Live Streaming

admin —  July 1, 2009 — Leave a comment

I got a question the other day about how to live stream an event.  This person had a great idea, they wanted to live stream some of the chapel times at camp for the parents back home so they could feel a part of what was going on.  I thought it was a great application for this technology.  A few years ago offering a stream of a live event on the Internet would have cost a small fortune and required a truck load of equipment.  Today it’s surprisingly easy and inexpensive.  Here’s a quick tutorial of how to do it.

Equipment you’ll need: A computer (preferably a laptop if you’re on the road), internet connection, video camera

Optional: Microphone (although this really shouldn’t be)

How to do it:

  1. You’ll need an account at one of the streaming services.  They are a bunch of them, and most of them offer a free level that ad supported.  I use Ustream.tv, and have been really happy with it.  I use it to stream the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast and have also used it to stream sessions at the National Youth Ministry Conference.  There’s newer service called, LiveStream.com that looks really good also that I’ve been tempted to try out.  Stickam.com is another option for you.
  2. Once you have you’re account setup, plug in your camera.  This might be a simple as a webcam (this is a good one), a home video camera, or a big professional rig.  One warning is the better your camera, the better your computer needs to be to keep up with the video stream.  As a point of reference, my 2 year old MacBook Pro can’t keep up with an HD signal, but most of the free services won’t allow an HD stream anyway.  So a nice Standard Def stream is probably your best bet.  Another thing to watch out for is some of the services will only accept 4 x 3 screen ratios, so if you’re camera is normally letterbox you may need to if you can change it in your settings menu.  This is also where if you have a microphone you’ll want to plug it in.  You may find what you are doing the built in microphone in your camera is just fine, but usually most people want something a little better.  There are some great external mics that you may want to get to connect directly to your camera.  Or you might want to get the audio directly into your computer.  If it’s a small area you are filming in,  a nice USB mic to may work well.  I use a Snowball from Blue it works well and is a great omnidirectional option if you have a group of people.  If you have a traditional XLR mic you’d like to use you can get a XLR to USB setup. If you have a little more of a production you working with you may want to take a line out of the sound board and into your camera.
  3. Once you have the video and sound set, you’ll want to press the broadcast now button available once your logged into your streaming service.  It will ask what audio and video source to use, and pick the appropriate one for your setup.  In ustream once you press the broadcast now it actaully doesn’t directly start broadcasting, but pulls up the control panel.  Here you can test your settings before pushing your stream live.  When your ready you can push it live, and even record the stream if you want to.
  4. Once you begin your broadcast, the last step is getting people to watch.  The easiest way is to embed the video on your own site and directing people there to watch.  You can also direct people to the show page for the streaming service you’re using.

Remember that one of the bonuses of streaming is that people are limited to just watching, you can also have a chat room with the video so people watching can comment and interact with what they are watching.  I find this to be one of the best parts of live streaming an event.  It’s amazing the engagement people can have while watch a video.  It’s a great way to interact and build community with those that can’t be at the event live.  If you have an extra person helping you out, I recommend assigning someone whose job is to monitor and interact with the chat.  Not only can they act as moderator, but they can also help the chatters feel a part of what’s happening in real time.

There’s a lot of great uses for this technology.  I already mentioned the idea of doing this from camp, but you could also do any event.

What ideas do you have for live streaming?

In Media, Web , , , , ,
permalink

Quick Tip: Download Youtube Easily

admin —  June 27, 2009 — Leave a comment

This is not the first time we have talked about this subject.  Brandon wrote an excellent article on it.  There are several tools, but none quite as easy as pwnyoutube.com.  It does not require you to download any software or even copy a url.  Simply add “pwn” before “youtube.com” in the url of the youtube video you are viewing and that takes you to a pwnyoutube site where you can right click and “save target as” for the .flv file and even the higher quality .mp4 file where available.

If you are looking for a good video illustration to use in an upcoming talk, try this blast from the past:

Consume Me (DC Talk)

In Featured, Media, Web , ,
permalink

iPhone 3.0: Initial Thoughts

admin —  June 17, 2009 — Leave a comment

photo
Well, I’ve been using the new iPhone 3.0 software for almost 12 hours now.  Here are some of my initial thoughts:

  • Search:  I think the way they implemented this by having it be to the left of the main screen is interesting.  Although I found myself swiping into it accidentally often.  I hope I get used to it being there.  It’s is a great program launcher though.  I have about 7 screens of apps, and it can be difficult to find certain ones.  Now with the search and few letters into the spotlight search, and up it comes.  It was also great finding things in email.  I really like how they used icons next to the results, it makes it easy to identify what each result is.
  • iPod Features:  I wasn’t ready for the first time i opened my music library and it needed to update.  I had to cruise down the road for a few miles before I was able to fire up my tunes.  So you may want to open up your library right away just so it can update.  I listen to alot of podcasts, and there are a few new settings.  Now under to time bar there are 3 new buttons.  One allows you to send a link to the podcast to a friend.  Nice for those of us who create podcasts.  Two allows you to jump the podcast back 30 seconds incase you missed something.  And three allows you to change the speed of playback.
  • Cut and Paste: This one is so big.  I can’t believe it took so long to get this.  The implementation works well, exactly how I would expect it.  And it works in so many places.  It was supper easy to move text from a web page to an email, or a web address into a note.  I love it.  This makes the whole device so much more useable.
  • General Impressions: My iPhone 3G feels a little snappier.  The transitions from screen to screen definitely seems smoother.  Overall not huge impact on performance, but it just seems a little tighter. 

Here’s some thoughts from one of my favorite Tech Pundits: 10 nifty things about iPhone OS 3.0.   

How was your first day with it?  What’s your favorite new feature?

In Gadgets, Mac ,
permalink

Friday Fun: Twitter Tracker

admin —  June 12, 2009 — Leave a comment

I don’t know about you, but I’m very excited that Conan has taken over the Tonight Show.  And one of his bits is my pick for Friday Fun.  He has started a Twitter Tracker to track all those fascinating celebrity tweets.  

Check Out the video:

And if you want more Twitter Tracker, check out it’s site: Twitter-Tracker. 

You can also follow it on Twitter: Twitter.com/Tw1tterTracker.

Happy Friday.

In Fun , , ,
permalink

Record High Quality Audio at a Reasonable Price

admin —  June 12, 2009 — Leave a comment

I often have people ask me how to make good sounding recordings of their youth bands, sermons, or voice overs for videos without spending a fortune on gear. Before I found out about the Shure X2u, I’d recommend a cool mic like the blue snoflake or snowball.  The Shure X2u is called a signal adapter, but it is far more.  It’s powered totally off a standard USB port, and allows you to plug a mic cord into one end while outputting the audio to your computer through the usb.

What is most interesting about the X2u are all its additional features.  It has an integrated mic preamp which will make the audio sound much better and more full.  It will power microphones that require what’s called “phantom power” or +48v.  It has a headphone jack that you can use to monitor the input as well as three dials that control mic gain, volume, and monitor volume.

This little piece of equipment allows you to use the mics you already have, either run through a mixer into the X2u or plugged up directly into the unit, instead of having to go out and purchase a usb mic that will probably not sound nearly as good as the mics you already have, and not give you the option of plugging in a mixer and using multiple mics.

You can get the Shure X2u at Amazon by itself for $120, or bundled with tried and true SM-58 microphone for $199 (a $220 value).

In Featured, Gadgets , , , ,
permalink

40% off, 40 Free Backgrounds, and 40 Free Movie Tickets

admin —  June 9, 2009 — Leave a comment


40-40-40

It’s 40 40 40 sale time at Simply Youth Ministry.  If you are looking for a great deal on some great youth ministry resources, for the next 40 hours you can get 40% off at SimplyYouthMinistry.com for 3 days only.

You can also grab 40 free backgrounds.

Want to win 40 movie tickets?  CLICK HERE for more info.

In Resources ,
permalink

Apple’s WWDC Keynote

admin —  June 7, 2009 — Leave a comment

Well it’s almost upon us, the Keynote for WWDC.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the workings of Apple, WWDC stands for the World Wide Developer Conference.  They hold it every summer, and the last few years it has become home for big announcements from Apple.  (Last year we got to see the iPhone 3G for the first time.)  

So what do we think Apple will give us tomorrow?  The rumor sites and Mac pundits all seem to feel we will get an announcement of an new iPhone, although there seems to be mixed feelings about when it will ship.   For what it’s worth, I’d be surprised if we see it ship tomorrow, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see us get the iPhone 3.0 software.  It seems Apple is getting us ready by releasing an iTunes update last week that was 3.0 ready.  

We’ll probably also hear more about the plans for Snow Leopard, their next OS version, and when it will hit the streets.  My guess is late summer or early fall.

If you are interested you can check out more of the rumor round-ups, including supposed pictures of the next iPhone:

Enjoy the speculation, we’ll all find out tomorrow.

In Mac , ,
permalink

Prezi: Amazing Flying Presentations

admin —  June 5, 2009 — Leave a comment

I am amazed. I have just spent the past several minutes toying around with what could be one of the most interesting tools I have ever found. It’s called Prezi. Saying that Prezi is about making presentations is like saying that Porche is about making combustion engines. It takes the idea of delivering screen-based presentations to an alternate, non-boring dimension where the creation of the presentation can actually be part of the creative process.

Basically, you take your content (everything from CAD drawings to video) rotate, scale, and place it, and then draw a path from one to another that automatically rotates and zooms the camera to fill the screen with whatever is being shown. Their site probably describes it best when they say, “Create a map of your ideas, images, videos, then show overview, zoom to details, amaze, convince, take the day. And it is very simple to use. ”

Simple is a gross understatement. They have developed an intuitive interface that allowed me to create this simple demo of an announcement presentation without ever reading or looking at a second of tutorial.  Although it is a web app, your presentations are available to download so that you can still show them when you are in the middle of nowhere at a camp who still has dial-up internet access.

The best part?  It’s FREE!  There are premium versions that you can pay for that remove the Prezi logo, give you more storage and an offline editor, but free is good enough for me.

While I think this may be distractingly cool for talk notes, I plan on using it to attract attention to our announcements and maybe a song or two if we get ambitious.

In Design, Featured, Media, Software, Web , , ,
permalink

Friday Fun: 80′s TV Star Wars Mashup

admin —  June 5, 2009 — Leave a comment

It’s that time again for Friday Fun.  This weeks entry is also is also a video that involves my favorite movie Star Wars, in fact I combined a bunch of videos from this same genre into one post.  I love these videos becuase not only do include Star Wars, but also another art form I love, the Mash-up.  Throw in some 80′s TV shows and you got some funny videos:

Maybe I just need to start a dumb star wars video blog.

In Featured , , , ,
permalink

Microsoft Project Natal

admin —  June 3, 2009 — Leave a comment

I can’t say I’ve always been the biggest X-box fan (OK don’t hate me), but this looks pretty cool.  I wonder if they will ever really come out with it.  I’m still waiting for a Microsoft Surface to show up somewhere.

In Gadgets ,
permalink