Introduction to Wirecast

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to quickly introduce the layout and interface of Wirecast as well as lead into further articles to teach anyone new to live streaming everything they will need to know to get started.

Contents

1. Launching Wirecast
2. Control/Status Bar
3. Broadcast Area
4. Shot Selection Area
5. Shot Editor Panel
6. Output Settings
7. Other Resources

Launching Wirecast

As part of the set up process that all Striv schools go through a file is made with all the presets for that school. This file is called a Wirecast template with the file extension '.wcst'. This template is most often stored on the computer's desktop and named after the school. For our example we will be using Crete High School.

After finding and opening the template file, Wirecast will open with the presets already loaded. Below we see the interface.

1. Control/Status Bar
2. Broadcast Area
3. Shot Selection Area
4. Shot Editor Panel

Control/Status Bar

Below are two different views of the control/status bar. The first is is what the control/status bar looks like before you start streaming. The second is the view during a stream and contains information about the stream.

The status bar is a very important source of information on the health of your stream. If the stream button turns orange or red then you know there are problems with your stream. Additionally you can see if viewers are getting a smooth picture by checking the FPS/Dropped. If the FPS is too low or there are too many dropped frames the stream will look choppy. Next the Bitrate is a measure of how much data is being sent per second. The more data, the clearer the picture will look but the harder your computer and network will have to work. Which brings us finally to CPU usage, this number might spike up for a moment but should never remain over 70% for long periods of time.

Broadcast Area

The broadcast area is where you can see/hear what is going out to the viewers. The broadcast area can be divided into three parts, the preview area, the live broadcast area, and the transition controls area.

The preview area is on the left side and has its own set of audio controls as well as the ability to preview the audio by clicking the headphones icon on the left side. Along the left side of the preview window is both a preview audio output display as well as a volume slider for preview audio.

The live broadcast area on the right is an exact representation of what viewers see. It too has audio controls with the speaker icon allowing you to mute your stream, the headphone icon allowing you to listen to your stream. Along the right side of the live window is both a live audio output display as well as a volume slider for live volume.

The transition controls, located at the bottom of the broadcast area, allow you to smoothly apply the changes made in the preview side to your live broadcast. This is done by clicking the above labeled button with an arrow pointing to the right or by pressing the space bar.

note: to lower CPU usage don't have both the preview and live broadcast area's open during your stream.

Shot Selection Area

The shot selection area is where shots live. A shot is a preset of inputs, assets, or any other media and how it should be displayed. For instance a shot can contain a camera feed, an audio feed, and the scoreboard all at once. There are five layers which means there can be up to five shots active at once though most functionality can be achieved with only one shot active.

The add shot option will be covered in detail in subsequent articles.

Shot Editor Panel

The shot editor panel is where all the fine adjustments of shots happens. To view the settings for a particular shot, simply select it in the shot selection area and open the shot editor panel by clicking the double arrows to the left of the broadcast area. The shot editor panel has six tabs. In order from left to right they are the Shot Layers Tab, Shot Layer Properties Tab, Audio Properties Tab, Chroma Key Properties Tab, Smooth Transition Properties Tab, and Additional Properties Tab.

For now we will only be going over the Shot Layers Tab, Shot Layer Properties Tab, and the Additional Properties Tab.

Shot Layers Tab

In this tab you can:

• Rename your shot
• Add, remove, or reorder layers
• mute or hide layers
• select a layer to edit using the other five tabs

Shot Layer Properties Tab

In this tab you can:

• Adjust the size, position, rotation, and opacity of the selected layer
• Crop off part of the layer
• Adjust the color settings of the layer
• Enable and adjust a drop shadow for the layer

Additional Properties Tab

This tab changes depending on what type of layer is selected for that reason there is no image shown. It contains all settings that are specific to any type of input whether it be screen capture, camera feed, or media file.

Output Settings

The output settings is where you tell Wirecast where to send your stream.

There are a few important boxes to look at. For your Wirecast there should be information in the Address and Stream boxes as well as login information already set with the Set Credentials button however if this is lost all that information can be found on your school dashboard under settings > steam config or by downloading a pre-made template for your school.

The Encoder Presets dialog, accessible by clicking the gear icon next to the Encoding drop down in the Output Settings, controls the quality of your stream. Below are the recommended starting settings. For a more in depth look at these settings look at our article on internet speed

Other Resources

For a full overview of Wirecast, the user guide is available here.