How to livestream an event for all your friends and family

Live broadcast? Simple! Pick up your phone, turn on Instagram, and you can start the live broadcast. Excellent live streaming? It's harder, but not impossible.

Take my brother’s wedding as an example. He married his fiancée in Ireland early in the pandemic (from Alabama, we are all Irish if my signature is not obvious enough). Even in the best situations, many important relatives and friends will not be able to visit the scene in person. But due to travel and party restrictions in Ireland, as well as restrictions on international travel and other personal issues, the number of people ready to watch online is more than three times the number of people actually present. Live streaming is not an afterthought – for most people, it is the main event.

This is likely to happen to you. Whether it is a wedding, funeral, birthday celebration, holiday party or other activities, it is crucial to do a good job of live broadcast.

Sound first

The most important part of live broadcast is not the video, but the sound. Think of all the blurry, low-resolution YouTube videos and TV series from unknown sources you've watched over the years. Hearing the bride and groom make a vow is much more important than watching in 4K HDR.

For best sound quality, you need a dedicated directional microphone placed close to the speaker. A computer, webcam, or a smartphone built-in microphone is not competent; it picks up too much ambient noise and there is no solution.

You can use a wireless lapel microphone or other more complex options, but it's hard to get over a quality USB microphone with long cables. I recommend Blue Snowball and Blue Yeti.

If you've ever heard a podcast, watched a live stream on Twitch, or learned from screen recording, you've probably heard one of these two microphones. Snowball is cheaper, about $70, while Yeti goes up to the next level at $130. Crucially, both have different "modes" that can control their pickup direction. Heart mode (a mode you should use) picks up only the source of sound from right in front of the microphone. In other words, place the microphone on the dining table in front of the speaker and you can still get decent audio even if the people around you cheer.

If you want to browse more, the review team of PopSci has compiled a list of the best live microphones if you want to leverage their expertise.

Video is also very important

With good audio settings, you can make up for many video deficiencies. Seriously: You can connect Blue Yeti directly to your smartphone (depending on your phone, you may need a USB-C to USB-A or Lightning to USB-A adapter) and do it at a time than most A much better live broadcast on a Zoom call.

Nevertheless, you can also make things better without making a huge effort.

First: the camera you use to record. You can connect a modern SLR or mirrorless camera to your computer and use it as a webcam, but I don't recommend it. They are not designed to record long continuous videos, so they can overheat, run out of battery, or have many problems. It works if you know what you are doing, but for most people, the improvement in video quality is offset by the additional stress and malfunctions.

End of the day, the best camera will be your smartphone. As I mentioned earlier, you can connect the microphone directly, but it is better to use your phone as a webcam to connect to your computer. There are many applications that can do this:

• Camo Pro: That's what I chose. It was originally an Apple-only service, but now you can also use it on Android and Windows devices. It is also one of the most expensive options, $5 per month, $40 per year, or $80 per permanent. However, the Camo Studio app allows you to have a lot of control over video feeds, which is what I want.
• EpocCam Pro: This is a lower priced option for $8 and it works with any iOS device connected to a PC or Mac.
• DroidCamX Pro: This is only $5, it connects Android and iOS devices to a Windows or Linux PC.

No matter which option you choose, I recommend using a USB connection instead of a wireless connection. For real-time one-time activities, you need to set up as simple as possible – you won't want to deal with a WiFi router that struggles to cope with a large number of visitors. With a 3-foot or 6-foot cable, you will have many options to place your camera.

[Related: Equipment to make your smartphone better movies]

You can hold your own smartphone, but a stable tripod is better. If you already have one, you can buy a tripod mount for your phone. Otherwise, any mobile phone tripod will do – as long as you can keep your smartphone where you want it. The worst case scenario is to support it with a chair.

Select your live broadcast platform

After the hardware is set up, it can be broadcast to the whole world. There are a lot of live streaming options, which one you choose depends on which features you need and where your audience is.

I chose Zoom's video webinar. It's over-functional and expensive, $40 a month and can accommodate up to 100 attendees, but Zoom's products have changed since then. Now you can host a 100-person event on the Zoom One Pro for $15 a month, or live streaming to 300 people for $20 a month. There is a free version, but you can't live for more than 40 minutes. Zoom webinars are now $80 a month with at least 500 attendees.

Overall, Zoom gives me a lot of control over how people watch live streams, most people are already familiar with it, and I need something reliable because my brother is only married once. As a bonus, I was able to record a local copy of the event and view everyone's live and Zoom chat responses.

If most of your audience or guests are on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch, the live broadcast options on these platforms are great, but you may need to do some preparation to get started. Don't expect them to do it in a short time.

Also, please note that no matter where you host the live stream, you may violate copyright laws if you play any music. For private events, it is unlikely that copyright owners will notice or close everything midway through the event, but do not use the tips in this article to broadcast pirated concerts to thousands of people. They can still punish you afterwards.

Test, test, test

Test everything (I mean everything) time is not the day of the event. Instead, make sure everything works at least a day or two in advance so you can fix any (almost inevitable) errors, issues, and other weird issues.

A incomplete drill list includes ensuring:

• The Internet is fast enough to be live broadcast
• You have a way to send a live link to the guest, or it has been arranged in advance
• All guests know how to access the live stream and have the correct app installed
• Microphone and camera cables are long enough that you can put them where you want
• The position and angle of the microphone are correct
• You have selected the correct audio and video source for the live broadcast
• You have a charger for running computers
• Good enough lighting – if not, turn on more lights or face the windows
• No dance or any other plan that could damage all cables or tripods
• Your computer won't hibernate automatically
• Scheduled updates won't start to ruin everything
• If you are recording an activity, you have checked the correct checkbox and have enough hard disk space

In other words, thorough troubleshooting and preparation should ensure things go smoothly.

Live broadcast

When the event day comes, you should believe it will go well, online guests should know what will happen, and there shouldn't be a last-minute scramble.

That is, make sure you have enough time to set everything up (if you can't keep the settings from the test you did the previous day).

A few key things to pay attention to when you are about to start a live broadcast:

• Make sure all relevant personnel know the live broadcast and the location of the microphone. You don't want the speaker to stand far away from the microphone. In particular, inform any celebrators, family members who missed your multiple hours of setting up the program, and any other people who are expected to speak but are not involved in the live broadcast program. They may need to remind themselves to talk to the e-guest.
• If you are using your smartphone as your camera, set it to Flight mode. This will prevent unwelcome robots from calling to destroy everything.
• If possible, please set up a live broadcast so that any guests who join will automatically mute and cannot unmute themselves. On Zoom, this means clicking Participants when you set up a live stream, then click Mutting all , and then muting all current and new participants Under >, uncheck the box next to Allow participants to unmute themselves. Set live streams so that your video feed is the primary feed on everyone’s screen. For Zoom, hover your mouse cursor over your video feed and click
to highlight
• for everyone.
Finally, try to relax and have fun. Setting up a live stream—especially if you haven’t done it before—can be nervous, but you can do it.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on November 25, 2020.

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