It is safe to say that every internet user has come across a streaming service at least once. This is because a variety of reputable companies such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have adopted the core concepts of online streaming and integrated them into their platforms. So, a technology that picked pace from its popularity on YouTube, is now a defining feature for a variety of social media platforms and serves as a significant factor in their revenue generation.
This is why young and aspiring content creators need to jump on the bandwagon and become part of this transition in the early stages. This will only help them accelerate their careers and create a bigger audience.
Online Streaming – How to Prepare for it?
Since the origin of online streaming, the dynamics of content consumption over the internet have changed dramatically. For all the young online creators who are planning to start their streaming journey, here’s a myth-buster for you. Live streaming is not always about being impromptu. While the literal meaning might seem like you can afford to go impromptu, but all your popular streamers, whether they are gaming or showing whatever skills they’re showing, are not always impromptu.
- Always plan your content strategy regarding your topic and your timing of hosting your live stream.
- Figure out the areas of interest in which you want to create content and approach the niche aggressively.
- You need to have realistic and short-term goals to keep the process intuitive for yourself.
How To Stream Your Content Online?
Since streaming your content online has become extremely common and is widespread now, it is about time that you be equipped with the necessary information to start your online streaming channel.
Establishing a Streaming Setup
- Stable Internet Connection
Since a live stream purely depends on the internet connection of the host, you need to have a stable internet connection with minimum latency and ping to ensure you do not have a laggy stream.
- Audio and Video Source
If you’re a beginner stepping into the realms of online streaming, you don’t need to dent your wallet with expensive purchases on your microphone and camera choices. You can afford to start with an ordinary camera that has the recording capability of 720P at least to ensure your video is crisp. However, you would want to invest in a good microphone.
- Streaming Software
You can find a variety of free encoding software that can help you transmit the audio and video input to your desired streaming platform.
Step-by-Step Guide to Your First Live Stream
Step 1: Establish a connection between your Encoder and Audio/Video Source
If you’re using a free software-based encoder, you only need to connect your audio and video sources to your computer and launch the encoding software for it to detect the inputs.
Step 2: Your Encoder needs to be configured
You can easily configure the audio and video settings based on the capabilities of your input devices to make sure your streaming quality is in line with your preferences. The most important configurations to keep in mind are to keep a high frame rate and high resolution and maintain a balance between them. Having an outrageously high resolution with a ridiculously low frame rate can easily destroy your stream quality. So, find your balance.
Step 3: Configure Your Streaming Destination Settings
Now login to your streaming platform and set up the stream settings to connect your platform with your streaming software.
Step 4: Enter the required URL and Stream Key from your CDN into your Encoder
Upon setting up, you will get a URL and stream key from your streaming platform that can be entered into your encoding software to establish a connection between them. This will allow you to use your audio and video input for your live stream.
Step 5: Step into the world of Streaming by clicking “Start”
Lastly, after rechecking all of your settings you can finally hit start and begin your live stream with the huge load of creativity that you have gathered to share with your audience.
Where to Stream Your Content?
While you’re figuring out the essentials for setting up your live streaming setup and hosting your first live stream, you should also start thinking of a platform that you will be using. Although the internet is full of general CDN that provides fresh live streamers a starting point for their streaming careers, you need to figure out which platform suits you best. This helps you create a dedicated audience that will value your content and follow you in case you switch platforms.
Advantages of Online Streaming
For an online creator, the advantages of streaming online content can be hard to track with great publicity and a prominent platform to showcase its skills. However, there are a few benefits that help the creators gain and sustain a stable audience.
- Goodbye to Download Time
Due to the advancements in internet technology, streaming platforms can broadcast media on their platforms without having to worry about the download times. Unwanted and elongated download times were a major turnoff for many content consumers. So, platforms identified the issue and resolved it with online streaming.
- Instant Playback
Unlike the tedious cycle of downloading a piece of content and then waiting to start watching it, with online streaming, you can instantly watch your desired content. This not only saves you time but also saves you from the unnecessary irritation that was bundled with the tedious download periods.
- No Worries of Shortage of Storage Space
Since there is no need to download media on whichever device you’re using, the need to have vacant space for storing the downloadable content has diminished. Now, people can relax with the current storage capacities of their devices.
It must be apparent that live streaming is not a simple topic to be summarized with ease. However, the gist of the discussion is to emphasize the significance of creating online content and understand the essentials for streaming it on a specific platform, if not multiple. This will allow you to showcase your skills on an audience-ridden platform that is hungry for creative content.