I did several live internet broadcasts at the beginning of the year for one of my membership sites. It’s been about two years since I did my first broadcast and these went off a lot better than my original broadcast. Since I have the technology stack worked out fairly well at this point I wanted to show you what I used and how I did it.
One reason this is so cool is that I was able to use a few hundred dollars worth of technology and perform a live broadcast for all my website members members and have a high quality finished product for members to download.
Example clips
I think it goes without saying that this wasn’t a Late Show quality set with three studio quality camera setup, but it didn’t cost hundreds of thousands of dollars either. First off, let me give you a little clip from the interview. The first clip shows you the quality that was broadcast (cropped down to what I call internet HD 640×360). The second clip shows you the quality of the HD recording I provided for download.
Now for the HD recording
The interview was conducted in the evening and so there was no natural sunlight to filter in. Some minor color correction was performed on the original HD footage before rendering.
Equipment
The single biggest problem I’ve had while recording videos and broadcasting has been lighting. There are a few ways to overcome lighting problems, but none of them have been easy. More expensive cameras provide better low light performance. Expensive lighting can compensate for lower end cameras. Lucky for you, the inexpensive technology and a trick I’ll show you here, can give you really stunning results on a tight budget.
Here’s a picture of what my front room looked like for my latest internet broadcast.
Here’s the list of equipment that I used to do my broadcast.
- Dell PC (about $500)
- 1.2M DSL connection from Qwest (that’s the standard speed) ($32 per month)
- Logitech® Webcam C500 ($50)
- Kodak Zi8 HD camera ($180)
- Lights on a 2×4 ($20)
- Adobe Flash Media Encoder Live 3 (Free)
- Ustream.tv account (Free)
Lighting
The lighting that I used for this broadcast workout out really well. I started with a basic bathroom light fixture from Lowe’s (like this one http://bit.ly/doKn9U). I bought several feet of electrical cord and a plug end. I then purchased a 2×4 for $1.34. I also purchased four 100 watt equivalent florescent white bulbs (not soft white since that gives a yellow cast). After putting it all together I used some saw horses from my garage to make it stand up.
I should say that I’m an electrical engineer and I’m reckless. Putting something like this together can be dangerous and may represent a fire hazard. If you’re not comfortable with this then don’t do it.
Since the four bulbs are separated be a fixed distance from each other, you want to keep them far enough away from the subject that they shadows can blur together. You also want to use a light that can illuminate the background somewhat. These two techniques will prevent a hard cast shadow from distracting viewers. In some cases you can also use Styrofoam or some type of translucent cloth to diffuse the light and soften it (not in color, but in terms of shadows).
Since neither of my camera’s supported manual white balance, I’m stuck adjusting the color in software after the fact. If it’s important to you to have a properly white balanced image for broadcast then you’ll need to spend more on your cameras, although what Logitech calls Right Light technology does a pretty good job of compensating for low light and white balancing correctly.
Setup
The setup is a lot easier than it might seem. I purchased the webcam and installed it with the standard software that came in the box. I followed some instructions on ustream’s website and downloaded and installed Adobe’s Flash Media Live Encoder (let’s just call that FMLE), which enables me to make several tweaks that are very useful.
For example, FMLE allows me to do two things that really improve the quality of the broadcast and provide me with a backup video in case my higher quality camera chokes. First is that I can send the video into it from my webcam at the optimal image quality for my webcam. In my case it was the native 1.3 mega pixel frame size of 1024×768. Doing this reduces image quality loss and reduces the amount of work my computer has to do for the camera. I can further crop, position and define the adjustments I want to make to prepare the output image for ustream. In my case I wanted to broadcast at 640×480. Along with these settings I have the freedom to define my bit rate for both audio and video so that I can be sure my internet connection will accommodate it.
Aside from the video quality settings above, FMLE allows me to record the stream locally, before it goes up to the server. The file is save in flv format (ready to play on the internet) and doesn’t suffer from any loss due to network speed issues. In other words, the recording is much higher quality than if I used ustreams record feature. For some people the quality of this video will be all you need to post to your membership website. If you are also recording with a higher quality camera, this is a good backup. The very second you finish your broadcast you also have a finished video ready to view. You don’t have to convert, render or do any other processing. Just double click and watch.
As with all of these details, I recommend you play around with FMLE as much as possible beforehand so that you don’t miss something during the broadcast. Things that you might mess up include not triggering the recording before starting the video stream and choosing a bit rate that broadcasts choppy over your internet connection. Don’t forget to adjust your power saving and screen saver settings before you start broadcasting.
Broadcast vs. Download
I usually like to do some editing after a broadcast before I make the video available for download. Sometimes I’m editing the content to get just the right segments and other times I may just be color correcting and adding a watermark. Even if I don’t plan to do any editing, I make sure that I’m recording with more than one device, because I’m paranoid. You should be paranoid too!
In my case, my Logitech C500 produced a great quality video and there were no glitches. However, my Kodak Zi8 produced an even higher quality HD recording that enabled me to provide both enhanced sound and image quality. I used Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum to apply basic color correction and to do an overlay that identifies the source of the video.
Starting with a higher quality original also gives me more options when it comes to converting the video for use elsewhere. For example, the footage from my Zi8 allows me to easily put the interview on a DVD, broadcast it over the internet, upload full HD to youtube and render my self termed “internet half HD” format to my own website. That’s a lot of flexibility, and the flash video file alone wouldn’t provide me with that. But if you’re on a real budget then the $50 webcam with FMLE is too good to pass up and give’s very decent quality.
Improvements
As I watch the recording I can see a few things that I would like to improve (aside from my interview style). The first is the seating and scenery. Even a fake tree in the corner would have added a lot to the recording. Nicer chairs or a cool couch and a band to provide a musical sound track would have given this broadcast a considerable bump! Maybe a new shirt too.
Overall, i put this broadcast together in under an hour (technologically) with only a few hundred dollars of equipment and both me and my members are happy with the result. As soon as I have some construction and furniture budget I can work on the improvements I mentioned.
As always, please comment below.
I recently needed a pop-up for one of my clients site and your optincrusher did the trick. 
You know, I have been putting off setting up a recording area in my office for a few months now for the fact that I have no idea what I am doing, and secondly, i live in a dark house. This should help me off in the right direction, however, I do have a question…
I am tossing up whether or not to go the HD flip or as you mention, the Kodak Zi8. I love the quality from the example that you gave using the Zi8, what are your thoughts between the two? Have you had a chance to test the two?
You might be interested to know that the actual camera component (CMOS digital imager) in both the flip and the Zi8 were made by the same company, Aptina. I worked there for a few years and know that they have a stellar reputation for creating brilliant images.
I chose the Zi8 for a few reasons, including external mic plugin, external memory card and image stabilization. The image stabilization didn’t really pan out to be all that good, but the other two reasons still apply. I also have found that I don’t really use the 1080p option, so that’s not a significant differentiator for me.
I would recommend the Zi8. I’ve also been really happy with the logitech. For low light, don’t cheap out on the web cam. $50 is the minimum I would pay. And go for the glass lens. Optics are huge!
Great examples. I’ve tried several setups both high-end and low-cost. Basement with no windows is good to control lighting (green screen e.g) but I prefer to be near a window for natural light.
I’m using a Canon HG20, FlipMinoHD, and iSight, but have heard great things about the Zi8 from Ed and others.
fun sample http://www.youtube.com/steinarknutsen#p/u/u-all/0/Y7jEFUnDbGU
Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing!
Thanks Steinar,
I wonder if some people get too hung up on the technology and looking for the perfect combination. I know I get stuck sometimes, but it seems the most important thing is to start creating content. I liked your video, by the way.
I am looking into doing a podcast with three friends, but was told we’d need 3 separate mics. Is this true? The audio on your video seems fine. Is that just from the mic on the cam?
Hey Adam,
If you’re all in the same room then no, you don’t need three. You can easily make do with one mic. You might get a cool stereo effect (like being able to hear where each person is sitting) with two mics, but you don’t need three if you’re all in the same room.
The audio in my recording was from the built in Zi8 mic and the built in logitech mic. Both do a decent job.
By the way, your podcast looks cool. Best of luck.
Am i understanding you that you are broadcasting live with a zi8?
Hi Greg,
I’m NOT broadcasting live with the Zi8. The point of having the Zi8 is to end up with high enough quality of the live event for editing and subsequent download. It’s not possible to stream live with the Zi8.
I should mention that I have been very impressed with my Logitech webcam. It does an amazing job.
Very cool. Thanks for the reply. That was my thought of the zi8, but just wanted to be sure.
Hey how did you get the kodak zi8 to work as a webcam with ustream
Shawn,
I used my logitech for the ustream broadcast, but I had my Zi8 going for editing and replay in high definition.
I didn’t realize that you could stream from the zi8. Is there a source you can give me that references this in more detail?
You can’t stream from the Zi8. You use that for the final recording, not for streaming (see comments above)