User`s guide

Making Great Presentations
Broadcast Settings
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Wirecast User Guide | 104730
presentation. Though there are many broadcast parameters to modify, there are three
that are the most important: bandwidth, motion, and encoder settings.
Bandwidth
The first item of importance is knowing how much bandwidth is available. Bandwidth is
how much data you can broadcast from your computer. This depends on the speed of
your network connection and the type of connection your viewers are using. More
specifically, it is the minimum speed between you and all of your viewers. For example,
if you have one viewer who is using a dial-up modem, for that viewer to see good
quality you must broadcast at Modem speed.
Thus, you must know who your viewers are and what kind of connection they have.
This may be difficult to know because you must determine if their connection is cable
modem or DSL and whether or not they reside on your local network.
In some situations, you are broadcasting for just your local network (in an office
building, for example). In this case you should discuss your plans with your network
administrator and verify that you will not disrupt the network with your broadcasts. Ask
them what your upper limit bandwidth should be. Your available bandwidth is the
minimum of what you can upload, combined with what your viewers can download.
Motion
Once you know your bandwidth, you need to decide whether or not your video
contains a lot of motion. Motion is how much things move around in your video
presentations. An interview is considered low motion. A sports even, however, would
probably be high motion. Wirecast comes configured with defaults to help ease your
configuration task. Choose a default configuration that meets your motion (and
bandwidth) constraints.
If your viewers have older versions of QuickTime (version 5 for example), you may want
to use a different Encoder than the default. Using the Sorenson 3 Codec for version 5 of
QuickTime may be the most effective solution.
Encoder Settings
The parameters of the encoders are quite technical and can be overwhelming. It is
beyond the scope of this document to describe the delicate balance required in setting
them. There are professionals who fine-tune encoders to do exactly what is required.
The Wirecast default settings are generally optimal for the various network
environments. (See Setting Encoder Presets for information on changing the encoder
settings.)