• Wirecast™ Introduction
• Good presentations
•   Overview
•   Lighting, lighting...
•   Audio
•   Broadcast Settings
• Usage Patterns
• Hardware
• Media Capabilities
• Titling Capabilities
• Logo Capabilities
• Broadcasting
• Editing Encoder Presets
• Desktop Presenter
• Media Management
• Menus
• Preferences
• Main Window
• Shot Editing
• Shot Element Panels
• Edit: Scene
• Edit: Title
• Edit: Media
• Edit: Effects
• Edit: Playback
• Edit: Motion
• Edit: Filter
• Edit: Chroma Key
• Acknowledgments

Assuming you've got good video and audio coming into Wirecast, the last thing you need to do is make sure you configure the best Broadcast Settings for your presentation. This, also, can be an art.

There are a lot of parameters to modify when dealing with broadcasts, but a few simple steps can help get you on your way.

Bandwidth / Connection Speed

The first information you need to know is how much "bandwidth" you have at your disposal. This is how much data you can send from your computer to your viewers computer. It depends on the speed of your connection to the network and your viewers connection. In fact, it is the minimum speed between you and all of your viewers. If you have one viewer who is using a dial-up modem, then for that viewer to see good quality, you must broadcast at "Modem" speed.

So you have to know who your viewers are and what kind of connection they may have. This is a little harder to determine. You have to ask yourself. Do you expect them to be connected to the internet modems or DSL? Are they on your local network?

In some situations, you are broadcasting for just your local network (say, in an office building). Here you should discuss briefly with your network administrator your plans and verify that you will not disrupt the network with your broadcasts. Ask them what your upper limit should be.

Your available bandwidth should be the minimum of what you can upload and what your viewers can download.

Motion

Once you know your bandwidth, you need to decide whether your video will have a lot of "motion" or not in it.

Motion means what you'd imagine -- how much things move around in the video. If you are doing an interview, that is considered "low motion". If you are filming a basketball game, that is probably "High Motion."

Putting it together

Wirecast comes configured with defaults to help ease your usage of Wirecast. You should pick the one that matches the answers to the questions raised in the previews sections. See Encoder Presets for details on how to do this.

Older versions of QuickTime

If your viewers have older versions of QuickTime (version 5 for example), then you may wish to use a different Encoder than the default. Many consider that the Sorenson 3 Codec for version 5 of QuickTime is the best bang-for-your-buck.

Going Further

The parameters of the Encoders can be quite daunting and technical. It is beyond the scope of this document to attempt to describe the delicate balance you must strive to achieve. There are folk who spend a lot of their time fine-tuning encoders to attempt to get them to do exactly what they want. Wirecast comes with what many consider the "generally optimal" settings for the various network environments.

See Editing Encoder Presets for information on changing the encoder settings.