Video Streaming Equipment
Want to make your own streaming video? Lights Camera Action!
Forget about the Action part though - the best videos for streaming have little movement from frame to frame.
As for lights - well, you can invest in lights and other video streaming equipment such as microphones, but the two most important pieces of equipment for video streaming are a digital camcorder and a tripod.
Why a tripod? For the same reason that you don't want much action - Compression.
Videos which don't change much from frame to frame will compress much better than action videos. This is because video compression works by discarding parts of the video that don't change. So if you have a relatively static video image it will compress to a smaller file size at better quality than an action video.
So a tripod will help to stabilize the video image. Hand-held video cameras have a LOT of background movement, and this will cause the compressed video file to be larger.
Cameras for Video Streaming
You can use an older analog video camera for streaming video, but it's much more convenient to use a digital camcorder. AND the video remains in the digital format from shooting to viewing so there's no loss of quality.
If you don't want to invest in a new camera, however, NO PROBLEM! You can use a video capture card on your computer to convert the video to the digital domain.
Tripod for Video Streaming
As we mentioned above, a tripod is ESSENTIAL an essential piece of video streaming equipment for shooting good quality video. You want the video image to be as stable as possible for the best compression.
So get a good quality tripod that allows you to pan smoothly. If you are serious about video streaming it is an essential investment.
Other Video Streaming Equipment
You need to transfer video from the camera to the computer, so you have to have to correct interface connection. This may be a Firewire or USB port, or, if you have an older analog video camcorder, a video capture card with analog inputs.
These three items - camera, tripod, and interface, are the only pieces of video streaming equipment (besides a computer) that are needed for shooting your own streaming video.
Other video streaming equipment such as lighting and microphones can enhance the quality of your video by giving it a professional finish, but you can make do with your video camera's built-in microphone and lighting.
BUT - there are some situations where the built-in equipment won't cut it. It can be difficult to get good sound when shooting outdoors where there's a lot of background noise, and if your video is interview style where two or more people are talking you could benefit by using a couple of external microphones.
Same thing with lighting. For the most part, digital camcorders are pretty good at capturing a good quality image under adverse lighting conditions, but for the best quality you should use an external light source or two. You can easily create some nice lighting effects by bouncing lights off walls or using lighting umbrellas to diffuse the light.
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