6 更多的 Expert Tips for Successful Streaming With Facebook Live

当我们开始新的一年, I predict that we’ll see a continued increase of live streaming on Facebook Live. 对很多群体来说, 非营利组织, 政府部门, Facebook Live provides all of the tools necessary to organize a live-streaming event—an event calendar, 发布工具和api来启动和运行流, 与观众现场互动, and automatic archiving of the live stream for later viewing.

As I assist new and existing clients in the Facebook Live space, 我经常遇到特殊情况. 我提出了一些建议 a few months back, and here are more tips and recommendations to share:

1. 音频要求: Given that the default behavior of Facebook video is to automatically play with muted audio in your news feed, I thought that a live stream published without an audio track wouldn’t be an issue. However, Facebook Live will not publish a live stream if there is no audio track present. 最近, 和一个非营利性的荒野保护组织合作, 我被要求协助进行水下直播. There was no microphone or audio to carry with the live video image. In order to publish the feed, we added a silent, low-bitrate audio track. 我们使用FFmpeg来发布RTMP提要, and silence was added by using the switches -f lavfi -i anullsrc after the video input switches.

2. 凭据锁定: In larger organizations where one or more administrators on a Facebook page manage contributors’ and editors’ access, make sure credentials are checked for validity in the hours leading up to a live-stream event. 我协助过的小组不止一次, administrators had changed a point person’s access to a Facebook page. If possible, have a backup account ready that also has approval to publish a live stream.

3. 音频采样率一致性: If you are mixing multiple video sources into a live stream, make sure all sampling rates for the audio track match each other. If you initialize an RTMP stream with one sampling rate such as 44.1kHz，然后转到48 khz.0kHz sampling rate, the audio pitch of the live stream will be adversely affected. 大多数, 如果不是全部, video mixing software such as vMix and Telestream Wirecast will resample all outbound audio sampling rates to a fixed rate, but server-side-based management of sources may not be able to resample audio rates on-the-fly.

4. 档案冗余: Don’t rely solely on Facebook Live’s archive of a live stream. Always record to one or more locally attached storage devices. 如果在直播流中检测到任何受版权保护的音乐, Facebook Live’s processing engine may not allow the archive to publish after the event.

5. 活跃的版主: 大多数, 如果不是全部, live streams are going to have active online participants commenting on them. Some may post questions, expecting timely answers while the stream is happening. 在您的活动准备期间, make sure you’ve assigned more than one person to moderate and respond to the live commentary. Facebook Live enables administrators of Facebook pages and events to “post as” the page owner, 而不是在个人的Facebook账户名下. Don’t unnecessarily expose identities of individuals working for the organization in a live feed—give those admins authority to speak for the organization.

6. 适当的规划: 确定找到你的听众的最佳方式. Many organizations are still learning how to use social media to expand their marketing reach. 像这样, initial forays into Facebook Live streaming may result in impromptu live sessions posted directly on the organization’s Facebook page without much notice to potential attendees. Depending on the size of your potential audience and the intention of your live stream, you may find it better to create an event on your Facebook page. By creating an event ahead of your intended livestream time, you can gauge audience participation by seeing who has marked themselves as Interested or Attending.

I fully expect Facebook Live to continue to thrive as a means to expand audience reach and awareness. I won’t be surprised to see more innovative features in the coming year.

[This article appears in the January/February 2018 issue of 流媒体杂志 作为“更多Facebook Live Lessons”."]