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First, let me start by saying that I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas yesterday! I had a chance to spend some time with most all of my grandkids and had a blast watching them open their gifts. I especially had fun watching my wife learn how to use the new digital camera I got her. I don’t want to say she is technically challenged…I’ll just leave it at that!
And with that said, over the past few weeks, we have been cruising through the Phases of Podcasting. We’ve learned about the history, the basics, going live, prepping for the show, the after show, and getting sponsors and monetizing your podcasts. Tonight, we dive into the final phase of this series of training, Phase 6: Going To The Next Level. Many of you are already asking yourselves, so what is the next level anyway? The next level for many podcasters is video.
There are a number of formats for video in today’s New Media World, including live streaming, video sharing and screencasting, just to name a few. Going video for some, means live streaming. Taking your podcast, possibly one that you are already producing live audio for, and adding a new dimension to it…live video. Now, I have been producing a live video stream for Podcaster Training for almost a year now. I have missed a week here or there, mainly due to technical glitches on the live streaming service, however, for the most part, I’ve been there.
Before we go any further, let’s look at live streaming services. There are a few live streaming services available, such as uStream, Stickam and Justin.TV, again, just to name a few. Tonight, we will look at uStream.TV and go over some of the basics for producing a live streaming video.
Obviously, before you can produce a video, a very important piece of equipment you need is a camera. A webcam, digital video camera or sometimes even a digital camera can be used for this purpose. Some home video cameras have the capability to be hooked up to your PC nowadays and they can be used for this purpose as well. If you already have a camera, check it’s capabilities first to insure that it can be used.
Now, once the camera is in place, you can visit http://www.ustream.tv and signup for a free account. Once you have logged into your account, you will want to setup your profile and show page and this will prepare you for going live soon. I won’t take the time tonight to go through these steps with you. They are fairly self explanatory and if you have questions, just let me know.
Once your show page is setup, you can go live at any time by clicking on the Broadcast Now button, found at the top of the page. This will open a second window, commonly called a Broadcast Window, and the first prompt you should get is to allow or deny access to your camera and sound source. Oh, you will want a microphone hooked up to your PC at this point or else no audio will be heard by your viewers. Click allow and you will be presented with a preview image showing you what your camera is seeing. No preview image? You may need to select your camera from the drop down options for your video. Same goes for sound, if you have multiple sources to choose from.
Next, you have two buttons on the right hand side of the Broadcast Window, Broadcast and Record. Click Broadcast to begin sending your images to uStream for others to see and when you are ready, click Record to save your live video. Once completed, you can click on Stop Record and you will be prompted to save your movie file.
Ok, that’s all there is to live streaming. Let’s move on to video sharing. The most popular video sharing site right now is YouTube. Most everyone has heard of YouTube, but many will not have an idea of how to post a video. This will be an entire different lesson altogether as it requires some specific software and a little know how to insure your video is posted properly.
The last type of video for tonight is called Screencasting. This is a method used for creating tutorials and making them into a video for others to learn by. Again, this will be an entire lesson on it’s own. TechSmith makes a piece of software called Camtasia which allows you to record your screen movements, add transitions, credits, etc. and then create your screencast into the most widely used format technology called Flash. uStream, Stickam, YouTube and most video sharing and streaming sites will use this technology as Flash is a smaller, more compact way of streaming video across the Internet.
I know I’ve skimmed over a lot of this training, however, with video streaming, a lot is just either by doing or by having someone step you through it. Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time on this show, unless I devote an entire lesson on just that. Not saying that can’t happen!
Now, when you plan to stream live video, you want to make sure that your viewers will be able to find you easily. Let’s go back to uStream for a minute. With uStream, like most services, gives you an embed code that allows you to show your live video on your web site or blog, while you are streaming live! There is even an embed code for the chatroom and you can setup a separate page for your live streaming. For example, I have setup a separate domain name, newmediapro.tv, along with a separate site so that I can include my advertising, chatroom, and embed codes for Twitter, Stickam and uStream, all on one page. This way, no matter which service I’m on, I can direct viewers to the one site. Makes life easier for everyone that way.
Alternately, for your blog, you could setup a page marked LIVE and put your embed codes there. Same result and you have a way that your viewers can easily view and read your blog too!
I went the extra mile for the .TV domain name. They are a little salty for some, at $19.99 a year, but I felt it was worth it for the branding. Keep in mind that if you are on Blogger or Wordpress.com, you may not be able to embed the video and chatroom codes. Since I run the self hosted Wordpress, I can do this with my blog. So this is where I’m coming from, in case you’re wondering why I might be telling you to try something that you may not be able to do.
The same applies for video sharing sites like YouTube. You can upload a video or screencast and then get the embed code and show it on your blog or web site. This way, when you’ve got a tutorial video or screencast that you want everyone to see, it’s easy to show it off quickly!
Ok, one last item to cover on this topic tonight. If you want to add a little flare to your live presentation, there are some software packages available for PC users called SuperWebCam and ManyCam, that will allow you to put graphics on the screen, scroll messages, show your desktop and more. Mac users have some options as well, such as CamTwist, that does the same as the PC software packages.
Adding flare to your video will help you to present a more professional production. Even if you have a live video show about nothing in particular, this flare will help you to liven up your videos and maybe attract some more viewers.
This concludes our series of The Phases of Podcasting. Next week, we will be talking about adding audio to your web site or blog. There is one exciting note here. Thanks to a suggestion by Jeff Chandler, our resident Wordpress Segment Host, I will be putting together a series about combining the three main mediums, Blogging, Podcasting and Video. Bridging the gap to bring your listeners to your blog, your readers to your podcasts and live videos and vice versa. It should be a really great series to produce. I’ll tell you more as the time draws near. I can tell you this much, it won’t be until next year now!! 
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Tags: Justin.TV, podcast, stickam, Streaming media, Ustream.tv, Video camera, Wordpress.com, YouTube
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