If you have a camcorder at any enterprise, institutional, or even social event, you should consider streaming that event live. Once completed, you can add highlights in your broadcasts, which are essentially cue points with a short text description that viewers can jump to. Andra Parrish Liwag, director of communications However, Bambuser doesn’t offer advanced features such as Ustream’s extensions or the ability to schedule broadcasts. Dig the lessons?

Other sites offer the ability to password protect videos, which would have been useful. If you try to watch videos on your channel page on an iOS device, you’ll get a pitch to buy the required app, but then you can navigate to the full website, where you’ll see the video thumbnails. Not only was Wirecast easy to use, the quality was much better than that produced natively by Justin.tv, most likely because I used the H.264 for Wirecast while the browser-based version uses the Sorenson video codec. 2018 Jan 18 - Test driving new acoustic Froggy Bottom M, 2018 Feb 19 - Live Blues Jamming Practice, 2018 Feb 27 - Arranging Jazz Standard Alice In Wonderland, 2018 Feb 28 - Testing Line 6 Helix Verb And Delays On Acoustic, 2018 Feb 21 - Mike Dawes & Justin explore The ToneWood Amp. Justin.tv’s channel page has good links to social media, but it has lots of ads, and video quality was mediocre using the site’s browser-based player. For example, you can require viewers to input an email address before viewing (though there is no verification) and/or require password protection. Video quality was very good at the maximum quality setting, which had no problem streaming through my 800Kbps or so outbound connection. You can also see the Streaming Learning Center text overlay on the upper left of the video in Figure 1, another nice (and rare) design option.

On the iPod touch, it was too small for use, so viewers would be better off downloading the free app. Figure 6. The concert is taking place on what would have been the beloved educator's 49th birthday. On the iPod touch, the video played in full screen. Livestream’s Procaster can produce multiple streams, including a stream for mobile delivery. Bambuser’s strengths include overall ease of use, support for more than 300 mobile devices for broadcasting and playback, the ability to deliver multiple video streams, and a compact embedded player. Justin.tv’s embedded player is a simple player window, with no social media links, branding, or access to older content (Figure 7). Register now for our FREE webinar series, Streaming Media West Connect, happening September 29 - October 2!
The Ustream landing page is very feature-rich, including those links to ecommerce sites such as Amazon beneath the player. If you’re encoding with Adobe’s Flash Media Live Encoder, you can download an XML file with your configuration information; for other encoders, Ustream provides the RTMP URL and Stream Key, which should get you up and running with no problem. Avoid Bambuser if you’re seeking eyeballs or established programs for video monetization. Your viewers can also post links to the videos in Twitter and MySpace and via email; they can leave comments via Facebook, so their comments get posted to their walls and your channel page simultaneously (Figure 10). Encoding controls were simple, so it’s also a good option for technically unsophisticated users, though video quality was very modest, as were the features surrounding the embedded player, which will not play in iOS devices unless the user buys an app. However, if you click a video in the video library in the embedded player on any platform, the viewer jumps to your Ustream channel page to play the file; with Livestream and Bambuser, the file plays in the embedded player. All live streaming services providers (LSSPs) share three main components -- the channel page, the embeddable player, and encoding options -- and these are the three areas I focused on in the reviews that follow. Next live session is the end of the month because I've got some other committments the next two Saturdays. The embedded player itself is functional, so long as you embed both parts; otherwise, your viewers won’t get chat or access to your video library. On the Toshiba Thrive, the thumbnail appeared, and the video played normally. Production capability and user experience distinguish services. As you can see in Figure 15, you also have a volume control, frame rate control, and access to chat, as well as sharing options.
At 500Kbps, the video was noticeably blocky, as you can see in Figure 6. Video quality was noticeably better using the H.264 codec available in both Wirecast and Flash Media Live Encoder, plus you get much more precise controls for audio and video bandwidth. A preview mode makes it easy to see which options you’re selecting. At 700Kbps, video quality improved noticeably, but it was pushing the limits of my outbound DSL, and I experienced significant frame dropping and stuttering. Speaking of embedding, from the broadcast console, you can connect to your Facebook account and embed the video on your wall, to a page, in a group, or on a friend’s page. The Studio HD500 is an $8,500 hardware switcher with broadcast-level bells and whistles, and it can stream to other services besides Livestream. Bambuser also can’t match features such as accessing Facebook and Twitter chat during your broadcasts, which several other services offer, and it can’t embed a player in Facebook to play video there -- you can only provide a link within Facebook.