Vancouver Rangers Midget Practice

After Action Report

9/8/2017

ACTION: Vancouver Rangers Practice
LOCATION: Mt View Ice Arena, Vancouver, WA
TIME: 7:30pm

Hardware

Canon Vixia HF M41 (camcorder), Seesi HDV-UH60 HDMI to USB3.0, InnerTeck Tripod (70in), Toshiba SATELLITE P55W-B5318, Huawei Nexus 6P (hotspot), Anker PowerCore+ 20100mAh External Battery, AC Portable Charger RAVPower 27000mAh 100W(Max.)

Software

OBS Studio 19.0.2 (64bit, Windows), Chrome Version 58.0.3029.110 (64bit)

Broadcast Details

Basic Ingestion - 500-2000Kbps (480p), Enable 60fps NOT checked.

Primary Server URL - rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2

Network - TMobile hotspot
Data Usage - 219MB

Made sure to setup the USB Video Capture Device (camcorder) to 1280x720p resolution. Then set Output stream to 852x480. This matched the Youtube page's Ingest setting. Had some difficulty with sound until I realized that OBS was set to stream the laptops default mics, in addition to the camcorders mics. The laptop mics were peaking terribly. Once I muted the onboard mics, the sound became clear over YouTube.

Setup the broadcast as an event. Learned that you can stop the stream in OBS, change a setting, then start the stream in OBS all while the event is live. The video stalls out on YouTube of course, but when the stream starts again in OBS it picks up again. I had previously thought that if you did that it would kill the Event. This is good. It means I'll be able to set up each game as an 'event' Should make it easier to distribute the links. I can get them in advance and send them out over Teamsnap.

The new tripod is working, but it is stiff when panning up and down. Side to side is smooth. Strange thing; I can't find a way to lock the head so it doesn't pan horizontally. Still a work in progress. The new AC charger worked well. I used it to power the camcorder. I plan on using it to power the computer during games. I used the Anker PowerCore to power the phone. Both worked great. 

New Hardware, New Process

Warning! This post doesn't involve Hockey or Hockey things. This post is all about game broadcasting. In this case, live streaming on the PDX Hockey Dad YouTube channel. I always try to use a systematic approach to improving the quality, efficiency, and entertainment value of the game broadcasts that I put out. I'm going to formalize that going forward by writing post game reports. I'm going to include Hardware, Software, Settings, problems, etc. So, without further ado, the first After Action Report.

After Action Report

5/28/2017

ACTION: BOLO West Linn 7/8 vs Hillsboro 7/8

LOCATION: Lakeridge HS Turf 2

TIME: 9:15 am

Hardware: Canon Vixia HF M41 (camcorder), Seesi HDV-UH60 HDMI to USB3.0, Quantaray QSX9500 tripod, Toshiba SATELLITE P55W-B5318, Huawei Nexus 6P(hotspot), Anker PowerCore+ 20100mAh External Battery, Folding Barstool (computer table)

Software: OBS Studio 19.0.2 (64bit, Windows), Chrome Version 58.0.3029.110 (64-bit)

Broadcast Details:

Basic Ingestion - 500-2000Kbps(480p), Enable 60fps NOT checked.

Primary Server URL - rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2

Network - TMobile hotspot

Data Used - ~700mb

The video appears choppy. It could be because when you are streaming as a 'Live Event' you need to choose the quality of your stream. 1280x720 (which is what was set in OBS) resolution (720p) requires a bitrate of 1500-4000. The resolution should have been set to 854x480 in OBS Settings/Video/Output(Scaled) Resolution. That might solve the problem. NOTE Apparently this is only necessary for 'Live Event' streaming. From the YouTube Help page "If you're using Stream now, you do not need to set a bitrate. Stream now will automatically detect your encoder settings."

At halftime of the game, I clicked the Stop Streaming button in the Live Control Room page of the broadcast. This stopped the stream AND stopped the event. I wasn't expecting that. I looked for a way to re-open the event and couldn't see anything right off. Since this was a 'proof of concept' outing and not anything I was interested in preserving, I ended up packing up and going home.

I arranged for YouTube to share on Twitter when the event started, but I am not entirely thrilled with how that turned out. A Tweet was sent, but it was pretty generic. It did have the link and the video description that I entered into YouTube.

I had the score bug up but didn't feel confident enough in using it to give it a whirl. my screen real estate is eaten up by OBS and the YouTube window.

Further preparation will be necessary for the score bug to be used. Still do-able, but need to go through some dry runs.

UPDATE

After some playing around, I determined that what was happening with the 'stutter' was that I had the resolution of the input device set at default. The default was 1920x1080. That is what is coming out of the camcorder, but my capture device was having a hard time keeping up with that. I changed that to 1280x720 and the picture is now much smoother. So the steps in OBS... Add Video Capture Device, Select USB3.0 Capture Video, Change Resolution/FPS Type to Custom, Change Resolution to 1280x720. 

You need to adjust the video in OBS studio to match the new input setting. Go into Settings, Video, and change the Base Canvas resolution to 1280x720.