How to Become an iOS-Based Broadcaster

Multiple Destinations

Once you get connected, the next-most-demanded feature is the ability to send your stream to multiple destinations at the same time, so you click once and it goes everywhere. All of these apps are single-destination solutions. However, that single destination can be an online service like Restream, Switchboard, Live Leap, and others. Teradek offers its own “Core” and ShareLink services as well.

With these, you need to set up an online account and preregister with the specific destinations you choose. Then you dive into your iOS app and set up a manual RTMP that points to the streaming “broadcaster” that sends your video out to multiple CDNs. It sounds a bit complicated—and it certainly requires more setup than one destination inside the app itself—but once set up, it does what the apps themselves cannot.

Lightning Limitations

The Lighting connector is a one-device connector. There are no Lightning “hubs.” You can use the Lightning connector to plug in an external microphone. If you have a phone without a headphone jack, Lightning > analogue audio adapter provides audio in and headphones. The Lightning > HDMI adapter provides video out. Or use Apple’s Lightning > USB adapter for audio input from a USB audio mixer. Apple also has a USB > ethernet adapter to connect to a LAN.

But you have to choose. You can’t use Lightning for both headphone audio, and anything else. You can use the HDMI adapter and anything else. I connect the Lightning port to the USB adapter, and then I use a USB hub to connect to both my USB audio mixer and my USB Ethernet adapter. But HDMI? There’s no USB adapter that works with iOS.

The solution for that is to use AirPlay and have the iPad send the video out to an Apple TV that’s on the same network. It may end up being a little bit behind what’s in front of the camera, but if you have a situation where an audience needs to see what you are producing, or the people in front of the camera may be holding things up for the camera. It helps for them to see where to hold it, and where they are in the frame.

“But my Apple USB adapter includes a Lightning port!” I hear you cry.

Indeed it does, but that’s to power the USB adapter, not to daisychain devices.

Cases

If you’ve had your phone slip out of your hand once, it was one too many times. Phones and iPads are not designed for mounting onto a tripod, or for mounting accessories like wireless mic receivers, lights, or anything else. This is where external cases are needed. I have several iOgrapher cases, but you can also find PadCaster, Melamount, Beastgrip (Figure 10, below), and plenty of others, including cheap knockoffs.

Figure 10. The Beastgrip iPhone mount

I’m not talking about “holders” for the iPad. That’s something completely different. If you just need the iPad to sit at an angle on the table so you can use it to switch sources, you can get a holder for it. Those holders are not designed to hold production accessories or to mount on a tripod.

The Beastgrip cases are designed to be adjustable, so you don’t have to buy a new case with every phone redesign. You can adjust the various mounting points around to allow for headphone jacks, plug-in power, where the camera lens is, and more. You have to set it up for your phone, as opposed to open the box and drop it in, but it can offer more flexibility depending on your needs.

I purchased an iOgrapher for field use and had a second camera mounted in one of the cold shoes on top. I had a shotgun microphone mounted in the second cold shoe on top. I had a light mounted in the third cold shoe on top. The bottom had a tripod plate screwed in. The side handles are where I wrapped the long cable for my XLR audio adapter in to the iPad. The back of the iOgrapher is where I used Velcro to attach two wireless microphone receivers to face the talent.

Even with all this on there, I could easily remove it and hand-hold it as needed. That’s what these cases let you do. The other benefit to most of these cases is the ability to add lenses.

Lenses

The greatest limitation of iOS devices is the fixed lens. You can zoom in a little bit digitally using the apps, but it’s not the same as having a real optical zoom on a camcorder. After a small bit of zooming, the picture visibly degrades. You can get around that limitation by leveraging the screw threads on the case to add a wide angle, or a doubler, or some longer-focal-length lens. This can give you multiple focal lengths from one given position.

Another benefit to using lenses is you can then place the cameras where you want them—often further away from the subject than you could without the lens—and then use the lens to get back in closer to the subject. This is especially valuable at public events where you don’t want to have your expensive phone mounted on a stand out in the open where it can get knocked over or maybe even stolen.

There are some high-quality lenses out there made specifically for these iPhone cases. There are other lenses from manufacturers such as ExoLens (Figure 11, below) and Moment that use their own mounts. Sometimes you can adapt your way between them, sometimes not, because the tolerances for where the lens needs to be is very small.

Figure 11. The ExoLens kit for iDevices

You can also find adapters for 35mm still camera lenses from Beastgrip, Turnikit, and others. These adapters enable you to choose most any focal length for your shot. They have the added benefit of giving the image a shallower depth of field, to make it look as if you shot the video with a DSLR. It is a very different look than what the “everything in focus” phone camera normally delivers. This can really set your iPad-based production apart from the rest, if you’re looking for that.

Lenses are a critical part of developing a kit that will serve you well in a variety of situations. I already have 12 lenses just for my phones.

Conclusion

The professional, multi-camera, mobile broadcast revolution is here. The tools are readily available and plentiful, so you can pick and choose what serves your needs. But be aware that it’s not all plug-and-play, because we are leveraging consumer electronics to try to produce broadcast-quality shows and streams. There are challenges, trade-offs, and some things you just can’t do.

I recommend picking your end goal and working backward to select the tools that will supply what you need.