Primer: Live-Switched Webcasting
Although it's possible to webcast with a webcam or smartphone and a streaming service provider, a professional live-switched webcast has more in common with a live TV broadcast than it does a kid with a smartphone. This article discusses the roles that must be filled in a live-switched webcast, the various features and types of video switchers, and a lot of the small details that are important considerations in the larger video switching and webcasting workflow.
Webcast Encoder
In order for viewers to view the video switch, live over the internet, a webcast encoder and streaming service are required. Some video switchers have internal webcast encoders, including USB-class streaming appliances that computers recognize much as they do a webcam.
Streaming appliances—hardware to capture the output from a video switcher and make it available to streaming software—are a popular option.
Internal capture cards take form as a PCI Express (PCIe) card with HDMI or HD-SDI inputs or legacy analog video inputs. Webcasters can also use Firewire, but as with SD inputs, it’s not desirable because the video signal delivered over Firewire is anamorphic and not a full-raster, square-pixel signal.
External webcast hardware devices can offer inputs similar to those available on their internal capture card cousins,but they require external power. They connect to a webcast encoding computer via a variety of connections including USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt. The external form factor makes them compatible with all-in-one (AIO) computers and laptops that cannot accommodate internal capture cards.
Regardless of whether you select an internal or external webcast appliance, you will want to make sure that in addition to the video input, your workflow also includes provisions for audio, be it from embedded audio on the video input, or an audio cable connection on the video capture card or a separate audio capture card.
Webcast Service
While it is possible to run your own streaming server or rent server space and licenses from cloud computing services, popular webcasting services might prove more cost-effective and provide additional features and capacity for users who lack experience with or direct access to streaming servers. It’s important to ensure that your streaming video is viewable on a variety of devices, including Windows and Mac operating systems, iOS devices, and Android Phones and tablets.
Providing multiple-bitrate viewing adds additional compatibility by offering a range of renditions to accommodate different frame-size viewers and internet connection speeds. Multiple-bitrate encoding can be accomplished by either uploading multiple versions at different bitrates or using a cloud-based multiple-bitrate encoder that reencodes the high-quality version to additional lower-bitrate versions.
Analytics
Webcasting, as with most professional online video, has attendant costs. And when there is cost, business owners want to determine ROI. One way to measure the success of a webcast is through analytics and metrics, which can tell the webcaster the number of unique and concurrent viewers, their geographic region based on IP address and/or ISP, and the length of their viewing session.
Branded Player
Webcast video is usually embedded on a webpage in a player using an embed code, but it can also be video viewed on a channel provided by the streaming service.
The player can have controls similar to streaming video on user-generated content (UGC) websites and can also feature social media interaction buttons, a fullscreen button, and branding.
Free services tend to feature advertising and streaming service branding; paid services maintain the streaming service branding but can offer the option to remove advertising and add your own branding. High levels of service offer white-label options to remove all streaming service provider branding.