Taking just a few extra precautions, will make all the difference between a smooth event webcast or one that is plagued with glitches and hiccups that do not make for a pleasant viewing experience for your audience.
Here are some tips that are simple to implement yet will save you a whole boatload of trouble…
1. Make sure your Internet Connection is wired and not wireless
Wireless connections are prone to interruptions and noise from other wireless devices being used nearby. A hard-wired connection is far more stable and reliable. of course, if a wired connection is just not possible for whatever reason, you may have to chance it with Wi-fi.
2. Set up early to test your stream well before the event is due to start
This gives you the opportunity to not only test you own setup but also to troubleshoot for any audience members who have difficulty connecting. You’ll be surprised at some of the issues you have to deal with – complaints like: “I have no audio!!!” for which the usual solution is: “Please turn on your speakers and turn up the volume on your computer audio” – these and any other ‘complaints’ are best dealt with well beforehand and not in the middle of your broadcast while you have other more pressing issues on hand.
3. Have detailed troubleshooting instructions on the webcast page itself
This preempts many (though not all) complaints and cuts down on the time and energy spent on unnecessary troubleshooting. Better yet, make sure the event manager sends out an emailed instruction sheet with the registration, detailing all the non-webcast-related computer issues that may arise and how they can (and should) be resolved by the audience member before they tune in. A prime example of this is streaming video being blocked by some office networks – an issue over which you have no control and which need to be resolved by the audience member’s IT person.
4. Make sure you have enough available upload speed
Usually this is not a problem as most hotels and conference centers offer setups with more than enough upload speed for their Internet Connection. The rule of thumb should be to ask for twice the bitrate as you will be streaming with – for example, if you will be streaming at say 600 kbps (kilo bits per second) you should ask for 1200 kbps (or 1.2 Mbps) to be available. This will ensure a smooth stream with no buffering involved. But as I mentioned, this is usually not a problem with professional conference facilities, which offer speeds in the range of 4 to 20 Mbps (mega bits per second).
5. Don’t broadcast in High Def – you don’t need to
Standard definition is more than adequate for a good viewing experience. In fact, streaming in high def would more often than not, hurt your webcast. reason being, many viewers may not have ultra-high-speed Internet in their homes and their viewing experience would be marred by buffering and freezes.
6. Get a clean audio feed from the house PA system into your stream
Good audio is 80% of a video viewing experience. Poor audio can ruin a broadcast far more than poor visuals ever could. This can be avoided by making sure that the hotel or conference facility’s AV Techs set up their PA system to provide your stream with a clean audio signal.
Since controlling audio quality is not the province of the webcaster (all we can do is check the incoming volume levels), it is essential that the AV Techs know what they are doing and also stick around till the event starts in order to take care of any problems that may arise.
7. Make sure all the room mics are correctly balanced
The volume/gain levels on all the room mics should be correctly balanced so that they all sound as loud and clear as each other. It is very frustrating for the webcaster and the audience when the podium mic is set at a different level to say the panel table mics, making one too loud and the other too soft to hear.
8. Have a mic (or two) available for audience questions
This is very important from the audience’s point of view. If the viewer cannot hear questions and comments made by audience members, they are left in the cold and don’t know what is going on. If an audience mic (or multiple mics) are not available, at the very least you should instruct the presenters and panelists to repeat their questions into the podium mic for the benefit of the remote viewers.
9. Capture PowerPoint slides digitally instead of through a camera lens
Capturing the presentation screen through a camera makes for a very poor onscreen display, since there is a loss of contrast as well as definition when a video of a video is broadcast online. It is far better and much more professional looking to capture PowerPoint presentations digitally, directly into the streaming system from the presenter’s laptop, through a direct ethernet connection. This method, when combined with a PIP (Picture-in-Picture) display offers the best visuals to a remote audience.
10. Isolate your camera station from the seated audience
I have had my live webcasts broken by inconsiderate audience members who, despite repeated requests and warnings, have bumped camera tripods, kicked out cable connections and one of them even placed their briefcase on top of my equipment, disrupting the cables, which consequently cut off the video stream. Keeping the cameras & computer table well away from seats, tables, doors and aisles is a very good idea and will save you a lot of stress you can do without – and believe me when I say, Live events can get extremely stressful.
Make no mistake – webcasting is 90% dependent on technology and when things are ‘Live’ something can always go wrong. However, following these simple tips will make sure that you will avoid at least some of the pitfalls of Live Webcasting and make your webcast that much more enjoyable for your viewers.
For more information on Webcasting your Events Live visit our main website at: www.mediastreams.ca – there are also a number of information videos on the site, which can be viewed here…