18 de julio de 2020

Making a quality livestream is not as easy as it seemed?

First dilemma: Do I broadcast from my cell phone or from my computer?

After the impressive boom of livestreams and the need for artists to use new channels to show their work, many who were not so in the subject realized that making a good livestream without technical problems and making it look professional was not so easy. .

In this article we will share some tips depending on the type of transmission you want to do, so that you do not drown in the sea of ​​​​configurations and equipment.

We are going to use three basic examples of common livestreams to broadcast from both a mobile phone and a computer and we tell you the pros and cons of each of the options.

As in most of the things that we are going to talk about in this post, each decision you make will have consequences in the quality of transmission, in the options available and in the necessary equipment.

Pros of Using Your Phone:

Clearly the good thing about using the phone is that you always have it at hand, and that the cameras that come are increasingly sophisticated, being able to compete hand in hand with professional film cameras. Also, you don't have to configure much, you just open the app you are going to transmit through, and that's it. (basically...)

Pros of using your Computer:

1- Internet connection speed. It may seem like something very trivial, but the reality is that the speed of the connection in your home is FUNDAMENTAL. Although we all use our Wi-Fi network at home to connect all our devices, the stability of any Wi-Fi network does not compare to connecting the computer directly to your router with the good old network cable. With it, you will be able to make the most of your connection and without so many fluctuations. So first BIG

A suggestion: Use a network cable instead of your wifi to make a transmission.

2- Possibility of connecting better quality cameras. It is true that cell phones film better and have more sophisticated lenses (and in more quantity too...) But... if you have access to a DSLR type camera, hat or similar, it is quite possible that you can get not only a better video quality, but also, if your machine supports it and you have the devices that allow it... you could transmit using SEVERAL cameras at the same time, thus giving your streaming a much more professional and dynamic look.

In general, the video cameras built into computers are usually not very good quality, so if you do not have an external camera, it is better to use the phone. But we can use the phone's camera only as an external camera (We'll come back to this topic and the multiple cameras when we talk about equipment)

3- Possibility of adding graphs, video effects, animations, watermarks, etc. Use live video editing software to add these elements. We recommend OBS, free, open source and quite simple to use.

4- You leave your phone USELESS during the transmission. Getting a call from your Aunt Roberta during a live broadcast is not ideal... it will distract you, and you run the risk of accidentally interrupting the streaming, so it's best not to take this risk and keep your phone out of the way. range and silent.

5- Option to transmit to several platforms simultaneously. Using OBS for example, and a restreaming service like Restream.com or Castr.io.

VIDEO

If the decision was to use the phone:

On the Video side there is not much science in this aspect, since we will use yes or yes its built-in camera. We always recommend using the rear camera as it is noticeably better than the front one.

There are some things to always keep in mind. It is important that the frame is to your liking and that you do it thinking very well about what you want to see and what NOT. Ideally we'd put the phone on a tripod with a phone adapter and that way we're not propping it up anywhere risking it moving or falling during streaming (we're also careful not to break the equipment). There are many variants of tripods and adapters, here are some, but you can do a search yourself for options that fit your phone and budget. Also think about whether you are going to use a small tripod that goes on the table or if it will be a large tripod that rests on the ground.

Links to cell phone tripods, lights, etc:

AUDIO

In our opinion, it is TOTALLY forbidden to make a livestream with the built-in microphone of the cell phone or computer unless it is only an interview, or a talk and the environmental noise levels are conducive. If you're going to make a livestream of music with poor audio quality... better not do it :P

Telephone Option for DJS:

We need YES or YES a way to connect the output of our Mixer to the phone.

If you use the standard equipment of a classic DJ booth, you will surely have a Pioneer DJM 750, DJM 900 nexus, DJM 450 mixer, or similar.

As the ideal is to work in stereo, we recommend using the I-Rig Stream which has a stereo RCA input. Other interfaces can be used, but for the DJ format, the latter is the most recommended due to its simplicity and input and output characteristics.

Once the interface is connected, it is enough to make sure that the signal does not sting in red so as not to saturate the audio. If during the broadcast we wanted to talk, the best thing would be to connect a normal microphone to the mixer (basically ALL mixers have a microphone input available).

Another advantage of the I-Rig Stream is that it is compatible with the computer as well, being able to use the same interface both for a livestream from the phone and from the computer. This way we don't need to have two different interfaces for each case.

It also comes with a power adapter so you can plug it in and simultaneously charge your phone while streaming. (It works perfectly without plugging in, but your cell phone's battery will begin to decrease rapidly).

I-Rig:

Phone option for Vlog:

https://www.thomann.de/es/ik_multimedia_irig_mic_lav.htm

Or if you want to use a microphone you already have:

https://www.thomann.de/es/ik_multimedia_irig_pre_hd.htm

Telephone option for Guitarists or Bassists:

https://www.thomann.de/es/ik_multimedia_irig_2.htm

Telephone option for singer-songwriters or multifunctional:

https://www.thomann.de/es/roland_go_mixer.htm

Environmental microphone option: (calculate that the position of the phone will be key at the time of the final audio that we have)

https://www.thomann.de/es/zoom_iq7.htm

Computer Option for DJS:

To solve the audio we can, as we said before, use the same I-Rig Stream, but if you already have an audio interface you can use that one without problems. Just make sure it has the type of audio inputs you need to connect the output of your mixer or that you have the necessary adapters in case you have to go from an RCA plug to a Jack plug for example.

For the video there are many options depending on the equipment we have and the technological deployment we want to do, but we are going to exemplify as if we were using an external camera such as a GoPro or Canon 5D (it is exactly the same with any camera that has an HDMI or MicroHDMI output. (If the output is MicroHDMI we will need the corresponding adapter cable).

To keep in mind: Copyrights, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube will bring down the streaming if they detect the use of copyrighted material. There is no 100% sure way to avoid this (except by using royalty-free or unreleased songs), but we can keep a few things in mind to reduce the chances. The first Tip would be: Mix quickly… The longer you let a song play without applying effects or mixing it with another, the more chances there are that the automatic algorithm will detect it, so go through songs quickly. Keep in mind not to go over very commercial or well-known topics, which will be quickly detected. There is also the option to change the original Pitch of the songs. It's not infallible, but it greatly improves the chances of being knocked out of the air.

IN THE CASE OF USING THE COMPUTER AS A MIXER:

If we don't use a real mixer but we have a midi controller and the audio mixing is done inside the machine in some program like Traktor or Rekordbox, what we will do is generate a VIRTUAL audio card to be able to route the audio from that program to OBS . A good option on Mac OSx is Loopback https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/ which allows you to generate virtual drivers and select where the sound will come from. In this way we select Traktor or the program that we want, we activate it, and within OBS, in audio devices, we will select that new interface that we generate.

We can use this same method for those who use Ableton Live, Pro Tools or any similar audio program.

For Windows users, you can use Virtual Audio Cable. https://www.vb-audio.com/Cable/index.htm