Livestream. The term has become almost synonymous with Zoom, Google Hangout, and all the other video conferencing platforms as the pandemic continue to hinder our work life in 2020.
For the foreseeable future, virtual meetings and events will be the norm to replace physical meetups and gatherings. They have become a necessity. Consumers are getting more accustomed to meetings online, and now, more are looking towards live streaming as a tool for advertising and selling their products and services.
These platforms are here to stay.
Should your business model require training and lectures in a classroom setting, or big consumer gatherings such as event exhibitions, product launches or trade showrooms, you might want to consider going live!
Recently, we help a baking studio setup a multi-cam livestreaming studio. Here are some tips on how to set up a livestream for your studio.
1. Benefits of A Multi-Cam Set Up
A Multi-camera approach allows you to film wide shots and closeups simultaneously. You can also create an engaging and professional-looking video with at least 2 cameras for a different perspective.
Your main camera should be positioned to shoot a wide shot. Your second camera can set up to shoot a side profile (different perspective) or for close-ups.
If budget is a concern, a simple 1 camera setup can do the trick if you place the camera at the optimal angle to get the best coverage.
2. Professional Lighting
LED softboxes are great as lighting sources because they produce soft “wrap-around” lighting. We use the Godox 60cm x 60cm LED light with a softbox.
A softbox also helps reduce ‘eye squinting’ from a potential host, compared to bare lights that are harsh and might strain or cause eye tear should a subject be looking into it for long periods of time.
LED lights are also much ‘cooler’ than traditional tungsten or fluorescent lights as those can get hot over time.
Smaller lights, like a lamp in the background (depending on your content) and such also help make the scene more interesting for the viewers.
3. The Risk of Depending on Natural Lights.
Having natural light to illuminate the room is always nice. But do take into consideration of our local weather, which is awfully unpredictable. Even a passing cloud can change the light intensity of the room and ruin your scene exposure. As much as possible, always set up your own lights to ensure you have full control of the look of your scene, especially indoors.
4. Always have some extra upload bandwidth available
Always ensure that you have enough bandwidth for streaming your broadcast—plus more. This extra “headroom” acts as a buffer to your account in case of any changes to your network. Upload bandwidth can be affected by all forms of user activity on your network, such as internet uploads and gaming.
We recommend for you to have approximately 1.5x of your stream’s bit rate available to account for these possible network fluctuations. Typically, in order to live stream a full HD 1080p @ 30 fps video on YouTube, you should have a bitrate of 3 to 6 Mbps X 1.5,
Meaning that you have a total of 9Mb/s total upload bandwidth available to ensure a reliable live stream.
5. Work out a Diagram & Settings
Multicam setups with multiple videos, computers, and audio inputs can be pretty complex, especially for the first few runs. Moreover, it is important for the crew to be aligned in terms of the setup requirement. So the process can be replicated easily if members of the crew can be replaced. For these reasons, We always work out several diagrams to help our clients and crew to understand the setup standards for the overall plan, camera settings, and light settings.
5. A Video Switcher
We use the Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro which is a game-changer in the market. It is both a video switcher and an encoder for live-streaming.
The ATEM Mini switchers make it easy to create professional multi-camera productions for live streaming to YouTube/FaceBook or for innovative business presentations that use Skype or Zoom! Simply connect the ATEM Mini and you can switch live between 4 high-quality video camera inputs for dramatically better quality images and video.
Contact us to find out more about studio video productions and live-streaming services. Looking for a filming space, we have a video/photo filming studio available for hourly or day rate rental.
For more information about the Alta Studio and how we use the Atem Mini Pro for live-streaming, you should watch this video.