Event Live Stream Ideas

[nuclearnerd]

Originally Posted by BenGuy

FiM should just stream to YouTube as well.

Doesn't YouTube take down any stream their contentID system flags as containing copyrighted audio? Correct me if I'm wrong. YouTube is a great streaming platform, but the risk of being cut off because the mic picks up the background music would be a showstopper for me.

(This is a useful thread for us as we prepare our off season event)

[thatprogrammer]

If you're capable of streaming to three different websites, like some platforms allows, I'd stream to the following:

1. Twitch
2. Youtube
3. Livestream

This gives you a nice range of websites that can act as back-ups in the case of a stream being taken down or the website being blocked by school wi-fi.

[spydan]

Originally Posted by nuclearnerd

Doesn't YouTube take down any stream their contentID system flags as containing copyrighted audio? Correct me if I'm wrong. YouTube is a great streaming platform, but the risk of being cut off because the mic picks up the background music would be a showstopper for me.

(This is a useful thread for us as we prepare our off season event)

MAR streams live to YouTube and, to my knowledge, has never gotten a live stream taken down (event music is not broadcast over the stream). Kevin (Deetman on CD), who is in charge of the stream, would be the most reliable person to get more info from on the current MAR stream setup.

[Deetman]

Originally Posted by nuclearnerd

Doesn't YouTube take down any stream their contentID system flags as containing copyrighted audio? Correct me if I'm wrong. YouTube is a great streaming platform, but the risk of being cut off because the mic picks up the background music would be a showstopper for me.

(This is a useful thread for us as we prepare our off season event)

MAR has been streaming to YouTube for 2 seasons now. With our setup, we have never had a stream taken down during the event. I am aware of one instance in which we got a "warning" during a live event that temporarily blocked the stream, but was quickly remedied as the Mic was turned off. See https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3367684?hl=en for a good description of the Live Stream Content ID repercussions. We sometimes see after the event has completed that the content ID system has found a song in the background that it didn't detect live. Most of the time, this just results in automatic ads and blocking in some countries of the event recording, but we are able to upload the individual matches afterwards anyway.

Our set up is simple. Game sounds and Mics go to our DJ's audio mixer, which then sends us back a clean feed of just the game sounds and mics for the live stream. When the MCs and game announcers are not talking, make sure that they turn their Mics off. Open mics are the only reason background music ever seems to get detected, not to mention they can pick up unwanted private conversations around the field.

More details on the MAR streaming system can be found in this whitepaper: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/3160

[cbale2000]

For the district and off-season event we host in Midland, MI, we built a custom streaming rig that can run up to 8 cameras at once in HD resolutions up to 4K. The setup looks something like this:

• 1x Custom-Built Windows PC with a BlackMagicDesign DeckLink Mini Recorder card installed.
• 3x PC Monitors (1 for showing all the camera feeds, the other 2 for the computer to show the stream and the switching software)
• 1x BlackMagicDesign ATEM Production Studio 4K Video Switcher
• 4x HD-SDI Mini-Cams
• 1x VGA to HD-SDI Converter box (for receiving field overlay)
• 1000ft of HD-SDI cable, cut and spliced to various lengths
• Open Broadcaster Software (Streams to YouTube, Twitch, and others, and is free)

We use the system to handle ALL of the video needs for our events, including running the projector and sponsor slides. We're also in the process of integrating a sound system into the rig with 4 wireless mics, a mixer, and a set of 4 1000w speakers so we don't have to rent those anymore, though obviously not every venue will need this.

Pros:

• Full HD support up to 4K
• Effectively (for our venue) no cable length limits due to using HD-SDI instead of HDMI
• Cheap, high quality cameras work great for fixed views and can be easily mounted to the field perimeter.
• Pulls scoreboard overlay (and sound effects) from the FMS computer
• Outputs in HD-SDI or HDMI at up to 4K resolution
• ATEM Switcher has 4 HDMI and 4 HD-SDI inputs to allow for compatibility with a variety of cameras
• ATEM Switcher can receive audio from XLR, RCA, HD-SDI, and HDMI sources.
• Switcher interfaces virtually (no physical control panel) though a program that can be run from any computer networked with the ATEM Switcher.

Cons:

• All video inputs MUST be the exact same format (size and framerate)
  • Converters can be used to get around this but are expensive (~$300ea)
• OBS has a bit of a learning curve (not too bad though)

Results:

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyg...cMilKBg/videos

We built this system after hosting our first district competition and deciding that since we wanted to keep hosting events for the foreseeable future, we would also want out own video system suited to our needs.

On the note of you're original question regarding the Code Red box, someone may correct me on this, but my understanding is that most events (at least in Michigan) haven't used the Code Red box for a few years now. FiM has started to move towards a different streaming setup using a GoPro, a basic streaming adapter (~$100), and a cheap computer to control it via USB. The main advantage is that the streamed videos are uploaded immediately after each match, the downside is that there is no audio, other camera angles, or score overlay 99% of the time (Some events that use it take the extra steps to include these, though not often).

EDIT: Apparently the MAR streaming system that Deetman linked to is almost identical to ours. Aside from the different cameras and a few other minor things. Go figure? Great minds think alike I guess. =P

[MikLast]

i dont know if this would help anyone or not, but i did make a thread a little bit ago on a company called Skreens and their to be named device, which just converts a whole bunch of HDMI streams into one cord.

[Bruce Meyer]

You Tube works well - I have streams posted from 2014 to my own page. They were only flagged for copyrighted songs which prevent making money from ads for the poster. We pretty much eliminated that this year by using sidechain compression (ducking). This also helps with being able to hear the announcer over the music. In Michigan, the district events standardized on Twitch for the live feed and You Tube for the recording/archiving.

I've never had a live stream stopped by You Tube.

I'd really love to use a Wowza server and skip all the different providers. It's not too expensive itself - it's the hosting server and bandwidth...

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by Bruce Meyer

We pretty much eliminated that this year by using sidechain compression (ducking).

Care to elaborate? I'm not much of an audio guy but anything to make that makes the live streams sound better, is something I'm interested in.

[runneals]

Originally Posted by nuclearnerd

Doesn't YouTube take down any stream their contentID system flags as containing copyrighted audio? Correct me if I'm wrong. YouTube is a great streaming platform, but the risk of being cut off because the mic picks up the background music would be a showstopper for me.

(This is a useful thread for us as we prepare our off season event)

Heh... YT chopped the audio off, even if it was just part of the song
I was thinking MOKC pulled in audio directly from the sound board from the MC's mic, getting rid of the copyrighted audio. You could have your own royalty free tracks playing in the background or nothing at all. KC got banned from Twitch I think it was for streaming copyrighted music on Friday, so they had no audio all day on Saturday which wasn't very good.

[Bruce Meyer]

Ducking/Sidechain Compression
I use one of these I picked up used for $45:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/MDX1600.aspx

I use the Aux bus on a mixer, inputting all the mics and then outputting into the sidechain input of channel one on the mdx1600. I connect the DJ laptop output into the channel 1 and 2 inputs, then connect the outputs to a stereo input on the mixer.

The compression effect will quiet the music when the mics are used. I use a very quick attack and release time and adjust the compression ratio to what sounds good (quieting but not choppy).

There is one trick to using the MDX1600. I put a dummy 1/4 plug into the channel 2 sidechain input. I couldn't get very much (if any) compression without it.

I've also done this in software, but it's a bit involved. It requires VST plugins,a host application (sequencing software), and a way to route sound in Windows.
You also have to get the Aux Bus into the computer as well as getting the music out. In other words, the hardware compressor is easier

Google these:
energyXT ($50 simple sequencing software)
ReaPlugs (free suite of VST Plugins)
VBCable (sound routing)