Bambuser Review: A Simple 在线直播 Interface, but No Frills
This is part two of our four-part series reviewing the live streaming services. 读了 介绍和直播审查.
Bambuser的 优点包括整体的易用性, support for over 300 mobile devices for broadcasting and playback, 提供多个视频流的能力, 和一个紧凑的嵌入式播放器. 另一方面, Bambuser lacks the traffic offered by Ustream, 贾斯汀g.tv, 和转播画面, making it a bad choice if you're hoping your live streaming service provider (LSSP) can direct eyeballs to your videos, and Bambuser generally offers fewer features than these other sites.
Bambuser的频道页面 is plain and non-configurable, but functional. The default view is a world map that shows the location of the broadcaster, 哪个是独特的，有趣的. Other tabs show basic site 信息 like location and owner, 观众评论, 共享功能, 其中包括发布到Facebook的链接, 推特, 还有其他一些服务, 还有聊天. The channel page also provides access to all archived videos, 加上其他Bambuser广播公司的直播视频.
Bambuser的 access control is especially limited: videos are either public, 让任何人看, 或私人, 只有你能看着他们的地方, 但没有中间地带. Other sites offer the ability to password protect videos, a useful option. Other sites also offer more established programs for pay-per-view and subscription offerings, so Bambuser shouldn't be your top choice if you're seeking to monetize your video.
图1. Bambuser的频道页面.
Bambuser的嵌入式播放器结构紧凑，功能强大, packing a relevant range of features into a tight space that will fit neatly into a web page. 你可以根据自己的喜好定制尺寸, and choose whether or not to include features like a Facebook Like button, 共享选项, 对存档内容的访问, 以及基本的账户信息. A preview mode makes it easy to see which options you're selecting.
图2. Bambusers的嵌入选项.
然而, Bambuser doesn't offer advanced features like Ustream's extensions, 或者安排广播的能力. Bambuser also can't match features like accessing Facebook and 推特 chat during your broadcasts, 还有哪些其他服务, and it can't embed a player in Facebook so that video is played there; you can only provide a link within Facebook.
用Bambuser广播
Bambuser的 browser-based broadcast console is easy to use, but lacks features like the ability to specify an outbound audio and video data rate, 对于流畅的直播性能来说，哪些是必不可少的. 如图3所示, 你也有音量控制, 帧速率控制, 还有聊天的权限, 以及共享选项.
图3. Bambuser基于网络的广播模块.
The embedded player worked well during playback on my desktop computer and Toshiba Thrive, but the Flash drive player didn't appear on my iPad or iPod Touch, 尽管Bambuser很快就会提供HTML5嵌入代码. The videos did play on my iOS devices from the channel page on Bambuser. 在所有平台上, 视频以最小的延迟播放, but video quality was marred by faint blockiness throughout, which I saw in all video created using the Flash Player-based browser encoder.
图4. Bambuser的紧凑和高效的嵌入式播放器.
追求更高质量, 我去了Bambuser的频道页面, which has clear instructions for working with third party tools like the Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder (FMLE) and Telestream Wirecast. 具体地说, you can download an XML file from your channel page to import into these tools that provides all the necessary login credentials and server addresses. After that, it's business as usual; choose your audio and video sources and start the broadcast.
使用H的视频质量明显更好.264编解码器可在Wirecast和FMLE, plus you get much more precise controls for audio and video bandwidth. If you choose Bambuser as your live streaming service provider, you should definitely consider using one of these third-party services.
Since one of Bambuser的 key strengths is mobile-based broadcasting, I ran some quick tests using the company's iPhone/iPod Touch app. Once I downloaded the free app and logged in, broadcasting was simple. 不像大多数其他服务, 如果你在带宽有限的管道上广播, Bambuser captures the video on your mobile device at full quality and can upload the higher quality file after the broadcast is complete. That way, you have a high quality version to serve as your on-demand file.
图5. Bambuser的移动播放器上的广播很简单.
另一方面, Bambuser lacked features like polling and chat that were available on Ustream's iPhone app, though how you could shoot video on an iPhone and chat at the same time is beyond me (you probably need to be a teenager to accomplish that).
Consider Bambuser for your live broadcasts if you need extensive mobile support, Bambuser在哪里列出的 http://bambuser.com/phones. It's also a good choice for those looking for overall ease of use, since the relative lack of features does translate into a cleaner interface with less options. Avoid Bambuser if you're seeking eyeballs or established programs for video monetization.
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