Father and Son, James and John Knowles, talk about the Urban Crystals and what it means to be Live on the internet. A highlight of our first Roger Smith Live Broadcast, shot outside of 125 East 47th Street. We have come a long way but have maintained our stride and interest in the arts. Creating original content and building relationships like arching bridges, we press on regardless.
What kind of artists medium would you like to see us profile in our future art investigations? Please Leave a comment below with your feedback and present us with your ideas. Thanks for watching. Till next time, stay tuned for the Live event.
New Zealand and Australian Wine Tasting NYC, Episode #727
Italian Wine Tasting NYC, Episode #728
French Wine Tasting NYC, Episode #729
In the Lab Gallery at the Roger Smith Hotel, Gary Vaynerchuk gathered with friends from the Social Media world to celebrate Wine. We filmed 5 days of Live Broadcasts at 47th and Lexington to an audience of serious Wine fanatics. It was a lively event with a super-star lineup of internet celebrities. It was a pleasure interacting with Gary V.
What was your favorite wine selection from the episodes above?
Hi peeps it’s been a minute since I’ve written this column, “Tech Tuesday”The Birdsong Review (like the new title??). Anyway…This week I review Ustream’s new standalone broadcasting program, Ustream Producer.
Ustream.tv allows you to broadcast LIVE video on the internet. “Ustream Producer” is available for Mac and PC, but here’s the deal; Flash Media Encoder (FME by Adobe) has been around for PC for quite some time. So, this is the first time one has been able to broadcast to Ustream using HQ Flash 9 H.264 video. Pardon mon Francais, but Ustream looked like total shit when you used a mac for broadcasting before this. The only program out there that could broadcast to ustream in HQ was Wirecast by Telestream, which cost around $500. So, it should come as no surprise that Telestream is the same company behind “Ustream Producer”. The cool thing is that you can now get it basically for free.
Ustream producer comes in two versions: free and premium ($200). Check out the chart for the deets on what’s different.
Wirecast is a pretty great program, and this version of “Ustream Producer” seems stable enough. The free version will only allow you to use one live camera. If you have a setup where you’ll be using a analog video switcher then a canopus or deck to output firewire into you’re comp, then you’re in luck. If you’ didnt check out the chart yet, the main dif here is: lack of titles, SD bitrate only, single cam (one source).
Here are some pics of the program.
Here is a LIVE (pre-rec) VJ set with Panman and Freakcast.
Test #1
If you’re an internet broadcaster and you use macs (for FCP), and havn’t shelled out $500 bucks for wirecast yet, this is GREAT for you. If you have shelled out the ca$h rest easy; wirecast is still a great program. You can broadcast to places other than ustream with wirecast, use titles, plus many many other features.
“Ustream Producer” offers a high quality solution for broadcasting without using a CPU power hungry browser and flash app; it’s far more efficient with it’s use of system resources. If you have high end GPU, you can use it to enhance video compression as well.
As you saw from the pix above, the app allows you to transition from one shot to another using: cut, smooth, and cross-dissolve. These are pretty much the only transitions you should ever use BTW, and you should rarely use anything ither than cut anyway. As I said before, if you use a analog video switcher, and output a mixed signal you can absolutely use multiple cams with the free version.
Overall Rating: pretty cool.
I’ll leave you with this video of some kid making his own show using ustream producer. Kids are hustlers these days.
John Birdsong is a video Producer Director Editor with Panman Productions and lives in Hipsterville, BKLYN with his Girlfriend Morgan-Jo and their cat Fanny.
This week I set out to review the different options available for LIVE internet broadcasting. There are a number of options and platforms available. The best advice is to determine YOUR needs and pick the one that suits you best.
Here is my best of list
1. USTREAM.tv
2. livestream.com
3. justin.tv
4. Qik.com
5. Kyte.tv
Some of these platforms don’t offer services that others do…for example Qik is meant only for mobile phones. while USTREAM allows streaming from a PC or mobile (iphone).
USTREAM
Right now USTREAM is my favorite. It’s really popular and offers some high profile content as well as a ton of user generated LIVE and archived content.
Pros
1. You can use flash media live encoder (if you have a fast PC) for HQ broadcasts.
2. Easy. Like really f%#ing easy.
3. New broadcaster app for iphone allows for spontaneous LIVE streaming (don’t forget to jailbrake and install ‘mobile substrate’ so you can stream over 3g).
Cons
Limited quality with mac (no plugin).
Messy UI sort of reminds me of myspace (not a good thing).
Player app for iphone doesn’t work (that sucks).
The ‘youtube’ of LIVE internet broadcast (at least for now).
Livestream.com
Pros
Gorgeous design. Site is beautiful, and easy to navigate.
Standalone app for mac (can broadcast using h.264).
Cons
Annoying (video) ads.
Unreliable recording (archiving) with mac app (to be fair: the mac app is still in beta)
Justin.TV
Pros
Says it’s compatible with Quicktime Broadcaster (HQ broadcasting for mac)
Very experimental (lots of lifecasting going on here).
Nice design.
Cons
I only got QT Broadcaster working for a minute…(crap).
Have you ever heard of justin.tv? (now you have).
Qik
Pros
Qik is pretty awesome.
Live video from your iphone (jailbroken), and certain Nokia handsets.
Syndicates really well. Press the red button and it posts to facebook (live and archived video) posts to youtube, twitter, tumblr, etc.
Cons
1. Only works on mobile phones.
Kyte
Pros
OK site design.
Offers mobile and PC broadcasting.
Quality seems good.
Cons
Have you ever heard of kyte?
Site seems heavily geared to their pay model and a little hard to navigate because of it.
Hard to navigate to FAQ and other HELP info.
Come back here every tuesday for more technology related reviews and best of lists.
MATISYAHU BRINGS ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF LIGHT TO NEW YORK CITY
Matisyahu brings his brand new album Light to hometown crowds in New York City for the Festival of Light, an impressive annual eight night stand, beginning December 10th at Webster Hall. Matisyahu will perform four nights at Webster Hall and four nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg during the eight nights of Hanukkah. Each night will have a different opening act including Glitch Mob, John Brown’s Body, Kid Koala and Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes. This is the fourth year Matisyahu has brought this special tradition to New York City.
Fans will have two chances to purchase tickets before they officially go on sale this Friday, October 23rd. American Express card members will have an exclusive pre-sale this Wednesday, October 21st beginning at 10am. The next day, members of the Matisyahu fan club, and followers of his on Twitter, will be able to buy tickets starting at 10am using a special code obtained by monitoring Matisyahus Twitter feed.
The dates are:
12/10/09 New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Glitch Mob)
12/12/09 New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ John Brown’s Body)
12/13/09 New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Dub Trio)
12/14/09 New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Brothers Past)
12/16/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Rana)
12/17/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Kid Koala)
12/19/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Travis McCoy)
12/20/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Kevin Devine)
‘One Day (Acoustic)’
Matisyahu is currently on the road behind Light which Billboard said “pushes musical boundaries: dipping into everything from guitar driven rockers to stripped down acoustic tunes.” The 40 date tour is sponsored by surf-wear brand Mavericks. Coined as “the wave beyond,” Mavericks inspires hardcore athletes to face the unpredictably raw power of Mother Nature. Matisyahu and Mavericks is a match largely in part to a shared passion for preserving the environment. The tour pulls into Anaheim at the House of Blues on Wednesday at 7pm.
Wine Library TV NYC Week LIVE at the Roger Smith Hotel! August 24-28
Gary Vaynerchuk performs Wine Library TVlive! After more than 700 episodes, Wine Library TV has taken on a life of its own, breaking down the barriers to wine appreciation for thousands. Witness the live performance as we pump the audio out to the street outside the Roger Smith Hotel while Gary swishes and spits in his trademark style.
Where:Roger Smith Hotel & Lily’s Restaurant – corner of 47th St & Lexington Ave, NYC in The Lab Gallery. The lively Gary Vaynerchukwill perform his show from inside the fishbowl style gallery as crowds gather to watch from outside the space. Wine Library TV NYC Week follows a week of live cooking shows in the gallery by Chef Daniel Mowles of Lily’s Restaurant at the Roger Smith Hotel.
Chef de cuisine Daniel Mowles delights your palate and whims in another installment of Lily’s Dinner Bell (live).
Live Streaming by Ustream.TV
Watch Chef Daniel Mowles cook LIVE! from The Lab Gallery for Installation and Performance Art on the corner of 47th st and Lexington avenue every day this week beginning at 6pm est.
Daniel is Chef de Cuisine of Lily’s Restaurant @ the roger smith hotel in NYC. He call his style of cooking, “Bold innovative new American cuisine.”
Catch it here LIVE! on ustream and on rogersmithlife.com. Stop by and try some amazing food and enter daily to win a gift certificate at Lily’s Restaurant by sharing on your facebook or twitter!
In the new technological age, the ability to broadcast Live online is an exciting development. Through Ustreamtv.com Panman Productions is a Live content generator online.Â
Here is a recap of a couple of highlight broadcasts within the last year.Â
Our first Roger Smith Live Broadcast 10.29.08
“Live at the 125″
Rajesh and James Knowles show up for a spontaneous appearance during our first broadcast. You will experience the “nuts and bolts” of the production. Â
Roger Smith Live at the 125 – 11. 4. 2008.
The unheard conversation ends up being the backbone for the direction of Panman Productions.Â
Social Media and the Live Broadcast
As a Live production company, we are able to help facilitate the upcoming trends in social media and engage in the leading discussions on the subject.
Social Media Breakfast and Social Media Week – 2.12.09
We were media sponsors for Social Media Week and broadcasted all of the events.Â
Klickable event at the Roger Smith Hotel – 2.11.09
Live Art Broadcasting
Brooklyn Art Party – 9.12.08
A party with dancers, a green screen and walls covered with art. This was our first broadcast as a team. Alex Moulton was the DJ, Kate Griffler provided the dance troop, Pyndella provided the dresses, John Knowles and Abianne Prince produced the video projection, John Birdsong directed the interactive broadcast, Jasminka Baney and Aleks Degtyrev were operating cameras, the venue was provided by Maxie Buchanan. It was a great night.Â
Mark Weiner in Pancity – 1.30.2009
On the Roof of 123 East 47th street we conducted an interactive broadcast with Mark Wiener. He painted images on a Wacom tablet as we projected images on the wall. This is part of our Art Interactive program.Â
Molly Barnes Brown Bag Lunch in the Penthouse of the Roger Smith Hotel
Lily’s LIVE episode 2 – 4.28.09
Live in the Lab Gallery at the Roger Smith Hotel.
With the mission of building social communities through the Live function we embrace the opportunity to work with individuals and companies to help them engage in this rapidly growing field of Live video online. Â
On Tuesday June 30th, 2009 we hosted an actors casting call for the Roger Smith Shorts(Festival Workshop).
Time: 11:00am-5:00pm
Location: Roger Smith Hotel Penthouse, 501 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10017
Project: 6 Short Films will be shot at the Roger Smith Hotel by emerging filmmakers in the middle of August. This is all part of the interactive film festival. Social engagement is will be our mission for the next two months. Stay tuned for more information regarding the Roger Smith Shorts.
With a social media strategy we were able to engage 6000 viewers on ustream and cast 58 actors. Of the 58 actors we will be accepting 15 to participate in the Festival Workshop. The filmmakers involved will choose from the catalog of actors that came on Tuesday. It was a competitive acting crowd. Several actors average 4-6 calls a week while others had no acting experience.
Izzy Raskin is a guest of the Roger Smith Hotel and was recomended to audition by the from front desk. He was a highlight performance of the day.
Videos from the casting call will be uploaded to youtube in the upcoming days. The five top viewed videos of the 58 actors will be featured and submitted into the festival automatically. Share the videos with your friends, rate them and post comments on your favorite actor. The top five actors will be picked by popular demand and to participate in the festival.
Thank you to all the actors who participated. It was a great turn out. A very talented crowd.
Check out the Live Recording of the Roger Smith Shorts casting call.
Stay tuned for upcoming events surround the Roger Smith Shorts (Festival Workshop). Visit http://rogersmithshorts.wordpress.com/ for more information.
