Last week, I wrote about the proliferation of live content on the internet. Today I’m going to start a short (and open-ended) series describing a few of the new applications and websites that will help you broadcast to the world over the web.

Today’s tool is Ustream.tv, a pioneer in easy and fast live streaming.

In Short

Ustream.tv is a free service for streaming webcam footage live to the internet. Ustream.tv offers a Java chat window on each “channel” (IRC on the backend, allowing for nearly boundless customisation). Used by Chris Pirillo, Zooomr, Chris Dodd, and Leo LaPorte.

Basic history

Ustream is probably the first live streaming site to hit critical mass after the rebirth of live content (started by Justin.tv). It is incredibly simple to use and delivers instant streaming results, although I have experienced some small stream issues (likely due to scaling).

Setting up an account and stream is a simple process. Simply

1. Register
2. Login
3. Click “My Shows“
4. Create a new ‘quick show’

This will create your show with default information and a title that you set. You can change all the complexities later such as a schedule (if you decide to have one), password/chatbox details, etc.

Streaming content is sort of the anti-thesis of YouTube (or at least what YouTube has become): Ustream, by its very nature, has to be user-generated. It provides the ultimate forum for webcam confessionals, amateur (and professional) radio hosts, and it is all totally original. From this aspect, Ustream and its competitors are going to provide an interesting breath of fresh air for online video.

Thanks Editblog for posting the link to the Apple ProRes 422 codec whitepaper.

Overall the paper isn’t too technical, though I’m sure developers will get more information on deeply technical aspects soon. Some of thte highlights of the paper include:

• Degredation in quality over multiple generations. Hint - it’s very low.
• Data rates/storage requirements chart. 1080p at 29.97fps and 220mbps will set you back 1.65GB of storage per minute. At 147mbps, it’s down to 1.10GB per minute.
• The whitepaper mentions RED’s codec and P2 AVC-Intra by name, noting that they aren’t good enough for real-time software decoding. As we’ve seen in Apple’s demo videos, they are targeting broadcast markets with FCServer, and this will no doubt be extended through to ProRes.

The link to the ProRes 422 whitepaper again.

Vara Software released version three of Wirecast this week.

Wirecast is a fantastic program for creating live broadcasts of live media or pre-created media. It’s one of the few comprehensive solutions that allows for the capture, layout, and (now) streaming of live events.

The newest version of Wirecast, which is available for Mac OSX and Windows XP features the ability to stream from the built-in streaming server as opposed to one that you provide, support for High-Def video, a Windows scripting interface, and some other small improvements.

I’ve obtained an evalutation license and I’ll be reviewing this fantastic program (Version Two of which I had the fortune of beta testing a year or so ago). Look out for that either tommorow or Saturday.