Ever wonder how a video feed from a camera is converted to a live stream online? The answer is encoding software, a type of video software that can take a video source and transcode it in real-time into a format that can be streamed online. In this post, we’ll be taking a look at six different options for encoding software. From basic to advanced, decide which encoding software is right for your project with this thorough guide. Here at SproutVideo, we’ve been using OBS software to encode our live streams these past few months. While it’s popular and free to use, OBS is far from the only option. There are a plethora of different services you can use to live stream your content, some very similar to OBS, while others have a host of premium features. So which is right for you? In this episode of our How To Video series on live streaming, Nick LaClair, Creative Director at SproutVideo, takes us through six alternatives to OBS, and the features that come along with the upgrade. What to Look for in Encoding SoftwareThere’s already a really amazing free option on the market. You can do quite a lot with OBS, the software we use in-house at SproutVideo for live streaming. To see what it can do, go behind the scenes of our first live stream, or see exactly how OBS works with the SproutVideo platform. But what if you need more advanced features, or just want a more user-friendly experience with live streaming? We’ve broken the features you can expect to find into two categories: basic, and advanced. The basic features are those that most companies will find useful when live streaming to an audience, whereas the advanced features are those that mainly apply to live streams with more complicated setups, like multiple participants or streaming to multiple platforms. Basic FeaturesThese basic features are available on most encoding software, including OBS. The differences you’ll find between platforms will instead be more a matter of ease-of-use and degree of control. Generally speaking, higher-end software will offer more finite control than those on the cheaper end of the spectrum. Multiple Inputs:If you’re using more than one video source, this feature is crucial. It allows you to add more cameras or video sources in an efficient way, and switch between them during your broadcast. Chroma Key:This is a type of image compositing that allows for the manipulation of video through color-based hue detection. This is how a green screen works, and also how you can change your Zoom background. Files and Media:In addition to the aforementioned video feeds, this refers to the ability to add additional video files, files from design programs, or images during your stream. For instance, we used a JPG to make a custom branded frame for our live stream with multiple presenters. Video Transitions:Transitions are different effects you can use to move between scenes while streaming. They can add polish and style to your live stream. Graphics:OBS allows you to import graphics and titles, while with other apps, this feature might be built right into the platform itself. Recording:This allows you to save a recording of the stream locally. If you’re live streaming with SproutVideo, we automatically save a recording of your live stream to your account. Advanced FeaturesThese features are where pricier encoding software options will have the edge over a program like OBS, which at its core can only accomplish the features above. Guests and Multiple ParticipantsMore robust options offer built-in functionality for multiple guests, speakers, or participants right within the app. This would allow you to do a 2-10 person presentation depending on the application you go with. Comments and FeedbackThese features allow participants to interact with your stream when it’s broadcast to a social media platform by pulling in social comments or posts. SimulcastSimulcasting is the ability to stream to multiple platforms at once, such as professional platforms like SproutVideo, or YouTube, Facebook, or Twitch. This is useful if you are live streaming on your homepage, but also want to broadcast your video to your audience on social as well. Hardware ControlThe highest tier options allow you to control hardware right in the application. This might include a switcher, control module, or even remote cameras. The ability to control hardware from the application gets you much closer to a real studio experience. Choosing a Streaming ApplicationOBS is an amazing choice because of its versatility, and it’s hard to overlook the fact that it is free, but if you want some of the more advanced features and ease of use, you’ll want to go with a different piece of software. We took a look at six platforms that would be solid alternatives to OBS. XSplit, Streamyard, mimoLive, Switcher Studio, Wirecast, and Vmix for the most part, cover all the basic and advanced features listed above at various price points. Other than price, the biggest difference between these six platforms is their ability to have multiple speakers and guests, the level of customization, and integrations with hardware. The chart below shows the differences in features and price. XSplitPros: Affordable with nice features for the price point, targeted at gamers. StreamyardPros: Browser-based, easy-to-use, allows up to ten guests, inexpensive. mimoLivePros: Lots of easy-to-use features at a mid-tier price point. SwitcherStudioPros: Intuitive, easy to add iOS devices as a source. WirecastPros: Advanced control over features, and image and audio quality. VMIXPros: Packed with customizable features and integrations. Of course, these aren’t the only options in the market. Based on our research, these six platforms seemed to offer the features we deemed essential, along with some bells and whistles here and there. Given the range of price points, there’s clearly something for everyone depending on the features you need for your project. Which platform is your favorite, and why? What features do you rely on most for live streaming software? Share your perspective in the comments below. If you’re ready to try live streaming for your business, open a free 30 day trial with SproutVideo today. The post How to Choose the Right Encoding Software for Live Streaming appeared first on SproutVideo. from SproutVideo https://sproutvideo.com/blog/how-to-choose-encoding-software-for-live-streaming.html via IFTTT from https://johnsmith0190.tumblr.com/post/627628772786601984 from https://alvindukes.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-choose-right-encoding-software.html
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Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools for all business owners throughout the world. Big brands use this platform to build a healthy network of peers and audience. Experts believe that making an impactful presence on social media can help you to generate more traffic on your business page and the visitors […] The post Easy and Timely Social Media Polls to Boost Online Presence appeared first on Viral Viral Videos. via Viral Viral Videos https://viralviralvideos.com/2020/08/25/easy-and-timely-social-media-polls-to-boost-online-presence/ As many companies are navigating a sudden switch to a remote workforce for the first time, a big stumbling block has been company-wide events that usually require experts or company leadership to make presentations in person. Important information can’t be delayed, and sometimes, it can’t be shared by email. So, what do you do when you can’t get everyone together? Live streaming a company event is easier than you think, and can even save money compared to in-person meetings. It’s an important technological investment to make to future-proof your company and to ensure your entire workforce can participate, regardless of their location. Here are the important steps to take, and the technical resources you’ll need to live stream your next event. Online Company Event PlanningOnline events turn regular event planning on its head. Rather than bringing everyone to a particular location or venue, you’re bringing the event to them. The key for corporate events is to do so securely while ensuring all stakeholders have the access they need. 1. Selecting a LocationThe location is really about where you’re sharing your video. Your event landing page could be just one video, or it could be an entire website containing multiple broadcasts. It all depends on the nature of your event. A suitable location for sharing your event could be on your existing website, company intranet, or a landing page or microsite hosted by a third party. Each option has implications for video privacy and viewer access. Sharing On Your Website or IntranetIf your audience is exclusively made up of employees with access to your company’s intranet, or a secure logged-in area of your website, embedding your live streams is likely the way to go. That way, your attendees would simply log into their employee portal to view the event videos. Many internal company events cover proprietary information that must be kept under wraps. While publishing your content in an intranet will limit your audience to existing employees, there are extra steps you can take to ensure the video embed code can’t be shared beyond your intranet, and that the videos will only load for employees on approved connections. For instance, a domain whitelist enables you to specify the websites where your videos can load and play back. If someone attempts to share the video embed code on another site, it won’t work. Signed embed codes are a similar, more technically advanced option. For even more security, you can restrict access to a specific IP address or a range of IP addresses. In other words, if the event is only for people connected to a VPN or company IP, this doubles down on security and ensures anyone on an unapproved connection will not be able to load the event video. Third-Party Landing Page or MicrositeIf you need to allow people outside your organization to access your videos, you may need to consider sharing your broadcast outside your intranet or your website. In that case, you’ll want to explore third party hosting options for sharing your event. For instance, SproutVideo offers video websites that support single sign-on, secure viewer logins, or site-wide passwords. Depending on the level of security your event requires, any of those privacy options could be a good fit. 2. AttendeesFor attendees, think through the entire online event flow. It might be as simple as sending a link to your whole team, or you may want to create a specific list for the event, or ask attendees to register. If your event is for employees only, and you already have your list, great. Otherwise, you may need to create a landing page with a registration form to build your list. Once you have your list of attendees, they need to know the usual key event details, including the start time, run time, speakers, topics, and the URL where the video will be shared. Sometimes that information is included on the event landing page or microsite, but it can also be shared in a calendar invite, email, or PDF as well. You may also want to provide guidance on internet speed requirements or browser recommendations if applicable. Note that a professional video hosting platform will ensure browser compatibility, and automatically adapt streaming for viewers’ connection speeds, so this is unlikely to impact you. Finally, if your company event requires any software to be downloaded and installed to view, getting attendees to handle it ahead of time is ideal. 3. PresentersFor presenters, while you don’t have to consider travel needs, you do have to think about their technology needs in order to participate in the event. Some people may need cameras, microphones, tripods, or even a loaner laptop. Due to inventory shortages and extended shipping times, the earlier you can assess the equipment needed, the better. If presenters aren’t able to speak live during the event itself, you can still stream pre-recorded video as part of a live broadcast. Ask anyone unable to make the main event to film themselves ahead of time. For certain important messages, this might even be preferable to allow for editing and higher production value. Also, if your on-camera talent has to set up by themselves, be sure to share our guide to filming yourself solo with them. It contains tips for framing your shot, lighting, and delivering lines on camera while working solo. 4. SchedulingJust like in-person events, scheduling should be one of the top priorities when it comes to planning your online event. You and your team will want to make a concrete schedule you can turn to throughout the planning, execution, and post-event stages. Typically, this would include pre-launch communications, the event itself, deliverables, post-event communications, and more. Especially with a primarily remote workforce, a solid schedule will keep everyone coordinated and on track. If possible, make time for several practice rounds with your presenters to fix any flaws in their broadcasting setup ahead of time. The more run-throughs you can squeeze in, the smoother it will go on the big day. 5. The Main EventNow that you have your location, attendees, and presenters, it’s time to launch your company event. To go live, you need the video and audio feeds from the presenters, encoding software to allow you to mix in the different video sources according to your schedule, and a video hosting platform that supports live streaming. With SproutVideo, you’d first set up your video sources in the encoding software of your choice (a popular one is OBS, but there are many others). Then, in the SproutVideo platform, create a new live stream and configure its settings for embedding or for sharing on a SproutVideo landing page. Next, add your SproutVideo stream key and RTMP URL to your encoding software settings, Finally, once your live stream player is published and shared with attendees, you’re ready to go live. It’s really that simple. We have guides with detailed instructions on creating a live stream, using a switcher, and a behind-the-scenes example from our own live stream with more than one presenter if you want to take things further. 6. Post EventWhen it’s all said and done, you’ll need to sit down and go over how the whole thing went. Usually, a meeting with event organizers can be really helpful. This is intended to dissect and investigate what went wrong, what went right, and how you can improve performance going forward. Another important post-event practice is to survey attendees and presenters for feedback on their experience. It will help you pinpoint any issues your audience or speakers encountered, and identify areas for improvement for next time. We use Typeform, and there are plenty of other survey tools out there, but this could be as simple as emailing a couple questions to everyone. The important part is to be sure to ask. In addition to reviewing the event itself, you’ll want to take a look at the numbers for how the video performed during the broadcast. With SproutVideo, you not only get real-time reporting during your broadcast, but you’ll also get analytics and engagement metrics from the stream immediately afterward. Finally, if anyone missed the event live, share the recording with attendees so they can review it as needed. If any editing is required, you can download the recorded live stream, and replace it with the edited version when ready without needing to share a new link or update the embed code. Switching from an in-person event to a virtual live event isn’t quite as complicated as it may seem on paper. We’d love to hear how it’s going if you’re making the leap to live streaming! Share your tips in the comments below. The post How to Live Stream Your Next Company Event appeared first on SproutVideo. from SproutVideo https://sproutvideo.com/blog/live-stream-company-event.html via IFTTT from https://johnsmith0190.tumblr.com/post/626820952828870656 from https://alvindukes.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-live-stream-your-next-company.html Most of the business brand these days prefer to use social media for their marketing needs. Whether you prefer to stay active on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram; it is possible to grab the attention of the audience by using few common tricks. Experts recommend participating in contests on social media platforms and buy online votes […] The post Objectives of Online Contest Based Promotions appeared first on Viral Viral Videos. via Viral Viral Videos https://viralviralvideos.com/2020/08/17/objectives-of-online-contest-based-promotions/ In recent years, the growing use of technology in the classroom has completely transformed the educational environment. As little as twenty years ago, computers (and computer studies) were mostly considered an optional extra, and the extent of technology in a typical classroom was still extremely limited — perhaps an overhead projector and a solitary Windows […] The post How Technology is Changing How We Study appeared first on Viral Viral Videos. via Viral Viral Videos https://viralviralvideos.com/2020/08/14/how-technology-is-changing-how-we-study/ While implementing video on your site for SEO is relatively straightforward, there are some common issues you’ll want to avoid. 1. Skipping the Technical Side of SEOVideo sitemaps, metadata, and structured data are essential for search engines to locate and index your video content correctly. Video is a unique content type that search engines can’t scan and read like text, or increasingly, images. If you don’t take the time to update your page with the right metadata or create a video sitemap, you risk missing out on many of the video SEO benefits we’ve laid out in this article. 2. Multiple Videos Per PageYou might be thinking, “Well, if one video is great for SEO, why not add more?” More video does not necessarily equal more organic traffic to your page. In fact, if you have lots of videos on the page, it can have the opposite effect. Search engines will usually only highlight the first video on your page in search results. Therefore, adding more videos to the page will not help your website stand out to people conducting searches online. Also, if you have multiple videos, you risk slowing down your page. To be clear, you would have to have dozens of videos for this to be a significant page load speed factor, but it is something to keep in mind nonetheless. If you’re looking to add that much video content, the focus of the page comes into question. Are you really just addressing one topic? The site visitor experience will suffer if your page is sprawling and disorganized, and you’ll see your bounce rate go up. You are likely better off creating dedicated pages for each topic than trying to cram it all into one massive page. That way, each video can be indexed correctly against the most relevant search terms. 3. Adding Low-Quality VideoWhile adding video is almost always a plus for SEO, that won’t hold true if you don’t invest in your video content. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a fortune on every video. It’s very possible to make a compelling video without a large budget. What it really means is taking the time to think through your message and goals for the video. Who is the intended audience? What do you want them to walk away with? Ensuring your answers to those questions are crystal clear will help you produce quality, engaging how-to content for viewers. Of course, production value does count. For tips on improving your videos, check out our How To Video series. 4. Skimping on Surrounding TextWhile it’d be nice to be able to just share a video on your blog with little to no text, and still rank for search terms, that’s pretty unlikely. The surrounding content is very important to your overall SEO profile. Your page should be descriptive and include relevant content that helps visitors understand the topic you’re addressing. Especially for how-to videos, visitors should be able to follow all the steps in the video without actually watching it. Why? There are several reasons. Everyone has different learning styles. Some people may not want to watch any videos at all, and prefer to read instructions instead. By including written content as well as a video, you’re helping to ensure that everyone visiting your page will find it useful, not just those who choose to watch a video. This is key for earning shares and backlinks to your page. In addition, you’re likely to improve your keyword density for related search terms when you add written content. That way, search engines will know your page is a thorough resource focused on a particular topic. In turn, that will increase your chances of ranking highly for your targeted keywords. 5. Only Optimizing for Search EnginesAt the end of the day, real human beings are the ones who will judge your content and deem it useful or forgettable, not Google. If you only optimize against search engine requirements for your page, you’re unlikely to wind up with an enjoyable user experience. It’s true that SEO has become more human-centric in recent years. For example, the changes to standards for mobile, page load speeds, and pop-ups are all reflect and encourage a better user experience online. However, there is still a difference between what matters to people, and what matters to algorithms. Knowing your audience, and creating great content for them, is key to video marketing. The SEO should follow. 6. Creating Overly Similar ContentMaybe you really like a particular subject, a lot. That doesn’t mean you should flood the airwaves of the Internet with video after video on the same topic. If it were up to Google, each page of your website would have one clear purpose, and be distinct from all your other pages. You should approach your video content in a similar manner. Each video you create for SEO purposes should be focused narrowly on answering a specific question. It should address a particular need of your audience. If your content overlaps significantly, you run the risk of competing against yourself for backlinks and shares. Those remain important ranking factors for search results. 7. Assuming Video SEO is “One and Done”For video SEO to be effective, the simple truth is that you can’t just create one video, put it on your homepage, and call it a day. It’s incredibly unlikely that you’ll move the needle in terms of organic traffic with just a single video. When done correctly, video SEO increases your visibility for targeted search terms. So, why stop at just one or two keywords? By implementing video more broadly into your marketing content, you’ll build significantly more organic traffic over time. 8. Only Sharing on YouTubeYouTube definitely has a role to play in video marketing. As a social network, it’s ideal for reaching a really large audience, whether through paid video ads or viral moments. However, when it comes to video SEO, YouTube can actually steal your thunder. While it’s free to use, YouTube makes you pay by branding the player, and actively driving traffic back to YouTube by showing ads or related videos before, during, or after your video plays. After putting lots of effort into optimizing your page for SEO, it’s a big mistake to use a player that is purposely designed to drive traffic off your site. 9. Not Actively Promoting Your ContentThe beauty of organic traffic is that once you’ve earned it, it will continue to build over time at no extra cost out of pocket. However, the key takeaway here is that you do need to earn it. Outreach is an essential part of search marketing. By engaging with other experts, thought leaders, and renowned resources online, you can build not just backlinks, but your network of expertise. When done correctly, you’ll have more places to turn when you need a quote for an article, or help replacing a broken link. 10. Ignoring ImagesYour video is unlikely to be the only media on the page. The header image, your video’s poster frame, and any other images that help break up the content and enhance the user’s experience shouldn’t be overlooked. While it’s important to include images for the reasons above, adjusting your alt text is highly recommended as well. Alt text, or alternative text, is an attribute applied within the <img> HTML code and is used to describe the contents of the image. When done correctly, this improves the chances of your images appearing in search results, which ultimately improves the page’s SEO ranking. SEO can be the gift that keeps on giving when all the proper steps are taken. If you have any additional tips and tricks on maximizing the effects of video SEO, let us know in the comments below. The post Ten Common Video SEO Pitfalls to Avoid appeared first on SproutVideo. from SproutVideo https://sproutvideo.com/blog/ten-common-video-seo-pitfalls-to-avoid.html via IFTTT from https://johnsmith0190.tumblr.com/post/625635642602307584 from https://alvindukes.blogspot.com/2020/08/ten-common-video-seo-pitfalls-to-avoid.html Have you ever heard of Kratom? It is a plant that is increasingly being recognized for its properties. Its rise is proof that many people have already noticed its effects, today we are going to explain in detail what its properties are. What is Kratom? The first and most important thing, what exactly is kratom? […] The post A Complete Guide About Kratom, Benefits And Side Effects appeared first on Viral Viral Videos. via Viral Viral Videos https://viralviralvideos.com/2020/08/05/a-complete-guide-about-kratom-benefits-and-side-effects/ |
Alvin DukesYour channel page is another often great opportunity to alert the algorithm about your content. Make sure that you fill out every aspect of your page. Archives
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