4.

Mac OS X

Tutorial

May 2013

Tutorials

Introduction
The best way to get started using Wirecast is to quickly work through all its main
features. This tour presents a series of three tutorials, each designed to help you
understand how to create and broadcast presentations using Wirecast.
As you work through these tutorials, you will also become familiar with important
Wirecast concepts and how you can use them to deliver high quality broadcasts. The
more you know about Wirecast, the better it will serve your broadcasting objectives.
Because each tutorial builds on the skills and knowledge you learn in the previous
tutorials, it is recommended that you take the tours in succession. Working through all
the tutorials takes about thirty minutes.
As you gain hands-on experience creating video and audio presentations - which leads
to a working knowledge of Wirecast and its components and architecture - you will
gain proficiency in using Wirecast.

Tutorials

Tutorial 1: Basic Concepts

Tutorial 2: Editing Shots

Tutorial 3: Broadcasting

Note: You can run all of the tutorials without a license. However, a watermark on the
video and an occasional voice-over on the audio are present until a valid license is
activated.

Note: For licensing information, select Preferences from the Wirecast menu, then click
Purchase License. Or, you can contact [email protected].

Tutorials
Tutorial 1: Basic Concepts

Tutorial 1: Basic Concepts

The goal of this tutorial is to provide you with a quick but successful experience
creating and broadcasting a presentation using Wirecast. This tutorial requires that you
open the tutorial document in Wirecast. To do this, select Create Document for Tutorial
from the Help menu in Wirecast. A new window opens as shown below:

Note: If you are running the tutorial with Wirecast in demonstration mode, the
Wirecast logo appears from time to time and audio output has a periodic voice-over.

The Main Window

Wirecast has two main display areas: Live Broadcast and Shot List. The Live Broadcast is
the large area in the upper portion of the window displaying what Wirecast broadcasts

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to your viewers (or records to disk). The Shot List, in the lower half of the window,
displays the shots available for broadcast:

Live Broadcast area

Shot List
Ripples shot

What Is a Shot?
Wirecast uses the concept of a shot to construct presentations. A shot contains media,
along with the settings for that media. In its simplest form, a shot contains one piece of
media such as a photo or a video clip. But it can also be something more complex, like a
live camera with a title, and background music.
A shot can be edited and its settings can be changed (See Tutorial 2: Editing Shots).
Shots are important because they enable you to configure a lot of information before
you broadcast your presentation. This enables you to concentrate on creating a good
production during your broadcast.

Switching Between Shots

Individual shots are displayed in the Shot List. Click the Ripples shot in the Shot List area
and the image fades into the Broadcast Area display. This is called taking a shot live.
Click the shot labeled Blank Shot and the Ripples image fades to a blank screen. The
Blank Shot enables you to display nothing, which is sometimes useful.

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Transitions and Go Button

Transitions
In the previous examples, a fade occurred when you clicked on a shot. This is because a
smooth transition is the default. Transition controls are located just below the
Broadcast Area where three kinds of transitions are shown: Cut, Smooth, and
Bowstring.

When Cut is selected, transitions are immediate. When Smooth is selected, transitions
fade in (as demonstrated above). Select Bowstring to implement the transition with a
wave effect (like a bow string when it is released).
To see the Bowstring effect, Click the River shot to place it in the Broadcast Area. Next,
click the Bowstring button. The Transition panel should look like this:

Now click the Ripples shot. The Ripples shot appears using the Bowstring (wave) effect.
There are more than just three kinds of transitions to choose from, but only three can
be assigned to the Transition Panel. To select a different transition type, click the small
arrow on the right side of the transition button. When the list appears, select a new
transition to assign to this button. You can also click the transition button and drag the
mouse downward until a menu of selections is displayed.
For example, change the first button (Cut) to Swoop by clicking on the Cut button and
dragging downward until the menu appears. Next, select Swoop from the menu.
Swoop should now be selected for the first button. Now click back and forth between
River and Ripples using Swoop.
These three transition buttons can also be selected by using the following key
combinations: Command+1, Command+2, and Command+3.

Transition Speed
You can also Control how fast a transition occurs, by clicking the Clock (Transition
Speed) icon:

Clock icon

Click on the clock icon and choose Slow from the menu. When Slow is selected, the
clock icon changes to a small turtle, indicating slow mode. When you perform a

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transition in Slow mode, it occurs slower than normal. When faster transitions are
selected, the icon changes to display a rabbit.

Go Button
The Go Button (or Command+G) enables you to make a transition occur at any time.

Clicking the Go button does nothing when Wirecast is in its default mode of AutoLive,
except to update a live shot if you have made changes to it using the Shot Editor. Later
in this tutorial you will discover how to use the Go button to transition between
different shots when the AutoLive mode is off.

Layers
Note: Before you start this section, please select Smooth as your transition.
Wirecast enables you to use several layers. Layers are different kinds of displays (shots,
logos, titles, etc.) placed on top of each other so that all are seen at the same time. It is
an excellent way to add and remove objects in your broadcast.

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To open the Layer Panel, select Layer Panel from the Layout menu at the top of the Main
window. You can also open the Layer Panel by hovering over the narrow grey panel on
the left side of the Shot list until a double arrow is displayed, then clicking and dragging
to the right until the Layer Panel is displayed:

Click and drag to the right

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Layers are displayed in a particular order: Master Layer 1 is on top, Master Layer 2 below
it, Master Layer 3 below Layer 2, etc. This tutorial, so far, has been operating on Master
Layer 3.

Layer Panel
Master Layer 3

Now select Master Layer 2 by clicking it. Each shot is assigned to a particular layer, so
when you switch layers you only see the shots that are on that layer. For example,
Ripples, River, and Blank shots are on Master Layer 3 (as seen previously in this tutorial),
but Master Layer 2 has only a logo and a blank shot.

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Click on the shot named Logo. Notice that the Logo fades into the top-right corner of
the Live Broadcast area:

Layers can also be made invisible by unchecking the checkbox for that layer.
Unchecking Master Layer 2 causes the Logo to be removed from the Broadcast area.

Uncheck to make
layer invisible

Re-check the Master Layer 2 check box and the Logo reappears.

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Auto Live
Note: Before you start this section, please make sure that all layers are visible (all layer
check boxes are checked), and that you are on the Master 3 Layer, which shows Ripples
and River shots.

So far in this Tutorial, Wirecast has been running in AutoLive mode. What this means is
that any change you make on the Main window is automatically made live in your
Broadcast. This mode is very useful for those users who want to set up all of their shots
at once and then single-click them as they run their presentation. But the disadvantage
of this single-click method is that you can only see one shot change at a time. Once you
click a shot, your viewers also see it (with no preview of how it looks on your part).

Turn AutoLive Off

Turn AutoLive off by unchecking AutoLive in the Switch menu. A dialog box is shown
informing you that AutoLive mode is off and transitions must be made using the Go
button. Click OK in the dialog box to continue.
Try clicking the Ripples and River shots. Nothing happens because AutoLive mode is
off. Now click the Ripples shot and click the Go Button. The Ripples shot is taken live in
the Broadcast area. Click the River shot and, as expected, nothing happens. Click the Go
button and River shot becomes Live.

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Note: When AutoLive is off, you must always click the Go button (or press the
Command+G keys) to display the selected shot in the Broadcast area.

Multiple Changes
The benefit of having AutoLive off is that you can make several changes first and then
have them occur all at the same time. To do this, verify that AutoLive is off and click the
Ripples shot (you should still see River in the Live window).
Now click Master Layer 1 in the Layers Panel and click Sample Title. Click the Go button
(or Command+G) and notice how both the Ripples shot and the Sample Title shot
become Live at the same time.

Preview
Note: Before proceeding, make sure Master Layer 3 is selected, and the Ripples shot is
also selected.
One issue you may have noticed while running this tutorial is that you cannot see the
changes you are making before broadcasting them. To solve this problem, Wirecast
enables you to see a Preview of what you broadcast.

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Select Preview from the Layout menu. The Left side of the Main window is the Preview
area. Notice that it has a small green square with the letter P inside it. The Right side is
the Live Broadcast area as before. Your Main window should now look like this:

Preview window
Green square
with P

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Turn off Master Layer 1 and Master Layer 2 by unchecking both checkboxes. This
removes the logo and title from the Preview. Now click the Go button to transition the
Preview into the Broadcast area:

Tutorial 2: Editing Shots

The first tutorial used only the Main window, and explained various ways in which you
can use an existing shot. But shots can also be created and edited. This tutorial
demonstrates how to edit your shots to meet your presentation needs.
Shots can be configured in different ways. Some shots have only titles and some just a
logo, others have only a photo. Shots are created to use in broadcast presentations.
When you broadcast you are choosing, in real time, the shot you want to display. Shot
editing enables you to make shots you need for your broadcast.
Note: Before you start this tutorial, create a new tutorial document by selecting
Create Document Tutorial from the Help menu. You should see a new Main window as
shown below:

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Shot Editor Overview

Double click the Ripples Shot. This opens the Shot Editor window.
Note: If you save a document with the Shot Editor window open, Wirecast
remembers this and re-opens the edit window when the document is re-opened.

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The Shot Editor window has three main areas: Shot Preview, Configuration Area, and
Source Layers.

Shot Preview

Configuration area

Source Layers

Shot Preview This area shows exactly what this shot looks like to your viewers when
you take this shot live.
Configuration Area This is where you make changes to the content of the shot, and set
its parameters. The configuration area changes appearance depending on the selected
Source Layer. Click the source icon in the configuration area and it becomes invisible in
the Preview.
Source Layers This area enables you to add, remove, and reorder the sources in your
shot. Sources are ordered visually from top to bottom. For example, the first source in
the Source Layer List appears on top of all other sources in the preview. This list also
controls visibility of each of the elements in the shot.

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Source Layers
The bottom left part of the Shot Editor window lists the sources that make up your shot.
Source

Click on the Logo icon (source) in the Configuration Area. Notice that the Logo is
displayed in the Shot Preview area. Click the Ripples icon (source) and the Preview
switches to Ripples. This is how you change the source media for this layer in the shot.

Template Window
The Template window icon is located in the controls bar in the middle of the window.

Template icon

Click on the template window icon to open the Template window. Select the Angled In
template and click the Apply button:

Select Angled In

Click Apply

Notice the Preview has changed again in the Shot Editor window, and now shows the
Ripples image on the Left side. This is because the template selected has an A and a B

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portion to it. Two different sources can be assigned to A and B, but for now only A is
assigned (with the Ripples source):

Sources in Wirecast can be assigned either A, B or C in the Source Layers list. To change
the assignment, click the A (or B or C) icon and make a selection. This makes choosing a
new template much simpler because Wirecast automatically positions the correct
sources on screen.

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For example, to change the media for the source that is identified as B, select the source
identified as B, then click the River icon in the Configuration area. Your Preview should
now look like this:

Click on the
B source
Click on the
River icon
River source is
displayed as B
in Preview

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Titles
You can also add a title to a shot. First click the plus (+) button on the bottom of the
Source list to add a new layer:

Click the
plus button

New source
layer added

To add a title template, click the T button on the control panel:

Click T button

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Select the title template called Blue Banner 3 (items are not listed alphabetically) and
your preview adds the title:

Select Blue
Banner 3

Blue Banner 3
displayed

Next, click the T icon in the Attributes bar to enable text editing:

Click T
icon

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Type text into lines 1 & 2 to display it in the preview window:

Text lines
displayed

Type two
lines of text

Effects/Motion
Positioning Objects
The sources in a shot can be positioned anywhere on the screen. Make sure Blue
Banner 3 is selected. Click the Effects icon in the Shot Editor.
Select Blue
Banner 3
Click the
effects icon

Though the title element is initially placed in the bottom middle of the Preview screen,
it can be moved anywhere. To move the title, click and drag it to a new location. You can

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also move the title to an edge, corner, or center by clicking on one of the repositioning
buttons in the configuration area:
Click a button to move an element

You can also resize or rotate the title.

To resize the title (while respecting aspect ratio), hold the Command key down while
moving the mouse vertically. To resize (independent of the aspect ratio), hold the
Command key and the shift key down while moving the mouse vertically and
horizontally. The Respect Aspect Ratio checkbox in the configuration area must be
unchecked.
To rotate the title, hold down the Option key while moving the mouse vertically and
horizontally.

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Motion for Objects

All objects (including the title) can have motion assigned to them. Click the Motion tab,
to open the Build-In/Build-Out configuration panel:

Click the
Motion tab

Build-in / Build-out
configuration panel

Motion only occurs during a transition (when you click Go, or click a shot in AutoLive
mode). Motion defines how to add (Build-In) or remove (Build-Out) a shot element.
There are two forms of Motion:
1. Build-In (add) Build-In motion occurs when the shot is added to the Live Broadcast
display.
2. Build-Out (remove) Build Out motion occurs when the shot is removed from the
Live Broadcast display.

Changing Motion Options

Click the menu under Build-In in the configuration area and select From Left. Also check
the Decelerate In checkbox:
Select From Left

Check Decelerate In

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To see this behavior in action, you must go back to the Main window and trigger the
Build-In action. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Close the Shot Editor window (optionally) by clicking the X in the corner of the
window.
2. In the Main window, make sure Smooth transition is selected.
3. Click on the Blank Shot, then click the Ripples shot (recently edited). Notice that
when the Title appears it comes in from the left.

Tutorial 3: Broadcasting
This tutorial demonstrates how to setup and broadcast your Wirecast presentations.
You can broadcast to a specific computer (Unicast), multiple viewers (Multicast), or
even record your broadcast to disk.
There are two main components for broadcasting your presentation (or saving it to
disk):
1. Encoding You need to decide how you are going to encode the broadcast.
Encoding is the type of compression used (JPEG, MPEG4, etc.). Wirecast comes
configured with many common encoding options.
2. Destination A destination for the broadcast must be selected. You can send it to a
server for broadcast or save it to disk.

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Flash To YouTube

Flash To YouTube
Note: Custom encoders cannot be used to Stream to YouTube. They may only be
used to encode a recording to disk.
To stream to YouTube, follow these steps:
1. Click Authenticate to enter your email and password.

Click
Authenticate and
enter password

2. When the permission window displays, click Allow Access to authenticate your
account.

Click Allow Access

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Note: If you do not have a YouTube account, click Sign Up (or go to

www.youtube.com).
1. Select your YouTube event.
2. Select the format you setup for your YouTube event. If several formats are listed,
select the highest desired resolution and all lower ones will be created
automatically.
3. Check (optionally) Use Backup Server to enable YouTube to simultaneously
broadcast your stream to the backup server specified in the Event's configuration.
4. Click Save to save your settings.

Select event
Select format
Check (optionally)

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QuickTime Streaming
From the encoder presets menu, select one of the H.264 (QuickTime) encoders, then
select a destination.

Select
encoder

Select
Destination

Wirecast provides five destinations for QuickTime streaming:

1. Announce to QuickTime Streaming Server This talks to a QuickTime Streaming
Server and uses the server to send the broadcast to users who view that server.
(This is the default destination.)
2. Built-in Streaming Server Wirecast includes a built-in Streaming Server which
allows a small number of viewers to view your broadcast. Define the name of the
SDP file and you can immediately broadcast.
3. Unicast This broadcasts directly to one single client (computer). You must define
the address for the single client, then the presentation is streamed directly to that
computer.
4. Multicast This is an advanced feature that broadcasts globally on a network. In a
LAN environment, this option can provide the ability to broadcast to multiple users
without using QuickTime Streaming Server. This feature only works over a LAN, not
over the Internet.
5. Record to Disk If you want to save your broadcast, you can use this option to
record the broadcast stream to disk.

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Announce to QuickTime Streaming Server

Since this is the most common method for QuickTime, you should always consider
using this option for your broadcast. To use this feature, you must supply a host name
and file location. You need to supply a user-name and password only if your server
requires a login.
This feature requires that you have access to a QuickTime Streaming Server (QTSS) or
Darwin Streaming Server (DSS). Darwin Streaming Server is a free download from
Apple and can be installed on many operating systems.

Unicast
Unicast is used for broadcast to only one computer. To set up a unicast, follow these
steps:
1. Obtain the IP address of the target computer, and configure your broadcast using
it.
2. Save an SDP file on the target computer.
3. Start broadcasting your presentation.
4. The viewer must open the SDP file using QuickTime Player to see your presentation.
Note: If you change any setting regarding the broadcast (encoding settings, etc.), you
must re-create and re-distribute the SDP file.

Multicast
Multicast is used for broadcast to any computer on your local network (not the
internet). To use this feature, you must create and distribute an SDP file to all users on
your local network who want to view the stream.
The Video Address and Audio Address (and related ports) are, effectively, fake
addresses that do not really exist on the local network. This information is stored in the
SDP file so that client applications know where to look for the stream. The default
addresses/ports that Wirecast generates are generally sufficient to use.
To set up a multicast, follow the same steps given for Unicasting. (See Unicast,
immediately preceding.)

Record To Disk
If you want to archive your stream, you can use the Record To Disk destination. The only
setup information required is the filename. If you use Auto Increment Filenames, all files
are saved with a sequential number appended to them.

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Flash Streaming
Select an encoder from the Encoder Preset menu. Wirecast can stream to several Flash
Streaming Servers, including Flash Media Server (Adobe) and Wowza Streaming Server
(Wowza). Also select a destination.

Select
encoder

Select
Destination

When you configure Wirecast to stream using Flash, Wirecast displays a Flash queue bar
in the main window. The Flash queue shows you how much data is currently buffered
on your computer, waiting to transfer to the server.

Encoder presets
Encoder presets enables you to select an encoder used for broadcast. If you change the
preset to another encoder type, the list of destinations associated with it also change.
The destinations are tied to the type of codec you are using.

Destination
The Destination menu lists many CDNs and live streaming Websites. You need to have
an account with the selected destination to use that service. You can also select Record
to Disk as a destination for your presentation. The RTMP Flash Server is the default
destination.

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Address
The address of the selected destination is obtained from your Flash Media Server
administrator.

Stream
Each Flash stream requires that you enter the name of the stream.

Open FMLE XML File

Wirecast can load configuration files that have been created for Flash Media Live
Encoder (FMLE). Wirecast reads the RTMP Address and Stream Name from this file, but it
does not read any other configuration information from the FMLE XML file (bit rates,
codec configuration, etc.). Many popular sites provide an FMLE configuration file for
your stream configuration.

User Agent
Although rare, some streaming services require that Wirecast presents itself as FMLE
when broadcasting. By default, Wirecast correctly presents itself as Wirecast/FM 1.0. Do
not change this unless your provider has asked you to do so.

Set Credentials
Some Flash Media Servers require authentication. Wirecast offers the standard Adobe
authentication method. However, if required to do so by your server, you must enter
your credentials here. But if your server does not require authentication, there is no
need to provide these credentials.

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