Ongoing Challenges of 360-Degree Webcasting
Live streaming or we call it web streaming has been blooming ever since its existence and has become a core marketing strategy for digital marketers. It allows the audience to access and enjoy the live events which they are unable to attend due to geographical constraints. Live 360-degree streaming makes the event even more exciting by allowing the audience to get immersed in the live moment.
Live 360-Degree Streaming
360 streaming solutions have helped many businesses and brand events to gain a much-desired hike thereby attracting a large number of audience attention to catch live web streaming. In the current era of digitalization, a large number of VR webcasting services clubbed with 360-degree video are available in the market, selecting the best streaming service depends upon the needs and demands of your business or brand event.
360-degree webcasting gives a sense of freedom to the audience to enjoy and access the scene from the event which they like. An event seems to unfold in front of the eyes of the virtual audience when VR webcasting is combined with 360-degree live video.
In a static live video streaming, showing the glimpses of the ongoing live event rely on the cameraman but with 360-degree webcasting, the viewer can select where to look from the entire event as it captures the 360-degree view of the event.
360-degree webcasting can simply be accessed using a headset, smartphone, laptop, or PC. But have you ever heard goodies come alone? However, with technological advancements, 360 streaming solutions offer various opportunities for businesses and brands to leverage but it often comes with various challenges too. Streaming live is not as simple as it seems to be. 360-degree live streaming comes with various challenges which are quite intense when compared to static live streaming solutions.
Let’s have a brief insight into some challenges faced during 360-degree streaming videos.
1. A strong bandwidth is required for 360-degree webcasting
With advancements in technology, 360 streaming solutions have become the most accessible medium for the audience to catch the free moving live event. Social media platforms like Facebook and Youtube have incorporated 360-degree webcasting in its algorithms and started offering 360 streaming solutions that help many brands and businesses to webcast live events and reach millions around the globe. But when we talk about 360-degree webcasting for an event, bandwidth plays a major role.
The importance of bandwidth even increases when a brand or business opt for a 360 streaming solution instead of VR webcasting or static live streaming. Checking the broadband connectivity prior to a live event is a must to check any faults in bandwidth connectivity as a large number of audiences will stream live at the time of live webcast and 360 views of the event will be captured. A team of technical experts assures a successful delivery of 360-degree live video as it involves some restrictions. Due to technical glitches in the past few years, the development of 360 streaming solutions has been hampered.
2. Showcasing the right 360° video content for a better experience
If we check the stats, a dichotomy has been going around between the virtual audiences and the broadcasters of the live event. It has been recorded that a large percentage of the audience has voted for 360-degree webcasting as the best virtual event experience. A large number of webcasting owners have a puzzle regarding 360-degree live video and they worry about showcasing the Live event from 360-degree view thinking that will it look good enough or not. Live 360-degree webcasting enhances the audience’s experience by making them part of the event completely. The 360-degree camera can be used in any environment which makes it quite tough for a broadcaster to only deliver decent content without any hassle and deliver the best and relevant content to live audiences.
Shooting the content right is the first step to deliver the best viewing experience to the virtual audience. Some content in the event can be captured by multiple 360 degrees cameras when you need to capture large areas and the focal point is moving around.
When multiple 360-degree cameras are used to take a shot of an event, a focal point of the stream is enabled. A team of experts can mix the footage of the event from various corners of the event thereby giving overwhelming experience to viewers by offering multiple angles of the event without missing a single stance.
3. 360-degree stream requires a lot of arrangements
Unlike VR streaming and web streaming, hiding crew members of the event become quite difficult in 360-degree webcasting. It will disturb the viewers’ experience to watch the live webcast of an event by creating a hindrance. It is quite simple to overcome the barrier in static live streaming or post-production videos as it can be edited by creative techniques. In 360 degree webcasting, the broadcaster even needs to arrange camera shots as 360 streaming solutions holds an issue of camera shots getting clicked themselves. Any brawl movements are likely to reduce the number of online live audiences as it may even lead to motion sickness and make audiences turn off the live stream. Reducing the intensity of 360-degree camera shots allows viewers to access each part of the event patiently which they enjoy. While a 360-degree webcasting camera operator must ensure the focal point should be positioned in the center of the camera shot.
360 live streaming solution has been growing at a faster rate in the current era. It is likely to grow even more in the coming years and the challenges are anticipated to overcome by the next year or so thereby allowing 360-degree webcasting to flourish. One can create an interactive experience with 360-degree webcasting of an event to keep viewers engaged. It has been believed that after the technological challenges are resolved with 360-degree video many other benefits of 360-degree streaming are yet to be witnessed.