A successful online event is financially profitable for the creators and provides a top-tier entertainment experience for the viewers. You already know how to put on a great in-person event, but online live events have unique requirements for success. This guide gives a quick overview of the things you need to produce content that will satisfy and impress your viewers.
1. Professional equipment and operators
Production values are extremely important for online live events. High-quality video and audio add enormous value to the event. Your recording equipment is as important to your streamed event as your in-house sound and lighting systems are to your live event.
A multi-camera setup and a full complement of equipment are great if they fit in your budget, but you can also deliver a premium viewing experience with a two-camera setup and some experienced camera operators. Actor-pianist Hershey Felder recently delivered a wonderful streaming experience to his fans with this type of setup.
For A/V contractors, you can use our partner portal, your local hiring networks, or try contracting services like UpWork, ProductionHUB and Crewrr.
2. An industry-trusted encoder
An encoder is a software or hardware tool that puts your live video into streaming compatible formats. While there are some pros to hardware versions, we prefer the software encoders because they generally include a suite of video and audio mixing tools.
Our recommendation is OBS Studio because it’s free and open-source but also provides high production quality. This short video guide will get you started with OBS Studio:
Another popular free software encoder is Streamlabs OBS. There are also paid options, including XSplit Broadcaster and Wirecast.
You don’t need to do the encoding yourself. You can hire professionals to do this for you. Consult our partner portal, use a freelance marketplace, or check your preferred hiring network to find someone great. Your streaming partner will have recommended encoder settings.
3. An internet connection with fast upload speed
Whatever platform you choose to broadcast your event, you’ll need to make sure your upload speed is fast. We recommend at least a 4 Mbps upload speed. To test, hardwire to your internet connection using an ethernet cable and go to https://www.speedtest.net/. It’s important to note that upload speed is not the same as download speed. When internet service providers (ISPs) talk about your internet speed, it’s always about download speed. You’ll need to do a speed test to determine your upload speed.
Stellar’s streaming service is all about quality. We transmit 1080p video at 60 frames per second, which requires a fast upload speed. The recommended upload speed to support this streaming quality is between 5.6 Mbps and 7.4 Mpbs.
4. The right online video or streaming partner
For a high-quality streamed event, you’ll need an online video platform partner that can deliver all of the following:
- Responsive and helpful customer support
- High-res video (1080p recommended)
- A large content distribution network
- A robust server setup
The last two items are important to make sure everything runs smoothly. Stellar runs on AWS, which is widely regarded as the industry standard. If your streaming partner can’t tell you what their content distribution network is, that’s a big red flag.
5. The optimal price point for your tickets
After regrouping in the wake of COVID-19, some entertainment organizations have been releasing content for free to retain customers until the return of in-person events. That was appropriate for the moment, but when you’re producing new streaming events and investing resources in those events, the right price point will be key in drawing an audience and getting a return on your investment.
Ticket prices for viewing online events can be lower than the price for attending in-person since sales aren’t limited by the venue capacity and you may have lower overhead if the event is purely online. But it’s important to not mark the price down too much. Tickets less than $10 can lower the perceived value of your event.
Working with Stellar will set you on the path to success. We’re not just a streaming solution, we’re also a ticketing solution. We make it easy to reach customers since you can stream and ticket your event in one place.
If you have a live event ready to stream or want to produce one, contact us at organizersupport@stellartickets.com
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