Need Some Advice

[samcar]

Hi everyone!

I am looking for a little advice here. I am new to streaming media and I consider myself to be somewhat tech savy (I pick it up descently). I am looking into setting up a channel on livestream. I am going to be producing a show where local/regional artists can show thier work, discuss it, and give a demo of their technique. So, my question is what kind of equipment should I be getting? - My budget isn't that much so beginer/used/inexpensive is the route I would like to take.

Thanks,
Samuel

[Dave]

How much budget exactly is "isn't that much" ?

Choice of equipment will depend on the design of your set - have you done any ground work there ?

Basically you are going to need to consider lighting, audio capture and video capture and balance you budget between them.

Depending on what sort material your artists are going to be demonstrating and how this will be done, will affect the kit you are going to initially want to invest in.

A good starting point might be VASST's 'Video for the Web - what you need to know' DVD as it takes you through a range of equipment you might want to consider and highlights some of the pitfalls of web video.

Also check out some of Jan Ozer's videos from past StreamingMedia conferences on StreamingMedia.com and also his website at: http://www.streaminglearningcenter.com/c...roduction/

Dan Rayburn published a series of "Hands On" guides covering various aspects of streaming Media which are well worth reading.

Steve Mack's Streaming Media bible is well worth a read as it has a good introduction to production, even though it's a bit dated now.

CMP's DV Expert series is good for more in depth detail on specific aspects e.g. Jay Rose's Great Sound for Digital Audio. (he also has his own website)

BBC Training have some free online tutorials on production tips as well http://www.bbctraining.com/onlineCourses.asp

Dave

[samcar]

Thanks Dave.

Luckily, lighting should already be taken care of - we are an arts center with artist studios and will be using one of them for our set. We have various spot lights (halogen) available that are for gallery use, but can be reallocated for this use.

As for your budget question: It is mostly a matter of "Here boss, this our cheapest option"

Thanks again, especially for those links.

[Dave]

Ok - the reason I mentioned it, was because with good lighting, you can often get away with a cheaper camera.

Cheaper cameras often produce a lot of noise as they have to amplify the signal levels coming from the imager device. The more available light to start with, then the less amplification required, and the less noise.

Attention to lighting can also produce a better quality encodes/lower bit rates, by controlling contrast and shadows.

This can reduce the amount of work that the encoder has to do, once again allowing you to keep the costs down, and push quality up.

[cata12]

Hello:

As Dave said, think about a good capture card (I recommend you IntensityPro from BlackMagicDesign), then a good video camera (I use Canon Vixia HF10). HDMI connexion is the best here especially
if you want to stream HD quality. Also make sure you make an rough estimation about the audience's size because this reflects the bandwidth spent. If you have a big audience get a package with more GB included.
Have a look on http://www.blinkotv.com also. It may help you decide the live streaming software to go with. Another question is: will your viewers pay in order to access your stream or this is a free service (free broadcasting software)?

Best regards
Catalin