How to live stream with Canon Vixia HG20
So I bought the Canon HG20. Sweet!
"Wait...What do you mean I can't stream my video live from the camera straight into my computer via usb!" @#$%^
Spent a whole bunch of money on a camera and the thing doesn't stream live on its own.
I researched online and found nothing. So I did what only a few of us do anymore; I went to store. I physically walked into Best Buy. I walked around the store for an hour(no lie) and by the way no employee stopped me to ask if I needed help. It seems as if they only ask if you need help when you don't need any.
So I gave up and started walking to the door, but then I realized there was a single triangular shaped box peeking from underneath the sale items in the digital camera accessories.
It read, "Sima Vivo Video streaming kit for camcorders".
This is what I was looking for...well... I was really looking for the mythical USB to Firewire converter. It could happen. But the Sima Vivo Video is the next best thing. It came into my life at the right time. I was about to give up. Price was not too bad...around $75.
I go the usb streaming gadget...so now what?
Follow the instructions, install the driver. And now you are ready to stream live.
Well almost...dont fret...your almost there.
Now you need to choose what site you are going to use to stream live...so you can let your friends know, "hey check me out at www.livestream.com/fourthdimension or whatever name you choose". Viva lets you stream live for free from Livestream.com. But you can use it to stream live from any of the other sites.
There is other free streaming sites such as: Ustream.tv, Justin.tv and Stickam.com and you can customize your stream page like I here(still working on it): www.ustream.tv/channel/4d-tv
Being a little O.C.D...I made multiple pages on some of these different streaming sites and Im still trying to figure out which one streams with the best quality for free.
Check the sites out. Some are better for personal use and others are good for companies trying to go live and brand themselves.
Let me know what you think.
Comments
Thank for sharing Cata.
I bought the kit as you suggested and installed drivers and all but I can't get anything to recognize the camera. Any ideas where to trouble shoot?
Greg
Hi Greg. Please note that your computer will not recognize your hd cam as it would if it was a regular digital (picture)camera. Make sure you have installed driver properly and restarted your computer in the proper manner. (Sometimes it helps to shut down and restart a second time)
Make sure your camera powerplug is plugged into the wall power outlet. Your computer should recognize your Sima video usb interface plug in. Open your livestream procaster program and go to your live streaming site. I hope this helps at least a little.
I have searched high and low for something to allow my cam to stream into PC. Ive been through a zillion softwares: orangeware WebCamDV, etc. nothing works. frustrated. Now, I will try what u said and im let u know what happens. I'm even going with the same camcorder maybe. Im let u know what happens
Thanks for sharing...I hope this helps
Thanks for all this. I purchased the interface and Ustream recognizes that I have the software, but I do not get a video signal. The screen is green and pixelated.
I loaded the software and plugged in the camera. I have a Canon HG20 as well. Any ideas? Thanks again!
I did not encounter that problem. Sometimes you have to plug into a different usb port. Sometimes you have to restart the computer several times til the hardware/driver/software and camera start jiving together. If a different USB port and restarting doesnt work. Consider reinstalling driver
Still no go. Tried re-installing drivers. Even downloaded a new driver from the web. We are talking about the Syntek 1160. Any other ideas? Thanks!
First of all Im sorry that didnt help. I contacted Vivo with your issue and asked them to reply on this post. Not sure if they will...but im pretty sure they will email me back soon. I will keep you updated. Let me know if you solve your issue before-hand.
All the best! Good Luck.
Hi everyone, I have not seen this particular error before, but I have passed this email on to our support team who will look into it further and respond as soon as possible.
Here are my initial thoughts on what could be wrong:
- The computer or operating system may not be fully supported by the device. Due to backwards compatibility issues in Windows, some newer computers with 64-bit operating systems may have issues.
- It could be a USB port issue. If multiple USB devices are plugged in, there could be an issue where the computer cannot power all of them.
- It is possible that the device is working correctly, but the wrong camera source is selected on Ustream
Hope that helps! I'll follow up here when I have more information, or feel free to email us directly at support@vivolive.com.
Thanks a million for stopping by Chris! Good to know Vivo support...is really there for its users!
Thanks for all your help. Let me see if I can add more information to help you.
I have actually plugged in the device in two PC's one at home and one at work. The one at home gives me the green/pixelated screen. My work computer is just black.
Neither computer is new, in fact, rather on the old side. They are both running XP.
Also when I plug in the device each time, it asks to load the driver. Should I need to do this each time I connect the device? Shouldn't it already recognize the driver since the first install?
The other issue is that I did by this on eBay. The device was sealed in its original box.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any other information. I'll do the best I can. Thanks again for your attention to this!
Im glad this information is getting out there. Canon should have made their HD cams "plug-n-stream". I hope you can solve your issue.
Thanks for this helpful informaton!
Can you tell me if this kit thing might be required for a camcorder such as the HF M300? Or would a simple converter cable work the same (using UStream)?
Can you tell me how this would affect battery life? How long could one expect a battery rated at 6 hours or so to last doing live streaming?
Also does anybody at the Vivo team know if this usb product would work with a wireless USB hub (as the only device plugged in) to let things go wireless? (I'm hoping to do live concert broadcast for a local band, and I'm using a Steadicam, so portability is important)
Thanks very much!
This post is pretty old now, but can anyone tell me if the Vivo streams in HD? I can't find any specs at all about input and output resolutions.
The few times I streamed with this it was not hd...sorry but the people logged in seemed to hang out for a while.
cata12 2 years ago
Here is another tutorial about how to live stream with Canon Vixia HF10: http://www.thehdstandard.com/tutorials/how-to-conn
Catalin
Professional Streaming Consultant