Live Stream tips&hints
Jul 31, 2010 22:24:51 GMT
Post by Officer D on Jul 31, 2010 22:24:51 GMT
Hi guys!
Since this particular streaming forum is kind of dead, I thought maybe some people don't know how to stream their pc screen properly and make a streaming account.
That's why this thread might come in handy. Many people have asked me how I managed to get my stream framerate and quality that good and all I can say is that it took lots of testing to get this quality I have atm.
I will tell you guys how my setup is and what I use to stream.
First off - Getting started
=================================
You will need to sign up at a streaming site and check how good your connection and PC spec are. I'm not sure you can get the same quality as I have if your CPU or upload speed is worse then mine. But don't worry! My connection and pc aren't that good.
My Specs
Processor: Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+ 2.40Ghz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 3450, PCI Exp.2.0, 512MB DDR2
Operating System: Vista Home Premium 32
My Connection
Cable Modem 6Mbps
I have a upload speed of 0.42 Mb/s at the nearest server. You can check yours here -> www.speedtest.net/
Sites for streaming
www.livestream.com/
www.ustream.tv/
www.justin.tv/
Second - Needed programs
=================================
You will need a capturing software to actually capture what is happening on your desktop. There are many different programs for that but I am just going to talk about what I am using.
My capture software is VHcapture and you can find it here www.hmelyoff.com/index.php?section=22
This tool is already enough to stream but I just use it as the streaming device so don't expect to get good quality from only this tool.
The thing that boosts my stream quality is FME (Flash Media Encoder).
You can download it here www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Encoders-Converter-DIVX-Related/Adobe-Flash-Media-Encoder.shtml
Note :
My FME uses the codecs VP6 and H.264. I already had a codec pack installed so I'm not sure if installed codecs are required. If yes, you'll have to download and install them.
Also..
FME uses up a lot of CPU power. Working to capacity shouldn't go higher then 60% CPU usage. Otherwise it could give you lag or even crash your PC.
Third - Setting up the programs
=================================
This is the tricky part and took me some time to get everything how I wanted it. I probably forgot a few things but i hope this will provide enough info to get you hooked up. If not feel free to ask in this thread.
VHcapture
VHMultiCam.exe: I don't remember every last detail how I got this working but I think all it required is to go to 'File - Add Camera' and select VHScrCap.
It should look somthing like in the screenshot below.
VHScrCapDlg.exe: With this I will setup the area that should get captured on my desktop. Open the program and a window will pop up that says "VH Screen Capture Driver instance selection"
Hit the "Create new one" button and this thing should open up.
Hit the select button, then just click and drag the indicator over the area you want to get streamed. After that you can close the program again.
FME
Flash media encoder needs the FMS URL of the server you want to stream on. On ustream you can download a .xml file in your profile options.
Go to 'Your Show - Advanced' and scroll down to where it says 'Flash Media Encoder XML File - Dowload'
Download it and open it with FME (File - Open Profile) Then the FMS URL should be in there that is needed for your shows broadcast.
On other streaming sites you will just have to consult the support or help sites/forums for more information on that matter.
FME Encoding Options:
Now, since my upload was 0.42Mbps, I set my Bit Rate to 400 Kbps. I think you should at least have 300 kbps upload for a non-lag broadcast.
Here is my setup
As you can see my input and output have the same ratio value and I am running it with 20 fps. You can probably go a lot higher with resolution,audio and bit rate, but these setting are giving me good results on my stream.
At Format = VP6 , hit the tool next to it (Advanced Encoder Settings) and set the Keyframe Frenquency to '3 seconds'
For my Audio I am using stereomix. It's a option some soundcards support and allows you to broadcast your PC and mircrophone at the same time.
Go to your systemmanager and check if it's in there. Right click it and set it to standard device.
Sry btw, mine is in german so I am not 100% sure if it's called like that. But that's why I uploaded a screenshot
The green tick mark has to be on it.
Fourthly - Broadcasting live
=================================
First thing to do is to start FME and hit the 'Start' button. VHcapture is not required if FME is running. Although FME will automatically open VHMultiCam.exe on startup but you can close that again.
After that login to your streaming site and hit the broadcast button. If eveything went well, you should see it running on FME. If your broadcast window is telling you that it is using VHScrCap or somthing then you probably did somthing wrong.
I hope this helps some people and if no one is interested, I just wasted a lot of time on making this small tutorial xD
Since this particular streaming forum is kind of dead, I thought maybe some people don't know how to stream their pc screen properly and make a streaming account.
That's why this thread might come in handy. Many people have asked me how I managed to get my stream framerate and quality that good and all I can say is that it took lots of testing to get this quality I have atm.
I will tell you guys how my setup is and what I use to stream.
First off - Getting started
=================================
You will need to sign up at a streaming site and check how good your connection and PC spec are. I'm not sure you can get the same quality as I have if your CPU or upload speed is worse then mine. But don't worry! My connection and pc aren't that good.
My Specs
Processor: Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+ 2.40Ghz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 3450, PCI Exp.2.0, 512MB DDR2
Operating System: Vista Home Premium 32
My Connection
Cable Modem 6Mbps
I have a upload speed of 0.42 Mb/s at the nearest server. You can check yours here -> www.speedtest.net/
Sites for streaming
www.livestream.com/
www.ustream.tv/
www.justin.tv/
Second - Needed programs
=================================
You will need a capturing software to actually capture what is happening on your desktop. There are many different programs for that but I am just going to talk about what I am using.
My capture software is VHcapture and you can find it here www.hmelyoff.com/index.php?section=22
This tool is already enough to stream but I just use it as the streaming device so don't expect to get good quality from only this tool.
The thing that boosts my stream quality is FME (Flash Media Encoder).
Adobe® Flash® Media Live Encoder 3.1 live audio and video capture software is a media encoder that streams audio and video in real time to Flash Media Server software or Flash Video Streaming Service (FVSS). When high-quality streaming is your priority, Flash Media Live Encoder 3.1 can help you broadcast live events.
You can download it here www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Encoders-Converter-DIVX-Related/Adobe-Flash-Media-Encoder.shtml
Note :
My FME uses the codecs VP6 and H.264. I already had a codec pack installed so I'm not sure if installed codecs are required. If yes, you'll have to download and install them.
Also..
FME uses up a lot of CPU power. Working to capacity shouldn't go higher then 60% CPU usage. Otherwise it could give you lag or even crash your PC.
Third - Setting up the programs
=================================
This is the tricky part and took me some time to get everything how I wanted it. I probably forgot a few things but i hope this will provide enough info to get you hooked up. If not feel free to ask in this thread.
VHcapture
VHMultiCam.exe: I don't remember every last detail how I got this working but I think all it required is to go to 'File - Add Camera' and select VHScrCap.
It should look somthing like in the screenshot below.
VHScrCapDlg.exe: With this I will setup the area that should get captured on my desktop. Open the program and a window will pop up that says "VH Screen Capture Driver instance selection"
Hit the "Create new one" button and this thing should open up.
Hit the select button, then just click and drag the indicator over the area you want to get streamed. After that you can close the program again.
FME
Flash media encoder needs the FMS URL of the server you want to stream on. On ustream you can download a .xml file in your profile options.
Go to 'Your Show - Advanced' and scroll down to where it says 'Flash Media Encoder XML File - Dowload'
Download it and open it with FME (File - Open Profile) Then the FMS URL should be in there that is needed for your shows broadcast.
On other streaming sites you will just have to consult the support or help sites/forums for more information on that matter.
FME Encoding Options:
Now, since my upload was 0.42Mbps, I set my Bit Rate to 400 Kbps. I think you should at least have 300 kbps upload for a non-lag broadcast.
Here is my setup
As you can see my input and output have the same ratio value and I am running it with 20 fps. You can probably go a lot higher with resolution,audio and bit rate, but these setting are giving me good results on my stream.
At Format = VP6 , hit the tool next to it (Advanced Encoder Settings) and set the Keyframe Frenquency to '3 seconds'
For my Audio I am using stereomix. It's a option some soundcards support and allows you to broadcast your PC and mircrophone at the same time.
Go to your systemmanager and check if it's in there. Right click it and set it to standard device.
Sry btw, mine is in german so I am not 100% sure if it's called like that. But that's why I uploaded a screenshot
The green tick mark has to be on it.Fourthly - Broadcasting live
=================================
First thing to do is to start FME and hit the 'Start' button. VHcapture is not required if FME is running. Although FME will automatically open VHMultiCam.exe on startup but you can close that again.
After that login to your streaming site and hit the broadcast button. If eveything went well, you should see it running on FME. If your broadcast window is telling you that it is using VHScrCap or somthing then you probably did somthing wrong.
I hope this helps some people and if no one is interested, I just wasted a lot of time on making this small tutorial xD
