How to create better streaming videos

It is a common misconception that any video can be streamed after it has been created. But this short guide will help you to avoid some of the pitfalls you could encounter when trying to take your video from camera to web.

To begin, you should have a basic understanding of how video streaming works and a firm grasp of how streaming your videos will always entail some compromise.

Raw videos require a huge amount of bandwidth to transfer. If you look closely at a television screen, you will see there are millions of pixels moving at a great rate of speed which allow the picture to render seamlessly.

But if you were to transmit this same video over the internet, each of these pixels would represent one byte of data; therefore, the file would be far too large for your computer to render efficiently.

In order to ready a raw video for internet transmission, it will need to be compressed using codecs.

Video Codecs – short for compressor/decompressor – are mathematical formulas which are used for handling your video data. They compress your data to make the file sizes smaller on the creation end, and decompress the data on the user end for display. So, the goal is to compress your raw video to work as quickly as possible without creating a file that is so compressed that it’s unusable.

The first casualty of compression is always quality. The smaller you shrink a file in bytes, the smaller it will display. Another aspect, which can be reduced through compression, is the number of frames per second, which not only degrades video and audio quality but can make files jerky or less clear as well as eliminate fine details.

It may be easier to imagine if you remember that each frame contains a picture. Moving objects will change from frame to frame; therefore removing a few frames will make a difference to the overall smoothness of the video.

But streaming videos are popular not because of their stunning quality. They are popular for their on-demand access. So, defining the important aspects of your video is crucial when determining the compromises you are willing to make in the final video stream.

How codecs work

Compression software works by looking at the differences between each frame of a raw video feed. If two frames are identical, it will simply display one frame for a few seconds which will reduce your file size by eliminating redundancy.

And most codecs lose data through details, meaning sharp images will become more blurry with soft edges. With this in mind, we can move on to creating your video for streaming.

Use a tripod

Since codecs naturally soften the edges of a video feed and create blurriness, it is important to ensure your recordings are as sharp as possible. Tripods eliminate hand shake which results in blurry images and also translate to changes between frames and therefore larger file sizes. Though your video compressor will do its best to reduce the size of your file, a shaky video will give it less room to compress.

Avoid Panning

Panning, or turning with the video camera running, will greatly increase your raw video file size. So too will zooming in and out. It is better to stop recording before a close-up and only pan when the visual effect is critical to your overall video composition and you are willing to have a larger files size as a compromise.

Keep your backgrounds simple

Keeping your background simple will greatly improve your streaming video because your compression software can ignore the background and concentrate on your subject. The obvious choice would be a blank wall but this isn’t always possible. So, try to keep your backgrounds uncluttered and absent of things such as trees or busy patterns. This will make compression much far easier.

Portrait mode

Most camcorders come with ‘portrait mode’ which takes advantage of the camera’s depth-of-field. Translated, this means the camcorder will only focus on your primary subject and obscure most of the surroundings. The result is a sharper subject image and less background detail which is ideal for your video compression.

Get close to your subject

An obvious way to eliminate unwanted backgrounds is to do close-ups. An additional benefit of doing close-ups is that compressed streaming videos are usually much smaller than raw videos, making subjects harder to see. By filming close-up, you will make your subject not only easier to view but also sharper than they would otherwise be.

The rule of thumb for how close to be is to step in to the point where it feels too close, and then take one more step in. The result will be more visual impact with a smaller file size.

Use external microphones

Using a camcorder’s built in microphone will also increase raw and compressed file sizes. The reason is background noise. The microphone will not only pick up the voice of your subject, but also your movements and anything else in your surroundings. Codecs look for differences, therefore creating clean audio will enable your compression software to focus on your subject and produce better sound quality.