Live Streaming From Different Locations

[kapp]

Hi Everybody,

This is my first post in this forum. I have been searching for solutions/ideas concerning some technical issues about live internet streaming and finally someone introduced me to Tricaster equipment.

I have taking sometime to read much about the Tricaster equipment on this site but yet something is missing which i need to know.


This is the problem i am searching for solution:

We have hosting servers(web and streaming servers) in Los Angeles and want to stream live videos on the internet from one of the countries in Africa.


1)
How does the Tricaster equipment send the live video streaming to our server in Los Angeles?

2)
Do we have to set up a different network in Africa before we can stream?

3)
Please i need someone to tell me all the technical details that we must do to streaming live videos with the Tricaster equipment. Please detail me all the things we must do to stream the live videos to our servers in Los Angeles so that viewers can watch it live.

We are planning to stream live from different parts of the world. And like i said earlier our servers are in Los Angeles.

Thanks for all your help.

[bob anderson]

As long as you can get reliable upload bandwidth from the venues in Africa, you should not have a big issue, and should be able to stream directly to your CDN in the USA. The TriCaster you purchase will have to be the "Multi Standard" version as Africa uses the PAL video standard.

I noticed you are in CA. I'm a dealer here in Los Angeles and happen to have the Multi-Standard version in stock. Give me a call 818-760-4445.

Bob Anderson

[jmmultex]

From a technical perspective as long as you have the public IP address of the server you're talking to at your CDN, you should be able to configure Tricaster or VT5 to stream from any location in the world. That said, there is a lot more to streaming than just connectivity, and this is where things can get problematic - especially when working in less technically developed regions of the world.

Things to consider:

1. Traffic on the internet must move across a fairly complex network infrastructure. It may end up getting routed across many different 'sub-nets' potentially creating some significant delays or interruptions in the stream. Routing packets internationally usually involves a lot of hops, and the stream people see could be significantly delayed from 'live' - something to consider if there is an interactive aspect to what you are doing. You might want to check if your CDN has local presences in any of the locales you will be shooting in. If so, they could do the routing for you across their private network - eliminating some of the delays but probably raising the cost quite a bit.

2. Even if the venue you are streaming from claims to have sufficient bandwidth, the bandwidth on the local backbone could be constrained and unpredictable - effectively capping the size of your stream. Also -Internet bandwidth to the US over the Atlantic & Pacific oceans is constrained compared to that over land and will be pretty congested during local business hours. Scheduling events during non-business hours could help you with that.

3. Some parts of the world are less open politically and may filter sites and/or protocols, making a connection impossible. You should check on those details well in advance.

4. Some internet providers may do what is known as "packet shaping" - raising the priority of certain content types or sources while delaying others. You have no control over that, but it could end up impacting the quality of the stream you can sustainably deliver.


I'm sure there are some streaming veterans on the forum that could provide a lot more details here than I can. The point I'm driving at is that there are a lot of variables in streaming globally that have nothing to do with the Tricaster itself, and you need to prepare for these types of productions with a lot more attention to the "Plan B" scenarios than you would normally do when you're streaming to a local CDN.


The best way to get ready for this type of production is to run tests ahead of time from each location you will be streaming from. You'll want to make sure you are able to sustain the level of stream you are looking to send, and verify that you can at least do some acceptable minimum quality level if there are issues.

You can use a tool like the Flash Media Live Encoder (http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/flashmediaencoder/?sdid=FCORP) and do a test at the same time of day/same general day of the week to make sure things look good. Once you are comfortable that each venue will support what you are looking for, setting up the tricaster should be fairly straightforward.

This video by Zane Condren from Newtek gives you a great overview of hooking up a tricaster with USTREAM.TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXqGNyp5xqw.

While your CDN may have some unique specifics, this demonstrates the basic process for broadcasting a stream and should give you a basic sense of what is involved.

There is a lot of experience on this board with various streaming providers, so you may be able to get some more specific answers if you provide a bit more detail.

Best
john

[kapp]

I am just amaze at your answers. I never expected that you people will spend much time answering this question in so detail. I appreciate all the advise and i have noted them carefully.

Thank you sooo much.

I have a little question concerning the Tricaster equipment which i want to be clear.

If i enter the public IP address of our server(which is in Los Angeles) to the Tricaster equipment(in Africa) , it will send the streams live to our servers in Los Angeles automatically,without connecting the Tricaster equipment to any additional network in the filming location in Africa? It sends everything automatically to the servers in Los Angeles?

I want to be clear of this question

Thank you all for your replies.

[jmmultex]

Hopefully I'm not misunderstanding what you are asking here.

You will need to have internet connectivity at each location you stream from. That can usually be coordinated with each venue you will be at and is an absolute requirement. Once you have that connection to the internet, everything else that has been brought up comes in to play.

A great thing about the tricaster is that you can actually do a live production to disk, and then broadcast it after the fact with no post production involved. That way, if a particular venue can't offer internet connectivity, you can still produce the show and then stream it back later when you reach a spot that does have it.

The whole tricaster line is brilliant for these types of productions and the flexibility can be a lifesaver. (I currently use a Video Toaster VT[5] - which is similar to the SD versions of tricaster - but will hopefully find some way to afford an upgrade to the XD300.)

Would love to find out more about what you are doing. Feel free to send me a private message.

Best,
-john

[kapp]

Thanks once again for your reply and your offer to send you private messages.
Your answer has brought me a step closer to what i am looking for.

Let say i have the internet connectivity in the location. How am i going to connect the Tricaster equipment to the internet?

Am i going to connect it to a PC connected to the internet? And if so after the connection what must i do to connect to my streaming servers?

If there is a documentation about these basic technical issues then kindly point me to those documentation.

Thanks. I appreciate your answers.

[jmmultex]

The venue providing internet service will usually offer it via a "Cat 5" connection - the basic wired network interface that is on the back of the TriCaster. They will usually provision it as some type of small adapter box that you will need to plug the TriCaster into. If the venue has internet service as standard, this will usually involve just a simple line back to their own hub/router. If they need to get a telco involved, it will usually involve some more equipment, but nothing you should need to deal with specifically.

In either case, you should just end up having to connect with a single cable - one end into the back of the tricaster and the other into whatever access point to the internet the venue provides.

-john

[kapp]

Thank you a lot once again. I am almost there.

After making the connection and provide the IP address of the server(s) to the Tricaster equipment, do i have to log into my server to determine the folder/directory it should record the streams? Does the Tricaster equipment allows me to log into my server for some configuration?

I want to know after i have made the connection to the internet what goes on after that before i begin shooting?

[jmmultex]

Note that every CDN will have their own particular method for working with them, so there is no single answer here.

To stream from the tricaster, you will need to go to the Record/Stream tab and enter: a) the stream type ('push' for a CDN at whatever resolution/bandwidth you want), b) the rtmp:// address of the CDN's server, and c) the stream ID for the stream you want to broadcast across (b & c should both be available from your CDN). You would then click on the Record/Stream button to start sending the tricaster stream up to your CDN.

Your CDN may then need you to do additional things on their site to make the stream public and begin the broadcast. It might also be possible that you might nned to set something up on your CDN's site before beginning to stream to them. There may be some other folks here that know the particulars about working with specific CDN's and could provide more concrete steps you will need to take. Unfortunately, I don't have broad knowledge in that area.

-john

[kapp]

I want to say a million thanks for all your replies. I have understood all your replies. After watching the video in your first reply and together with all your explanations, i have a good knowledge now about the whole thing.

When the time comes for the streaming, i will contact the folks for the specifics.

Thank you.

[jmmultex]

You are very welcome - good luck with everything!

-john