Apple will showcase Channel Storm’s Live Channel application at their booth’s main theatre at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, Sept. 14-18.
Visitors of IBC will get a peek at the upcoming version, Live Channel 1.2, which includes the ability to record a live broadcast for video on demand. Live Channel 1.2 is scheduled to be released at the Apple Expo in Paris on Sept. 26. The IBC attracts over 47,000 people from more than 120 countries. Over 800 companies are due to exhibit at the 2001 show.
Live Channel is designed to empower any person using a DV-equipped Mac to produce and broadcast on any network. It replaces the functionality of a traditional TV studio, requiring no special hardware or technical expertise, Amon Tavor, chief technical officer of Channel Storm, told MacCentral. Plus, it has an integral streaming server so it can broadcast, both in local networks and over the Internet, without any external server.
Channel Storm released version 1.1 of Live Channel at July’s Macworld New York. Live Channel 1.1 main feature is Live Presenter, which allows the synchronization of rich-media presentations with the live broadcast, including PowerPoint slides, photos, graphs, animations, text and interactive elements like forms, chat and hyperlinks. Version 1.1 also added support for Mac OS 9.2 and QuickTime 5.0.2. A Mac OS X version is in the works. The update also offered additional automated functions and streamlined the registration procedure.
Live Channel is based on Live Render, a proprietary technology for real-time video rendering, requiring no special hardware. Channel Storm has several patents pending on the fundamental algorithms of Live Render. Live Render enables transitions between sources, a combination of multiple sources, and 2D and 3D video effects; all in true color, with real-time anti-aliasing. Among its functions are video transformations, 3D wrapping, convolution filters, color-correction, color-keying, blending, alpha and compositing.
Live channels can be viewed on any Mac or PC, and can be embedded within Web sites, and viewed using any Web browser that has the QuickTime plug-in. Or they can be viewed in a separate window, using the QuickTime Player.
Live Channel runs on any Mac with built-in FireWire and requires Mac OS 9.0.4 or higher, QuickTime 4.1.2 or higher (version 5 is recommended), and at least 64MB of RAM. To produce live content, Live Channel requires audio and video input devices, such as DV & USB cameras, analog & digital microphones, and more. To broadcast, Live Channel requires a connection to a local network or to the Internet. An Internet streaming service isn’t required unless the broadcast is aimed for a mass audience.
There’s a free version of Live Channel for personal use, which limits a broadcast to five viewers. Commercial users who plan to stream to a larger audience need to purchase the US$3,000 professional version.