YouTube Streaming from the TriCaster in 32 Easy Steps

YouTube Streaming From the TriCaster (as of Dec 1, 2015)

Update your TC to the latest build.

Use Internet Explorer from the Windows desktop, some of the steps won't work from the integrated TC browser.

Check that your YouTube account is in good standing:

1. Go to http://YouTube.com
2. Click the icon in the upper right (It will be your YouTube avatar)
3. Click the 'Gear' icon
4. Click 'View Additional Features'
5. Check account status and that 'Live Streaming' is enabled

Set up streaming:

1. Select 'Live Streaming' from the menu on the left to go to the YouTube channel page
2. Click on 'Events' to go to the live event page
3. Click 'New Live Event'
4. Name Event, load image etc.
5. Click 'Create Event'
   
6. Select a bit rate, TriCaster standard edition can do up to 720p
7. Select Flash Media Encoder
8. Download XML 'Profile (primary)'
   

Edit Streaming Profile (For TC455 and TC855 and earlier machines)

1. On the TriCaster go to c:\TriCaster\Configuration\Streaming Profiles\NTSC\HD\
   
2. Note that the above path may be different on some TriCasters
3. Open the Profile you intend to use with notepad (TC40 users will need to move this file to another computer for editing)
   
4. On line 38 change the keyframe frequency from 3 seconds to 2 seconds (again may be different line in older TCs)
   
5. 'Save As' the file with a name such as YouTube 720 2048k
   

Start TriCaster (complete the rest of the steps from the integrated browser in TriCaster)

1. Go to the Streaming Config (gear icon on Stream button)
2. Type http://youtube.com in the URL field and press return
3. This will take you to the main YouTube page, click the icon in the upper right (your avatar)
4. Select 'Live Streaming' from the menu on the left to go to the YouTube channel page
5. Click on 'Events' to go to your live event page
6. On the TC stream panel pull down select 'Create Connection From Current URL'
7. Name the connection YouTube Live or what ever you like
8. Select a resolution and data rate that fits within the data rate you selected in the settings section
9. Click Import settings and select the XML file we saved previously (it should be in 'Downloads')
10. Put your YouTube username and password in the proper fields
11. Click the Stream button on the main TC user interface

Preview your stream

1. Go back to the streaming config panel
2. On the YouTube page click the 'Live Control Room' tab
3. Here you can preview your stream and actually make it public etc.

Improvements at YouTube

HD Support and a bigger player: More

New Content Delivery Network for Streaming

SimpleCDN is worth taking a look at for your streaming server needs. They charge 8.9 cents a GigaByte which is a great deal. There is a one time setup fee of $75 but it comes with tech support. The best part is they know about TriCasters and how to deal with them.

I haven't actually used there service at this point but if you have any live streaming in your future you should take a look at SimpleCDN they probably can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

TriCaster to Stream Republican National Convention

Pajamas TV will be streaming live coverage of the Republican National Convention September 1st through 4th from Minneapolis using TriCasters. They will one of the few, if not only, online media companies overlooking the convention floor.

About Pajamas TV:

Pajamas Media is announcing Pajamas TV -a Media 2.0 internet TV venture focusing on coverage of news, opinion, and issues of the day. We are currently in Alpha phase with the Beta phase beginning on September 1 with coverage from the Republican National Convention.

UStream and the TriCaster - Announcing TC Launch

UStream(at UStream.tv) is a free live streaming service. It can stream from any standard windows video capture device on your system. The good news is TriCaster 2.0 has a Windows Video driver installed that will work with UStream as well as other applications. The bad news is the TriCaster user interface takes over the machine and disables all the multi-tasking features of Windows. So it was impossible to switch back and forth between the TriCaster and another application without actually shutting off the TriCaster interface.

I've solved this problem with a little program called TC Launch that you can drop onto the Admin screen and use to launch the TriCaster in a special multi-tasking mode. Now you can use free services like UStream on your TriCaster with 2.0.

A few other hints to streaming with UStream:

• Use the standard encoder not the "High Quality Encoder" I couldn't get the high quality encoder to work on my TriCaster Studio.
• Watch out for the cropping. UStream does a pretty radical crop of the TriCaster's output so if you frame normally you will trim the top of peoples heads off.
• Make sure you set the UStream audio capture to the VT audio device. It wants to default to the windows audio device.
• I had better luck with FireFox, IE crashed on be a couple of times.
  

I'm selling TC Launch for $10 over on www.digarts.com you can go directly to TC Launch here. Be sure to change the payment system to PayPal from credit card if you want to download the program immediately. You can still use a CC with PayPal. Our normal CC processing is done by hand to it can take up to 24 hours.

If you have any trouble with or have any questions about TC Launch you can email me at jcupp@digarts.com

Important Update: The guys over at NewTek want me to make it clear that you use TC Launch at your own risk and if you have problems while using it don't go crying to tech support (they put it a little nicer than that but you get the idea). TC Launch makes no permanent changes to your TriCaster so if your application doesn't work just delete it and you're good to go.

Embedding Flash in a Web Page

So I'm working on a new web site for Digital Arts and I need to embed a flash video clip in a page. Turns out this isn't as straight forward as you'd think. I found a great page that explains things pretty well at JeroenWijering.com

Another Streaming User of TriCaster

LagTV Network

If XBox gaming is your thing this looks like the place.