This document provides guidance and best practices for live streaming events, including: 1. Start small with inexpensive equipment and free software, but plan for growth over time. Test equipment thoroughly before live events. 2. Ensure sufficient bandwidth, with a minimum of 3Mbps recommended for HD streaming. Know your upload speed and have dedicated bandwidth. 3. Focus on high quality audio and lighting, as poor quality in these areas can significantly degrade the viewing experience. 4. Promote events well in advance on multiple platforms. Go live early and keep the stream active as long as possible to build an audience.

1. Resources
@
networkpaladin.org
Ernest Staats
erstaats@gcasda.org
Technology Director
MS Information Assurance,
CISSP, CEH, CWNA,
Security+, MCSE, CNA, I-Net+,
Network+, Server+, A+

2. Delivering live video - workflow

3. Humble Beginnings
• OK to start small
– Started with USB Cameras and Free software
• Flash Media Live Encoder
• Ustream Producer free
– Leaders don’t always get vision
• Demand will often grow
– So will expectations
– Be fun, grow your team
– Evangelize to “tech” minded/curious
– “Beta”- allows trial-and-error

4. Live streaming encoders

5. Live streaming encoders

6. GCA Equipment List

7. Streaming Mistakes
in order
• No plan –make a list check it twice …
– Sample on website
• Poor audio
• Poor lighting
• Poor camera techniques

8. Production 101
• Constantly Strive to Improve
• Know and understand the roll of each
team member
• Plan, research, and prepare for
success
• Have a vision
• Make a check list for consistent
experience

9. Team Work
Getting it Done
• Treat crew and others with respect
• Keep a relaxed and comfortable
atmosphere
• Provide leadership & direction
• Allow crew to troubleshoot
• Be in control (but not a freak)
• Trouble shoot challenges & technical
issues

10. Team Work
When it all break loose!
And it will…..
• Don’t:
– Stress out
– Disrespect anyone
– Yell or forget why you are doing this
it is a Ministry!

11. 10 Commands of Streaming
Ignore at your
Peril

12. 1. You Shall
Test early & Test often
Test
With the actual gear
From the actual location
With the actual subject matter
Setup and go live early

13. Test early & test often (con..)
End-to-end tests are best
Test on-site actual bandwidth & actual
source signal
Test with moving images from live
cameras
Test audio sync
Watch your test on all end user devices
(Desktop, iPads, etc.)
Monitor throughout the live event

14. 2. You Shall
Know your upload bandwidth




Speedtest.net – test it and Re-test
More bandwidth is better
Dedicated bandwidth
Maximum headroom – 2x over the “target
bitrate

15. How much bandwidth?
Upload is what matters
For HD, at least 3Mbps
Example above shows a typical residential
grade
Low quality streaming can be done@
800kbps

16. Recommended settings
Quality
Resolution
Video Bitrate Recommend
ed
Bandwidth
HD
1280 x
720
2 Mbps
High
960 x 540 1.5 Mbps
3Mbps
Medium
640 x 360 1 Mbps
2Mbps
Low
480 x 270 400 Kbps 1Mbps
4Mbps

17. 3. You Shall
Have great lighting
One overlooked is great lighting
With poorly lit scene, your camera will introduce
noise into the video picture
This noise is amplified by the video encoding
process, resulting in a low-quality, VHS-like image

18. 4. You Shall
Have great audio
The second secret is great audio.
A presentation that you can’t see but can
hear is valuable
A presentation that you can see but can’t
hear is useless
Get direct feed form PA system,
 on-board mic on the camera will not pick well
 USB sound is much better than 3.5 jack

19. 5. You Shall remember
Long form content works best
Forget web video needing to be 2-3
minutes long
Short form works well for VOD,
 live streams less than 20 min will have a hard
time attracting an audience

20. 6. You shall
Create page for your event
 Create a Clear dedicated streaming page
 Have relevant content around the
player
 Schedules, background information, calls
to action

21. 7. You Shall
Make it interactive
Take advantage of the flexibility of this
medium
Behind-the-scenes, interactive chats /
Q&A with real-time questions form the
audience via Twitter
Stream as long as possible this helps to
generate more social buzz

22. 8. You Shall
Go live early
Start your stream 15-40 minutes early
Allows you time to make sure everything is
working correctly end-to-end
Viewers will show up and spread the word

23. 9. You shall
Keep on streamin’
Re-stream as live or make the VOD available
ASAP! (Check with Copyright issues)
The best window of time to gain maximum
audience is immediately after the live event ends
Publish where rebroadcast can be found

24. 10. You Shall
Promote your event
Promote at least 3 different times and at
least 3 different ways.
One week before, one day before, one hour
before, 5 minutes before live
Use email, social media, pre-registration and
call attendees
Request influential or high profile participants
tweet it

25. Social Media by #s

26. Don’t forget about Text
Messaging

27. Legal Disclaimer
I am not a lawyer, in fact have no legal training
whatsoever! I offer general information.
Taking legal advice from an unknown (lay)
person is a bad idea, you should do your
own research and seek proper
legal counsel before setting your streaming
policies & procedures

28. Copyrights & Licensing
• CCLI Church Streaming & Podcast License ccli.com
• Covers many Christian music worship songs
• No reporting
• Annual fee starts at $75/yr. – based on size
• Does NOT cover “secular” or popular songs
• Christian Copyright Solutions copyrightsolver.com
• Covers 16 million Christian AND secular songs
• Blanket license for ASCAP, BMI & SEASAC song catalog
• Annual fee starts at $500/yr. – Based on size/web traffic

29. Copyrights & Licensing
• Neither of these licenses Allow:
• People to download recordings of copyrighted music Streaming only
• Webcasting of “master” recordings (artist’s version)
• Duplication of copyrighted materials
• U.S. Copyright Law allows churches to perform
copyrighted music during religious services
• The exemption does not cover the re-transmission
of those services over radio, television or the
internet

30. WIFI Best Practices
•
•
•
•
•
1. You are responsible
2. Filtering is a must (see website)
3. Understand the Risks
4. Have a Plan – reason
5. Don’t put Guest & Streaming on same
Internet connection
• 6. Get Techie help (see website)
• 7. Understand SOHO vs Enterprise

31. Test WIFI Interference

32. WIFI Channels
• For 802.11b, channels 1, 6, and 11
won't overlap.
• For 802.11g and 802.11n with a 20MHz
channel width, channels 1, 5, and 9
won't overlap.
• For 802.11n with a 40MHz channel
width, channels 3 and 11 won't overlap

33. Capacity vs. Coverage
• Understand how many devices you
want on the WIFI at once
• Consumer based products and
streaming eat bandwidth up FAST!
• Apple TV issues