Let's get one thing straight from the start: There is no middle ground in a
live high-bandwidth webcast. You either have a successful broadcast, or a
lot of explaining to do.
In principle, a live webcast is quite simple. But from years of
experience I can tell you -- never take one lightly. Many
things can and will go wrong, most of them minor problems that end up becoming
mission critical.
All the rules change when you leave your familiar workspace and hit the road with network computers and production gear. So the most important factor to success in a remote live webcast is having your back-up strategy in place for the inevitable problems you will encounter.
Several areas of expertise are required for planning ahead: knowledge
of high speed networks, of audio and video production, of video and graphic
design, and the principles of encoding. That's not to say you have to be an expert in all of these areas, but you should at least have some experience with each.
For the purpose of this tutorial, I will discuss the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing webcast I did from the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.
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