The Connected Camcorder: Pros and Cons of In-Camera Wireless Capabilities for Live Delivery

Integrated Streaming

Building some standard streaming protocols and capabilities into the camcorder itself can simplify the producer’s workflow and its technical requirements when it comes to streaming a camera’s feed. It’s intended to be as “plug and play” as possible, but certain hurdles remain.

For instance, streaming still requires rather long and complex URLs for the RTMP server and stream key. On the Bell Helicopter shoot, I was assisted by the fact that I could access the camcorder’s streaming settings  through WiFi access to the camcorder's menu system. This way, I needed only to copy and paste them into the camcorder’s streaming setup. Doing so reduced the likelihood of making a typo.

I was able to push the camcorder’s stream to UStream to do a few tests but I was really interested to see if it could interface with the platform I was already using for corporate webcasts. For this project, I partnered with ON24 to provide a white-label streaming service. I have the company logo on the webcast and can customize the portal for the client with its logo. I can adjust the sizes of the video and slides on the screen, and allow either to be adjusted in size or made full screen by the viewer.

I copied the destination URL and Stream Key from the website to the camera and set the camera to RTMP. It also offers ZIXI, RTSP, MPEG2-UDP, and MPEG2-TCP. The LS300 lets me set up and save four streaming servers, but ON24 creates new keys for each webcast so I still need to get in and update the server info for each and every webcast. Being able to copy that info from the ON24 back end, and paste it into the right place on the camcorder via a connected tablet or computer helps.

The camcorder pushed video to the webcast I had set up without issue. The slides could be advanced with a tablet connected to the web.

For internal recording, the LS300 can record two copies of the captured video onto two cards using the same or different settings (say, one FullHD and one smaller widescreen SD version), and you can plug house audio into the XLR jacks and ride the gain using the onscreen meters as your guide.

For simple, single-camera webcasts, the LS300’s internal streaming capabilities eliminate a table full of gear while providing the same service for the viewers and the client. Maybe I’d still use an audio mixer to provide preshow music on both channels. While not absolutely required, a mixer adds a level of polish to the final product, and it’s the smallest and lightest piece of gear on the production table.

Bandwidth, Bandwidth, Bandwidth

I also did some streaming tests with the LS300 in my home office, which led me to a very common gotcha: bandwidth. My office has only 3Mbps upload. And despite what I pay for, sometimes I’m unable to achieve even those speeds. With the LS300, I was able to push and watch a 0.8Mbps SD feed on Ustream and ON24 without issue. But when I tried a 1.5Mbps HD feed, I could never see my camera on Ustream. It simply didn’t work.

I resorted to using my cellphone as a hotspot. I’ve achieved speeds as high as 24Mbps down and 10Mbps up over LTE, so it seemed like a reasonable expectation that it'd provide better service than the in-office Wi-Fi and my cable modem. By using my cell phone for the uplink and in-office Wi-Fi for the downlink I had the best reliability in terms of pushing and viewing a stable stream for my tests.

This is why you see people using USB cellular LTE sticks for streaming. It’s convenient and pretty reliable, and once you have it set up, it’s truly plug-and-play. Moreover, the ability to bond multiple sticks to provide service on multiple carriers simultaneously helps to alleviate spontaneous congestion on any one network. The bonding hardware has the ability to distribute the packets, assess throughput, and provide some redundancy to the stream.

Granted, that’s not as good as a true, honest, fast wired connection. But it works in a pinch, and in remote locations, it’s sometimes the only option. Which leads me to one last note: don't forget about USB-Ethernet adapters. If your setup is in an area with hundreds of people, all the wireless congestion might end up making a wireless connection more problematic for you.

Nits to Pick

In producing the video with the streaming feed of the JVC LS300, I realized that, however much it simplifies the process, using the internal streaming features to push a live stream to the web still requires a certain technical facility. Specifically, it requires the ability to understand and troubleshoot local networks if you are going to be using them. For instance, when I tried to connect the JVC to the access points in my office—conveniently named “This One” and “That One”—it turned out that it showed only the first name and stopped at the space. So the connection kept getting stuck.

When I manually entered the SSID (the access point’s name) into the camcorder (Figure 5, below), then it was able to connect and get assigned an IP address just fine. I was then also able to access the camcorder from my tablet. I first tried using Safari on a Mac. But that didn’t work. It never fully connected to the camcorder.

Figure 5. Entering the access point

However, my Windows 8 tablet was able to get access to the JVC without issue. This is the tablet you see in the video below. It was providing camcorder control, and watching the streaming feed.

I am able to control numerous parameters of the JVC via Wi-Fi; however, I was disappointed that the menu, focus peaking, and expanded view, as well as other features, show up only on the camcorder’s LCD screen, and not the “camera view” on my tablet. As useful as it is to have access to the camcorder’s controls—say, if the camera were high up on a jib arm or something, it’s just as important to have the actual camera monitor view, including menu, zebra, focus peaking, expanded view, audio meters, and so forth, visible on the camcorder’s Wi-Fi control.

Conclusion

Being in the business of providing streaming services, and coming from a multicamera live broadcast background, I’m more comfortable with having the additional hardware to be able to handle the contingencies that always pop up on a live shoot. Five minutes before show, the clients or presenters come over and talk about playing back a video clip in the middle of the show. Or they need to have one of the speakers present over the phone. Having a table full of dedicated hardware to handle each required task makes handling those last-minute developments possible—and that makes a happy client.

However, with clear communication as to what’s going to happen, how it’s going to happen, and what is possible (and when the cutoff for contingencies closes), you can successfully replace some of that gear with a “connected camcorder” that streams at certain levels of service. Streaming a switched feed from two or three cameras still requires a table of gear. But you can now deliver a single-camera stream with a few pieces of gear you can carry in a backpack, and using a camera with built-in wireless capability makes that backpack’s load even lighter.