Apple QuickTime Streaming Server Darwin Streaming Server manual Set Up for a Live Webcast

Will it be necessary to set up a broadcaster user account on the streaming server?

In this example setup, it will be necessary to create a broadcaster user account, because the encoding software and QTSS are on separate computers. This allows a Session Description Protocol (SDP) file to be created on the server by the encoding software, which QuickTime Broadcaster does automatically if the Automatic Unicast (Announce) transport mode is selected. The SDP file provides information about the format, timing, and authorship of a live streaming broadcast. Once specified, the user name and password will be entered through QuickTime Broadcaster.

For instructions on creating a broadcaster user account, see “Using Automatic Unicast (Announce) With QTSS or DSS on a Separate Computer” on page 43. You’ll need to use the administrator computer previously set up to create this account.

Note: The broadcaster user name and password can be changed using the StreamingServerAdmin UI, which in this example can be accessed from the laptop browser.

Finally, will users require authentication to access live or archived presentations?

In our example setup, no authentication is necessary. However, if you want to restrict access to your streams, you’ll need to set up password-protected individual user or group accounts. For information on how to set up and manage such accounts, see the appropriate topics under Security in Chapter 2.

Step 4: Set Up for a Live Webcast

For the example setup, the following items are needed:

mgood-quality DV camera

mmicrophone placed near the speaker, either on a stand or clipped to the speaker’s clothing, connected by good-quality audio cable to the DV camera audio input

msturdy tripod on which to mount the camera

mportable lighting kit

The Camera Is the First Link

Since the camera is the first link in the video signal chain, it is very important. Two main things determine a DV camera’s picture quality:

mLens quality. The better the lens, the better the image.

mImage capture mechanism. DV cameras use charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to convert the picture into electronic signals. The number and size of the CCDs affect the quality of the image.

Optical zoom gives better quality than digital zoom, but zooming should be avoided or kept to a minimum when streaming a live presentation to avoid degrading the stream.

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