Now that you have your hardware, software, audio, and camera, it’s time to begin your production. There are plenty of tools and features to get your feet wet and if you ever feel like you have surpassed the capacity of Studio, you can always upgrade to Wirecast Pro. Telestream makes a great product called Wirecast. It is a video switcher in software form. Unlike a traditional switcher with a massive learning curve, Wirecast is simple to get up and running. If you can run PowerPoint, you can run Wirecast. For beginners, Wirecast Studio is a great place to start. It’s really simple to use, and there are free NDI scan converters that can be downloaded from many sources. For a beginner setup, look through the free apps before moving to paid because most of the free apps are more than proficient. Even as a beginner the need to bring in pictures, websites, PowerPoint presentations is necessary. NDI has become a real hot topic in the industry. NDI allows broadcasters to bring in sources from all over the network, to enrich their production. If your budget is tight, there are a lot of options for a USB microphone that range from $30-$300. In order to achieve the best sound, especially if you’re not in a soundproof room, look into getting a dynamic microphone. A dynamic microphone is a direct addressing microphone which means you have to speak directly into it for audio to be clear. It can be used for meetings for work, but for a high-quality broadcast, it’s not ideal.

Most computers that are notebooks come with built-in microphones, but the audio quality is usually not good enough to use for a broadcast. It’s not until you get into a more intermediate/advanced setup, that you would need to branch off to get some external lighting.

Today’s web cameras have “auto gain” controls that will brighten your picture or they have “backlight” functions to boost the lighting. If you’re using a notebook, you can use the built-in camera to save a few dollars, or if you’re on a desktop, you’ll need to purchase an external USB webcam.įor a beginner setup, lighting is as important as a clear camera. If you’re just starting up, you likely don’t have a designated studio, but that’s OK. No need to spend a lot of money on lighting, just make sure you’re in a well-lit room. A desktop or notebook computer will work just fine for your beginner setup. You’ll want to have an i5 processor with 4-8 GB of ram, and enough hard drive space for your programs and recordings – today’s computers usually come with at least 1TB of space which should be sufficient. Let’s talk about the hardware you may need. The beginner setup is all about getting up and running as quickly as possible and not breaking the bank to do so. The first question you need to ask yourself is will you have a small team, or will you be doing this yourself? For a beginner setup, we recommend making it a solo production or have one other person to help facilitate. Where to begin? In this section we are going to go over beginner, intermediate, and advanced live streaming toolkits, what to expect and how to set yourself up for success! Let’s get started!

Congratulations on taking the first step to streaming your live stream.

Using wirecast studio with mac pro