- Quality Does Matter
- Choosing a Capture Card
- Encoding Software: the Key Ingredient
- Need for Bandwidth
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Need for Bandwidth
Now that you have captured the signal, connected it to your computer, and processed it into a digital media file ready for the Web, all you need is a high-speed Internet connection to send this video stream up to your Web server and off into the cyber world. Can it be done with a 56K connection? Technically, yes—but you will wind up with nothing more that a moving slide show, not video worth calling "video." You really need ISDN, DSL, or cable modem speeds or better to really get the benefit of webcasting an event. Most of the live streaming software applications also upload the files to the Internet for you.
All you need to do is set the location. If you are encoding the files separately, you need to manually post these files up to your Web server on your own, typically through FTP. Now, depending on how you plan on using the signal and how many people you anticipate viewing this signal at the same time could bring up a whole other set of circumstances. If you want only one person to view the file at a time, your basic Web server (depending, of course, on which ISP you have) should do the trick. If you are planning this event to be seen by a large audience at numerous locations, you need the help of a video Web server. This intermediary process takes your video Web stream, processes the signal, and makes it available for multiple users at the same time.
This, again, is a quick overview of the process that is involved to produce a webcast over the Internet. It still may seem complex for some, but with all of the options available out there, hundreds of manufacturers continuously improving software and hardware utilities, and prices dropping rapidly, webcasting is quickly becoming a highly-effective, cost-efficient way to communicate, whether one-on-one or to groups around the world.