Simple live stream advice?

F

firehawk

Veteran
It's 2016 and I'm asking for current recommendations for a simple live-stream wedding.
We will record footage to the regular cameras for a finished edit but during the event I'd like to use a single locked down camera to live stream a single angle for family to view that are not present.
What do you guys recommend? U-Stream?
There's always the end-user factor where even if we set it up our end correctly, the families may have trouble viewing due to their own lack of technical ability so I'm trying to simplify it all as much as I can.
 
If you want super simple, you could go with a smart phone and skype, facebook live, or youtube live it. Make sure you've got plenty of data, and/or a good wifi connection.

Anything else, and you need more infrastructure, with cameras, encoders, a computer to broadcast etc....
 
From an end-user perspective, a commercial CDN is the best. YouTube Live, Ustream or Livestream. I would stay away from Skype since it requires a separate application, and an account. Facebook Live limits broadcasts to 90 minutes, and again, you need an account. Livestream, Ustream, and YouTube Live are all available to view without a separate program and with no logins.

As for your end of things, I've had great success with Teradek's VidiU and Slice. The VidiU takes a second to set up, but once you have the CDN and network info entered, it's literally one button press away from going live.
 
Thank you. Having multiple people needing to log in would likely be an obstacle some of them would have trouble with so those are great ideas
 
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Will you have a laptop on site connected to wifi? If so then you can use a simple encoder such as a Blackmagic Design UltraStudio Recorder. That works well with Lifestream and is only $140 (plus a Thunderbolt cable).
 
Just correcting a misconception. Facebook now allows for 4 hours streaming and recording. That would be enough for morning and afternoon portions for example. Everyone on the Facebook page would get notification. Otherwise you can create an Event, invite the family and friends and stream to that. It makes sharing easy if that be a desired feature. Facebook does allow 24/7 streaming now but there's no notification and no recording.

Streaming to YouTube allows you to use their Live Beta where the link remains simple and constant. You can otherwise create an Event but I find one has to distribute the link. Of course you could always embed in a webpage.

If you're looking at simple single camera streaming you could use a device like a Teradek VidiuPro (as mentioned above) but you may need to be concerned about battery life of the device.
 
Well as a Teradek Vidiu owner, I would suggest you go with another method. I have had nothing but grief with my Vidiu since I bought it. The tech support sucks and all you get is emails from people saying they are waiting for the "development" guys to release a new firmware to solve existing problems. Look at a Matrox option or as suggested a laptop and BM interface.
 
Mitch Gross said:
Will you have a laptop on site connected to wifi? If so then you can use a simple encoder such as a Blackmagic Design UltraStudio Recorder. That works well with Lifestream and is only $140 (plus a Thunderbolt cable).
Click to expand...
Mitch Gross said:
I have a Blackmagic Design Ultra Studio Mini Recorder, which is made for live streaming. It has SDI & HDMI inputs and feeds to the computer via Thunderbolt. It comes with software and it's cheap, I think about $150. I think I had to use my own TB cable and they can be 1/3 the cost of the box, but I had a few lying around.
Click to expand...
So is it an error that on the photos and specs for the Blackmagic Design Ultra Studio Mini Recorder, it lists both the HDMI and SDI as outputs, and doesn't mention inputs anywhere? I guess the HDMI and SDI are actually inputs then?


I used the Teradek Vidiu on a shoot recently and it was a pain and unreliable. The App made things more complicated, and was difficult to get to work, and then the feed kept cutting out every 15 minutes or so, and I'd have to refresh things. I've got another streaming shoot coming up and I think I'll try the Blackmagic Design Ultra Studio Mini Recorder on this shoot.

I gather you can't use a Thunderbolt to USB cable? All I have is a PC laptop which doesn't have Thunderbolt. So, I guess I'd need to get a hold of someone's Mac for it to work.
 
Mini Recorder is inputs only. Mini Monitor is Outputs only.

If you're on a computer that has USB3 but no Thunderbolt I'd recommend using the Magewell HDMI or SDI to USB3 device. It's either/or since they don't have one device that supports both.
Epiphan also makes a similar device.

HP Z series computers have Thunderbolt 3 ports and I've seen Mini Recorders working on that with Startech TB2 to TB3 adaptors.
 
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