I am looking to begin streaming some of our local tournaments from one of our local pool rooms. I think this could also be useful for our in house leagues as well. This is 100% not for profit, just trying to bring some additional popularity to the game for our locals and I also think this would be a neat hobby that would allow me to contribute in new ways to the sport I love.
I know nothing about streaming, but looking to start very simple (and cheap) at first. I have been playing with the following:
1) I setup a ustream account and channel
2) downloaded both, Adobe FMLE and ustream producer
3) using an old sony handicam
4) ordered Hauppauge - USB-Live2 to connect camcorder to the stream
This seems to be the basics I need to get my toe in the water. I would be EXTREMELY grateful for any tips anyone may have as I am totally new to this.
I have been reading the tutorials and have had some early "success" live streaming from my living room (using my webcam), still intimidated to take my "show" to the local poolroom.
Thank you in advance for any advice!
- Steve Sherman
Hi Steve:
I started just like you, as many of the live billiard stream shows you see on the internet today. You will find that your setup, though relatively simple, will definitely capture content, but in not the best of quality. Though it is adequate to start out with.
I've combined some cool gadgets for on premise use utilizing the latest HDTV cameras which have many of the functions built in, whereas traditionally, like your current setup, you will have to use several pieces of software and a bunch of tweaking to get it just right. And when you move from premise to premise, you run into a whole different set of internet circumstances, which will constantly drive you nuts trying to tweak the stream where it is smooth. It really takes a long time to get the hang of how the processes of the computer works in conjunction with h.264 Video and AAC Audio encoding for local recording, and sending over RTMP to a distribution type of media server.
Screen Capturing with FMLE is not the best choice, as it will require more resources of the computer to render the video on screen, and then to encode it before sending it off to a media server via RTMP.
There are several programs such as Xsplit or Wirecast, which is the top choice of billiard streamers today which will directly encode your camera signal without having to screen capture. Plus these programs will enable you to do on screen logo's, branding, scoreboards, etc. Wirecast is quite pricey at around $1000, and Xsplit is way cheaper, but does not even come close to Wirecast's capabilities.
If you want to save a boat load of time and money, I would gladly point you in the right direction and offer tech support provided you use OSPN as your streaming services instead of Ustream, Livestream, or the other Giant CDN's Even though the Giant CDN's are completely free or if you don't pay for their premium services, in my opinion, they really do a disservice to our industry. I really don't want to elaborate on this here, as I already have in another post which you can search my previous posts here at AZ and read if you wish.
OSPN is a dedicated streaming network I started last year to help fellow streamers experienced or green use our new streaming network for billiards only. This enables all who use OSPN to encode and stream at very high bit rates and resolutions. Plus this enables us to experiment with the latest gadgets to beta test and deploy in the field. We will remain small and hands on for all who wish to use our services. We even offer web hosting and access to all background processes.
I could babble for quite a while on this subject. Hit me up anytime on Facebook or here at AZ. Or through the links in my tagline.
Zach.
