Info about Webcasting
Webcasting: A Broadcaster’s Showcase
Webcasting began in 1989 when Brian Raila of GTE Laboratories presented the idea at the InterTainment ’89 convention. His presentation relied upon the concept of buffering. Buffering entails that the viewer or the listener of a program doesn’t need to download everything at once; as long as the device used to download and present the media is quicker, and then the user could digest the program.
That may be confusing but buffering is just a little part of webcasting; in fact, buffering only involves the receipt of data. Anyway, the term was developed in the early 1990’s when webcast pioneers Mark Cubin of AudioNet, Peggy Miles of Intervoxx Communications, William Mutual of ITV.net, and Howard Gordon of Xing Technologies got together to pick a name for this new technology of being able to send audio and video on the Internet. The name webcasting was first coined by Daniel Keys Moran in his 1988 novel, The Armageddon Blues.
In 1993, the first company to broadcast over the internet is On-stream Media. WXYC, of the University of North Carolina, in 1994, became the first radio station to broadcast over the Internet. In August of 1998, the first wedding to enter the webcasting environment took place. Then, in May of 1999, the first online concert was performed live by a band from Glasgow called Travis.
Essentially, webcasting is broadcasting whether it is video or audio media over the Internet. Internet radio is a prime example of this. This type of broadcasting cannot be transferred widely through wireless means and the streaming media, which is the content of a webcast, is a continuous stream of audio that cannot be paused or replayed. Webcasting capabilities also include the user to view live presentations and business meetings as well as seminars. Private users can use social forums, such as YouTube and Bright TALK, to upload webcasts onto the Internet. These users do not need a lot of technical experience.
A person may not need a lot of technical knowledge to webcast but even sites like YouTube and Bright TALK, which lets a person just upload his or her webcast data, require steps that need to be taken before any media can be used. It is a good idea to learn about how to do a webcast from scratch to gain knowledge of, at least, how the terminology is used.
A very easy way to learn the art of webcasting is to find a free webcast site, have a camera program such as Manycam, a camera, and a microphone. First, content is important. What will the webcast be about? Is there a website related to it that should be included in the webcast?
According to the program that is used to facilitate webcasting, if there is not a website that will be connected to the webcast, it is very important to use the designing feature within the program that is being used. After the set-up is complete, record the information according to the guidelines set forth in the program and upload the program.