![\"Reliable](\"https:\/\/www.liveu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/LiveU-Webcasts.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhy Use LiveU?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhether you think of it as a meeting or a webinar, you may want to use a dedicated, portable encoder to stream live video into the meeting or webinar. For example\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Your CEO might need to address the company from a remote location<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You might want to present a new product directly from a location that just won\u2019t fit in a meeting room \u2013 such as from under the hood of a car looking at the engine, from an airplane hangar looking at a plane, or from the assembly line of your manufacturing plant<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You may even want to use your webinar for things like government meetings, non-profit meetings, or large enterprise meetings, where you have a large audience with a single or few presenters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\u2026and to make this happen you would want:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- The reliability of a dedicated encoder vs. software in your laptop<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The quality of a professional camera with a real lens vs. a webcam<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The bandwidth provided by bonding and cellular networks, whenever you don\u2019t have access to reliable bandwidth at the location<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In these cases, LiveU can serve as the perfect live streaming solution<\/a> to stream your meeting or webinar.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut before going live, let\u2019s look into some considerations to take into account and some special setup options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting Considerations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nFirst step is to see if your meeting\/webinar type can really match the use of a portable encoder such as LiveU. Think about who will present, and if they need to see or hear the audience they are presenting to. While it\u2019s possible to setup a two-way connection to a meeting or webinar using LiveU, it does require a few more setup steps and special features \/ hardware. In this blog, we will explore only the basic use case of one-side video\/audio where a single\/few presenters are presenting to any sized group of viewers. Those viewers will interact with the presenter only via chat\/built in Q&A that doesn\u2019t require two-way audio and video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now let\u2019s take a look at your platform of choice. If your platform has a webinar mode that accepts external encoder input, this setup is likely to be quite simple. However, in some cases, such as Zoom, your setup may require a few more steps to convert your LiveU feed into something that appears to Zoom as a webcam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platforms with Webinar Mode and RTMP Input Options<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIf your platform has a webinar mode and\/or options for RTMP input, you can stream to this destination directly from your LiveU Solo<\/a> or LiveU broadcast unit using the normal RTMP output options. Examples for such platforms include Microsoft Teams and Facebook Workplace and probably some others (check the support\/help section on your platform of choice).<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re using such a platform, here are some typical steps to start your streaming to them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1- Setup your webinar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2- Get your RTMP ingress info from the platform<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3- Setup a destination with that ingress info on LiveU Solo Portal or LiveU Central<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a specific example, here are Microsoft\u2019s steps<\/a> about how to embed an encoder-sourced video into your Teams meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPlatforms Without a Webinar Mode<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nSome platforms do not have a webinar mode or even if they do, that mode will not accept input from an outside encoder. Examples for such platforms would be Zoom and Google G-Suite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For such platforms, you have several options of how to get the video output of your LiveU system into the platform as if it was a feed from any other webcam. Use the option that seems to fit your available hardware and use case the best:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baseband to Webcam<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIf you are a LiveU broadcast user, and you already have an LU2000<\/a> or LU4000<\/a> receiving server, you can take the baseband output (SDI) of this server and plug it into a converter (e.g.: Blackmagic Design, AJA, and Magewell) which will make this input appear as a webcam to another computer such as a laptop.\u00a0
*Note, video over USB is sometimes called UVC, the actual USB protocol used to transport video.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn this scenario, your LU2000 and the computer or laptop it will be plugged into via this adapter are at some central location with good bandwidth \u2013 away from the field location where you actually have the camera, presenter and LiveU unit. This lets you still have the presenter be anywhere in the world you want them to be while still being able to pull them into a program like Zoom as if they were on a webcam.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"Diagram](\"https:\/\/www.liveu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Webinar-Blog-1-1024x560.png\")
Diagram1: baseband to webcam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nStream to NDI, NDI to Webcam<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhen using LiveU Solo, or any LiveU broadcast unit, it is possible to receive the LRT stream<\/a> and convert it to NDI (for the LiveU broadcast units), or receive the RTMP push stream and convert it to NDI (using the Garanin RTMP Mini Server<\/a>).\u00a0 Once you have the LiveU stream as NDI, you can use the NDI to webcam driver<\/a> to input the NDI feed to Zoom (or other programs that accept NDI) as if it was the computer\u2019s local webcam.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn many ways this setup is similar to the physical setup above, except that it can be \u201call software\u201d. This allows you to do it both at a central location, or even entirely in the cloud. <\/p>\n\n\n
\u2026and to make this happen you would want:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- The reliability of a dedicated encoder vs. software in your laptop<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The quality of a professional camera with a real lens vs. a webcam<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The bandwidth provided by bonding and cellular networks, whenever you don\u2019t have access to reliable bandwidth at the location<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In these cases, LiveU can serve as the perfect live streaming solution<\/a> to stream your meeting or webinar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But before going live, let\u2019s look into some considerations to take into account and some special setup options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting Considerations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
First step is to see if your meeting\/webinar type can really match the use of a portable encoder such as LiveU. Think about who will present, and if they need to see or hear the audience they are presenting to. While it\u2019s possible to setup a two-way connection to a meeting or webinar using LiveU, it does require a few more setup steps and special features \/ hardware. In this blog, we will explore only the basic use case of one-side video\/audio where a single\/few presenters are presenting to any sized group of viewers. Those viewers will interact with the presenter only via chat\/built in Q&A that doesn\u2019t require two-way audio and video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now let\u2019s take a look at your platform of choice. If your platform has a webinar mode that accepts external encoder input, this setup is likely to be quite simple. However, in some cases, such as Zoom, your setup may require a few more steps to convert your LiveU feed into something that appears to Zoom as a webcam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platforms with Webinar Mode and RTMP Input Options<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If your platform has a webinar mode and\/or options for RTMP input, you can stream to this destination directly from your LiveU Solo<\/a> or LiveU broadcast unit using the normal RTMP output options. Examples for such platforms include Microsoft Teams and Facebook Workplace and probably some others (check the support\/help section on your platform of choice).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re using such a platform, here are some typical steps to start your streaming to them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1- Setup your webinar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2- Get your RTMP ingress info from the platform<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3- Setup a destination with that ingress info on LiveU Solo Portal or LiveU Central<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a specific example, here are Microsoft\u2019s steps<\/a> about how to embed an encoder-sourced video into your Teams meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platforms Without a Webinar Mode<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Some platforms do not have a webinar mode or even if they do, that mode will not accept input from an outside encoder. Examples for such platforms would be Zoom and Google G-Suite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For such platforms, you have several options of how to get the video output of your LiveU system into the platform as if it was a feed from any other webcam. Use the option that seems to fit your available hardware and use case the best:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baseband to Webcam<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you are a LiveU broadcast user, and you already have an LU2000<\/a> or LU4000<\/a> receiving server, you can take the baseband output (SDI) of this server and plug it into a converter (e.g.: Blackmagic Design, AJA, and Magewell) which will make this input appear as a webcam to another computer such as a laptop.\u00a0
*Note, video over USB is sometimes called UVC, the actual USB protocol used to transport video.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn this scenario, your LU2000 and the computer or laptop it will be plugged into via this adapter are at some central location with good bandwidth \u2013 away from the field location where you actually have the camera, presenter and LiveU unit. This lets you still have the presenter be anywhere in the world you want them to be while still being able to pull them into a program like Zoom as if they were on a webcam.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nDiagram1: baseband to webcam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Stream to NDI, NDI to Webcam<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When using LiveU Solo, or any LiveU broadcast unit, it is possible to receive the LRT stream<\/a> and convert it to NDI (for the LiveU broadcast units), or receive the RTMP push stream and convert it to NDI (using the Garanin RTMP Mini Server<\/a>).\u00a0 Once you have the LiveU stream as NDI, you can use the NDI to webcam driver<\/a> to input the NDI feed to Zoom (or other programs that accept NDI) as if it was the computer\u2019s local webcam.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many ways this setup is similar to the physical setup above, except that it can be \u201call software\u201d. This allows you to do it both at a central location, or even entirely in the cloud. <\/p>\n\n\n
![\"Diagram](\"https:\/\/www.liveu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Webinar-Blog-2-1024x538.png\")