Avec le nouveau Livestream

While Streaming Media West last week, I checked a few new offerings of streaming live Livestream and Ustream. This post focuses on Livesteam, I'll discuss the new features of Ustream then.

Livestream has evolved considerably over the past years. Originally known as Mogulus, Livestream renamed itself in 2009 to their current, more memorable name. Earlier this year, the Livestream took another step in evolution with the release of what he calls the new Livestream. The big difference between the old (or original) and novelty is the development went from the concept of pages 'channel' in what they call 'events' pages. Pages of the canal were similar to TV channels, a producer may deliver any number of events over time on the same channel. Even if we can create several channel pages, many producers would set up a channel and call it a day.

The new event Livestream page switches focus to a particular regular event. The idea being, each event has its own URL that lives as archive once that the completed event. Event pages are also much more dynamic than the pages of canal in what producers and viewers can send text, photos and videos updates than flow to the bottom of the page in a familiar format of timeline. The main video event, whether live or archived, still lives at the top.

Another excellent feature that you will find with new Livestream, DVR functionality is built directly into the direct drive. If you look at the screencap above, write it down< dvr="" icon="" in="" the="" lower="" right="" corner.="" clicking="" this="" allows="" the="" viewer="" to="" rewind="" to="" any="" point="" in="" a="" live="" broadcast.="" missed="" the="" first="" 5="" minutes="" of="" a="" keynote?="" no="" problem,="" just="" scrub="" the="" slider="" back="" 5="" minutes="" and="" you’re="" watching="" it="" from="" the="" beginning="" before="" the="" talk="" has="">

Pricing has also changed with new Livestream. Is no longer broadcasting without advertising is based on the number of Viewer hours. You can now use the new totally free Livestream, without ads inserted into your content and for unlimited amounts of time in HD. It's a pretty sweet deal. Anyone who has ever watched any amount of streaming knows how annoying and irrelevant video pre-roll and mid-roll ad ads are.  Warning with free, your viewers are required to register with Livestream (also free) before watching. For $49 / month they do away with this requirement, as well as give you unlimited archiving and Google Analytics integration. For $399 / month, you can embed your channel event on your own site. This may seem steep, but it is not out of proportion to what was once old Livestream cost without advertising of viewing with a viewer hour Cap 3000.  No maximum limit number of viewers on the Livestream again.

The other nice to subject the new Livestream thing is a seamless integration with their product diffuser Livestream. This iconic feature of camera-top red, created in partnership with Teradek, allows a producer to encode and broadcast directly on their event page without needing a computer. If you make a single camera shooting with a HDMI compatible camera, this is a pretty sweet to go way. The broadcaster may broadcast via ethernet, wifi or a single 4G cellular modem. Just select the profile of bitrate you want on the menu of the user interface, and you're ready to go.

The most recent and probably coolest thing Livestream that has added to their aresenal is the Livestream Studio HD500 production switcher. If you have already used a Newtek TriCaster before, you will be familiar with what this box. It is essentially a portable device, five SDI input, HD, digital mixer and encoder. It is placed to compete nicely with Newtek TriCaster 450. The material of the HD500 is your base Intel Quad Core i7 processor based machine Windows 7 with a video capture card Blackmagic Design DeckLink Quad and LCD screen built into a luggable design. It does most of what you would expect from a Tricaster; transitions, DVR playback, stills, titles, lower thirds and assignable audio sources. The piece of coding and streaming is managed by integrated Procaster software of the Livestream, with the support of Multi-bitrate streams.

Max Haot, CEO of Livestream, told me that they would be releasing a single version of the HD500 to the first quarter of 2013. I asked Max that is the impetus for this and he replied that they wanted to do this enter into as many hands as possible. The version of the software will be free for use with Livestream and a unlocked paid version will also be available which can be used with any provider or the CDN streaming.

Inspired by Apple, Livestream is clearly moving towards an ecosystem approach, possess each critical piece of the live streaming experience. At the same time, they require that a producer use their software or hardware, it can certainly relieves pain while maximizing the gain.

New material of Livestream to NAB 2014

At annual NAB Show this year in Las Vegas, there's lot to be enthusiastic in the world of live broadcasting over the Internet.

Livestream, live Internet platform streaming, had quite a large footprint this year to show their new products. Livestream is best known for its live streaming service, but is more a complete professional broadcast-to-end solution. This means the implementation of a package of new video beautifully designed switching and hardware encoding this year.

Livestream has introduced new models of their live production switcher Livestream Studio. When the Studio was introduced last year, the Studio HD500 came out as one on laptop plug-and-play switcher/encoder. It was followed by only one version of the software that anyone can operate on their own standard reference of PC hardware with capture cards.

For 2014, Livestream has expanded its line with HD51, surround and models of HD1710 Studio. All models are multi-channel HD live production mixers that squarely address Newtek Tricaster. The HD51 and surround can take up to five sources HD - SDI or HDMI with the surround with a touch screen in its portable form factor. The HD51 and more expansive HD1710, require external monitors. The HD1710 can take a whopping 17 video sources HD - SDI, all can be shown on four screens of multiple and switched live views. All templates for multiple channels of ISO recording format AVI MJPEG. Not the best if your workflow is editing in Final Cut Pro 7, but many fine if you use Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro X. A Livestream rep got supports Quicktime format will materialise.

The new impressive hardware does not stop there. Inspired by the Department of industrial design of Apple, Livestream has introduced a new hardware control surface simply called Surface. This control surface offers an intuitive and customizable interface to all controls of the Studio software interface. Each slider, button and the scale's Surface are mapped directly to their functions in software in the Studio. Surface is actually composed of two modules, Core and track. Is based on the control surface main switch that works with up to five channels of the source. Track is the extension that gives you 15 channels of sources more control, something you want if you have a Studio HD1710.

Livestream Studio combined with the Surface appears to be a formidable contender line Newtek Tricaster. Such as multiple titles, downstream overlay, graphic overlays and outputs of the program are all native Studio. One thing I'd like to see better supported expanded audio input connections. Livestream mixers have one or two mini jacks 1/8? for audio, or audio should be embedded on the HDMI and HD - SDI inputs. The HD500 and HD1710 specifications claim they can take up to four 1/4? analog audio inputs RTS, although it seems that you need to have a nest of snakes cable breakout to withdraw this as these models using the Blackmagic Design DeckLink Studio acquisition card for this. TriCaster has the advantage here, because analog XLR and TRS audio input connections are natively mounted material through their line.

Another feature standout for Studio is the ability to mix in a variety of sources of the camera remotely. Smartphones running Livestream, Teradek and diffuser of the encoders of top wireless and even Google Glass are all supported live sources.

As an encoder, Livestream Studio supports all major platforms and streaming RTMP destinations. Profiles YouTube and Ustream are populated in the menu destinations. Although Livestream includes a year of their release with their hardware platform service, using it is not necessary. I wrote previously about the Livestream service offerings.

All told, Livestream is firmly cutting a beautifully designed, intuitive direct broadcasting ecosystem, butt. We'll keep our eyes on them while they grow.