Mobile
From Jtvcommunity
Contents |
Mobile Broadcasting
What has come to be known as "going mobile" is simply broadcasting live video over Justin.tv from outside your home. When Justin first started Justin.tv, he was broadcasting 24/7 from all over San Francisco over Sprint's EVDO network. Mobility allows for many opportunities to create and broadcast interesting content, from sports to conventions to capturing interesting moments in every day life.
What equipment do you need to broadcast outside your home?
Any computer with a connected camera and Internet connection can be used to broadcast to Justin.tv. This means that you will need to choose a laptop or subnotebook, a mobile Internet service, and a lightweight camera. Here are some of the criteria you should consider:
Laptop or Subnotebook Computer
- Size and weight - You probably will be carrying this around for a few hours.
- Battery life - Unless you want to be tethered to a power outlet for half the time, a good battery life is key.
- Built-in Mobile Broadband Connection - Many laptops nowadays have mobile Internet connections built-in (requires a contract with a service provider).
- iPhone or similar smartphone with the JTV app installed.
Mobile Internet Service
Unless your computer comes with a mobile Internet connection, you'll need to get one. Most major carriers sell either USB or PC Cards (including Sprint, Verizon and AT&T). You'll want something that can at least upload at 100 kbps. You can test the upload speed of your mobile Internet card with speedtest.net. With many broadband cards you can also increase their signal strength by adding an external antenna.
Camera
Generally you have two camera choices: either a USB webcam, or a handheld video camera that has a firewire or USB connection. Our broadcaster can accept any video stream recognized by your operating system. Attaching a small USB webcam to a hat or a backpack strap is generally the most convenient thing I've found to do for mobile broadcasts where the cameraman is also the participant. To get a good quality broadcast more akin to real camerawork, a handheld camcorder streaming over USB or firewire is often the best solution. Encoding a video camera to a computer can be done in a number of ways. The easiest tool I found was a GV/Canopus 110 converter for changing the signal from anologue to digital. Another is a Black Magic Design HDMI card which many cameras can now support.
Software
It is recommended to use Adobe’s Flash Media Encoder to transcode. Here are some very good settings for your stream:
- Preset: custom
- Video size: 320×240
- FPS: 15.00
- Bitrate: 100 that is not deinterlaced
- Audio Sample Rate: 11025
- Audio Bitrate: 20
