Re: Video Streaming Services - Status and Survey

["Stephen Goodman" <spgoodman@earthlight.net>]

From: "Jeff Duke" <jeff_d@embarqmail.com>
> I also have used all three services. The only thing I can add is that 
> Livestream's studio does not have to be opened to broadcast. I can just 
> start the FME and it starts broadcasting. This is good for me because I 
> also use Manycam for copious amounts of video fx (yes, I am one of 
>those). 
> The cpu load is much less with Livestream than it is with Ustream 
>because 
> of this. Ustream, as Rainer said has to have it's own broadcast window 
> open and connected with the FME before broadcasting. This was my least 
> favorite thing about Ustream. I recently had an issue with Ustream not 
> broadcasting stereo but this may have been a fluke.

I cannot seem to get ustream to broadcast in stereo.  Here's what I've got 
running for the latest shows:

*Line In, definitely stereo.
*FLStudio 9, using a variety of sound samples and the Tapeworm mellotron 
sim; and in the latest tests I just ran a pattern with a single drum hit 
using its onboard ping-pong delay.

This through ustream's encoder (the FME is not selectable, and when the 
checkbox is selected nothing happens, let alone a plugin installation as 
their 'help' graphics show.  No answer from ustream about this.

> The bandwidth limits with Livestream and the aspect ratio are it's 
>biggest 
> issue for some. It is not for me as I have never used anything higher 
>than 
> about 428 kbs total for audio/video broadcast. You have to consider the 
> bandwidth of the audients connection also.

Hehehehe, you said "audients".  Hmhumhehehehehe...

> To get my channel "verified" on Livestream was very simple. Once done 
>you 
> can have unlimited viewers.

Perhaps I misunderstood the answer from Livestream's forum but I have to 
get 
more viewers to be 'verified'.  Or is that not the only criteria?

> With Livestream you can upload your own videos and also sync with your 
> Youtube account. It plays on "auto pilot" 24/7. This allows me to edit 
>my 
> sets much better than Ustream. Ustream doesn't allow uploads.

I don't have the uploading option on Livestream, just the YouTube linkup. 
Is this a paid account, Jeff?

I did have some assistance from ustream about the no-uploads problem.  I 
had 
placed the VSV performance in its own 'show' and wanted to merge it with 
the 
more-ongoing group of videos I've been doing.  You cannot do any video 
management between 'shows', but one can download the FLV file, just not 
upload it.  I then used my copy of VideoStudio X2 to convert it into an 
AVI 
file, and used MultiCam to feed it to the ustream encoder.

> There have been some issues with Livestream reporting a "unable to find 
> that url" when people click on the link to the shows. This is rare.
>
> The studio with Livestream enables you to switch between other feeds and 
> cameras. You can also have shared channels with collaborators which is 
> nice. This may be the big thing for the next VSV fest! Ustream was a 
> kluster(ahem) using their cohost feature. :)
>
>
> best,
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Rainer Straschill" <moinsound@googlemail.com>
> To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 6:15 AM
> Subject: Video Streaming Services - Status and Survey
>
>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> those video streaming things have been the #1 cool thing for me in 
>2009, 
>> and I continue to do a bi-weekly performance series (first official 
>> session this Saturday) and have done daily ones this past week since 
>> Sunday. Also, Rick's festival has been transmitted nearly in full (and 
>> archived online), so there's even a looping relationship here...on to 
>> some findings and a call for your inputs to these topics.
>>
>> My own experience:
>> I have worked with three services in total: ustream.tv, justin.tv and 
>> livestream.com. At least livestream also has a "premium" version with a 
>> hefty price tag, but all of those offer "free" (meaning ad-financed, no 
>> charges for viewer or presenter) accounts.
>>
>> What they have in common:
>> They're free, allow you to record your shows and make them available 
>for 
>> posterity, and allow embedded players to be placed e.g. on your website 
>> and viewing them does not require registration for the viewer. All of 
>> them allow you to transmit via a browser-based flash plugin or with the 
>> free Adobe FME software.
>>
>> The lowdown on all three of them:
>> a) ustream:
>> This is the one where I started, and where I have the most experience 
>> with.
>> Nice:
>> *   the system of announcing your own shows, following other people 
>etc. 
>> seems laid out fine. There also seems to be a large viewer crowd.
>> *   there are some basic editing functions for your archived videos 
>which 
>> are, as I might say, sufficient.
>> Not nice:
>> *   they have a service which allows cueing in other performers (called 
>> "co-hosting"), drop in clips form youtube etc. Unfortunately, the last 
>> time I checked (at the VSV festival in October), these functions were 
>> flawed or didn't work at all.
>> *   even when using the FME encoder, you still need to run the web 
>> browser plugin, which can be an issue for older computers (and "older" 
>> here means anything with a passmark below 900).
>>
>> b) justin:
>> Nice:
>> *   This is the simplest of the three. Set up your account, download 
>the 
>> xml file for the FME, fire up the FME.
>> Not nice:
>> *   Well...doesn't offer that many nifty features as the others do.
>>
>> c) livestream:
>> This seems to be the most powerful one of the three in terms of 
>features.
>> Nice:
>> *   A nifty wealth of features, including some configurable banners at 
>> the start of the video etc. There's the so-called "studio", which 
>allows 
>> you to also upload videos, create an on-demand playlist, define 
>> storyboards for a live (or archived show), cue in other performers etc.
>> Not Nice:
>> *   There are some limitations to the free accounts. First one is you 
>> need to get your channel certified to be allowed to transmit to more 
>than 
>> 40 viewers. This is not a big issue, as it's just filling out a form 
>and 
>> waiting for a day or so.
>> *   More limitations for free accounts: the biggest is that you are 
>> limited to a 500kbps stream bandwidth and 4:3 aspect ratio.
>>
>>
>> Ok, now it's your turn. More observations to add? Other services which 
>do 
>> something like that? Comments? Questions?
>>
>>
>> Yours,
>>
>>             Rainer
>>
>> -- 
>> http://moinlabs.de
>> Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/moinlabs
>>
>>