With the current boom in video content on social media platforms, live streaming is certainly dominating the stage. Under the current circumstances, it is clear that if there was ever a time for live streaming to shine, it is now. With live streaming, people can connect and engage with the viewer virtually in real-time. In a recently conducted research, it was found that a clear majority of viewers favoured live-streamed videos over pre-recorded ones. Live-streamed content was watched almost thrice as much as pre-recorded content. A multitude of platforms now supports live streaming from advanced productions to social media platforms. We bring you a collection of the best tools and platforms to produce and broadcast live streaming content. 

Periscope

This application enables live content broadcasting directly from your smartphone or your tablet. It lets viewers comment and interact by sending virtual hearts. It’s benefits lie in it’s a convenience. It is capable of sharing your live stream directly to a range of social networks. This app is owned by Twitter and lets the live stream creators using it stream externally sourced broadcasts.

Instagram

The new live stories feature on Instagram sports live streams within Instagram stories. It enables real-time live video sharing of up to an hour. After your hour-long session has ended, you can also share a recorded version of your live stream on your story for the next 24 hours. The follower reactions and comments will also be included in the recorded version.

Vimeo

Vimeo is popular for its high performing live videos. It doesn’t set a limit on the number of liver videos a user can create and enables sharing to an unlimited viewer base on most of the popular social media platforms. It also features automatic archiving, cool AR graphics, polls, audience chat and much more! It offers two versions: a free version and a paid premium plan. It also offers post stream analytics to help you improve your performance.

YouTube Live

YouTube live enables broadcasting from a personal webcam, or it’s handset application. However, there is a minimum requirement of a thousand subscribers to enable live streaming on the YouTube Live mobile application. An encoder could also be used to record content which could then be sent to the YouTube Live app. Your channel is constantly updated with an archive of your live-streamed content.

Zoom

Zoom is the go-to platform for video webinars. It’s streaming, though not of very high quality, runs pretty smoothly. It enables up to a hundred live stream panellists to share their content and interact with the viewers. With YouTube Live and Facebook integrations, your stream can be broadcasted across these social platforms. Zoom also lets you monetise your sessions with Zapier and PayPal.

Facebook Live

Facebook Live utilises the Facebook application to enable broadcasting to your page, profile, group or event. You will need to schedule your live stream in advance on Live Stream if you’re recording using an external encoder and camera. Before your scheduled live stream begins, your followers will be notified, and a post about your live stream will go up on your page automatically. With Live Stream, you could also reach viewers through external platforms.

Best Equipment for Professional Streaming

Now let’s take a look at the tools and equipment that you would require to take your streaming production quality to the next level.

Sony NX5-R Professional Camcorder

This camcorder by Sony is packed with extremely good features that will truly enhance your video. It has an Optical Zoom of 20X and a 40X Clear Image Zoom. It’s Sony G lens enables incredible picture quality and has an aperture of f/1.6 that lets it function in low light settings as well. The camera has three built-in CMOS sensors and is one of the best cameras in the market for event recording.

Manfrotto Fluid Head Tripod

This is a well-rounded tripod for both indoor and outdoor settings. It is capable of handling a maximum of 16.5 pounds of camera weight. It offers a smooth pan and tilt that is easily adjustable. It can go up to a maximum height of an astonishing 66 inches which can be extremely useful when live-streaming a large crowd or a widespread event.

Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro

The ATEM Mini Pro is amongst the best switchers on the market. It also has a new Professional version (Blackmagic ATEM Television Studio Pro). The new Studio Pro has added monitoring, streaming and recording features. The ATEM Mini Pro enables direct streaming through its Ethernet Connection. It also allows the user to switch and transmit a maximum of four HDMI inputs to social streaming platforms. You could also use the Mini Pro like a webcam input by connecting it to your computer. The four HDMI inputs support their respective standard converters enabling the device to switch 1080p, 1080i and 720p inputs to the switcher’s standard automatically. The new model also sports a multi-view HDMI video output. All the views can be tracked on a single system with their live recording and streaming status. 

Source : Platforms for Live Streaming

Twitch is a very popular live streaming platform. You may have watched live gaming on Twitch and wondered how you can start streaming. If so, here are 10 important tips for you to start a Twitch channel.

1. Make sure your mic works decently

A big reason what makes people watch live streams is the fun commentary rather than the gameplay. This is why you need to keep in mind that you don’t sound like you are doing commentary next to a construction site. You don’t need a high-quality mic you just want it to make your voice clear. Alongside this, you can also use earbuds or a headset so that there is no feedback from speakers.

2. Have a good internet connection

Again, you don’t need a light fast internet connection but it does need to be decent and stable. It just has to be fast enough to broadcast your video at 720p or more.

3. Get a webcam

When you are live streaming, you need to interact with your viewers and definitely, your viewers would like to know what you look like. A webcam just takes your live streaming from zero to ten. Use a decent quality webcam and make sure that it can record at least 720p and produces good quality videos.

4. Make a HUD

After setting the hardware, it’s time to decide the software. You can use OBS to do this but there are other alternatives like xSplit. You need to make your stream look good and make it stand out in the crowd. You can try putting a border around your webcam and make sure you allow a pop-up notification when someone follows or donates.

5. Stream something that people watch, but don’t stream

If you are planning to stream popular games like Starcraft, Minecraft, League of Legends, or Hearthstone just drop the plan. You need to target such a game that many people watch but not a lot of people stream. For this, open the list of games on Twitch, and skip the first 10 to 20 games on the list. After that, start looking for the games you like, click on them, and see how many people are streaming. Go for something which is streamed my less than 30 people. This is done so that you can appear on the front page of a game. You want people to see your stream. If you appear on the first page you will get more views and not get buried under thousands of other people streaming the same game.

6. Get a chatbot

Make sure you don’t view a bot, or you will get banned. While watching streams you probably have noticed someone either named Nightbot or Moobot. These are chatbots who keeps a check on the chat to make sure that no one posts links or anything else that could be dangerous. Make sure you don’t get a bot coming into your chat and have it post a malicious link, which one of your viewers might click and then get a virus. Make sure you don’t have to go through that.

7. Interact with your viewers

Interact with your viewers and keep refreshing that viewer list. Say “Hello, welcome to the stream!” every time someone new joins the stream. Try to be nice, answer their questions, and even ask them questions. Try to have a good conversation with them. Do not pick a fight or argument with anyone and simply mute them if it’s annoying you.

8. Talk to someone when you are streaming

When you start streaming, for a little while in the beginning, no one will be watching your stream. In that case, before you start streaming try setting up a Skype call with one of your friends. In case someone joins your stream sees that no one is talking, they are going to leave immediately. If you keep on talking to someone people will stick around in your streams.

9. Be consistent

Try to prepare a stream schedule and stick with that. If you have your stream set at a particular day and time people are more likely to watch your stream than just streaming randomly.

10. Be persistent

Streams can be really good or very bad. Not every stream is going to be up to your expectations. Random people may try to interrupt your stream and start harassing you or other viewers. Remember that things can go wrong when you stream. To establish a successful channel, you have to keep moving even when things go wrong.

Source : Twitch Channel