Offer live webinars with our Video Live Stream Hosting

Modern training and seminars are increasingly taking place as live webinars via the Internet. With our Live Stream Hosting, we provide you with the optimal foundation for creating and offering your live webinars, and we show you what equipment you need.

Why offer live webinars?

The Internet plays a central role in the modern world. More and more services and products are used or purchased online. Participation in training, seminars, courses, or presentations via the Internet in the form of webinars is also on the rise. This is not surprising, because webinars offer participants the major advantage that no time-consuming or costly travel is necessary. Unlike in-person seminars, participation is not tied to a specific location.

As an organizer or provider of seminars and training courses, you also benefit from using webinars. Since they are not location dependent, you can reach a much larger group of participants. In addition, webinars require less on-site organization. Only the technical framework needs to ensure a smooth event and be scaled to the expected number of participants.

What equipment is needed for live webinars?

To create and offer live webinars, you need a service to broadcast the livestream to viewers. In addition, you need a sufficiently fast Internet connection and suitable streaming hardware.

Live Stream Hosting to broadcast your live webinar

Our streaming servers are the optimal link between your webinar presenters and participants. You can easily integrate your live webinar into your website via our Video Live Stream Hosting or alternatively have us create an individual landing page with password protection. During each one month period, you can create and offer as many live webinars as you like. We will provide sufficient resources for your desired number of participants during this time. Via the optional chat room, your webinar participants can ask questions and interact with each other despite the physical distance. Our servers are hosted in the EU.

Internet connection

Before your live webinar reaches the attendees, it must be sent to the streaming server through your Internet connection. A suitable upload speed is essential for smooth transmission. The higher the desired video resolution, the higher the upload speed must be.

The actual upload speed of your Internet connection may differ from what the provider advertises. Therefore, before creating and hosting a live webinar, it is recommended to perform an internet speed test.

Streaming hardware on site

Video encoder

A video encoder captures the image and sound of your live webinar and sends it to our streaming server. Your viewers can access the webinar from there. You can use both software encoders and hardware encoders to transmit image and sound. The only requirement is that the signal is sent to the streaming server in RTMP format. In addition, compatibility with the rest of your equipment (camera, microphone, etc.) is essential.

Software encoders: There are different video encoders available as software, some of which are free, that you can install on your computer. Since live streaming encoding is very computationally intensive, your hardware must be correspondingly powerful. A free software encoder is OBS Studio. This is ideal for creating and offering live webinars, as you can create multiple scenes with different image and sound sources and switch between them at any time during the webinar. This allows you to show various content such as videos, presentation slides, images, or your camera feed in different scenes, or combine several of them in one scene. It is also possible to record the webinar via OBS Studio. Since working with streaming software requires some practice, you should familiarize yourself with it well before holding your first webinar.

Hardware encoders: Hardware encoders are dedicated devices that handle encoding. Pure encoders, such as the LiveU Solo, do not require a computer or additional encoding software. If you want to create different scenes for the webinar, as with a software encoder, you will need additional video mixer software. Alternatively, you can also use OBS Studio to create the scenes. Other hardware, such as the ATEM Mini Pro from Blackmagic Design, combines video mixer and video encoder and can be controlled via additional software on the computer.

For creating and offering a live webinar, we recommend using a sufficiently powerful computer in combination with streaming software like OBS Studio. Software encoders are usually easier to handle compared to hardware encoders. In addition, this option is cheaper to purchase if you already have a computer with sufficient performance.

Microphone

Since the focus of a webinar is usually on the speaker, a microphone with good sound quality is essential. Built-in notebook, camera, and webcam microphones usually do not deliver high-quality sound and cannot filter out background noise effectively. They are therefore not recommended for creating and hosting a webinar. An external microphone is better suited.

Microphones can basically be divided into condenser and dynamic microphones. Condenser microphones have high sensitivity and offer greater detail, especially in the high frequency range. They reproduce the speaker's voice in great detail, but also pick up a lot of background noise due to their sensitivity. Dynamic microphones are generally less sensitive, so noise, background noise, and reverberation are less of a problem. For this reason, dynamic microphones tend to be the better choice unless the webinar room is designed for good recording quality.

Correct microphone positioning is also important for good sound quality. The closer it is to the sound source, the better the sound tends to be. Headset and lavalier microphones (clip-on microphones) offer the advantage that they can be positioned directly at the mouth. As a rule, these are condenser microphones. However, due to the positioning directly at the mouth, background noise is less noticeable.

USB microphones already have an audio interface integrated and can therefore be connected directly to your computer. In contrast, XLR microphones require a separate audio interface. In principle, good sound quality can be achieved with both types. However, high-quality microphones usually have an XLR connector.

Camera

In principle, any camera is suitable for creating and offering a live webinar. You can use cameras in smartphones, tablets, or notebooks in your webinar just as much as webcams, action cams, camcorders, or professional film or DSLR cameras. Ultimately, it depends on your individual requirements for image quality and the desired level of image detail which camera is best suited for your live webinar.

However, it can generally be said that integrated cameras in notebooks usually deliver only poor image quality. It is also more difficult to position integrated cameras optimally. Those who value good picture quality and perfect positioning are better served with other options. Smartphone and tablet cameras have become better over time and deliver an adequate picture, provided it is a fairly new model with a good camera. An inexpensive solution can also be an external webcam, because even with cheaper models, a quite good picture can be achieved in some cases. Due to big differences in picture quality, this should be tested beforehand. Action cams can also produce a high-quality image. If you have higher demands and want to spend a bit more, you can also use a camcorder or a professional film or DSLR camera.

It is important to note that even the best camera cannot produce a good image if the light is insufficient or falls unfavorably. So before buying a new camera, if the current model does not deliver the desired image quality, always make sure that the lighting has been optimized as best as possible.

Webcams usually have a USB output and can be connected to a computer via USB. If your camera has an HDMI or SDI output, an HDMI/SDI to USB converter is also required for connection to the computer.

In addition to the camera, a tripod is recommended for optimal and stable positioning.

Lighting

As mentioned earlier, proper lighting is important for creating and delivering a live webinar. This aspect is often neglected, but it is essential so that the camera can capture a good image. You should not rely only on existing lighting or daylight. Natural daylight is basically a good light source, but depending on the time of day or season, the light varies greatly and is therefore difficult to control. Existing lighting such as ceiling lights or desk lamps often cast unflattering shadows or provide only selective illumination.

Optimal lighting for your live webinar can be achieved with additional light sources (photo/video lights) that are positioned behind the camera and explicitly illuminate the presentation area. LED panels or ring lights are popular solutions here.

Mobile complete solution

As a complete mobile solution, we have designed a Streaming Backpack including hardware encoder, camera (with high-quality integrated microphone), LTE modems, tripod, and battery for up to 12 hours of self-sufficient live streaming. This is ideal for creating and hosting your live webinars if you prefer a high-quality, mobile, and ready-to-go solution.