Saturday, November 20, 2010

Livestreaming events

We’re going to Chennai next week for DocType HTML5. We want to livestream the event for the folks who can’t make it. I see two ways to make this work:

  1. Use a computer with a webcam and broadcast with a service like Ustream, Justin.tv or Qik.
  2. Use a mobile phone with a 3G connection and a native app for one of these services.

If we use a laptop:

  1. All three services use Flash, which doesn’t work great on Linux, so the laptop must run Windows or Mac OS X. Built-in webcams on most laptops aren’t great either, so I need to get something like the Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 (Rs 4700).
  2. The microphone on most laptops isn’t great either. Need an external mic or line-in from the sound mixer.
  3. Need a dedicated laptop through the day, with Windows. Our conference router runs Linux and could have doubled for this duty, but the availability of Linux drivers for the webcam is unclear.
  4. A laptop is a heavy piece of equipment to lug around.

If we use a phone:

  1. Most phone cameras are crap. The Nokia N8 has a fantastic camera, but nobody makes Symbian apps anymore. There’s just Qik in the Ovi store. I tried Qik on my Android and the performance is crap, while Ustream works great.
  2. The only Android phones with HD cameras are above INR 25k (Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Desire HD, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10). We don’t have the budget to buy an expensive phone just to stream video. We’ll have to convince one of these companies to sponsor it.
  3. Phones are easy to carry and easy to lose. They won’t sit on a tripod, so an adapter is needed.

What do we do? Is there a webcam or phone you can recommend?

Update: I’ve settled on the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910. Rs 5800 in Jayanagar, Bangalore, and works great with Ustream on our conference router running Ubuntu Maverick, with both BSNL 3G and Reliance NetConnect (both of which offer roughly 200 kBps on the uplink).

  1. 4:17 PM
HasGeek | ,
  • Avatar

    Aristarkhos — Nov 20, 2010 4:50:27 PM — # ↩

    nice predicament. :) A smartphone is the best option if and only if: you have someone with untiringly steady hands. With a budget of 12k, i doubt you will get good quality cameras for the cheaper phones. That’s first thing that is skimped on a lower price phone.

    The biggest downer for the phone, is the lack of a tripod mount.

    How about linking a digital camera to a laptop that processes the incoming video stream before broadcasting it to the Web? You mentioned UStream, even they have given some tips on this method. Though they have used the word “camcorder”. I wondered, why not a digital camera. But then FireWire would be a must.

    So yea, there is CamTwist, i think that could do the trick. it also allows adding text and effects.

    An archaic article I found that talked about using the same method as above, but with Flash Media Encoder (which is free for Win/Mac): www.iupui.edu/~nmstream/live/howtoflash.htmlFrankly, I could not understand all of it. After the media encoder, then what?

    never done this before. but i hope this is useful. brains not working optimally. do let me know how you pull this off.

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    Kiran Jonnalagadda — Nov 20, 2010 5:34:59 PM — # ↩

    Konark Modi emailed this:

    Even we faced a similar problem while organizing an event in Chandigarh in May 2010.

    After trying couple of things we tried this and it worked:

    1. Webcam: Logitech Webcam which tracks motion.
    2. Lappy: Asus netbook (Hardly matters), anything capable of plugging web cam and audio input
    3. Tata Photon Broadband+ (Was awesome)

    Pitfalls:

    1. DO connect the Speakers mic with lappy’s audio input
    2. Test the UPLOAD speed, if u cannot stream it without breaking it try adding delay of 1-5 mts. Your provider like UStream should provide you an option.
  • Avatar

    Kiran Jonnalagadda — Nov 24, 2010 12:49:30 PM — # ↩

    I settled on webcam that works with Linux, and have updated the post.