Tips & Tutorials

71% of executives describe distributing video without harming the corporate network as a top priority purchase decisions in streaming technology.

Video, especially live video where large simultaneous audiences can occur, is a very bandwidth intensive process. Without a proper delivery strategy in place, it can easily compromise the network, halting other activities that might require network bandwidth. So what does a proper strategy look like? Well it often includes an ECDN (Enterprise Content Delivery Network) solution.

This article tackles this topic of ECDN provider features and how to find the best solution for you. It will arm you with a better understanding of features that are out there to help you start to build a checklist of what’s important based on your needs and scope out your optimal setup. This includes considerations like ease of use and monitoring capabilities alongside the different types of available solutions, including efficient delivery over unicast networks and multicast options.

For those looking for even more information on this topic, including comparing unicast, multicast and P2P options along with firewall considerations, download our Internal Video Delivery Without Bottlenecks eBook.

• Why do you need an ECDN provider?
• Is unicast or multicast preferred?
• Multi-tiered distribution
• Network monitoring
• ECDN use cases
• The optimal ECDN solution for you
• Building your feature checklist

Whether content owner or service provider, the amount of time it takes to make content available in the required formats has consistently and significantly decreased. Today’s status quo is 24 hours or less for non-live broadcast offerings; however in many cases customers need it in less than six hours . This means that a finished “program” is transmitted via file-based terrestrial IP from a post house in Los Angeles to New York where it is then transcoded, packaged, and distributed. It’s not unusual for there to be 300 aggregation points (e.g. post houses and facilities from around the world), packaged into 150 different format permutations, and distributed to at least 100 worldwide partners.

This article talks about how to intelligently manage and distribute content to virtually any platform or screen—multiplied by the power of Watson. It includes an example around the logistics of VOD and OTT distribution and how it can function as part of a larger workflow as well. For more strategies and information around managing large libraries of content, also download this Video Metadata: Management and Tools white paper.

Looking to monetize your video assets or live streams? Interested in pay-per-view (PPV)? Pay-per-view video and paywalls solutions offer content owners a method to create a revenue stream from live broadcasts or on-demand video libraries. This enables organizations to sell their content to viewers, having them pay to access content.

This article describes this process, talks about adding a paywall to your content, strategies and use cases for pay-per-view.

Want additional strategies on video monetization and also methods to reduce churn, increasing predictable revenue from your content? Also be sure to register for our How to Monetize Videos & Reduce Subscriber Churn webinar.

• What is a paywall?
• Adding a paywall to your video content
• Pay-per-view video versus video advertising
• Marketing your monetized live content
• Pay-per-view video use cases

Need a guide for creating lower thirds for live video?

This article walks through, briefly, what are lowers thirds before discussing what makes a good lower third and use cases. It finishes off with instructions on adding a lower third to a live stream with instructions for several popular encoders.

Looking for some additional advice as part of your live streaming strategy? Download these 5 Pro Tips for Live Video Production.

• What are lower thirds?
• What makes for a good lower third?
• Use cases for lower thirds
• Adding lower thirds to your live video
• Creating lower thirds in Wirecast
• Creating lower thirds in vMix
• Creating lower thirds in OBS

Looking for some best practices around using internal communication tools?

This article walks through some tips and advice for crafting an internal communication strategy. Topics covered range from collaboration tools to a strong focus on internal video solutions as well. It also emphasizes the importance of the ability to have communication that can be not only archived, but also in a search friendly manner as well to improve ROI (return on investment).

For those looking for strategies specific to video, download this Using Video for Internal Corporate Communications, Training & Compliance white paper.

• Define internal communication tools
• Cloud based collaboration tools
• Archive internal meetings
• Transcribing video assets
• Searchable video communication
• Give employees a voice
• Approval process for internal assets

Looking for video marketing software with lead generation capabilities?

This article talks about how important video marketing can be for a variety of use cases. It then dives into important features for these use cases from video marketing software as a service (SAAS) solutions in the cloud. These features range from integrated CTAs, to lead generation and prospect tracking as well.

For more advice on video marketing use cases, also be sure to download our How to Increase Conversions with Online Video white paper. For brand and retail marketing use cases, watch this Live Video Inspiration Webcast with Brandlive, a live video platform solution for marketing.

• Power your sales funnel with video
• CTAs for lead generation or conversion
• Gating and generating leads directly
• Qualifying leads
• Analysis and rewarding success
• Reach virtually all audiences

Looking for some video SEO tips?

This article outlines strategies to make your video content and their accompanying pages rank better in search engines. It outlines tips and advice to help you get the organic traffic on your content that you’ve been looking for. If part of your goal in creating videos is to drive conversions, also be sure to download our How to Increase Conversions with Online Video white paper.

• SEO, dwell time and videos
• Create an engaging thumbnail
• Employ SEO best practices on the embedded page
• Stay relevant
• Add closed captions to your video
• Insert transcript copy on the page
• Make the video the star of the page
• Don’t overload a page with embedded videos
• Restrict the embed code
• Make compelling video content

Looking for video distribution strategies?

This guide walks through various strategies for a successful video distribution plan, garnering you valuable traffic to your content. It includes examining multiple use cases, from monetized assets to video marketing collateral, and the different strategies involved with each.

If you are planning to use your video assets for marketing purposes, also be sure to download our How to Increase Conversions with Online Video white paper that has specific tips for driving conversions.

• Select your goals before your distribution methods
• Video used for promotion: multiple services
• Video used for monetization: multiple locations
• Video used for site traffic: restricted embed
• Optimize your video content for search
• Make video content easy to share
• Build an audience with paid media
• Support mobile devices
• Feature adaptive bitrate streaming
• Have a reliable distribution method

Wondering what is video encoding and why it’s important?

In this article, we’ll examine the process of encoding, codecs and compression techniques. This includes what makes for a recommended codec, although is situation dependent. It also covers why certain artifacts, related to compression, might appear in your video. As a result, you’ll walk away with a better understanding of this process and how it relates to adaptive bitrate streaming.

• What is video encoding?
• Why is encoding important?
• What are codecs?
• What’s the best video codec?
• What’s the best audio codec?
• So what are the recommended codecs?
• Compression techniques
• Image resizing
• Interframe and video frames
• Chroma subsampling
• Altering frame rates

Need some advice on choosing a live streaming camera that is best for you? One of the first steps toward doing a broadcast is selecting a video source, often times a video camera.

There are a lot of camera options out there, and different ways to connect them to your encoder as well. Not only that but prices can range pretty dramatically, with some being around $80 while others can get into the thousands. Plus, some might be confused about capture cards, like why or when do they need them as part of their overall workflow.

This article, and accompanying video, aim to demystify this a bit. Aiding you in learning a few tricks of the trade so that you can better navigate choosing a camera for your next live streaming project. Also, be sure to check out our Video Studio Recommendations guide as well to help you create your video studio with your live streaming camera.

• Video: fundamentals of live streaming cameras
• USB cameras
• Analog cameras
• HDMI cameras
• SDI cameras
• DSLR cameras
• Optical versus digital zoom