, me included. The purpose of this post is to keep anybody who is wondering updated on my latest goings-on – enjoy…

Training

I start a new class in taekwondo on Monday (tomorrow), this is a 2 hour lesson, twice a week. This means I get back from work, get changed, something to eat and head off not long after to taekwondo – this takes me out of the loop Monday and Tuesday because by time I get back, I cannot imagine firing up Skype to have a chat with people. The next part id that although my home training has helped, I feel I need to join a proper gym, to this end I might join a local one and go there Wednesday and Friday leaving Thursday and Weekend Free.

I agree looking at this you might think I have gone training mad, I take this very seriously and it was about time I stopped sitting in front of the computer for no reason really. I may even get back to riding my bike (pedal) if the weather holds up.

Streaming

While I used to enjoy firing up Justin.TV or Ustream, these days it seems that unless I run Firefox with Adblock – there is a LOT of adverts and I mean 30 second advert before I watch the stream and then in-stream adverts blocking what is on the bottom. The other side is that most of the Tech Streams are Pre-recorded – I 100% Fail to see the point of this. The best way I can see is that Justin.TV allow automatic recording which lasts for 6 days (you can also make highlights from this to keep forever) – enough time for me to re-watch and skip through streams that use this feature. Pre-Recorded reminds me of cassette tape, I have to listen to it in order – not my idea of fun. I slowly start to grow tired of this as a medium and might start looking for other idea’s to take up my time.

Skype

The time difference aside, I have started to notice a trend, by this I mean I can have Skype running from 6pm to 11pm (UK time) and nobody rings me but as soon as they want some help – bang, they are on there. This started with a few people and has grown of late – this means all I am good for is tech help and outside of this, I guess I must be boring or have little to chat about? Makes sense if you think about it – I used to be heavily into streaming and now I am not.

Contact Us Form

I placed on the site a “Contact Us” and this allowed people to send me a email but hide my email address unless I replied to them. It seems the spammers have took this as a means to send me complete junk. I have removed this feature for now until I can think of a better way.

What does this software do?

The program allows the input of Webcam’s, FireWire CamCorder and via means of a internal  card, HD Camcorders which operate on HDMI for example. The other aspect of this is to set up shots with transitions as well as placement of Titles, Logo’s and Audio tracks as required. Using the extra download from the site, you can run “Desktop Presenter” on any machine on your network (both Windows & Mac) and bring the entire desktop or part of the desktop into the shot along side your webcam etc.

Normal Shot – Composing

When you add a new shot (by clicking the + Sign) you are presented with the above screenshot. The tiles can be broken up to include up to 3 parts (A + B + C). Each of these parts can be a Webcam, a Desktop Presenter or an Image with the ability via the CTRL or ALT Keys to control the size and angle of each shot – this allows as per the screenshot to put a webcam image inside a virtual TV set. The Title layer can embed a Title on top of the shot (names for example). Foreground can be used for a Logo image, Background to go behind all the shots and Audio if required.

Pre-Planning your shots

Although the software can be re-adjusted very easily on the fly, the goal is to work out what shots you require before hand. Set them all up as best as possible and once you go into production, have them on hand to quickly switch to various views. Unlike WebCamMax or CamTwist – saving your shots saves a lot of time later.

The other Tabs

As you see on the main screen – it also has Audio, Foreground, Background and Title. Seem strange for these to repeat outside of each shot? Well the answer is no, as this allows a person to have a shot with say two webcams in there and then have a separate Title shot with the name of the show. Then when you switch to a different view (say the desktop), the title stays over the top of the shots.

GreenScreen (Chromakey)

It is possible to have a green screen using this software, inside the channel. A Tab is availiable  for this very feature, allowing you to pick a colour via the mouse cursor.

Streaming Services

You can stream to the following services from the Wirecast UI:

Justin.TV

Livestream

Ustream

LimeLight

AKAMI

A Flash media Encoder is built right inside Wirecast and can stream high quality on both the Mac and PC. This is the only way I know to get FME quality via a Mac. Adobe do not have a Mac Version of Flash media encoder.

The Cost

Now you may head to the webpage and see that magic figure of $450 (UK £254). To a lot of people this is may be too much for a mere broadcasting program but you would be overlooking the obvious. It can record to disk, stream to most streaming services and gives you a professional look. The other solution is to buy a Tri-Caster for $10,000, I know which I would choose.

The complete overview

Plug-in your camera. Prepare your shots. Broadcast live.

Wirecast is a live production tool that allows everyone to easily broadcast live events and create professional webcasts from any location – all you need is a computer and an internet connection. With the intuitive and fully integrated streaming capabilities, Wirecast makes it easy for anyone to share live experiences and build a global community. Wirecast lets you stream multiple live cameras while dynamically mixing in other media such as movies, images, sounds, etc. Features including Chroma Key (blue/green screen), transitions and built-in titles allow you to create beautiful, professional broadcast productions for live or on-demand distribution on the web.

Head off to http://www.telestream.net/wire-cast/overview.htm to get the full details. Try the product for FREE to make sure it works on your system and does what you need, The free trail has a watermark and a voice every so often but it is still possible to see what it can do before you buy this great product.