I use a Dazzle 100 and FME on Windows XP to stream with Ustream.tv. I ended up having to write my own walk through as theirs is lacking. I am re posting this here so that you guys can use it as well. This walk through should work for justin.tv as well.
I have decided to write this because at first I had issues. Attempting
to stream with Firefox 3 froze my computer completely. When I tried
with Internet Explorer (6) I had the same issue. I am going to request
that anyone reading this use Apple Safari, as I have had no issues
whatsoever using this browser. Apple Safari is freely available for
both Mac and Windows machines, and is found at the link found below.
What you will need:
This will assume you have the basic means to stream already, and a
Ustream account. Hardware setup is something that is beyond the scope
of this tutorial. If you wish to stream with FME, it is recommended
that you have at least a 6 megabytes per second DSL or Cable connection
with at least 40kb/s upload. Anything less and your stream would not
benefit from the use of FME. Assuming you have everything above, you
will need the following:
- Flash Media Encoder (Adobe Account required)
- Apple Safari Browser (Optional - but again HIGHLY recommended)
Things you should know:
When broadcasting with FME it is not possible to adjust the quality of
the stream. Keep this in mind when you are setting your stream up. Also
Ustream does not support (as of yet) recording in H.264 format. Ensure
you are streaming in VP6 format if you wish to record a live stream
when using FME.
It is possible to broadcast using FME in H.264 Format and still record.
To do so, ensure "Save To File" in the Flash Media Encoder is clicked
and a save location is selected before pressing the start button.
Setting up your stream:- First, you will want to install Apple Safari and the Flash Media Encoder.
- Next, you will want to visit the "My Shows" link on your Ustream page. If you have not yet set up a broadcast, do so now.
- Than visit "My Shows" link again, and click the "Advanced" tab and download your shows "Flash Media Encoder XML File".
- Open Flash Media Encoder - ensuring that you do not have the Ustream Broadcast console already opened.
- Ensure you have a video and audio signal, if not that should be resolved in steps 7 and 8.
- Select "File", and than "Open Profile" in FME. Browse to the location you saved your FME XML file you downloaded in step 3.
- Video Setup. The following will heavily depend on your
internet connection, adjust accordingly. The following is based upon a
6mb/400kb DSL connection. There are presets, however you may want to
customize further. The following settings are not changeable during a
live stream, make sure you have someone watching from another location
or another computer while testing speeds and different quality settings.
- Select
from the presets drop down "Medium Bandwidth (300kbs) VP6". Even if you
have a fast connection, you will want to start off on medium - and work
your way up from there.
- Ensure that the checkbox next to "Video" is selected.
- Next Select your video input device. Once this is selected you
should see 2 video preview's above the options dialog, one is the input
preview, and one is the output preview. If not, ensure your device is
properly connected, and you have the correct video input selected. Also
keep in mind, the output preview is only a preview of what is SENT to
Ustream, not what is actually displayed live (this is why it is good to
have a remote viewer). There are various video input options available
such as brightness, contrast and hue by selecting the wrench icon next
to the input device name, although the defaults should suffice for now.
- Format: Choose either VP6 or H.264. Also choose the bit rate. I use 1500 as my bit rate.
- Size: For best quality, use a 4:3 aspect ratio, such as
320x240 or 640x480. Ustream does not support widescreen streams - so
you will only be reducing the viewable area if you broadcast in a 16:9
aspect ratio. Either should work when streaming. For best results,
select 29.97 FPS (frames per second). This is the standard frame rate
for streaming video.
- Crop: If there appears to be a black box surrounding your
output, you can adjust by cropping the input area using this option.
Each number increments by 1 pixel. For best results crop your video so
that only the video and not the black box surrounding it is showing.
- Select (check) both "Deinterlace" and "AutoAdjust". Deinterlace
blurs the vertical pixels and gives the appearance of a higher quality
stream. AutoAdjust will adjust the quality of the stream based upon
current internet traffic and dropped frame rates while you are
streaming.
- Audio Setup: In this section I will show you how to get the best quality audio.
- Ensure that the check box next to audio is selected.
- Next ensure that the proper audio device is selected. Most people
will have 2 options, their computer's sound card, and the video input
device. If you do not have both of these options, ensure that your
video device and/or your sound card has the proper drivers installed.
- By now you should be seeing an audio meter to the left of the input
video preview. If not, ensure that the selected audio device is playing
audio. You may not hear the audio, but you should always see some
visual feedback letting you know that audio is being captured. If audio
still is not showing, follow the steps at the bottom of this tutorial.
- Format: Format should be set as MP3, this codec is supported
by both VP6 and H.264 video capture formats. Also ensure you select
"Stereo".
- Sample Rate: Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz.
- Bitrate: 128 should suffice for live streaming over the web.
Anything higher and you are only eating bandwidth that could be used to
improve the video quality.
- Volume: This is basically user preference. However the default (about half) should be fine.
- Next - You should see under "Volume" something like "Total Video +
Audio Bit Rate: 1612kbs" - the total should be no more than 3 times
your rated upload speed your ISP gave you or you risk losing frames and
having a stream that lags.
- Saving to file. If you wish to record and are using the H.264
Format for video capture, you can save the stream to a file. Before you
press Start, click the checkbox next to "Save to file", and than browse
to the location you wish to save to. For instance "C:\My
Streams\November-11-2008.flv"
Connecting and Streaming with Ustream- Now
that we have FME all setup click "START" at the bottom of FME and
minimize it. Then open Apple Safari and browse to Ustream.tv.
- If you have not already logged in, do so now.
- Click "Broadcast Now" (located at the top of the ustream website).
- This should bring up your Broadcast Console. It may say "Sorry your
browser is not supported by this console" for up to 10 seconds, ignore
it and let the page load. When it loads, it should say "Already online
with FME"
- Click "Start Broadcast".
That's it, your stream should be live. Work with your viewers when you
adjust your settings in FME. Just remember you have to close your
broadcast console each time you make changes in FME, so close the
broadcast console, Hit "Stop" in FME, make your changes, than follow
items 1-5 above again.
No Audio displayed in FME
Just because you do not hear audio, does not mean that audio is not
being broadcast. To test this, choose your sound card as your audio
device, and play an MP3 in your Music player. You should see some
visual feedback in FME. However if you have ensured that your device is
properly connected, and the test above worked but shows no audio
feedback when you select your video input device, than you will need to
use the advanced settings on your video device. You can do so in FME by
following the steps below:
- Click the "Video Device Capture Settings" button (the wrench next to the video input device select box).
- Click the "Crossbar" tab.
- You should have 2 sections, "Input" and "Output". Under "Output" in the top dropdown, select "1: Audio Decoder Out".
- Click Ok. You should now have audio showing feedback from the video capture device.