2015年10月1日
By 1月时特约编辑
专题文章

Ustream评论:直播服务向新领域发展

Utream.tv 最初是一家简单的直播服务提供商, 与Livestream竞争, 已故的贾斯汀.TV, Bambuser，以及最终的YouTube Live. 从那时起, the company has evolved into a fullservice online video platform for both live and VOD content, 该公司称之为Ustream Pro广播. The company has also introduced two vertical products; Align, 为企业和团队提供更安全的平台, 和需求, 领先一代的产品.

The best way to consider the products is like this: Pro Broadcasting includes the platform for broadcasting live events, 视频点播内容的上传和编码, 创建播放器和频道页面, 管理和嵌入视频. Align提供了大部分相同的功能, 增加了安全性、身份验证选项和分析. 需求螺栓到专业广播产品, adding the ability to force users to register before viewing your videos.

我将首先描述专业广播，然后是对齐，然后是需求.

Ustream Pro广播

Ustream offers an adsupported free trial, and advertisingfree plans that start at $99/ month. 计划规格可在Ustream网站上获得.

我使用Demand计划进行了测试，该计划包括五个渠道. 我用了两个:流媒体学习中心频道, 和散弦音乐会频道, which I set up to stream a concert for the Galax country music group on July 10, 2015. 这显示在图1.

Ustream回顾1

图1. Ustream上的松弦音乐会频道

和所有直播服务提供商一样, 你可以在多个地方观看Ustream视频, 包括频道页面, 或Ustream网站上的频道页面, 或在任何网站上通过嵌入代码. 在Ustream频道页面, there is Ustream branding above the player; in the embedded videos, 没有. +, I was able to customize the player with the Loose Strings picture on the top left and the logo on the lower right of the video window.

Additional customization options include the ability to choose a background color or image, 我做过实验, 但最终没有使用. You can also control whether a 社会流 of messages from Ustream chat, 推特, Facebook也可以在播放器中使用. 进行更广泛的定制, you can use Ustream’s IFrames feature to customize the size and appearance of the player within the channel page, 我没有测试过吗.

Ustream offers three configurations for your embedded videos: just the video, 只是社交流, 或者更大的配置与玩家, 社会流, 视频画廊. This flexibility is useful; most other services limit embedding to player only, forcing viewers to visit the channel page to access additional videos or leave a comment. Ustream还支持嵌入Facebook, 包括商标，但没有Ustream品牌, 你能看到哪个图2.

Ustream Review 2

图2. 嵌入YouTube的播放器

在创建通道之后, 我在Ustream系统里安排了演唱会, so notice of the event appeared in the video window of both the channel and all embedded pages. 我还启用了电子邮件捕获功能, so those who planned to attend could sign up for a notice by filling in their name and email address.

在图1的底部, 你会看到两个cd的链接, 我使用Ustream的扩展功能创建的. 在这里，你可以包括亚马逊和iTunes上的产品链接, 将广播连接到你的Facebook页面, 通过PayPal募捐, and create custom links to other websites selling products and services. 扩展是一个非常简单的方式来帮助你的事件赚钱.

Speaking of monetization, Ustream formerly had a payperview option which was shut down on Oct. 1, 2014. You’re free to disable the channel page and direct all viewers to watch via your own webpage and paywall. Or, you can use payperview provider Cleeng, 我没有测试过吗.

内容管理

在频道页面中创建即时兴趣, I uploaded eight concert videos of the group into the channel’s video manager, Ustream的内容管理系统是什么. 我上传的视频如图1右侧所示, 你可以选择, recordings of all your live streams will be added to this gallery. 视频管理器(图3) uses a file manager-like interface that’s easily sortable by columns. There’s a flexible search function that lets you easily find and select groups of videos, 或者管理职能, 例如复制到另一个通道, 或者删除视频.

Ustream评测3

图3. Ustream的扩展视频管理器

上传后(或录制并插入图库), you can create multiple highlights from the video by specifying multiple input and output points, 所以你可以把一场音乐会分成几首单独的歌曲, 或者把一节课分成单独的部分. 在视频管理器中, 你也可以修剪任何视频, 上传到YouTube, 获取嵌入代码, 更改元数据, 然后删除视频.

在一个有多个通道的帐户中, 来自所有频道的所有视频都存储在主视频管理器中, 这使得在不同频道之间共享视频变得更加容易. This is particularly useful within the context of Ustream’s enterprise product, where different channels within an organization will likely need to share videos.

The one major deficit is a limited playlist function that lets you group multiple videos into a single presentation. 在公共场所, this is great for stickiness; the hope is that viewers will click from one video to the next. 在企业中, it’s a convenient way to group several training videos into a single presentation; for instance, 入职时必须观看的五个视频.

使用Ustream，你有两个播放列表选项. 第一个, you can create playlists of videos to stream on a scheduled basis from your channel when you’re not live. Or, 您可以创建一个播放列表每个频道, 其中包含该频道中所有非私人视频, 也就是您在图1中看到的右边部分. 这在某些情况下是可行的, 但是由于渠道是有限的百家乐软件, a more flexible playlist option enabling multiple playlists per channel would be a nice addition.

除了在Ustream上禁用你的频道页面, you can restrict the embedding of your videos to specifically identified domains. 当你不直播的时候, you can control the experience of visitors to your site or embedded page, 要么是自动播放上次录制的视频, 上述选定视频的播放列表, 或者图像幻灯片. Ustream allows fans to follow your page, and you can see the identity of all of your followers. 你的玩家可以包含Facebook和推特的链接, 您可以为这两个服务指定默认消息.

Ustream广播

One of Ustream’s strengths is that it’s an accessible, open service. You can quickly and simply go live via a Flashbased capture screen, 虽然Flash播放器不能提供最佳的质量. You can use most commercial hardware and software tools to broadcast to Ustream, and I did much of my testing and broadcast the concert with the Teradek VidiU Mini connecting to Ustream through the 4G capabilities on my iPhone.

Ustream offers a custom version of Telestream Wirecast that you can download for free for 30 days, and the trial version includes features such as playlists and a 推特 feed, 你可以在书中读到我的Wirecast评论. 然而, 试用版不包括高清或多摄像头广播, 或者把本地录音放到你的硬盘上. 之后, 制作人工作室售价279美元, 支持高清, 多个摄像头, 本地录音, 而生产商 Pro的售价为549美元，并增加了即时回放功能, 记分板功能, 音频混音.

Ustream’s default schema for live streaming is inthecloud transcoding, 发布者在哪里发送单个流, and Ustream automatically transrates the stream into multiple streams for adaptive delivery. Note that you can’t configure the separate streams within the Ustream system, 尽管大多数用户并不想这么做. 有一些账户级别, 您可以对自己的自适应流进行编码, but you’ll need an onsite (or other cloud) encoder plus much more outbound bandwidth than Ustream’s default schema requires.

下一个页面