Live streaming can be challenging with so many moving parts and, well, the fact that it’s live! That’s why we are always looking for anything that allows us to simplify the process and eliminate chances for errors. Brightcove Live module allows you to reuse existing settings across all broadcasts within a single event. This feature makes setting up your live events faster and easier!
First of all, if you’ve done any live streaming and you haven’t tried the Live module out, you really need to do so. It makes live streaming so much easier, way less nerve wracking, and downright enjoyable as described here. If you’re already a Brightcove customer your account should have a few test hours available for you to play with so read on and make the most of your test time.
This tip will be especially valuable if you are hosting live events with multiple sessions such as keynotes and breakout sessions at a conference, or a repeating an event like an internal weekly address from your headquarters to your employees at multiple locations. There’s no need to to set up your event and all of its settings from scratch each time — you can set them up once in your event and each subsequent broadcast will use the same settings.
When you set up your event in the Live module, like all good productions, you invest significant time up front in pre-production. Live streaming set up is no different: you make sure your metadata is entered correctly, you choose a customized player to match your brand, you ensure your encoding settings are just right for your audience, and finally you enter your Stream URL and Name into your encoding software or hardware to start your stream.
Here’s the great part. Once you’ve completed your initial stream, you simply click “New Broadcast” from within your live event, and the new broadcast will inherit all of your settings from the previous broadcast. You can simply update the title and description if needed and start streaming again. The new broadcast will use the same player, same embed code, and same encoding settings as your previous event. The only thing you have to update is your stream URL and Name in your encoding software or hardware and you’re good to go. You can repeat this as many times as you like to create an entire series of live events.
Last but not least, all of these broadcasts can be saved to your Video Cloud account as on-demand video. The on-demand videos will retain all of the metadata you entered for your live stream, so no need to recreate just because the files are no longer streaming live.
So next time you have a multi-session live event or something that repeats on a regular basis, don’t waste your time setting up a new event. Simply create a New Broadcast within your existing event. Live streaming couldn’t be any easier!