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LiveStreaming Raspberry Pi project - Part 1
12 years ago
General
Ever since the Raspberry Pi was publicly promoted over 3 years ago (released 2 years ago) I have always wanted one.
But I kept putting myself off as I would not really have much to do with it other than play with code, now I realised that was the point of it I guess that a a poor argument against buying one...
Anyway, I saw that they are now being manufactured in the UK so today I bought one, with a camera :)
Why?
Well I want to create a FURSTRE.AM package on it and allow people on FURSTRE.AM to use it to live stream as a cheaper alternative to a webcam or PC upgrade.
I am also interested to see if anyone wants to see live streams from conventions?
I know streaming live from cons is not new, but on a scale of 4-5 cameras with shots from multiple angles will be a lot better than just a static or portable camera with wireless streaming (when I say multiple shots I mean 4-5 cameras streaming not just 4-5 single stream shots)..
Problems with streaming from a con:
-Con does not allow it (I see a few reasons why)
-Internet connection (more detail bellow)
-Getting equipment there. Though the RasbPi with camera is a small package, if one is not going to the con how does one manage the setup and make sure it is safe?
-Overload of servers causing black hole due to massive interested (unlikely outcome)
-- Internet connection
This is the main problem. I see only 3 ways of doing this,
--- Hotel connection. This can be super slow, I remember CFz last year...
--- 3/4G cellular, would cost a lot unless sponsored by carrier, even then it would be hard to get a signal inside of the con. (great for portable camera though!). Even so 1000 people in a small area... All to be going off 1 or 2 towers in the local area slows it all down.
--- Satellite (20mbps upload, have to rent or buy dish, £60 a month ~ £15 a week) Initial costs are high unless free dish is picked up on trade site, even then it is hard to get a package for just one week, not impossible though. -Favorited way of doing it
Audio is another problem, the RasbPi does not have a input for audio. Would have to use an USB audio board.
This would be used for a radio input from sound system. Pump the music and mastered audio straight to the stream, not using a mic to pick it up.
Another option is a usb TV tuner, £5 each it would be cheaper than a audio board and receiver. Getting it to work win FFMPEG though will take some work, they don't have "listen on 108.00FM" by the looks of it. Will have to research more.
Another problem is FFMPEG.
This is the encoding software that would be used. Getting it to work well is hard, getting it to change inputs (show jpeg when there is nothing going on, eg at night) looks hard without something in-between the camera and FFMPEG. Already on a very low powered CPU this will be hard.
Creating some sort of web interface will be best for controlling all the cameras. Turn them on/off, restart, change stream settings, audio on/off, jpeg overlay on/off etc etc...
The list goes on...
Will be fun anyway!
Don't think that I will be doing this rather than working on FURSTRE.AM and getting it improved. Most of the site work is done by Dreae the developer, I just project manage now and do some server stuff.
Tell us what you think, would you like to see live streams from cons if they allow it?
Jack,
PS, I just want to note that 4-5 cameras will cost a lot, this is for like in the future if people want it. Would be one or two max at first.
But I kept putting myself off as I would not really have much to do with it other than play with code, now I realised that was the point of it I guess that a a poor argument against buying one...
Anyway, I saw that they are now being manufactured in the UK so today I bought one, with a camera :)
Why?
Well I want to create a FURSTRE.AM package on it and allow people on FURSTRE.AM to use it to live stream as a cheaper alternative to a webcam or PC upgrade.
I am also interested to see if anyone wants to see live streams from conventions?
I know streaming live from cons is not new, but on a scale of 4-5 cameras with shots from multiple angles will be a lot better than just a static or portable camera with wireless streaming (when I say multiple shots I mean 4-5 cameras streaming not just 4-5 single stream shots)..
Problems with streaming from a con:
-Con does not allow it (I see a few reasons why)
-Internet connection (more detail bellow)
-Getting equipment there. Though the RasbPi with camera is a small package, if one is not going to the con how does one manage the setup and make sure it is safe?
-Overload of servers causing black hole due to massive interested (unlikely outcome)
-- Internet connection
This is the main problem. I see only 3 ways of doing this,
--- Hotel connection. This can be super slow, I remember CFz last year...
--- 3/4G cellular, would cost a lot unless sponsored by carrier, even then it would be hard to get a signal inside of the con. (great for portable camera though!). Even so 1000 people in a small area... All to be going off 1 or 2 towers in the local area slows it all down.
--- Satellite (20mbps upload, have to rent or buy dish, £60 a month ~ £15 a week) Initial costs are high unless free dish is picked up on trade site, even then it is hard to get a package for just one week, not impossible though. -Favorited way of doing it
Audio is another problem, the RasbPi does not have a input for audio. Would have to use an USB audio board.
This would be used for a radio input from sound system. Pump the music and mastered audio straight to the stream, not using a mic to pick it up.
Another option is a usb TV tuner, £5 each it would be cheaper than a audio board and receiver. Getting it to work win FFMPEG though will take some work, they don't have "listen on 108.00FM" by the looks of it. Will have to research more.
Another problem is FFMPEG.
This is the encoding software that would be used. Getting it to work well is hard, getting it to change inputs (show jpeg when there is nothing going on, eg at night) looks hard without something in-between the camera and FFMPEG. Already on a very low powered CPU this will be hard.
Creating some sort of web interface will be best for controlling all the cameras. Turn them on/off, restart, change stream settings, audio on/off, jpeg overlay on/off etc etc...
The list goes on...
Will be fun anyway!
Don't think that I will be doing this rather than working on FURSTRE.AM and getting it improved. Most of the site work is done by Dreae the developer, I just project manage now and do some server stuff.
Tell us what you think, would you like to see live streams from cons if they allow it?
Jack,
PS, I just want to note that 4-5 cameras will cost a lot, this is for like in the future if people want it. Would be one or two max at first.
