The above video is the first ever HuddleCam Live webinar we streamed to YouTube Live. It’s our BETA because like all cutting edge technologies we knew some tuning would be necessary. If you have been following our blog we have a full-proof easy to set live streaming solution where you can incorporate your video conference calls.
Live Streaming a Video Conference Call HuddleCamHD
Hello AV & IP Pros!
Always looking for new ways to make use of video conferencing and live broadcasting technologies, HuddleCamHD has put together a how to guide for “Live Streaming a Video Conference with YouTube Live”. So what does this actually mean? Well if you run a lot of video conference calls you may find that sometimes you have a important video conference call that you need to broadcast to a large audience. Most web conference solutions max out distribution at 3,000 “view only participants” but live streaming services like YouTube Live can broadcast to tens of thousands. The best part is that YouTube Live is completely free and with this tutorial you may actually find it easy!
How To: Live Stream a Video Conference Call
Live Streaming a Video Conference Call HuddleCamHD
First of all let’s check out the configuration diagram we have above. This system does require two computers which is actually something of a industry “magic trick” when it comes to live broadcasting. Live streaming pioneers such as Stephen Heywood, lead technician for Wirecast and host of the “Tech Buzz” have been using this technique for a long time to host live broadcasts and pull in guest speakers over Skype. In this demonstration we are taking that concept a little further with Zoom Video Conferencing which supports up to 50 live video participants and connecting that conference with YouTube Live. I would say the Epiphan AV.IO is a the key to this system because it takes the HDMI audio and video from the computer running your video conference and brings it into your “production/broadcast” computer with super low-latency. The Epiphan AV.IO keeps all the audio and video in sync and provides a affordable (Only $349) solution for bringing a digital video source into your production. The other “secret sauce” to this live production is VMix which provides a great way to bring everything together and stream to YouTube Live.
Step by Step Guide:
This is a great thing to learn how to do. Once you start live streaming with YouTube Live it will become instantly familiar. If you have ever used YouTube it’s going to be a piece of cake. Also, once your done setting up your live stream you can embed the live stream just like a YouTube video!
YouTube Live How to stream a video conference
Scheduling a Zoom video conference call (or your preferred web conferencing service) is usually the same process. You simply click schedule which creates your meeting invitation that you can use your calendaring system (Google Calendars or Microsoft Exchange) to schedule and invite your attendees.
Schedule video conference for streaming
You can skip this step if you want to but I think it’s one of the best features of YouTube Live. No video conferencing service gives you the power to embed your conference right into a webpage. Here is an example of how HuddleCamHD uses the YouTube Live embed feature for weekly broadcasts.
HuddleCam Live Streaming a Video Conference Call
This is where the magic happens. VMix could not be easier to stream live content directly to YouTube Live (you can also use Wirecast). In the picture above I have pasted the RTSP URL and the stream key given by YouTube Live. As you can see in the background I already have my live broadcast set up and ready to stream. With Vmix or Wirecast you can set up video clips and layover to give you stream that professional broadcast look.
Using VMix for live streaming and video conference call
There are currently two ways to stream live on YouTube Live. You can “Stream Now” or schedule a streaming event. They are both pretty straight forward. They both have access to the video control room but the “Stream Now” basically starts an instant stream and “Events” allows more control for promoting your event. I would highly suggest scheduling your event in advance and using the live control room to preview your live stream. This way you can double check everything looks good with your live stream before your event starts.
Live Streaming with YouTube Live
So that’s pretty much everything, step by step. If you have any questions please reach out to us or tune in every friday for our HuddleCam Live broadcasts. This is the format we use so you can see it live and join the video conference to be live participant and ask questions.
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Hello HuddleCamHD Followers!
Today we wanted to review a few ways you can use your HuddleCamHD Cameras to produce live streams. Since every HuddleCamHD camera has USB, the first thing your going to want to do is plug in your HuddleCamHD to a computer with internet. From here we can user a host of online solutions to set up live streams to literally hundreds of thousands of viewers. In fact, video is probably going to much easier than audio (which we may cover in a separate blog post).
Here are just a few services you can use with HuddleCamHD cameras to live stream your audio and video to a online audience:
There are many more services but we wanted to state a few just to get the blog post published and ready for conversation. If you have questions or comments please let us know.
YouTube celebrated its 10 years anniversary at the start of May 2015 and it’s still going strong. There was a time when the company was struggling to survive and now users view millions of videos each day generating more than a billion views. YouTube is still growing strongly with a 50% year on year increase in video views. It’s a platform like no other and many professionals also use it to live stream their events. Tomorrowland, one of the biggest music events is live streamed on YouTube each year to engage its fans across the globe. YouTube Live is a much needed platform in this fast paced world where we are always on the road trying to get ahead of our competition.
YouTube Live
There was a time when thousands of people attended concerts, news and cultural events but in this digital age these numbers have fallen significantly. Costs have gone up and the time available for such activities has reduced as well. YouTube Live wants to bring the same feeling back but in a modern way. It’s all about mobile, and YouTube’s statistics show that there has been a 100% increase in mobile views since last year.
YouTube Live lets you livestream large music, news and cultural events, a new way of interacting with your fans worldwide. Regular YouTube video is an excellent way to promote an event but YouTube Live supports larger production compared to Google Hangouts on Air. Hangouts on Air is a great platform to drive viewer engagement but YouTube Live has made it even better.
YouTube Live is a three step process and in order to achieve maximum efficiency, the creator must follow all the steps carefully. The three step process includes – Pre-production, Production and Publishing.
Live streams should have a smooth flow without any technical problems or interruptions once the stream is live. The very first step is to get familiar with how YouTube Live works, since it’s a technical process so go through YouTube Live’s setup and troubleshoot guide carefully. Secondly, test everything in advance so any issue can resolved before the beginning of the event not during it. Test all the equipment including cameras, audio, lighting, online connection etc. It is always better to keep backups for things such as camera or drone batteries, internet connection and so on. Lastly, make sure that your YouTube account has a good standing and is not penalized over copyrights issues, community guidelines and not more than 1 video is blocked by the management otherwise you will not be allowed to live stream an event. Since YouTube is part of Google and also a huge community on its own, you have to take care of Meta data of your event as well. An attractive title with a custom thumbnail is always preferred plus an optimized description will help attract audience. Promote your live event as much as possible so your fans know when it’s happening and they tune-in for the stream. A nice teaser or trailer will also help create excitement amongst the fans and it is a good way of interacting with them and keep them updated.
Once everything is setup and tested thoroughly it’s time to stream the event live to your fans. YouTube Live will require at least one person readily available to interact with the fans during the event. There are certain steps one should follow to ensure a successful live stream. These steps include:
YouTube Live Example
The last step in the process is editing and sharing best videos from the live event on your channel to keep your fans engaged. Fan clips or celebrities saying something cool about the event will certainly help create more hype for the next installment of the event. All these steps will help you stream broadcast quality live events to your subscribers and will leave them hungry for more. It is an excellent way of promoting your brand just like many companies live stream their keynotes live to users around the world. This helps reach a wider audience, much more than the ones who attended the event.
HuddleCam HD cameras are designed for video conferencing but they can be an excellent alternative to broadcast live events compared to expensive broadcast cameras. HuddleCam HD cameras deliver an excellent image quality at Full HD resolution and are already equipped with the technology to broadcast live video. Also the cameras have USB video outputs which provide an excellent use for YouTube Live.
HuddleCam HD cameras are controlled remotely using an IR remote control or RS-232 so the director and the cameraman in a live event can take the best shots by looking at the on-screen footage and using the remote control to pan, zoom or tilt the camera. Some models even come with 20x to 30x optical zoom features which are excellent to focus on the musician or anything specific during a live event. HuddleCam HD cameras can be excellent for broadcasting events especially keynotes of a company’s product or service.
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