Video sites that are full of user-generated content have made producers out of anyone with an internet connection -- but uploading a video of your dachshund barking the theme to Night Court is a far cry from broadcasting live. Up until very recently, live web video was more akin to a jittery slide show.
Fortunately, the Advanced Products team at Yahoo! quietly launched Yahoo! Live, a free web app that allows you to use your Mac’s built in camera and microphone to broadcast your own live video and audio. Since its launch, Yahoo Live! has been streaming all sorts of content, from an Obama rally to a live episode of Diggnation (which proved to be a bit too popular, temporarily crashing the still-experimental service). Read on and we’ll show you how to get started broadcasting your own show.
First, go to live.yahoo.com. Click on “Get Started Now!” and log in with your Yahoo! username and password (obviously, if you don’t have one already, you’ll need to create one).
As soon as you log in, name your channel. This also creates the URL that you provide to anyone who wants to tune in. (By default, your channel is considered “public,” meaning this URL may be linked from the main Yahoo Live! page when your channel is active. This can be changed later in your profile.)
After clicking on “Create My Channel,” you are taken to your channel’s main screen. An Adobe Flash Player Settings dialog box will appear, asking you to grant access to your machine’s camera and microphone. Select “Allow” and click on “Close.”
A lot of people seem to hit a snag here. Some users report no dialog box appearing or even worse, a large gray square in place of the page’s content. In both situations, swinging by the Adobe website to download the newest Flash player seems to be the remedy.
If everything is working as it should, you’ll see live video in the lower left corner of the screen overlaid with the text “Not Broadcasting.” Click the blue “Go Live” button and you’ll see your video feed in the main screen in the upper left side of the page. This is what everyone who visits your channel is seeing.
And that’s it! You’re live! Other controls can be found in the lower left corner of the screen as well.
Clicking on “Edit Settings” allows you to choose alternate audio and video inputs, such as firewire devices, making the utility flexible for various live performance set-ups.
The fader on the right side of your video monitor controls your outgoing audio level. If you experience problems getting audio to work, try de-selecting and re-selecting the audio source you want to use (This is kind of a jiggle-the-handle solution, but it seems to fix the problem in most cases).
Visitors to your channel will be able to chat in the upper right side of the screen. Other users who are broadcasting video will have a little green television icon next to their name. Clicking on a user’s name will bring up a menu of options, allowing you to ban a user (very useful if you plan to have a public channel) or move the user to the panel of four small screens at the bottom of the page, where they will be able to contribute their own audio and video to the channel.
Now that you know how to get everything up and running, don’t forget to shut it down when you’re finished. You never know who’s watching.
