First, St. John's University Associate AD for Communications Mark Fratto presents his thoughts on video streaming hardware/software, staffing and future trends, noting that video now accounts for 70 percent of all internet traffic.
Next, Virginia State SID Jim Junot, a member of the CoSIDA Computer/Technology Committee, writes about creating streaming video on a micro-budget, offering great tips and suggestions.
Last season, Virginia State produced streaming video for an entire cost of $50. Read their articles below. You also can download their presentations here:
Getting The Most Out Of Your Website: Live and On-Demand Streaming Video For Everyone
by Mark Fratto, St. John’s University Associate Athletics Director for Communications (frattom@stjohns.edu)
Why Video? • Streaming video is the recent past, present and – now more than ever – the future of your college or university’s Athletics Website.
• In April 2009, 16.8 billion Internet video files were uploaded worldwide. Video now accounts for 70 percent of all Internet traffic.
• Ten years ago, your website served as your Athletics Department’s newspaper. Five years ago, it was your Department’s radio station. Now, it can be your Department’s TV station.
So What And Now What? You can do it, even if you don't have a video department, video board or a large SID staff. To stay competitive, you almost have to do at least something with video!
• RECRUITING – With the elimination of printed media guides, coaches and administrators will be looking now more than ever to the website to “tell your story” to recruits. Video will be the prime piece of attention-getting visibility and the development of your school’s brand.
• REACH – Video enables the Athletics Department to replicate the game experience for those not able to attend. Video is dynamic content – it can be used in conjunction with the Social Media Model – Attention - Engagement - Influence - Action. Use video to directly promote events, ticket and merchandise sales and Athletics Department programs, or honors/awards candidates.
• REVENUE– Video drives traffic to your website, and there are several ways to monetize. Revenue models include the “all-pay model,” the “live = subscription, on-demand = free model,” the “sponsorship model” and the “advertising model.” You can decide if you’d like to charge for live games, full archived games, pre and postgame features, highlights, etc. or add sponsors and advertisements.
• RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) – Video is quantifiable in terms of files uploaded, its relationship to web traffic increases, and dollars earned. Even if you don’t use video to make a dollar, you can control your marketplace by ensuring complete delivery of your message without reliance on the mainstream media. As with other elements of your website, video is at its best when working in concert with mediated messages.
• RECESSION PROOF? – Video is proving to be, at least in terms of consumption.
Hardware and Software • Video for everyone: There is no video hardware/software plan set in stone.
• Very few of us are classically-trained video production experts. Be creative and use your resources. Learn from other SIDs, website administrators (such as your reps at CBS College Sports and JumpTV), or professionals at the Sports Video Group.
Varying Hardware/Software Models o Inexpensive - Flip Video Camcorder or other USB compatible device. Use YouTube to post videos, create a “video home” on YouTube, or code the video and embed it on your own website.
o Moderate – Mid-grade camera, video encoder and laptop for live streaming. Website service providers have the platform for posting and viewing video.
o Higher End – mobile production units like the NewTek TriCaster (four models at varying prices) or Sony Anycast enable you to provide your own “ESPN-style” broadcast. SIDs can engineer multiple camera productions with built-in video and static and animated graphics packages. Those products can be carted from venue to venue easily, and have the ability to edit and produce video features (e.g. highlights, coaches shows, personality pieces) in between live broadcasts. CBS College Sports and JumpTV are rolling out new platforms this summer where video can be embedded into the headline block on your website, in addition to the video player.
o Editing software - anything from Windows Movie Maker/iMovie to Final Cut Pro. PCs and Macs can both be used to produce video.
Staffing • It would be ideal to have a video department, scoreboard team, third party production company or full-time video director. But for many of us, those aren’t options. Video production creates an opportunity for the SID office to own new skills and be “experts” in a still-emerging area.
• Utilize students! Gaining experience of a marketable skill like video production is a great sell for students, especially if you’re able to use the higher-end equipment like the NewTek TriCaster, which is used by NHL, WNBA, MTV and Live with Regis and Kelly.
• You can offer class credit, work study positions, volunteer roles, or even a few pay positions. Video technology is worth the investment of time and money at every level, and because of the quantifiable nature and the “hotness” of the medium, the ROI for video can be an easier sell to the department’s higher-ups.
• Use student-athletes, managers, or tap into your coaches’ video if you need to.
Promotion • You can use your regular P.R. Methods like news releases, or a website schedule of streamed events or release of on-demand features.
• Cross promotion using social media like Twitter and Facebook. Roll it all together and show the higher-ups that the SID can be a social media and video expert!
The Future • The video revolution has begun already, and schools like Stanford, Duke, Penn State, Virginia, Kansas State have built motion graphics and video websites that showcase their programs and can be unbelievable recruiting tools. These aren’t virtual media guides or flip-through color PDFs, but full-scale cutting-edge video alternatives, using individual player highlight videos, personality vignettes, messages from coaches, facility highlights and showcases for their support areas.
• Colleges need to work with their website providers to make this affordable.
• Some schools are even incorporating student and fan created video content as a new form of social media.
• Media guides are gone as we know it, and with a little research and an investment in hardware, software and personnel, every SID can be on the cutting edge of video!
Creating Video on a Micro-Budget
by Jim Junot, Virginia State SID/CoSIDA Computer/ Technology Committee (jjunot@vsu.edu)
One of the biggest things to hit the internet is computer video. As evidenced at the recent CoSIDA workshop in San Antonio, adding streaming video to your web site is a great way to enhance the site and provide exposure to your program
The obstacle for many schools, especially smaller schools, is perception that streaming video is cost prohibitive. In truth, several companies are available that will provide streaming video service for a cost.
At Virginia State University, last season we produced streaming video for an entire cost of $50. Here’s how.
Finding the Equipment In August of 2008, we made the decision to try and stream video, and produce short highlight shows for the fans. The problem we faced is that we had no equipment and no budget at the time to hire a streaming service.
Here are the items you will need: A laptop computer, a video camera, a video capture cable/device and an internet connection. The laptop is the one thing I had, so I didn’t have to track one down. In this scenario, though, let’s pretend we don’t even have that. The first thing I went hunting for was a camera. The common misconception is if something is old, then it must be no good. This is the furthest thing from the truth.
Old Camera/Good Solution Yes, a new digital camera is wonderful to have, but if your department doesn’t have one already, then you’re going to spending hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to buy a new one, and that defeats the purpose of this article.
What I did at VSU is made a visit to the Learning Resource Center (LRC). Most, if not all, schools have an on-campus LRC. Get to know where it is at your school and who is in charge of running it. Visit them personally. This is where you can find a camera that you can “check out” like you would a library book.
This is where age is actually a benefit. If it’s a newer camera, then you might have to purchase a memory card. It it’s an older camera, however, you can simply buy a tape (or find an old one) that goes in it. Now that you have the camera, let’s start looking for a laptop.
Again, this is where learning about your campus resources pays off.
When in Doubt, Go to IT Most, if not all, schools have an Informational Technology department. These are the people who have the computers. Find out who is in charge. Meet them, invite them to lunch, explain to them what you want to do and what you need. The key to all of this is the selling of the idea. The more people you get on board, the easier this will be.
Now that you have the computer and camera, then you’ll need to have a way to capture the video.
This was the only thing at VSU that we bought outright. We purchased a DV cable and an old Dazzle Fusion capture device. The cable cost us $18, while the Dazzle Fusion device cost $30 through Ebay.
Whether to buy a DV cable or a USB –connected video capture device such as the Dazzle Fusion is really an “either-or” decision, and based solely on whether you have a newer or older camcorder. At VSU, the LRC had both, and which one we used depended on which one was available. Your decision will depend on what you can find.
The Internet Connection Now you have the camera, camcorder and video capture device. What you need now is an internet connection. Most laptops now have wireless connections, but a hard-wired connection is more suitable for streaming. Most of the schools in VSU’s conference, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, have internet connections in their gyms or stadiums, although some of the connections are wireless.
In the case of no connection, we used a wireless internet card, which was purchased through the school. Now all the components are in place, and the cost was still under $100.
Now came the part which makes streaming video costly, that being the service to stream the video through.
Free Streaming Services Last season, VSU experimented with three different streaming providers, Streamwebtown.com, Stickam.com and UStream.tv, and all were free. Streamwebtown provided nice clear Windows Media streaming, but they discontinued the free service, so we discontinued using them.
We heard a lot of good things about UStream, including
an article by Bob Lowe in an earlier CoSIDA technology (Jan. 9, 2008) piece, but we had connection issues with UStream.
While Ustream is a great solution for many, it was not for us. The video appeared choppy, and despite repeated attempts to “massage” the feed, we never really achieved nice smooth video.
We achieved our best results using Stickam. Stickam also allowed for an on-going “chat” which permitted fans to interact with each other (similar to Ustream).
There is a potential drawback, however with Stickam. Unlike Ustream, Stickam is less “family friendly” and your viewers could be exposed to content that some could deem inappropriate. This can be a deal-breaker at many schools, so just be aware (and inform others on campus), if you go this route.
In connecting with Stickam, the server located the video capture device automatically and supplied the code for a number of “skins” and players to be embedded in your web pages. It also allowed us to see exactly how many on-line viewers we had at a given time or overall.
Stickam also allows you to archive a broadcast, so it can be watched “on-demand.”
Summary The bottom line is that we were able to achieve a great return on a small investment. This season, VSU will be streaming all the road football games as well as the road men’s and women’s basketball games.