We have worked with many clients who are planning a live stream event for the first time. Hence, we are creating this quick guide to help anyone who’s planning a live stream event to get started quickly.
We will be updating this guide as the industry evolves, so bookmark this page and check back often.
Table of Contents
What Is A Video Delivery Network
Online services such as Wowza, Vimeo & Dacast are video delivery networks. They are well connected to data centers across the globe to distribute your videos effectively. These video delivery networks enable you embed your video onto your event micro site.
Most video delivery network streams with delay/latency ranging from 20-45 seconds.
Live Streaming on Zoom Webinar
Zoom is a video conferencing platform and not a live streaming platform. However, that does not stop many of our clients from using Zoom for their live events. For one, Zoom Webinar is extremely cost effective for events with less than 500 attendees. After your stream, Zoom also provides attendee report, so you will know who has attended your virtual event.
Unlike video delivery network such as YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Wowza or Dacast. Zoom has minimal latency of about 1 sec. However, the image quality on Zoom is very low. Which can be a problem if you are featuring QR code for audience to scan.
Our live streaming production crew can produce a professional show using broadcast cameras even when you are streaming on Zoom. Contact our project coordinator if you need to discuss this for your event.
Live Streaming on Cisco WebEx
We recommend Zoom over WebEx, we have encountered WebEx admin web page being inaccessible during peak traffic. Our experience with Zoom has been smooth and Zoom also offers many levels of controls in their Webinar package.
Live Streaming on Linkedin Live
You need to be an approved business on Linkedin to go live on the platform. Hence, you may wish to submit your application to Linkedin the moment you are planning to go live on your business page. The approval process takes time.
Live Streaming on Instagram
We can live stream a professionally produced show to Instagram. The platform limits a single stream to maximum of 1 hour duration. Hence, it is essential to keep your Instagram live stream short and succinct.
Live Streaming on Vimeo
Vimeo has some very powerful features such as streaming to unlimited viewers. But Vimeo is not accessible in China. Vimeo offers customised packages depending on your corporate requirements.
We are a Vimeo live streaming production crew in Singapore. Our team is well-verse in the integration & configuration of Vimeo.
Drawbacks of Streaming on YouTube Live
When embedding YouTube Live on an external private site, the YouTube video player contains a share button. Your attendees can share the video to anyone, there is no password protection for YouTube Live videos.
When the live video is paused, YouTube video player suggests other videos to the user, which will cause them to navigate away from your event.
If for any reason, YouTube deems that your live stream video content violates their privacy policy, they will pull it offline immediately. This may cause disruption to your viewers.
Live Streaming Latency & Delay
For most video delivery networks, attendees will be watching a live stream that is about 20 seconds delayed. This delay can be up to 45 seconds on some networks. Every attendees will also be watching with a slightly different delay rate, usually within a few seconds.
Limited vs. Unlimited Viewers
Facebook, YouTube & Vimeo offers unlimited viewers on their live streaming videos. Wowza & Dacast charges you based on your usage.
Choosing Your Live Streaming Platform
There are many consideration when choosing a live streaming platform or creating a bespoke event micro site. Speak with our project coordinator for more clarity. Meanwhile, some factors to consider:
- Event or live stream content nature
- Audience demographic
- Audience size (100, 500, 1000, 5000 or more)
- Audience physical location & Internet restrictions
- Personal data and/or lead collection
- Privacy
Stream to Multiple Destinations
Most live streaming vendors will charge additional fee for streaming to more than 1 location, as this will consuming processing power or involves paid third-party extensions.
Streaming to multiple destination will require a high-end system. Otherwise, you may encounter dropped frames or decreased frame rate during your live streaming session.
What is RTMP & Stream Key
Think of RTMP as a URL, this is the address that our video encoder will communicate with and stream to.
Stream Key is like a password, you should keep it private and only give it to people who absolutely need it. This allow the live streaming server to identify the stream and associate it with your user account.
With RTMP address & Stream Key, the live streaming vendor does not require access to your accounts (such as YouTube or Facebook). The stream key allows a live streaming vendor to stream onto your account. All you have to do is check the stream and click ‘Go Live’.
Green Screen Live Streaming
Live streaming vendor can usually setup a green screen at your office if you have ample space. You can also do it at a green screen studio location. Speak with us to discuss our complimentary green screen studio space usage, when you engage our live streaming services.
Connecting Physical & Remote Presenters
Some of our clients were very worried when they first explored this idea because it appeared daunting. It is not tremendously difficult but it does cost more due to multiple specialised equipment required to deliver this smoothly.
Live Streaming Pre-recorded Content
Many clients have shunned this idea because it is deemed to be non-live. But a well produced pre-recorded content will integrate very well on your live stream.
Most video delivery network supports video frame rate of 30 or 60fps. Which means if you have existing content in 25fps, some stuttering can occur.
Our production team has helped client produce pre-recorded live streaming content. We also help to integrate the pre-recorded content into the live stream.
Live Streaming Using OBS
If you have heard of, or even tried out OBS on your own, that’s great. For the price of free, OBS is extremely useful when you need to stream content occasionally. You can use it to re-stream a previously live content, or you can also stream pre-recorded content via OBS.
A Video Production Crew is Not An Event Management Company
Assess what you need from the live streaming vendor. If you already have a past year programme line-up to follow, and your in-house team can handle the registration admin process. Going straight to a live stream production crew can be very cost-effective.
However, if you are working with a very lean in-house events team. Consider working with an events management company. They can take away the stress in the planning and logistics arrangements.
If you are looking for a virtual event management partner, consider YSNC Production.
Totally Different From A Physical Event
For the veteran event planners out there, a virtual event is so different from a physical event. Your experience in designing a programme will be helpful, but you will need to reconsider how attendee engagement is to be done.
If you try to replicate a physical event experience onto the virtual event, you will find yourself frustrated. The virtual event software and services are still in its infancy compared to physical event industry.
Backup System For Live Stream is Expensive
If you require a complete backup for the live streaming systems, you are likely looking at double the cost. Alternatively, a backup of critical system may be more cost-effective.
Technical Terms To Get You Through
- IEM – In ear monitor are wireless earphones for your presenters
- OBS – A free software vision mixer
- vMix – A software vision mixer commonly used by professional live streaming vendors
- Wirecast – A software vision mixer commonly used by professional live streaming vendors
- Video Encoder – A device that enables video signal to be converted into compatible signal for processing or streaming.
- Vision Mixer – The equipment that enables switching between camera angles
Our Live Stream Production Crew Can Help
Use the quick contact form on your right to reach out to us, our project coordinator will be able to assist you.
