February 7, 2013 - 12:35
I`ve been asked for advice as to how to set up a live streaming facility at a local zoo, something I`ve absolutely no experience in! Basically, they want to have a camera showing live shots of a hive so that interested persons can go to a website & view what`s happening, so any suggestions would be most welcome, thanks.
February 7, 2013 - 12:51
#1
Re: Bee Surveillance
Do they have a budget for this?
Do they know how many viewers they are expecting to get?
Do they have a proper internet connection (not an ADSL which is in general use by office staff / wifi hotspot users)
Are they happy with a low key solution where a 3rd party CDN is used (either expensive, or stream will have adverts inserted) or do they want full control / ad free?
It is not completly trivial to get this working, and it won't be cheap (if they are assuming that because skype is free then a permenant live webcam will also be cheap then they are wrong).
If its a real project (rather than a "nice idea" with no budget) then I'd be happy to help you get the correct solution in place for them. But if they think its all going to happen for a couple of hundred quid then they are not correct.
February 7, 2013 - 14:12
#2
Re: Bee Surveillance
Tom, I understand that they are applying for a Lottery Grant.
February 7, 2013 - 14:33
#3
Re: Bee Surveillance
which could be anything from £500 to £5,000,000 !
They will need to budget around £300 ($500) per month to spend on the streaming hosting + a couple of grand equipment costs + installation / setup costs (probably another grand). They will need dedicated bandwith, either via a dedicated fibreoptic broadband line, or if they already have a very good internet connection they can allocate the bandwith to the streaming IP on their router (may need additional network infrastructure and configuration which could cost another couple of grand)
If they have £6000 - £10,000 pounds then it is probably viable to get a good system in place for the general public which can be embedded on their website and on facebook etc. If they would like to stream to universities via Janet then this will incure additional costs, but could be attractive to funders.