Live Chase Streaming

[Ryan McGinnis]

There are now several different venues that cater to live chase streaming out there, and several others (like Justin.tv) that cater to the whole world. Does anyone have any reviews or experiences (good or bad) of any of these services? I know I'm wondering what people think of each, and Stormtrack seems like a good place to create a centralized resource of reviews.

I personally tried SevereStreaming a couple times last year. It worked well as advertised, but at the time my phone's data capability was not robust enough for the stream, and I rarely had time to restart streams when they dropped in the field.

 

[Nathan Truninger]

www.chasertv.com

Scott and Steve are a couple of the nicest guys out there and the $40 a year is worth it. Plus, one of the features that they have is an automatic stream reconnect, so you don't have to worry about fiddling around trying to restart the stream.

 

[Jason Foster]

I think either of the main two (chasertv or severestudios) are OK for the streamer.

From the viewer side, I wish there was audio and interactive chat with individual streamers. A couple of times I want somebody to slap them on the head when they forget to put the manual focus on.

 

[CZandbergen]

www.chasertv.com

Scott and Steve are a couple of the nicest guys out there and the $40 a year is worth it. Plus, one of the features that they have is an automatic stream reconnect, so you don't have to worry about fiddling around trying to restart the stream.

Does the auto reconnect work well? I have been using severestreaming.com and I like it but for the issue of having to reconnect manually when I lose the internet connection. That is a real pain to deal with.

 

[Scott Bennett]

Obviously I am a bit biased but I am driving right now from OMA to OKC, obviously I have been on 3-5 different cell carriers by now (I am at ICT) but everyone is welcome to take a look at my stream.

I have not touched the encoder since Omaha.

I don't have it on the front page because there are no storms, but if you go to my page you will find it.

www.chasertv.com

 

[CZandbergen]

Thanks Scott. What encoder are you using? How is its overhead compared to WME?

 

[Scott Bennett]

I have been happy with the performance, with the update to FME 3.0 and with the correct settings it works real well.

If you loose connection the encoder simply re-connects in most situations. I was able to make it all the way to OKC wihtout any restarting. My webcam started to get unhappy once it was dark however it did stay up, and it was not the fault of FME.

I also used a $300 walmart laptop with gr3 updating, and spotterchat running, no issues.

I have used both WME and FME and obviously this season I chose FME and I'm happy with the technical results.

My opinion is obviously very biased and I invite everyone to use what works best for them.

 

[David Hoadley]

I would be interested in a basic tutorial explanation about how to access video streaming from chasers in the field. Apparently, one needs to subscribe to a service for an annual fee, know where to find these web sites, and -possibly- download certain software (risk involved?) to see them. Is this correct? Are some more reliable than others? Can a computer novice do this, or is special knowledge required? - - - Dave Hoadley

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

Apparently, one needs to subscribe to a service for an annual fee, know where to find these web sites, and -possibly- download certain software (risk involved?) to see them. Is this correct? Are some more reliable than others? Can a computer novice do this, or is special knowledge required? - - - Dave Hoadley

http://www.twisterchasers.com/twisterchaserslive.htm

So far this seems to be the most effectively ran streaming source, and they JUST got it going and haven't even been able to test a whole lot and find the best settings, and its still been a smooth operation. While no one is out chasing today, I can guarantee, you won't find better chasers to "ride along" with. Best of all, its free, there is nothing to download, and unlike a lot of sources, its easy to use and navigate, any computer novice will be able to enjoy it.

 

[Hank Baker]

I have a suggestion for people who live stream. You might consider making 10% foreground and 90% sky instead of 50-50 in your frame.

 

[John Wetter]

Dave,
The two main sites are www.severestudios.com/livechase and www.chasertv.com

Both sites do a good job. Some chasers also use other sites, the other post has a good aggregation or mash-up of all of them. The only thing you need to watch streams is either Flash, Microsoft silverlight, or sometimes Windows Media Player. All of these can be played on windows or macs.

John

I would be interested in a basic tutorial explanation about how to access video streaming from chasers in the field. Apparently, one needs to subscribe to a service for an annual fee, know where to find these web sites, and -possibly- download certain software (risk involved?) to see them. Is this correct? Are some more reliable than others? Can a computer novice do this, or is special knowledge required? - - - Dave Hoadley

 

[Brandon Sullivan]

I stream with TVN (Tornado Videos. Net) and love it thus far.. No real problems, and if so they were on my end!

TVN has a pretty neat online interface in partnership with WDT and uses Imap.. Chasers are out now.. Check it out!

http://www.tornadovideos.net/full-screen-chaser-video.php

But with that said, I have used Chaser TV and it worked just as flawless. And as Nate said Scott and Steve are WONDERFUL guys!!

I guess it's just a matter if you want your video marketed for you.

 

[Kris Hair]

I stream with Chaser TV now and have had nothing but really great experiences from these guys!!! They're always quick to answer questions and willing to help you with anything you need.

Just last sunday, Scott took the time to walk me through setting up my stream. I had a few settings wrong, and everything worked FLAWLESSLY the rest of the day!!

Matter of fact, they worked so well, I had local media express interest in my stream

I would highly reccomend ChaserTV to anyone looking to stream.

 

[Hans Schroeder]

I too had issues with reconnecting to SevereStudios last year. This year I paid the $40 and signed up with ChaserTV. I have to say that using the Adobe flash encoder has been very easy this year, and streaming has gone from one of the main focuses on the computer while chasing to the last focus - it's that easy. Now if I could just keep that data connection up ALL the time. If you haven't tried streaming before, this is the year to do it. It's nice for everyone who doesn't get out to have sooo many perspectives on multiple storms out there, from all the services.

 

[CZandbergen]

For those using the Adobe Flash Encoder, is that an additional purchase or is it free like WME?

EDIT just answered my own question. Looks like it is free too http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/flashmediaencoder/