More and more businesses and individual content creators are making good money through live streaming on social media platforms. You can go live on Facebook or Twitter and monetize your audience by showing them promotional products, giving away prizes, and soliciting paid sponsorships.
It's a great way to reach a massive number of people and grab attention in just seconds. If you already know how to stream content, it only takes a few minutes to set everything up and go live. But what about the other side of this coin? What do you need to know before going live? Here are six things that will help you prepare for that first stream.
Video coding
Video coding is the process of compressing and encoding video files so that they take up less storage space and can be streamed more easily. By understanding how video compression and encoding work, you can make sure that your videos are as compressed as possible without sacrificing quality. This is important because it allows you to stream your videos more quickly and with less buffering, which keeps your viewers engaged and happy.
Video compression reduces the size of a video file. The most common kind of video coding is called “lossy” coding because it removes details from the digital representation of the video that is considered less important. This reduces file size, but it can cause problems with playback, including pixelation and strange distortions in the video. On the other hand, using more advanced content-aware encoding allows you to reduce the file size without compromising quality. Combining CAE with artificial intelligence saves the content as it was selected by mimicking the focus of a human eye.
Audio coding
Audio coding describes how sound files are compressed to make them easier to stream without disrupting playback or hurting the quality of the sound. The two most common kinds of audio coding are “lossy” and “lossless.” Lossless audio coding removes background noise but does not reduce file size.
However, it maintains all of the data that was originally coded into the sound file, ensuring that it is played back exactly as originally recorded. Lossy audio coding reduces the size by cutting out some of the data. In most cases, it is not possible to “recreate” this information after it has been lost during the coding process.
File types and codecs
You need to be familiar with a few different file types and codecs to stream video content online. There are three main kinds of video files: .avi, .mp4, and .webm. When you go live on a social media platform, the video is sent to the platform through a direct link. This link must have a file extension that tells your computer what kind of file it's dealing with so that it knows how to open it.
File extensions can be misleading because they give you no information about the type of file that it is. For instance, an AVI file is not an audio-video interleave; it's just called that because people thought it was when the format first came out. These formats were developed when streaming video was still in its infancy, and their broad range of compatibility meant that the files were able to stream easily across different media. Now that high-definition video is becoming more popular, these file types are less useful because they do not allow enough data to be compressed into a single file for smooth HD playback over the internet.
Codecs are also important when it comes to streaming video. A codec is a software program that delivers compressed data by encoding or decoding the information in digital files. There are several kinds of codecs, but the ones you need to know about for live streaming are H.264 and HEVC, which stands for High-Efficiency Video Coding.
These two formats deliver video of the highest quality but require more processing power and bandwidth than other codecs. Video hosting sites currently only support H.265/HEVC, so you might find that your viewers have to update their browser or device before they can watch your videos live.
Resolution and frame rate
When it comes to video resolutions and frame rates, there is only one that you can and should use: 1080p and 60 fps (frames per second). This combination provides the perfect balance between visual clarity and processing speed. It will not slow down your computer or internet connection, but it allows for a crystal-clear picture in near real-time video.
The frame rate of a video file refers to the number of images shown in a second. The higher the frame rate, the more smooth and realistic the video will be. Frame rates can vary from 1 fps (which would cause it to look like a slideshow) up to 90 fps (the standard for high definition movies). Anything above 30 fps is considered live streaming at this point.
File size and bit rate
File size refers to the amount of data that is used to store the audio or video information in a file. The higher this number, the more action can be packed into each second of playback without sacrificing quality. However, it also takes up more storage space on whatever device you are using to view the video.
The bit rate is the amount of data per second that moves through your internet connection when you stream video. This number corresponds to the quality of your video, so you'll want it to be as high as possible without affecting upload speeds or causing playback issues on your end. It varies depending on what device someone is using to watch the video. You can also use this streaming bandwidth calculator to calculate how much bandwidth you need for the resolution and bitrate of your streaming video.
Mobile viewers and aspect ratio
Another thing to consider is that different devices will be used to watch videos at your event, so you'll need to make sure that everything can be seen properly on all of them. The best way to do this is by sticking with a 16:9 aspect ratio for the entire broadcast. This means that your video will display a horizontal resolution that is 1024 pixels wide for every 576 pixels tall.
Live streaming video is different from video-on-demand in that viewers have no control over the playback of what they're watching. This can be a benefit if you're trying to deliver an important message or make an announcement, but could also lead to problems if the stream freezes or there are technical difficulties. You might not be able to go back and fix these issues, so take the time to test your equipment thoroughly before deploying it during the event.
As live streaming video becomes more popular, marketers and business owners alike need to understand the technology behind it. If you want people to watch your videos in high definition, you'll need a good camera and microphone to record the footage, the correct software to edit it, an encoder to prepare it for distribution, and finally, a host that will distribute the stream to viewers. Each step of this process is important in delivering high-quality video content to your audience when they want it most.
