6 Tips For A Supercharged Live Streaming Production

Whether you are planning on creating a supercharged hybrid event, a product launch, a corporate conference, a virtual event, or your next live gig. There’s one thing in common with all genres of live streaming production, you only have one chance to get it right and keep your audience engaged. So now you’ve made the first step and realised the power of live streaming production. What can you do to make sure that everything runs smoothly? Whether you are a client, marketer, or are already a seasoned video professional, nearly all of what you can do to make sure your stream goes to plan starts in the months, weeks, and days ahead of your production. Whilst, this article is chiefly aimed at video professionals and does contain some technical information, there are plenty of gems in here for video clients and marketing teams as well and we will try to break it down where relevant to a wider audience. Want to learn how you can supercharge your next live streaming production? Then read on.

1. Planning and Pre-production

This has to be the number one tip for creating an amazing live streaming production. At first, it can seem daunting that there are so many elements to bring together on the day, locations, people, technology, distribution or delivery platforms, and marketing your live streaming production to make sure you have an audience. Make a list and start to think about how you want to engage people from the very first meeting, but more on that in a moment. If you’re a client, think clearly about your brief. What platform do you want to stream on? Do you need help and advice in deciding on the platform? At Spellbinder, clients tend to already know which CDN (Content Delivery Network), they plan to broadcast to. We can also give you unbiased opinions on event platforms and the option of streaming to multiple destinations. Common platforms include YouTube, Vimeo, and Twitch as well as social channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. Paid per-view channels and platforms are also out there. For the majority of these instances, we stream via either RTMP or RTMPS which simply requires a URL and stream key for us to broadcast video.

Platform-specific content.

Why is the CDN so important? You want to meet your audience right where it matters. It’s one reason why streaming to multiple destinations might be a good idea but equally the opposite could be true. In order to successfully plan your production, you need to know where you are going to get the most interaction with your target audience. Think about why they are there and what sort of content your audience engages with. Who is your audience? What do they want to watch? It can seem like a rather dark art, but in reality you probably already have this information and your audience are going to be more receptive to engaging in a space where they are already hanging out. You also need to make sure that you are familiar with the rules and regulations of the main CDNs and that there are no surprises lurking. Something that we can help with if you’re unsure.

Script and running order

In pre-production, we ask lots of questions. Start with a script and then create a simple blocked running order. This can be an Excel spreadsheet, something that everyone can access. An easy-to-create list with block numbers that include your script, any pre-recorded VTs, timing, graphic information, and on-screen content that will make up your final live streaming production. Make sure you give yourself as much time as possible. This running order will form the basis of everything that you do on the day. A good one can make or break a show. Read it, rehearse it and do it again and again until you know every step.

Rehearsal

In the fast-paced world of the digital age, where budgets and teams are constantly under pressure, we recognise it’s not always practical to have a proper and full rehearsal ahead of your live streaming production. However, now the world is fluid in the art of remote working and video conferencing, it’s quite plausible that you can have a pretty good rehearsal remotely without the expense of hiring a studio or location for another couple of days. When you arrive on site, location, or studio, make sure that you build in rehearsal time.

2. Engage your audience

Now you’ve put all this time and effort into the pre-production you want to best make sure that you have an audience to engage. This will likely involve working with your marketing teams to ensure that guests are invited well in advance. Shout about your event or stream to your audience and think about how the content will make them active participants in the show. Audiences love to influence the outcome of a stream. So make sure you build interactivity into your script.

Some ways we have done this before include:

• Running a competition to win prizes during the stream
• Having an audience vote to pick a winner
• Bringing in remote guests and even bringing in a feed of the audience into the actual Livestream
• Shout-outs and social pics: a simple Google Doc on an iPad can be used to great effect to send presenters comments in real time
• Build your community with Q&As, comments, and polls
• Drive social engagement by having your presenters remind viewers about hashtags and social channels
• Leverage on-screen graphics to remind your audience to get involved and to post
• Try to plan your show to include a payoff at the end

Most of the techniques and ideas above are present on prime-time television 7 days a week, so take inspiration from what’s around you. As long as you are platform specific you will create that engagement and the all-important SMART outcomes. Perhaps most importantly of all, keep it authentic and real. This will lead to increased engagement, interaction, and brand awareness.

3. Bandwidth Availability

We can’t stress this one enough! When broadcasting to the internet the single most important tech you have is exactly that – the internet! In order to have a rock solid live streaming connection, you want to have an upload speed of a minimum of 20-30 Mbps. But anywhere between 50-150 Mbps is really rather good. Connections at 500 Mbps and beyond (the gold standard being 1Gbps) are the stuff dreams are made of. It is really important when considering a location, venue, or studio to look at what the upload speed is for the main connection. Venues tend to charge a premium for faster connections but the more bandwidth you have the higher quality you can push your video out. Most consumer connections have a relatively poor upload speed so be careful if you must broadcast using home connections, or use bonding technology to guarantee your stream (more on that later).

How to test internet speed

Test your download and upload internet speed using the free and quick tool by Ookla: https://www.speedtest.net/

Google also has a speed test tool so it’s handy to compare results. Just perform a Google Search for ‘Google Speed Test’ and click ‘run test’.

A typical HD stream will look good at around 8 Mbps, there are guides for all the main CDNs out there and Spellbinder happily advises and consult when clients are unsure about quality and resolution.

4. Test Your Tech for Live Streaming Production

Before we arrive on-site at an event, we have already built the production show in the video switcher. This means that we will have created, imported, and tested any graphics, video playback, or sound elements ahead of the live day. Clearly, we need to be pragmatic with this, and in the world of video and especially live video we recognise that elements can change right at the last minute as we are about to go on air. We pride ourselves on this flexibility, having everything built and tested ahead of time reduces the margin for error on the day considerably. Make sure that you have test streamed to your platform(s) or CDN of choice in advance. If you’re a streaming novice, keep it as simple as possible. The more stages you add to your workflow the more places something can go wrong. We’ve stress-tested and invested in the best technology available to the point that we know they are capable of 24/7 operation. More than enough for even the longest of streams.

Be Realistic

Try to make your testing as real-world as possible. So make sure you are encoding and broadcasting all your testing and configuration. This will usually flag any serious errors pretty quickly. If you can, do a site recce and go to the location and test the internet speed and streaming yourself before the day. On large-scale productions, we build this into the pre-production package. This is important to know where your network connection will be coming from, what cables you need to take, and help ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Don’t run big system updates the day before

This is an easy one to overlook. You see that Software Update notification and before you know it. Bam. You’ve clicked. If you have a solid system, whether it’s Tricaster, VMix, or, Blackmagic Design. Don’t update until after your show. If your system is stable then 9 times out of 10 the right thing to do is to hold fire on doing any major software or OS update. With the one caveat and assumption – that you are working with a regularly maintained and updated system.

Use a gateway router

In our main PPU (Portable Production Unit) or Flypack ‘The Spellcaster’ we run a Draytek Vigor 2962 VPN Router. We use this to route our internet connection and as a DHCP server for all our LAN and VLAN traffic. This means we are in full control of the IP addresses for any networked equipment that is in our workflow. Our 10GbE core switch is a Netgear M4300, specifically geared for IP video and high bandwidth that is generated by large amounts of networked video sources and communication, and we know that we can quickly see the IP address of anything that is connected to that switch. This kind of control is especially important in locations such as hotels where there are large amounts of IP traffic and you have to make sure that you are in control of your network,

5. Redundancy

A word of warning to clients and marketers, this next section is going to get a bit technical so feel free to skip down to the not-so-technical bit!

When designing or building a Live Streaming production system it’s important to think about how you can build in redundancy. Simply put – if a system fails then there is another there ready to do the same job and make sure that the output of the stream is not affected by the failure of a single piece of equipment. Even multi-million-pound broadcast trucks don’t have 100% redundancy so our approach to this is realistic. We make sure that there are redundancies as appropriate to the budget level wherever we can. Some great tips here are:

• Integrate a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to your main rack or studio – we use APC in our studio and Eaton in our PPU
• Move to Powercon power supply – locking connections mean it’s not easy for someone to pull the power
• Always have a backup vision mixer and encoder on site (even if it’s just a low-cost system)
• Carry spares and duplicate cables in case of failure
• Always have a main program recorder and a backup recording
• Record in the camera even if you don’t think you need to

NDI – Advantage

With our NDI-based system, we can have two VMix machines or Tricasters running in tandem with all camera sources running into each machine. If one fails the other system can be switched via a clean switch that feeds our encoder. It’s not something for every production due to the additional cost of having two systems on-site, but for mission-critical applications this is a nice workflow and advantage of networked video, avoiding the need for routing conventional SDI cables to different machines and switchers.

Network Bonding

The option of bonding is something that clients can feel much more comfortable with. Spellbinder has invested in the advanced bonding technology available from our encoder manufacturer of choice iNTINOR. This enables us to ‘bond’ the network connection from x8 3g or 4g SIM cards and a secondary ISP (internet service provider). KA Satellite can also be used for remote locations which do not have any form of wired internet connection available. Our SIMs are broadcast-specific, so they will hop onto whatever networks have the best signal. Pretty neat.

The encoder splits the encoded h.264 video signal between the different network connections and sends them via the internet to a decoder which then decodes the data back to your h.264 video and transmits it onto the CDN of choice. Our engineer can monitor the connections and bandwidth utilised by each network connection, as well as control all of this via the cloud.

A secondary internet connection is provided via a 5G unlimited data router. In London, there is pretty good 5G coverage so it’s nice that we have the ability to bond fast internet, 3G, 4G and 5G data connections to ensure a failsafe internet connection.

The not-so-technical bit

If you are a client or marketer and have stayed with this until now. Well done! This has been pretty technical but hopefully, there are a few takeaways in there. Bonding is a great option when your location has unreliable or potentially unreliable internet connectivity. And redundancy is something that doesn’t stop at the technology. It’s important to think about backup staff, presenters, and even means of transport that attendees can use to reach your high-profile event or Live Streaming Production.

Ask yourself What if? If you have an answer, then you’ve thought about it and are likely to have a plan to enact. This is definitely preferable to simply re-acting if things don’t quite go according to plan.

6. Pre-live checklist

This is a really simple way to make sure you are ready to go live! It’s something that will be bespoke to everyone so think about your specific workflow, your needs, and what you need to do before you press LIVE! We recommend writing this simple list that fits your technology, your workflow, and your content. If you are a client then this might be about how effectively you have communicated the stream to your audience and making sure that you have done everything in good time. It’s really down to how you have promoted the stream but it is generally just a list that you can use on any event or production going forward. But it should also include things like checking any VT or graphic assets are spellchecked and signed off well in advance if possible.

Our top checklist for technicians and producers would be something like this:

• Check that your cameras all have battery and mains power supply
• Check recording signals and media
• Check timecode if required on all synced recording decks
• Check your comms are all working as they should be
• Check any in-ear monitoring
• Check audio levels via PGM monitor
• Important! Check audio sync. Use both a professional sync check generator and lip sync for this
• Check all graphic elements are working as they should
• Check any VT elements are working as they should
• Check control surfaces and buttons are programmed correctly
• Adequate rehearsals of start and end of production
• Encoder ready and pushing to CDN ahead of live time
• Communicate proper countdown with all team
• Wish everyone good luck and have fun!

Final thoughts

In the world of live streaming production, you are going to find that things rarely go 100% to plan and absolute perfection! But that’s something that should be embraced and understood when planning and producing live content. It’s part of the inherent charm and power of live production. It’s often a much more engaging and authentic way of connecting with your audience, and this is probably the main reason why. People like authenticity, so leveraging live streaming production and communicating your brand message, and telling your story in an honest and real way is something that can yield amazing results. That’s why it’s only continued to rise in popularity over recent years. It’s not just the pandemic that has caused this. The trajectory has merely been boosted by the fact that we had to start moving our messages into the virtual space and brands and businesses needed ways of keeping their audiences engaged.

Spellbinder has now delivered many best-in-class live streaming productions for partner clients, agencies, and high-profile brands. Operating in this space we have worked and invested consistently in the pursuit of the most robust and flexible solutions possible. Hopefully, to aspiring live streamers out there some of the hints and tips contained within this article will help you along your own journey. And to our clients and partners, we are constantly evolving, adapting, and pushing these workflows and concepts in order that we can better enhance the experience of those we work with. For us, our love of technology, of production value,  and a measurable end result is what drives this mission to make spellbinding content.