Footbag livestreamers' thread

[Muffinman]

Hey guys!
A bunch of us were livestreaming our solo and club shred sessions on UStream.tv (http://www.ustream.tv) via webcam a few years ago. It recently came up in a discussion in the Facebook group and Nick Polini and myself decided that we want to bring it back.


WHAT IS LIVESTREAMING?
Livestreaming is the act of using a video capture device (like a webcam or video camera) to broadcast yourself live, online for others to see. What this means for footbag is basically the ability to watch live footbag TV. If you're unfamiliar with livestreaming sites, it works kind of like this:
1) Make an account (you don't have to be a streamer)
2) If you have an account you can either create a channel and livestream your shred from your computer OR you can watch others' livestreams (or both). The benefit of creating an account even if you don't stream yourself is that you can "follow" a streamer and be notified instantly by email when that streamer goes live. This is especially efficient if you have email push notifications set on your smart phone, so your notification is actually instant.
3) With enough players streaming around the world again, we could essentially, theoretically, have a 24/7 footbag TV channel running!!

If anyone needs help setting up an account I can try. Send me a PM or Facebook message or something. Something else that we can do to expedite the accumulation of shred livestreaming channels is to list all streamers' channel URLs in this first post, so that anyone from the community that's interested can simply come in here, visit all the channels and follow all public shred streams. I'll start with my and Nick's channels. Post your channel URLs in a reply below and I'll add them to the list. I remember some prominent names used to stream regularly like Ben Skaggs, Chris Dean, TJ Boutorwick, Matt Cross?...


BENEFITS OF LIVESTREAMING
So, some benefits of livestreaming include:
-getting live ideas from other community members during schooling sessions on what to work on
-watching great players during their schooling sessions, and requesting cool combos/tricks!
-getting hype and energy from the community during solo sessions to push you further
-creating greater bonds within the community where more people are communicating 1-on-1 on a regular basis, including voice chat (at least 1-way)
-watching club sessions unfold
-seeing some of your favourite players shred live, and interacting with them live
-online, cross-continental shred sessions WHENEVER YOU WANT with friends you only get to see in person once a year
-I dunno, it's super fun and rewarding for everyone! Get on it!!!


BENEFITS FOR NEW PLAYERS
This can be PARTICULARLY beneficial for new or beginner-level players as well. Higher-level players are often more than willing to give advice and training recommendations to newer players and being able to watch you play live makes for an exceptional platform for providing that kind of support. Are you struggling with a trick or concept? Can't figure out inside kicks? Around the worlds? Pixie sets? Post in the Facebook group a time (and timezone) that you plan on streaming and ask for other players to tune in and give you feedback. Some of the best players in the world cite that the best way to improve is to play with players way beyond your skill level. When that isn't possible, this may just be the next best thing!


TIPS FOR STREAMERS
-Allow anonymous viewers to chat (for those who don't want to make a UStream account just to watch): Select channel > chat > chat settings
-Set quality to low for smother motion -- "HQ" may result in excessive lag that can make it difficult for viewers to see what's happening. Get viewer feedback to test video and audio quality
-Set default chat widget from social stream to chat (I guess?) It was a bit confusing at first where chat was supposed to happen:
1) open pulldown menu from top right of screen
2) channel settings
3) select the channel you've streaming on
4) select chat on left (click the channel name again if it's not there)
5) check the box "display chat" -- optionally uncheck the "display social stream" box so people don't get confused about where to chat with the streamer and other viewers
-Set permissions for anonymous viewers to be able to chat too: channel settings > choose channel on left > chat > chat settings > "allow anonymous visitors to chat also"


TIPS FOR VIEWERS
-download a browser app to block ads? Some viewers were getting lots of ads, while others weren't; I use AdBlock Plus and it works great.


SAMPLE VIDEO FROM 2008 EVENT
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9WWMOpVdHk[/youtube]


LISTING OF FOOTBAG LIVESTREAM CHANNELS
Chan, Erik: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hackrifice-shred
Gauthier, Mathieu: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mathieu-shreds-every-day
Gressett, Paul: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/metzelrio
Hamilton, Taylor: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/alaska-footbag
Polini, Nick: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/watch-nic ... ey-re-hott
Price, Aaron: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/akprice
Whitney, Tony: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-shedi-kicks

[MetZelRio]

Paul Gressett

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/metzelrio

[Muffinman]

Wicked! Added!

[akprice]

Aaron Price

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/akprice

[Muffinman]

Added

[LinoSphere]

this was cool, just shortly dropping in on your session, erik. stream quality made it hard to follow, though. could still see enough, but not really pleasing sound was really choppy, but i guess these are the compromises for having live footbag streaming. it is just nice to see someone playing live somewhere far away. makes the scene feel more connected in a way, and the world a little bit smaller there should really be people streaming from all the different places where footbag is played, from colombia to japan!

i'll try and set up a session with jakob sometime in the future, and if we do it at the uni, we should even have a pretty fast upstream.

[Muffinman]

Thanks for the feedback, Matthias! I was so happy that you joined. What a surprise!
Good to know about the quality. The guys had said last time that it was fine. I'm curious just how choppy it was, 'cause Nick's was fine for me when I watched it. Would love more feedback about that from anyone who watched today.

[acxel22]

here's mine

http://ustre.am/1aqEM

[Muffinman]

Great! Added

[Muffinman]

Added new instructions for displaying chat:
1) open pulldown menu from top right of screen
2) channel settings
3) select the channel you've streaming on
4) select chat on left (click the channel name again if it's not there)
5) check the box "display chat" -- optionally uncheck the "display social stream" box so people don't get confused about where to chat with the streamer and other viewers

[sen]

I might try this out at some point. Not sure my phone will be high enough quality.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-shedi-kicks

[Muffinman]

Nice!
The list is growing