It’s been a few weeks since Vara Software released Wirecast, version 3, but I’ve finally weeded through all the chaos of our Oratos union and I’m now set to review it.
Editor’s Note: I’m using a special trial version of the program that is not feature-limited, however it will expire after three-months. The license for this special version (often provided to journalists interested in reviewing software), was graciously provided by Vara.
My experience with the software has been fantastic so far. Version 3 is a major improvement over version two, although there are several quirks in it that one wouldn’t expect. More after the jump….
When you run Wirecast, the first interface you’ll see is this:
This is the primary interface that you’ll get to know, love, and despise throughout your tenure with Wirecast. From here, you switch video, control transition types, and speeds - the primary functions of the program. On the left, below the video area, you’ll see a column with rows such as “Foreground”, “Title”, “Audio”, etc. You can add media into any of these panels, and then during the switching process you can click over to one of these panels to launch media from them.
To get started in your live-switching process, you’re going to want to add some video. If you have live video sources plugged into your computer already (for example a cheap webcam or an HDV camera), you can switch over to these now and see them appear in the video area. I don’t have any Live Sources though so I’ll add some.
The new shot interface is relatively straightforward, simply click the “+” at the bottom of the screen to add a new media file. You can use the “A” “B” and “C” buttons to define which media file it is, so if you use, for example, a picture-in-picture view, the program doesn’t get confused. When you’re done, you close. I’m not sure about Mac (the native OS for this program) but it seems to me that there is a lack of “OK”s and “Cancel”s. Windows users are used to having to tell things Ok and Cancel, and this program is somewhat of a departure from that. Another thing that’s strange is that there is no MPEG support! Perhaps decompressing MPEGs is too intensive for a real-time app, but it seems strange that such a widely used format isn’t supported.
Most of the interfaces are the same. A few add options to change the position of the media (for example the title interface) or to add effects, but they generally follow the same pattern. It’s easy to jump from one to the next with relatively no trouble.
The next most important window (in my opinion) is the Broadcast Settings window. This is where you control the output formats and streams of your new live video.
You get all sorts of crazy options here. You can push or pull to or from a service. You can choose from a preset or create your own (for better compression or better quality). This is also where you “annotate” your media file (add in info such as Name/Author). This version of Wirecast for Windows embeds a Quicktime Streaming Server, meaning Windows users are no longer limited to WMV (out of the box). You can even record to disc if you want.
This is a fairly basic look at the program, but there is so much that it has to offer. I only went into basic functionality that most users need, but there is a lot more at work here. You can view statistics on your video, alter viewable layers, and so much more. Wirecast is truly a feature-packed program that anyone at any scale should consider for their video-switching needs. There may be a few quirks for Windows and MPEG users, but that doesn’t prevent it from ruling its market because of one factor: ease-of-use.
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JUst a follow up. Is there a way to use wirecast with services such as ustream and stickam and if so how?
Thanks
John
John -
As far as I know, there is no way to do this. Ustream and stickam tap right into your webcam, so in order to do this, Wirecast would have to “spoof” your web cam. An application that does this is CamTwist on OS X (there is a windows alternative - the name slips me). CamTwist would provide what you’re looking for.
Chris
Thanks Chris
Thats what I thought. Wirecast is still excellent software all the same
Is there a place a person that provides training for wirecast. We purchased it but have yet to use it, and I would really like some help. thanks,
kay:
I haven’t had a chance to study these in depth, but here are a few resources that might help you out:
Tutorial:
http://soundscreen.com/streaming/webcast/wirecast_tutorial/
A demo of Wirecast and Videocue:
http://www.newmediamanitoba.com/content/view/38/1/
And, of course, Vara’s support page:
http://www.varasoftware.com/support/
Interested in getting wirecast3 but can’t find or figure out how the output works on a mac for live video projection. would rather use wirecast instead of my videonics 4 ch mixer. Is there a way to have a Composite out put?
Hi guys my from is El salvador Small contry in the world, well it does not matter, Just explain beacuse my English is wery well.
Anyway Just I want tell that is posible, you can use wirecast with Ustream.tv is one way I do .
Just use you imagination:
You have to find 1 program capture screen in my case is (Webcam Max beacuse use windows ) so find one for mac, select the area where program take, them open the wirecast , position exactly on select area and you can see in the Ustream panel Webcam Max or the program you have .
so I hope this comment help, if you have any question just let me know….
Dreaming is the beginning of reality, while working on building it.
Jose Elias Lopez ( * _ * )
Sorry I want to Say my English is not wery well .
I hope understand my English..
Dreaming is the beginning of reality, while working on building it.
Jose Elias Lopez ( * _ * )
Hey All,
Just a quick follow up to the question regarding wirecast and ustream.
I like wirecast so much that i actually use it for the live effects. Then I use camtwist to capture the portion of the desktop that the wirecast preview is. The quality isn’t as good as if i had a natural stream going straight from wirecast, but this is as close as i’ve gotten.
Camtwist is awesome, but doesn’t have the usability of wirecast.
my 2ยข
Update for those asking about Wirecast and Ustream - yes you can. The new release (3.5) allows you to select Flash encoding and upload direct to services such as Ustream.
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