Streaming live sports games help

[Gator24765]

I am a recent college graduate that has been doing some minor pr and communications work with the athletic program. I am a comm major with a concentration in production so they have asked me to lead the start of streaming most of the home matches which the have never done before.

They have asked me what equipment I need etc and how to get this going.

What would you guys recommend?

 

[-DH]

A lot would depend on the budget for this. If you want to keep things fairly simple, but good quality, consider one of the TriCaster multi-cam switchers which can live stream (push or pull) a switched signal from several cameras while recording to WMV and AVI format to its internal hard drive at the same time. There are multiple outputs as well so you can record to various devices if needed. They also include graphics which can be edited on the fly if you want to add the score/stats or other graphic overlays.

http://www.newtek.com/tricaster/compare.php

Of course you'll also need cameras, tripods, cables, etc.

-DH

 

[linuxcooldude]

Another option is using Camtwist & Flash media live encoder both which are free. Camtwist is a software video switcher.

Another good choice is Wirecast which is another software video switcher that has a built in encoder.

I use two Black magic intensity pro capture cards that can take HDMI input from two sony camcorders that can output to HDMI. These capture cards also work great in Camtwist and Wirecast.

I use the Korg Nano Kontroller as a hardware controller to switch camera shots, movie files, lower thirds etc. by pushing buttons instead of a mouse or keyboard in Wirecast.

This would be more of a budget method but still extremely effective.

 

[martinX]

Don't you need to be able to push that stream (Wirecast, Tricaster, etc) to another server to do the distribution?

Ahh, here we go. The nice Wirecast people have answered my question.

 

[linuxcooldude]

Wirecast supports the most popular streaming sites built in like Justin.tv Ustream, livestream etc. You just enter username and password. Is a way to do manually too.

 

[Gator24765]

Thanks for the replies. Now heres another scenario for you.. What would be your ideal setup with a limited crew. 1-2 people for both an audio and video feed. 1 person on a sport that needs no camera movement and 2 for the rest. Ideally HD streaming.

It will be a limited resources for the first start-up year.

 

[ibennetch]

Thanks for the replies. Now heres another scenario for you.. What would be your ideal setup with a limited crew. 1-2 people for both an audio and video feed. 1 person on a sport that needs no camera movement and 2 for the rest. Ideally HD streaming.

I doubt you'll find a sport that doesn't need camera movement. What are your needs for audio? Will there be announcers? Is there an expectation of adding any graphics? Is any part of it going to be sold (advertising, commercials, graphical enhancements, etc)? You might be able to get away with one person running a camera, but (no offense to you or those who actually do so) it's going to make a pretty boring show and you'd better have a compelling product if you expect people to watch one locked off camera coverage of anything.

What sport or sports would you start out covering? Every home game? Where would they "air" (internet, LO, campus station, etc)?

The Tricaster comes up huge here, too. As -DH said, one person can pretty much run the show -- your follow-up question doesn't really change much in this regard; it's still at the top of my list.

I guess if graphics, sales, audio, and the like were no consideration, you could do it with one person operating the camera. Adding a second camera probably adds two positions, though; another camera person plus a director/everything else.

What sort of facilities did you learn on while studying? Do they have a truck or studio? Since they offer a concentration in production I'd think the college would already have some of the appropriate equipment. At my college there was a good relationship between the TV and athletic departments. They probably cross-billed for some of the services, but they were friendly and willing to work with each other. You should definitely help the two departments try to work together. Oh, while I'm on that, college labor is cheap. I mean, you're not going to get top-billed camera work, but for a very low rate or course credit you can definitely put some of those production people to work. It takes extra work to guide and direct students, so depending on some of your other answers you might want to go so far as to hire a professional freelance director and maybe a camera operator to corral them.

 

[Big Shisha]

I run a stream for an American football team in the UK, our budget is limited to the equipment I own and can scrabble together!

I use ustream producer to control the stream(once I have a newer mpb, I will run boinxtv, which means I can put scores, and info on the screen). I have one cameraman and they are set up elevated(either using starter steps in borrowed from the athletics team or a film tower which the club owns) with a tripod to get a good view.

It's not an HD setup as we're limited bandwidth wise by the sports center we play in, but it allows up to get a stream out on a limited budget and personnel.

The equipment I have is:

black macbook
Old minidv camera which I brought 2nd hand for £60
Long Firewire cable(to reach up the camera person) on ebay -£15
Tripod £20


Software is:
ustream producer(free)

Let me know if you need any more info.

 

[boch82]

A lot would depend on the budget for this. If you want to keep things fairly simple, but good quality, consider one of the TriCaster multi-cam switchers which can live stream (push or pull) a switched signal from several cameras while recording to WMV and AVI format to its internal hard drive at the same time. There are multiple outputs as well so you can record to various devices if needed. They also include graphics which can be edited on the fly if you want to add the score/stats or other graphic overlays.

http://www.newtek.com/tricaster/compare.php

Of course you'll also need cameras, tripods, cables, etc.

-DH

Tricaster is a very good option. Virtual control room and switching. You can add graphics and such right in the software. Where are you located? If you are in the NYC area PM me and I can put you in touch with our vendor who can demo the equipment for you.