There are a variety of ways to stream your project online and numerous platforms. For our stream of All The Little Animals I Have Eaten by Karen Hines, we used a Pro Zoom account with the Webinar add-on feature, and streamed it to our existing Youtube channel. There are tons of tutorial videos and FAQs out there on such content. You might want to consider some of the following videos. We also suggest you reach out to the platform you wish to use to ask technical questions from their support staff. Most are happy to help troubleshoot things with you.
Videos to check out:
- The Media Guys’ “How To Live SChurchtream with Zoom”
- Ria The Realtor’s “How to Livestream Zoom Meeting Webinar to Youtube EASY! 2020”
- Epiphan’s “21 live streaming tips every content creator needs to hear”
- Prestosports’ “40 Live Streaming Tips To Make Your Broadcast Better”
- And for some giggles check out Davemaze on Titktok
We suggest you spend some time playing around with the various settings of both your zoom and final destination accounts, including allowing time for your Youtube or Facebook accounts to authorize access to Zoom. As well, your specific project needs might mean you need to troubleshoot your internet speed and connection, and those of your participants. You can check out your speed by visiting fast.com to see how your internet is performing. Make sure to test out internet speeds during the time you plan to have your stream happen and not just during your rehearsal hours (if they differ). Different times means different load demands on wifi networks.
Below are some things we did in terms of technical elements for our specific stream:
Whoever (the host) is broadcasting to youtube (or wherever) has some control over the audience view:
- If they choose the ‘gallery’ or the ‘speaker’ view, that’s what the audience sees
- If you only want the audience to view actors who have their video on, there is an option to *only show video participants*
- You may go back and forth between gallery view and speaker view
It is helpful to have a second person logged into the backend of Youtube to disable the comments and live chat once the live feed starts, as the host will be busy doing other things.
You should also familiarize yourself with how your youtube channel is running in terms of the back end diagnostics to make sure the internet and feed are stable and if there are any issues to be able to troubleshoot during a live feed. We strongly recommend you explore live feed settings and confirm recording presets so as to not violate any rules if you have CAEA performers.
- Share screen
- Advanced
- Music or Computer Sound Only
This feature will allow computer audio to be sent directly to the participants (and audience) without having to be picked up by a microphone.
NOTE: there is a lag and precision is VERY challenging, and it depends on the quality of the internet of both the sender of the sound, and those who are receiving it
Our SM used QLab…you may or may not need a license for this. They purchased a short-term license, but it may not have been necessary so that’s something for you to investigate. We were running sound files designed by our Sound Designer Richard Feren and associate sound designer Maddie Bautista.
- Settings – bottom right ‘cog’ symbol
- Audio
- Audio patches – change patches 1 and 2 to ‘zoom audio device’
Based on the experience of our amazing SM, Ken Stewart, who operated the sound and acted as the host for the event, it is necessary to have the Sound Sender person have the ZOOM app downloaded.
CONTRACTING ARTISTS
To do a livestream, reach out to Canadian Actors Equity Association (CAEA) and speak to a rep. When we did the livestream we were still paying our actors their CAEA contracts, so we don’t know how one-offs work, but likely just a workshop contract. ACTRA had made easements for these endeavours to take place without the usual red tape and expense, but that may have shifted since we did it. You may be directed to ACTRA. You’ll need to reach out to ADC if you’re using any design elements (ie a sound design) from any affiliated designers. Make sure to credit all of your people in as many ways as you are able.