The Courts Garden Wiltshire, July 3rd
Walking along the Kennet and Avon Canal, Wiltshire
Broadcasting my walking tours
When I am out and about visiting my local area and places further afield, I enjoy filming my adventures and telling my stories.
Being able to go live whilst walking allows a global audience to travel with you. We can give viewers an insider’s view of the places we are visiting; the key is that our viewers do not know what will happen next whilst we know what we will see.
We are creating stories and involving viewers in them. We can now broadcast and link to Switchboard.Live Autostart to gain a wider audience.
Using Switchboard Autostart with Mobile
I broadcast from my mobile phone and use Switchboard.Live to relay the signal to multiple destinations. I always had to start broadcasting and set up Switchboard.Live before I commenced my travels. This restriction meant all broadcast had to start from home.
With Autostart, I can start streaming wherever I am; there is no need to visit the Switchboard site. I started streaming the signal to Switchboard, which relays the signal to Facebook, Youtube. Twitter, Twitch and my websites.
When I stopped broadcasting, Switchboard automatically switched off all the feeds.
Camera Software
The software I use on my Android mobile is Astra Streaming Studio
“Astra Streaming Studio allows streaming video live content from your mobile device, can be used for video streams, as an IP camera or video recorder.”
Astra outputs the camera feed to RTMP, which means that the signal goes direct to Switchboard Live. Switchboard then relays your signal to the destinations we have chosen.
If you are on iPhone, then Larix Broadcaster has the same functionality as Astra.
Setting up to broadcast to Switchboard is achieved by entering the streaming URL and stream key supplied by SWitchboard into your camera software.
When you go live on your mobile phone, you go live to the world.
The Autostart feature on Switchboard makes mobile multicasting so easy
My broadcasts using Astra and SWitchboard.Live
How to keep your camera signal steady whilst filming?
You can go live just holding your mobile phone in your hand as you walk; unfortunately, this does not result in a watchable video.
The answer is to mount your mobile phone on a gimbal. Gimbals stabilise your camera and provide a steady stream. Using a gimbal, you have the freedom to film handheld, knowing you’ll end up with stable, blur-free footage.
I use the Hohem iSteady Mobile+ gimbal, which steadies the camera and gives a more watchable picture.
Summary
Broadcasting live to multiple destinations is only possible because of the Switchboard Autostart feature.
I have discovered that Twitter is an excellent site to go live on; the viewing numbers and engagement are good, as is the reach,
The more places you go live to, the more people will see your story.
Visiting Stonehenge
Links
Astra Streaming Studio https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=miv.astudio&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Larix Broadcaster https://apps.apple.com/app/larix-broadcaster/id1042474385
Hohem iSteady Mobile+ https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07P6LPV59/
Switchboard.Live https://switchboard.live/
