With Social Video Sizing, Serve Your Viewers What They’re Hungry For

The customer wanting to watch your stream on Insta does not want a horizontal video shoehorned into a vertical frame. The customer watching the horizontal version doesn't want the vertical slice with the same thing blurred out behind it to fill the frame. Each of those customers is hungry for that particular experience. It's your job to give your customers what they are hungry for.

8 Lessons Surfing Can Teach Live Streaming Producers

I had the opportunity to try and learn to surf earlier this year. I'm very glad that I took the lessons because I soon found out how hard surfing really is. While trying, failing, getting hurt, watching, and learning, I saw some parallels between my lessons on the water and the streaming business—which isn't quite as easy as it looks either.

‘Bulletproof’ Needs to Be a Standard Feature for Production Gear

There's a lot more imperfect gear on the market than ever before—gear we can't count on from gig to gig. Gear that can't deliver reliable video. Features that work and then don't. Devices that connect and then don't. We've lost core reliability. Bulletproof needs to be a feature.

Producing for FAST? Take it Slow

FAST programming needs space for the commercials. Unless you intentionally craft that space into your show, it just slices into your content randomly, ruining the mood of narrative content and frustrating viewers just as the show was getting to the "good part." Watching YouTube content on a Roku device is like this now. The random "pop" to commercials in the middle of a scene is very annoying.

Cloud-Based Streaming Production and the Sound of Inevitability

The production and communication tools we use are ever-more tied to the cloud, and to take advantage of it is to open a door of possibility and additional capability. Where do you want to go today?

From Remote to On-Prem Events: The Pendulum Swings

The pendulum has swung back away from streaming for a brief period, but COVID opened millions of eyes to the power, capability, and convenience of streaming—for the providers and the attendees. It also helped a lot of people realize that it's not as easy as it looks. I see the end result moving that pendulum toward more streaming—and more kinds of streaming—in the near future

Everybody’s Streaming

While you were busy streaming, what you think of as "streaming" evolved in­to many different things. Today, what you do when "streaming" is but one small piece of the streaming world.

The Greenest Codec: LCEVC

There's no doubt that LCEVC is a more efficient codec. But is it really going to make much of a difference in energy savings compared to other sustainability solutions?

How YouTube Encodes Videos

Looking for insights into exactly how YouTube encodes billions of videos? Jan Ozer went down the rabbit hole and shares what he discovered about AV1, VP9, and resolutions.

Judging Apple's Advanced Video Quality Tool

As a metric, Apple's Advanced Video Quality Tool (AVQT) showed some bright spots, but it's hard to see it bumping VMAF or SSIMPLUS from real-world workflows without a lot more verification.

Whither SVT-AV1

The Alliance for Open Media has gone all-in on SVT-AV1, but real-world tests show that Scalable Video Technology codecs don't live up to their promise when it comes to performance.

Defend Your Video Encoding Choices with Data

If you're charged with configuring your encoding ladder, there are a few datapoints you should have nailed. The most important is the VMAF score of the top rung of your encoding ladder.

When to Ditch the Webcam

I produce most of my live training with a webcam because the quality delta between a webcam and other options is negligible when presented in postage-stamp-sized videos. But what setup should you use for a really important conference or a call that will be distributed to many viewers live or on demand? That's where things get interesting.

New Rules of Codec Development

The game has changed for new codecs entering the market.

When It Comes to Being on Camera, Don't Be "That Person"

There's no longer any excuse for poor-quality audio or bad video on your Zoom meetings or webinars. By following just a few simple tips and spending less than $200, you can look like a pro.

It's Time to Retire PSNR

Peak signal-to-noise ratio is poor predictor of subjective video quality. So why are PSNR comparisons used in almost all codec comparisons?

4 Keys to Evaluating Cloud Transcoding Options

Here are the four differentiating factors to focus on when assessing cloud transcoding solutions

When it Comes to Bitrates, Less is Always More

What can streaming producers do in the short-term to reduce the load during these COVID-19-related bandwidth usage spikes?

When it Comes to Video Quality Measurements, Average Won't Cut It

Average scores can be deceiving, so be sure you're using a tool that gives you a more accurate assessment of your video quality

All Roads Lead to ABR Royalties

As recent lawsuits regarding DASH-related patents make clear, royalty payments on adaptive bitrate streaming are inevitable—even if it's not yet clear who'll be paying who, or how much