Tutorial: Capturing Video over USB 3.0 with AJA U-TAP 3G-SDI and HDMI Devices

This tutorial explains how to capture a full HD signal up to 1920x1080 60fps with the AJA U-TAP series of devices and highlights ingest into OBS for macOS and Zoom for Windows

The State of Education Video 2024

Is the state of education video in 2024 the quiet before or after the storm? With a pandemic in the rearview mirror, we approach a crossroads where it will be determined whether enterprise-scale video hosting and management services will remain profitable at the prices that schools are willing to carry in the new normal. It's unlikely that we'll cross a point of no return this year, but I recommend keep­ing an eye out for signs that will either allay or am­plify concerns about the long-term future of schools having a degree of ownership and control of the vid­eo services they rely on.

Buyers' Guide: Live Streaming Software

This article takes a look at 12 options you can pick from when looking to produce live-switched video: Boinx mimoLive, Broadcast Pix ChurchPix, Ecamm Live, ManyCam, OBS Studio, PRISM Live Studio, Vizrt TriCaster, Telestream Wirecast, vMix, Vimeo Livestream Studio, and XSplit Broadcaster

Buyers' Guide: Field Monitors, Monitor/Recorders, and Recorders

Strange as it seems, there are other essential production tools used in the field besides camcorders, microphones, and the switchers and encoders for live-switched streams. Historically, field monitors were luxuries that most crews didn't use except on higher-end shoots. One reason for field monitors' former scarcity was that portable CRT monitors that could be hooked up to cameras were expensive and too bulky for run-and-gun productions. Until about 20 years ago, even the idea of a color viewfinder or color flip-out viewscreen on professional gear was fan­tasy.

Review: Magewell Director Mini

Magewell's new Director Mini is a mini marvel. This 5.5" "all-in-one" production tool with a $1,299 street price can mix multiple inputs and do picture-in-picture graphics, audio mixing, recording, streaming, and more, as IEBA's Anthony Burokas explains in this in-depth review.

OBSBOT Tail Air AI-Powered PTZ Streaming Camera

This review will look at an interesting suite of products built around the innovative OBSBOT Tail Air PTZ cam, which has entered the NDI ecosystem. The individual cameras retail for $499, and OBSBOT lent Streaming Media three of them for this review, as well as a couple of accessories to show off how they can work together in a studio or field production.

The 2023 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards

The readers have spoken! Here we present North America's top tech solutions of 2023, as chosen by the readers of Streaming Media.

Cloud Atlas: MovieLabs’ 2030 Vision Roadmap for Industry-Wide M & E Interoperability

MovieLabs' CTO Jim Helman discusses his experience creating standards for content classification for the Hollywood studios, as well as the MovieLabs ten-year strategy to bring interoperability to as many vendors as possible. The Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) Helman helped create is a content ID which now holds more than 2.8 million records modernizing many aspects of production and operations. He'll also update us on the industry's response to the 2030 Vision strategy to bring interoperability to media creation technologies, requiring less custom engineering and better communications between software, infrastructure, and services.

Tutorial: Advanced Live Streaming and Recording with the AJA HELO PLUS

Streaming engineer and strategist and Streaming Media The Video Doctor columnist Robert Reinhardt of VideoRx discusses some of his favorite features of the new AJA HELO Plus Advanced Streaming and Recording Appliance in this new tutorial video. A longtime user of the original HELO in his own professional live productions, discusses the new chassis design, new layout features for picture-in-picture and more, streaming to two destinations simultaneously, new SRT support, and more.

The 2023 Streaming Media 100: The Top 100 Companies in the Streaming Media Universe

The Streaming Media 100 is back—welcome once again to Streaming Media's annual list that foregrounds the industry's most innovative and influential technology suppliers, service providers, platforms, and media and content companies, as acclaimed by our editorial team. Some are large and established industry standard-bearers, while others are comparably small and relatively new arrivals that are just beginning to make a splash. All set themselves apart from the crowd with their innovative approach and their contribution to the expansion and maturation of the streaming media universe.

Review: Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio HD8 ISO, Studio Camera 6K Pro, and ATEM Microphone Converter

The Blackmagic Design Television Studio ATEM HD8 ($2,995) and HD8 ISO ($3,995) are all-in-one HD video switcher/broadcast control panels. On their own they are very capable HD video switchers suitable for studio installations and remote productions. The magic with these switchers is that when paired with other supported Blackmagic gear, they can unlock unique production workflow solutions that are easy to implement and go well beyond what you would expect a desktop video switcher to be able to do on its own.

Review: Magewell USB Fusion

The USB Fusion is a device that can be used in a production environment for local content feeds/sources. It can be used to input various sources such as HDMI devices, webcams, USB microphones, videos, images, screenshares, and other items. The USB Fusion is touted as a tool to make your online lectures and virtual events more engaging and to easily combine numerous sources into attractive live presentations for remote education, webinars, live streaming, and video conferencing.

Review: Skyglass: Movie Effects Camera App

Want to generate and produce videos in dynamic, detailed, and customizable virtual environments using nothing but the built-in video capabilities of your smartphone plus a single subscription-service app? Skyglass Movie Effects Camera App makes it possible, and IEBA Communications' Anthony Burokas explains how.

A Broadcaster’s Cloud Migration Primer

This article offers a primer on how a traditional broadcaster could start to move services to a cloud provider.

Review: GoPro Hero11 Black

Well-known as an action camera for capturing on-the-go video, the GoPro is popular with those involved in sports, underwater activities, capturing va­ca­tion footage, and a host of other use cases. However, the GoPro Hero11 Black can also serve as a high-quality webcam for meetings or online conferences using web applications like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and GoTo Meeting, and it can be deployed in production streaming workflows for YouTubers and video podcasters.

Streaming Media’s Trendsetting Products and Services of 2023

A detailed guide to Streaming Media's Trendsetting Products and Services of 2023.

Buyers' Guide: PTZ Cameras

Today's professional PTZ cameras are nothing like their security camera predecessors. Now you can find models with all the professional features, technology, and hardware that you find on professional camcorders and digital cine cameras. In this PTZ buyers guide, I'll explain many of these features so you can make informed decisions when evaluating PTZ cameras in your own video production workflows.

Buyers’ Guide: Cellular Bonding Solutions

Thanks to bonding and some of the other technologies discussed in this guide, the days of sending glitchy, buffering video to viewers should be behind us. Read on to learn about the many options available, at a wide variety of price points, to ensure that streaming professionals can deliver the best video possible.

The State of Education Video

Video's role in schools is taken for granted entering 2023, although we should expect to see changes, potentially disruptive, in the educational video market as schools continue to adapt to the aftermath of the COVID-19 state of emergency phase. Despite the widely held belief that video is essential to school operations, expect to see schools roll back their investments in video services, while educators seek out ways to go beyond the basics of video delivery, finding better ways to engage students both with synchronous and asynchronous video.

Buyers' Guide: Wireless Microphones

If issues arise with the video you capture, high-quality audio will go a long way to compensate for it. Viewers will often tolerate subpar video, but no one in the world will watch video with absent or poor audio. My advice to any streaming producer is to get the best audio setup you can afford for your video rig. It's always worth the investment.