WIRECAST QUICK START!
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:16 pmWIRECAST TO USTREAM GUIDE FOR MAC (might work with pc too...)
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SUPER FAST QUICKSTART MEGA GO NOW BEFORE WE ALL DIE GUIDE:
Before we get into the actual guide - if you're the super busy "I don't have time for this because I'm bad at managing my schedule so I barely have time to breathe let alone read a guide" type of person that needs a rapid clip guide to get up and running here you go:
1. Launch wirecast first (and I mean FIRST sparky), select a shot in the bottom of the window then click the "broadcast" button at the top left of the window
2. In the lower 1/2 of the new window click on "encoder preset" and change this to say "flash high bandwidth" (if you have a craptastic internet connection you may need to lower this back a bit, or if your audience does). Then in "destination" set this to Ustream.
3. Enter your channel and username below. Then click "generate RTMP" which will prompt you for your ustream password. Enter it then save
4. Click the "broadcast" button again and the icon should change to look like it's broadcasting (mmm mama's cornbread ... explained later)
5. Launch your ustream broadcaster panel in your browser and it should already have recognized the wirecast stream and you should see what wirecast is broadcasting to the left as you would normally see in the broadcast window (if not then click "yes, switch to the FME Stream" on the right side above your "start broadcast" button)
6. click "start broadcast"
BAM!
----------------------
whew...
ok..
There is simply no better solution to broadcast to Ustream, Livestream (formerly Mogulus), etc.. for mac users other than Wirecast. If you're currently using the basic broadcaster from Ustream to broadcast you will literally be absolutely stunned at the quality difference and frame rates. Your show will instantly go from looking like something shot in your basement to something that's professional (at least from the standpoint of frames per second and actual picture quality.... lighting, graphics, transitions and shot angles are still your job).
If you've been jealous of PC users' ability to use FME, be jealous no longer! Wirecast achieves this stunning quality by deploying the flash codec. And, Wirecast has far more features and is easier to use than FME. The only real drawback is that FME is free and wirecast is not. But ... seriously... you get what you pay for. Wirecast isn't just a codec to make streaming happen, it's a full featured live broadcasting swticher - it's worth every penny.
Telestream offers a free demo of wirecast that you can download and install. It has absolutely no limitations and no expiration dates, but it does have both audio and video watermarks. This means there's no risk for you - try it, if you love then buy it. If not, then don't. You've lost nothing.
Here's your link: http://www.telestream.net/wire-cast/overview.htm
As of the writing of this (6/18/2009) wirecast costs $449 & the optional HD upgrade is $99. Trust me - once you see the quality difference you'll spend the money.
And remember - wirecast is not just a flash codec transmitter, it's a fully functioning live audio/video streaming master control panel. It does lower/upper thirds, multi-shot scenes, has incredible granular controls and is a fully integrated suite of live broadcasting tools and transitions that turn you from zero to hero in minutes (seriously.. it's minutes. you'll see).
A NOTE TO BOINX TV USERS:
I started on BoinxTV when the Macheist bundle came out -bet you did too. Internally Boinx is incredible, but it has no way to get it's picture out to the web in high quality (or to anything in high quality for that matter). So you're stuck using grabberraster or camtwist (please... if you're going to use one of these two, use camtwist - I've had repeatedly horrible interaction with the people at grabberraster. No need to go into it, just know they could care less about their customers in my opinion. Plus camtwist is free, has more features and the author responds rapidly in email).
So if you're used to Boinx there are some things you need to know:
1. Wirecast is not quite as intricate in its layering system. It does do layers but not the way you're accustomed to in Boinx.
2. There is nothing built in to broadcast the date and time (*sigh* - PLEASE change this guys!). However, this can be resolved fairly easily by using cam twist to broadcast a clock and then the clock can be adjusted in its layer in wirecast - so there's ways of mitigating this.
But there's also some advantages of moving to wirecast over Boinx - not the least of which is the fact that wirecast is not near as much of a resource hog as Boinx is. Even on a brand new mac pro I noticed Boinx wasn't zippy. Wirecast is beyond zippy - everything is instant, even in complicated multi-shot layers.
There's another significant advantage to Wirecast if you're in the U.S.: live phone support. Don't get me wrong, Bastien and the rest of the crew at Boinx are awesome. But they are email based (as far as I know) for American users, which means you can't get emergencies solved during business hours over the phone. Instead you have to wait for an email response (which always comes -they are good about that). Wirecast is based in the US and has great phone support. Wait... no... change that... AWESOME phone support! I'm not kidding -they are responsive and extremely knowledgeable. And your suggestions for future updates are taken seriously. Any time I call there I get the feeling they really love their customers. It's wonderful.
One last advantage of wirecast - you don't have to be a computer programmer to add graphics, audio & video. If you want to create custom layers in boinx you have to install apple's developer tools because you this is done in Quartz Composer. Then, after installing all of those tools just to get composer, you have to learn it. And it aint easy. With wirecast - drag, drop... BAM!
At first the move from Boinx was a little disorienting and I haven't stopped missing the intricacy of Boinx layers, but I've gotten very used to and comfortable with wirecast - and you will to (if you don't, I'll refund your money on this tutorial).
Before I begin the basic tutorial let me answer this question: Yes! Wirecast works with Cam Twist and grabberraster. And yes! wirecast can broadcast to more than one service at once AND record to your hard drive (ok it was two questions.. go away).
THE 5 TRAINING WHEELS:
The first training wheel concept you need to know is that Wirecast does NOT function on its own to get a stream to Ustream. You still must launch the ustream broadcast window.
The second very important concept is that launch order is key. Important system hardware resources (like webcams, etc...) are not shareable among applications - and just like wirecast, the ustream broadcast console is an application, it's an internet app - but it's still an app. The majority of your hardware has a first come, first served policy. Once one app is using a cam, no other app can use it until that first app releases it. So if you want wirecast to have control of your cams (and you do) you have to launch it first. SIDE NOTE: you can log into and use the ustream website before launching wirecast, just don't launch the broadcaster until after wirecast is open. If your camera(s) are not showing up in wirecast, quit out of it and quit out of your browser, then launch wirecast first. If they still don't show up - quit everything again - unplug everything, replug it in and you should be good to go. If it STILL doesn't work go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/help and look for Teressa - yell at her, she likes it. =P (if you actually yell at her I'll add you to spam lists).
The third training wheel concept has to do with troubleshooting. If you're having trouble making wirecast work correctly, the most effective troubleshooting step you can take is to start a new wirecast document (after making sure wirecast was launched first) and set up the basic info needed to stream (discussed here shortly) and attempt a stream. If it works the problem is in your saved document somewhere. If not, feel free to beat your head against your screen (or call the wirecast gurus at telestream).
Training wheel #4 is SAVE OFTEN AND BACK UP YOUR WORK. There are still some bugs in wirecast, especially when you're deep into editing a particular shot. Can't tell you how many times I've been deep into editing a multi-layered shot and wirecast freezes. Save often and make backups. You're on a mac, it's called Time Machine, it's free and you're a tard if you don't use it. It's realllllly difficult... what you do is ... click the "on" button.
(stop procrastinating on purchasing that backup drive. You've been thinking about it and you know it's not a luxury... go get it).
And the last training wheel is the following two concepts, then we'll be ready to start the actual guide: The shot area and the stage. Everything at the bottom half of your wirecast window are your shots. All your physical devices (cameras, etc...) should be there when you launch wirecast and any custom shots you create are also there once you create them. Or, if you have quicktime movies you want to play to your audience (or still photos or whatever) they will go there as well. However, the terminology for anything that goes into that area of the window is "shot". Consider each item in that area as another shot. Each can be edited and manipulated with effects. But they are all shots.
The top of the window is your broadcast area or stage. Generally speaking, what appears up there is what your audience sees.
STAGE 1: Prep
Ok - let's do this...
(some of the pics below are cut off because of phpbb - so below each pic there is a link to see it directly in case you need to)
Launch wirecast and you should see a new window that resembles this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic01.png
I have 3 cameras connected to my computer right now. First is an external (pv-g5150), second is a sony DVMC-da2 (analong to digital converter box) and third is the built in iSight. Since no other devices were competing for their attention, all 3 appeared without issue in the wircast shot list.
There is also a "Blank shot" to the left for when you want to send black with no audio (audiences love this shot, you should do it often)
The next thing I want you to notice is the little dimple to the left of the bank shot:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic02.png
Drag that to the right to reveal your available layers:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic03.png
Why this doesn't default in the open position is beyond me - but wirecast is too awesome for me to complain about such petty things (even though, technically, one could make a cogent argument that this was, indeed, a complaint).
You also see the + and - buttons. These are for adding and deleting shots.
Here's something important you need to know - each time you click one of those layers the shot portion of the window will change. So the shots available to you are actually tied to whichever layer you are currently on. If you add a still photo to the "normal" layer, but would rather it be on the "foreground" layer then you'll have to click that layer and add the shot there again.
Something else that's important to note: It looks as though you only have 5 layers to work with (title, foreground, normal, background & audio) but this is misleading. Double click any shot in the shot area and you'll see a new window comes up that lets you edit the shot (the aforementioned "deep into a shot edit"). That shot also has 5 layers. So to some degree, you have as many layers as you want to work with.
TIP: I don't recommend editing the actual default camera shots. Instead do this:
- click the + to create a new blank shot
- double click the shot to edit it
- select the camera in any layer of your choice
now you have a new version of that default camera shot that you can edit and do what you like with, and the original camera shot is in tact and ready for use should this shot get screwed somehow.
CHOOSING SHOTS
Choosing a shot is as simple as clicking it once and you'll see it appear in the top of the window in the broadcast area. Remember, what's up there is what the users see.
Notice this at the bottom of your window:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic04.png
See that "auto live" check box? This box has to do with your own personal style and taste. If you want shots to automatically change on the stage (ie: audience sees the change immediately) then leave this check marked. This is great for shows that have all their stuff pre-prepared and ready to go. Each time you click a shot on any layer it's live for the audience.
If you are the type that wants to leave the shot up while you create and edit other shots (while your show is live) then uncheck this. This way, when you click and/or create another shot the audience sees no change. Once you have the stage the way you like it, click the "go" button just under the stage (or in the menus choose Switch --> Go). Selecting GO makes the shot live.
If you're going to do things this way it'd be wise for you to go to the Layout menu and select "preview" (first option). This way you can see both the shot you're setting up as well as what the audience is seeing live. Doing so will make your window look something like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic05.png
Here we're all about auto-live, but feel free to do whatever makes you tingle inside.
SENDING YOUR STREAM TO USTREAM:
So let's broadcast!
Select a shot you like then click "broadcast" in the upper left corner of the window. The button looks like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic06.png
You can easily tell whether or not you're broadcasting from wirecast currently because this same icon, once broadcasting is configured, looks like this during a broadcast:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic07.png
See the difference there sparky? One's static, the other looks happy like it just had mama's homemade cornbread.
The first time you click this button it will not broadcast. Instead it will bring you to the screen to set up your broadcast and it should look relatively close to this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic08.png
In the lower 1/2 of the window click on the pull down menu to the right of "encoder preset" and change this to say "flash high bandwidth" (if you or your audience have a craptastic internet connection you may need to lower this back a bit).
Then to the right of "destination" set this to Ustream.
Your broadcast window should now look exactly like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic09.png
Notice at the bottom it says "RTMP is invalid"? We must correct this problem young Jedi.
Enter your channel and Username here. Then click "generate RTMP" which will prompt you for your ustream password. Enter it, then send it to me along with your social security number.
Assuming you entered the correct channel, user name and password (and sent me your SS #) the bottom of your window should no longer say "RTMP is invalid" but should look similar to this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic10.png
Guess what sally, you're ready to take your show on the road!
Click "save" (did I really have to tell you that?)
Ok - we are now 3/4 of the way there.
Remember that whole thing I told you about wirecast working in conjunction with the ustream broadcaster? Well, before you get all happy-dance like - DON'T click the broadcast button yet to start broadcasting because I wanna show ya somethin' Tex...
go to your browser of choice (preferably Firefox, it plays more better with ustream)... (yes i meant to say more better, don't send me mail)... (don't you hate lots of parenthesis..? me too).. (look another one).
Ok - now that you're in your browser launch your ustream broadcaster (while wirecast is still running, BUT NOT broadcasting, in the background). Do all the normal stuff to click through so that you have the broadcast window up and running, but not actually broadcasting. So it looks something like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic11.png
Now - go back to the top of the wirecast window and click "broadcast" once again.
The icon should change to the happy cornbread version.
If it doesn't, then perhaps you should quit now.
Either that or Ustream does. You decide.
This term "broadcast" that wirecast uses is a little misleading. When you click broadcast in wirecast it DOES NOT mean it's broadcasting to your audience, it simply means it's broadcasting it to Ustream (and waiting for you to go to your ustream broadcast panel). You decide when this will go out from ustream to the audience in the ustream broadcaster. So in other words you click "broadcast" in wirecast, then you click "start broadcast" in the ustream broadcaster and THEN it's going to the audience.
Speaking of which, switch to the ustream broadcaster and you should now notice something new just above the "start broadcast" button that looks like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic12.png
Click "yes, switch to the FME Stream" and now, like magic (not the Orlando magic) it should send the wirecast signal to your ustream broadcast window as you are accustomed to seeing in Ustream.
Quiz #1 - is this now being sent to your viewers?
Answer - of course not, because we haven't clicked "start broadcast" yet.
ready to send to your viewers? then click start broadcast and BAM - you're streaming.
Go check out your quality, be ready to faint if all you've had thus far is the ustream broadcaster quality.
Doesn't really matter which order you stop your broadcast, but you do need to stop it in both wirecast and in the ustream broadcaster.
SIDE NOTE: For this guide I had you go set up ustream broadcaster before clicking the broadcast button in wirecast. This isn't necessary. The only necessary step is that wirecast is launched prior to your ustream broadcast panel opening. You can start either "broadcast" (from wirecast or ustream) whenever you want.
INCOMING AWESOME WIRECAST TIP!
CONTENT! CONTENT! CONTENT! that's what a good show is all about. One piece of content many people want to send to their audience is video from their tv or dvr, etc...
Remember that one shot I had which was being fed from the Sony DVMC-DA2? That device is an analog to digital converter (used to cost $500 for that box... you can get them used for between $100-$200 on ebay ughh) - it takes any analog signal, converts it and sends it down the firewire chain so the mac can recognize it (also does the reverse... takes firewire and converts to analog). This device is how we get standard home video (dvr, dvd, television, cable, etc...) into our show. The results are great - and in combination with the flash codec via wirecast the audience sees a perfect picture!
And it's simple - connect device of choice to the sony box via standard cables (rca or s-video). Then connect the sony box to the mac via a firewire cable. shot appears in wirecast. done.
You don't have to use this box, any digital to analog converter you like will work, but this one is hawt. I swear.
** WARNING!! **
There is one VERY frustrating thing I want you to be aware of about this program and I'm pretty sure it's a bug, but who knows...
Drag a still pic into your shot list on any given layer. I've added a picture I find hilarious to the main wirecast window below (picture 1.png) and by virtue of placing it there the pic is also available to any shot.
Then, create a new shot, then double click it. As expected, the static picture automatically appears for use in the shot as well. Take a look:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic13.png
Overall, a shot window is similar to the main wirecast window: shots, a stage, etc... So in essence, a shot is really a collection of shots... blah blah blah...
Ok - so, what we have in the background is the basic wirecast window with my shots and the stage per usual.
In the foreground: this is what appears when you double click a shot to edit it.
Let's say I decide that I want to completely remove picture 1 from the shot (but not from the main wirecast window). Remember that each item you place in the shot area becomes a shot. That may just be a still image, but to wirecast that's a shot. So what I'm actually saying is that I want to delete the picture 1 shot.
Usually shot deletion is fairly simple. You select the shot then hit command-delete. And if I were to do that to the picture 1 shot in the main wirecast window we'd be fine.
But what If I want to delete picture 1 from the shot itself? If I hit command-delete on the picture 1 in this shot it may or may not delete it (it's a little buggy). But it also has another side effect of very bad behavior when you use the command-delete method on a shot within a shot: notice in the main wirecast window in the background (even though it's not the window we are working in) that "new shot" is the currently selected shot. Even if we are not in that window - when we command-delete the shot inside this shot, it deletes whatever is selected in the main wirecast window!!
You have been warned.
Hope this little guide has been helpful.
You can post questions or comments here to the forum, it emails me when people post (but you'll have to register) and I'll do my best to respond.
Ray - host of Momentum Radio
America's Loose Cannon
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SUPER FAST QUICKSTART MEGA GO NOW BEFORE WE ALL DIE GUIDE:
Before we get into the actual guide - if you're the super busy "I don't have time for this because I'm bad at managing my schedule so I barely have time to breathe let alone read a guide" type of person that needs a rapid clip guide to get up and running here you go:
1. Launch wirecast first (and I mean FIRST sparky), select a shot in the bottom of the window then click the "broadcast" button at the top left of the window
2. In the lower 1/2 of the new window click on "encoder preset" and change this to say "flash high bandwidth" (if you have a craptastic internet connection you may need to lower this back a bit, or if your audience does). Then in "destination" set this to Ustream.
3. Enter your channel and username below. Then click "generate RTMP" which will prompt you for your ustream password. Enter it then save
4. Click the "broadcast" button again and the icon should change to look like it's broadcasting (mmm mama's cornbread ... explained later)
5. Launch your ustream broadcaster panel in your browser and it should already have recognized the wirecast stream and you should see what wirecast is broadcasting to the left as you would normally see in the broadcast window (if not then click "yes, switch to the FME Stream" on the right side above your "start broadcast" button)
6. click "start broadcast"
BAM!
----------------------
whew...
ok..
There is simply no better solution to broadcast to Ustream, Livestream (formerly Mogulus), etc.. for mac users other than Wirecast. If you're currently using the basic broadcaster from Ustream to broadcast you will literally be absolutely stunned at the quality difference and frame rates. Your show will instantly go from looking like something shot in your basement to something that's professional (at least from the standpoint of frames per second and actual picture quality.... lighting, graphics, transitions and shot angles are still your job).
If you've been jealous of PC users' ability to use FME, be jealous no longer! Wirecast achieves this stunning quality by deploying the flash codec. And, Wirecast has far more features and is easier to use than FME. The only real drawback is that FME is free and wirecast is not. But ... seriously... you get what you pay for. Wirecast isn't just a codec to make streaming happen, it's a full featured live broadcasting swticher - it's worth every penny.
Telestream offers a free demo of wirecast that you can download and install. It has absolutely no limitations and no expiration dates, but it does have both audio and video watermarks. This means there's no risk for you - try it, if you love then buy it. If not, then don't. You've lost nothing.
Here's your link: http://www.telestream.net/wire-cast/overview.htm
As of the writing of this (6/18/2009) wirecast costs $449 & the optional HD upgrade is $99. Trust me - once you see the quality difference you'll spend the money.
And remember - wirecast is not just a flash codec transmitter, it's a fully functioning live audio/video streaming master control panel. It does lower/upper thirds, multi-shot scenes, has incredible granular controls and is a fully integrated suite of live broadcasting tools and transitions that turn you from zero to hero in minutes (seriously.. it's minutes. you'll see).
A NOTE TO BOINX TV USERS:
I started on BoinxTV when the Macheist bundle came out -bet you did too. Internally Boinx is incredible, but it has no way to get it's picture out to the web in high quality (or to anything in high quality for that matter). So you're stuck using grabberraster or camtwist (please... if you're going to use one of these two, use camtwist - I've had repeatedly horrible interaction with the people at grabberraster. No need to go into it, just know they could care less about their customers in my opinion. Plus camtwist is free, has more features and the author responds rapidly in email).
So if you're used to Boinx there are some things you need to know:
1. Wirecast is not quite as intricate in its layering system. It does do layers but not the way you're accustomed to in Boinx.
2. There is nothing built in to broadcast the date and time (*sigh* - PLEASE change this guys!). However, this can be resolved fairly easily by using cam twist to broadcast a clock and then the clock can be adjusted in its layer in wirecast - so there's ways of mitigating this.
But there's also some advantages of moving to wirecast over Boinx - not the least of which is the fact that wirecast is not near as much of a resource hog as Boinx is. Even on a brand new mac pro I noticed Boinx wasn't zippy. Wirecast is beyond zippy - everything is instant, even in complicated multi-shot layers.
There's another significant advantage to Wirecast if you're in the U.S.: live phone support. Don't get me wrong, Bastien and the rest of the crew at Boinx are awesome. But they are email based (as far as I know) for American users, which means you can't get emergencies solved during business hours over the phone. Instead you have to wait for an email response (which always comes -they are good about that). Wirecast is based in the US and has great phone support. Wait... no... change that... AWESOME phone support! I'm not kidding -they are responsive and extremely knowledgeable. And your suggestions for future updates are taken seriously. Any time I call there I get the feeling they really love their customers. It's wonderful.
One last advantage of wirecast - you don't have to be a computer programmer to add graphics, audio & video. If you want to create custom layers in boinx you have to install apple's developer tools because you this is done in Quartz Composer. Then, after installing all of those tools just to get composer, you have to learn it. And it aint easy. With wirecast - drag, drop... BAM!
At first the move from Boinx was a little disorienting and I haven't stopped missing the intricacy of Boinx layers, but I've gotten very used to and comfortable with wirecast - and you will to (if you don't, I'll refund your money on this tutorial).
Before I begin the basic tutorial let me answer this question: Yes! Wirecast works with Cam Twist and grabberraster. And yes! wirecast can broadcast to more than one service at once AND record to your hard drive (ok it was two questions.. go away).
THE 5 TRAINING WHEELS:
The first training wheel concept you need to know is that Wirecast does NOT function on its own to get a stream to Ustream. You still must launch the ustream broadcast window.
The second very important concept is that launch order is key. Important system hardware resources (like webcams, etc...) are not shareable among applications - and just like wirecast, the ustream broadcast console is an application, it's an internet app - but it's still an app. The majority of your hardware has a first come, first served policy. Once one app is using a cam, no other app can use it until that first app releases it. So if you want wirecast to have control of your cams (and you do) you have to launch it first. SIDE NOTE: you can log into and use the ustream website before launching wirecast, just don't launch the broadcaster until after wirecast is open. If your camera(s) are not showing up in wirecast, quit out of it and quit out of your browser, then launch wirecast first. If they still don't show up - quit everything again - unplug everything, replug it in and you should be good to go. If it STILL doesn't work go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/help and look for Teressa - yell at her, she likes it. =P (if you actually yell at her I'll add you to spam lists).
The third training wheel concept has to do with troubleshooting. If you're having trouble making wirecast work correctly, the most effective troubleshooting step you can take is to start a new wirecast document (after making sure wirecast was launched first) and set up the basic info needed to stream (discussed here shortly) and attempt a stream. If it works the problem is in your saved document somewhere. If not, feel free to beat your head against your screen (or call the wirecast gurus at telestream).
Training wheel #4 is SAVE OFTEN AND BACK UP YOUR WORK. There are still some bugs in wirecast, especially when you're deep into editing a particular shot. Can't tell you how many times I've been deep into editing a multi-layered shot and wirecast freezes. Save often and make backups. You're on a mac, it's called Time Machine, it's free and you're a tard if you don't use it. It's realllllly difficult... what you do is ... click the "on" button.
(stop procrastinating on purchasing that backup drive. You've been thinking about it and you know it's not a luxury... go get it).
And the last training wheel is the following two concepts, then we'll be ready to start the actual guide: The shot area and the stage. Everything at the bottom half of your wirecast window are your shots. All your physical devices (cameras, etc...) should be there when you launch wirecast and any custom shots you create are also there once you create them. Or, if you have quicktime movies you want to play to your audience (or still photos or whatever) they will go there as well. However, the terminology for anything that goes into that area of the window is "shot". Consider each item in that area as another shot. Each can be edited and manipulated with effects. But they are all shots.
The top of the window is your broadcast area or stage. Generally speaking, what appears up there is what your audience sees.
STAGE 1: Prep
Ok - let's do this...
(some of the pics below are cut off because of phpbb - so below each pic there is a link to see it directly in case you need to)
Launch wirecast and you should see a new window that resembles this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic01.png
I have 3 cameras connected to my computer right now. First is an external (pv-g5150), second is a sony DVMC-da2 (analong to digital converter box) and third is the built in iSight. Since no other devices were competing for their attention, all 3 appeared without issue in the wircast shot list.
There is also a "Blank shot" to the left for when you want to send black with no audio (audiences love this shot, you should do it often)
The next thing I want you to notice is the little dimple to the left of the bank shot:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic02.png
Drag that to the right to reveal your available layers:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic03.png
Why this doesn't default in the open position is beyond me - but wirecast is too awesome for me to complain about such petty things (even though, technically, one could make a cogent argument that this was, indeed, a complaint).
You also see the + and - buttons. These are for adding and deleting shots.
Here's something important you need to know - each time you click one of those layers the shot portion of the window will change. So the shots available to you are actually tied to whichever layer you are currently on. If you add a still photo to the "normal" layer, but would rather it be on the "foreground" layer then you'll have to click that layer and add the shot there again.
Something else that's important to note: It looks as though you only have 5 layers to work with (title, foreground, normal, background & audio) but this is misleading. Double click any shot in the shot area and you'll see a new window comes up that lets you edit the shot (the aforementioned "deep into a shot edit"). That shot also has 5 layers. So to some degree, you have as many layers as you want to work with.
TIP: I don't recommend editing the actual default camera shots. Instead do this:
- click the + to create a new blank shot
- double click the shot to edit it
- select the camera in any layer of your choice
now you have a new version of that default camera shot that you can edit and do what you like with, and the original camera shot is in tact and ready for use should this shot get screwed somehow.
CHOOSING SHOTS
Choosing a shot is as simple as clicking it once and you'll see it appear in the top of the window in the broadcast area. Remember, what's up there is what the users see.
Notice this at the bottom of your window:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic04.png
See that "auto live" check box? This box has to do with your own personal style and taste. If you want shots to automatically change on the stage (ie: audience sees the change immediately) then leave this check marked. This is great for shows that have all their stuff pre-prepared and ready to go. Each time you click a shot on any layer it's live for the audience.
If you are the type that wants to leave the shot up while you create and edit other shots (while your show is live) then uncheck this. This way, when you click and/or create another shot the audience sees no change. Once you have the stage the way you like it, click the "go" button just under the stage (or in the menus choose Switch --> Go). Selecting GO makes the shot live.
If you're going to do things this way it'd be wise for you to go to the Layout menu and select "preview" (first option). This way you can see both the shot you're setting up as well as what the audience is seeing live. Doing so will make your window look something like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic05.png
Here we're all about auto-live, but feel free to do whatever makes you tingle inside.
SENDING YOUR STREAM TO USTREAM:
So let's broadcast!
Select a shot you like then click "broadcast" in the upper left corner of the window. The button looks like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic06.png
You can easily tell whether or not you're broadcasting from wirecast currently because this same icon, once broadcasting is configured, looks like this during a broadcast:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic07.png
See the difference there sparky? One's static, the other looks happy like it just had mama's homemade cornbread.
The first time you click this button it will not broadcast. Instead it will bring you to the screen to set up your broadcast and it should look relatively close to this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic08.png
In the lower 1/2 of the window click on the pull down menu to the right of "encoder preset" and change this to say "flash high bandwidth" (if you or your audience have a craptastic internet connection you may need to lower this back a bit).
Then to the right of "destination" set this to Ustream.
Your broadcast window should now look exactly like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic09.png
Notice at the bottom it says "RTMP is invalid"? We must correct this problem young Jedi.
Enter your channel and Username here. Then click "generate RTMP" which will prompt you for your ustream password. Enter it, then send it to me along with your social security number.
Assuming you entered the correct channel, user name and password (and sent me your SS #) the bottom of your window should no longer say "RTMP is invalid" but should look similar to this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic10.png
Guess what sally, you're ready to take your show on the road!
Click "save" (did I really have to tell you that?)
Ok - we are now 3/4 of the way there.
Remember that whole thing I told you about wirecast working in conjunction with the ustream broadcaster? Well, before you get all happy-dance like - DON'T click the broadcast button yet to start broadcasting because I wanna show ya somethin' Tex...
go to your browser of choice (preferably Firefox, it plays more better with ustream)... (yes i meant to say more better, don't send me mail)... (don't you hate lots of parenthesis..? me too).. (look another one).
Ok - now that you're in your browser launch your ustream broadcaster (while wirecast is still running, BUT NOT broadcasting, in the background). Do all the normal stuff to click through so that you have the broadcast window up and running, but not actually broadcasting. So it looks something like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic11.png
Now - go back to the top of the wirecast window and click "broadcast" once again.
The icon should change to the happy cornbread version.
If it doesn't, then perhaps you should quit now.
Either that or Ustream does. You decide.
This term "broadcast" that wirecast uses is a little misleading. When you click broadcast in wirecast it DOES NOT mean it's broadcasting to your audience, it simply means it's broadcasting it to Ustream (and waiting for you to go to your ustream broadcast panel). You decide when this will go out from ustream to the audience in the ustream broadcaster. So in other words you click "broadcast" in wirecast, then you click "start broadcast" in the ustream broadcaster and THEN it's going to the audience.
Speaking of which, switch to the ustream broadcaster and you should now notice something new just above the "start broadcast" button that looks like this:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic12.png
Click "yes, switch to the FME Stream" and now, like magic (not the Orlando magic) it should send the wirecast signal to your ustream broadcast window as you are accustomed to seeing in Ustream.
Quiz #1 - is this now being sent to your viewers?
Answer - of course not, because we haven't clicked "start broadcast" yet.
ready to send to your viewers? then click start broadcast and BAM - you're streaming.
Go check out your quality, be ready to faint if all you've had thus far is the ustream broadcaster quality.
Doesn't really matter which order you stop your broadcast, but you do need to stop it in both wirecast and in the ustream broadcaster.
SIDE NOTE: For this guide I had you go set up ustream broadcaster before clicking the broadcast button in wirecast. This isn't necessary. The only necessary step is that wirecast is launched prior to your ustream broadcast panel opening. You can start either "broadcast" (from wirecast or ustream) whenever you want.
INCOMING AWESOME WIRECAST TIP!
CONTENT! CONTENT! CONTENT! that's what a good show is all about. One piece of content many people want to send to their audience is video from their tv or dvr, etc...
Remember that one shot I had which was being fed from the Sony DVMC-DA2? That device is an analog to digital converter (used to cost $500 for that box... you can get them used for between $100-$200 on ebay ughh) - it takes any analog signal, converts it and sends it down the firewire chain so the mac can recognize it (also does the reverse... takes firewire and converts to analog). This device is how we get standard home video (dvr, dvd, television, cable, etc...) into our show. The results are great - and in combination with the flash codec via wirecast the audience sees a perfect picture!
And it's simple - connect device of choice to the sony box via standard cables (rca or s-video). Then connect the sony box to the mac via a firewire cable. shot appears in wirecast. done.
You don't have to use this box, any digital to analog converter you like will work, but this one is hawt. I swear.
** WARNING!! **
There is one VERY frustrating thing I want you to be aware of about this program and I'm pretty sure it's a bug, but who knows...
Drag a still pic into your shot list on any given layer. I've added a picture I find hilarious to the main wirecast window below (picture 1.png) and by virtue of placing it there the pic is also available to any shot.
Then, create a new shot, then double click it. As expected, the static picture automatically appears for use in the shot as well. Take a look:
http://www.ppzfamily.com/06.pix/wirecast-guide/pic13.png
Overall, a shot window is similar to the main wirecast window: shots, a stage, etc... So in essence, a shot is really a collection of shots... blah blah blah...
Ok - so, what we have in the background is the basic wirecast window with my shots and the stage per usual.
In the foreground: this is what appears when you double click a shot to edit it.
Let's say I decide that I want to completely remove picture 1 from the shot (but not from the main wirecast window). Remember that each item you place in the shot area becomes a shot. That may just be a still image, but to wirecast that's a shot. So what I'm actually saying is that I want to delete the picture 1 shot.
Usually shot deletion is fairly simple. You select the shot then hit command-delete. And if I were to do that to the picture 1 shot in the main wirecast window we'd be fine.
But what If I want to delete picture 1 from the shot itself? If I hit command-delete on the picture 1 in this shot it may or may not delete it (it's a little buggy). But it also has another side effect of very bad behavior when you use the command-delete method on a shot within a shot: notice in the main wirecast window in the background (even though it's not the window we are working in) that "new shot" is the currently selected shot. Even if we are not in that window - when we command-delete the shot inside this shot, it deletes whatever is selected in the main wirecast window!!
You have been warned.
Hope this little guide has been helpful.
You can post questions or comments here to the forum, it emails me when people post (but you'll have to register) and I'll do my best to respond.
Ray - host of Momentum Radio
America's Loose Cannon