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Media and Live Streaming FAQ

  • Media – Video, Photos and Documents

    1. What types of Media may be uploaded?
    2. Who may upload Media?
    3. What is the approval process?
    4. What formats may be uploaded?
    5. How is video delivered?
    6. Is there a size limit?
    7. May media be shared among multiple clubs/classes/teams?
    8. How long is media stored on the PlanetHS servers?
    9. Who owns the media on the PlanetHS servers?
    10. Who can remove media from PlanetHS that is already viewable?
    11. Can media be deleted?
    12. Can I create custom tags for my media?
    13. Can I tell who has uploaded and approved Media?
  • Live Video Streaming

    1. What type of events can be streamed through PlanetHS.com?
    2. Who may create a stream on PlanetHS?
    3. How is the producer of a live stream determined?
    4. What software do I need for live streaming?
    5. Do I have to pay for an encoder?
    6. Do I need a powerful computer to stream live events? What about streaming at the site of the event – can I use a laptop?
    7. What about Operating Systems?
    8. What kind of video camera do I need?
    9. What kind of microphone do I need?
    10. How can I connect multiple video cameras?
    11. What formats of video streams/files does PlanetHS.com support?
    12. What kind of internet connection do I need for live video streaming?
    13. What about the viewers, how fast should their internet connection be?
    14. What do my viewers need to watch the stream?
    15. Does the school need to purchase extra bandwidth to stream events?
    16. Will the school's IT department need to make any adjustments?
    17. Do we have to pay for storage of archived events?
    18. How is the Live Streamer updated?
FAQ Guides
  • General FAQ
  • Schools, Clubs, and Organizations
  • Features
  • Media and Live Streaming
  • Fundraising and Advertising
Need Help? Contact US
  • schoolsupport@planeths.com
  • Help Docs





Media – Video, Photos and Documents

What types of Media may be uploaded?

Photos, video clips and documents may be uploaded

Who may upload Media?

Any one "following" a club/class/team may upload media to that club/class/team.

What is the approval process?

A school authorized person must approve each media item before it is viewable on PlanetHS. After a media item is uploaded, the sponsor for the relevant club/class/team is notified that an item is pending. After viewing the item and reviewing the Audit Log entries, the Sponsor may approve the item and it will then be viewable. Some schools may choose to have multiple (up to 3) levels of approval prior to media being viewable.

What formats may be uploaded?

Media may be in the following formats: avi, jpg, jpe, jpeg, gif, png, mov, mp2, mpe, mpeg4, mp4, flv, mpg, pdf, ppt, pptx, doc, docx, txt, tls, xls and xlsx

How is video delivered?

Video is delivered as Flash video – flv file.

Is there a size limit?

The maximum size for a single media item is 250 MB.

May media be shared among multiple clubs/classes/teams?

Sponsors may share media among all of the clubs/classes/teams for which they have Sponsor level authority.

How long is media stored on the PlanetHS servers?

Media is archived forever on the PlanetHS servers.

Who owns the media on the PlanetHS servers?

The school that approved the media owns the media. PlanetHS never has ownership of the media.

Who can remove media from PlanetHS that is already viewable?

Any Club, Class or Team Sponsor as well as the Principal, School Coordinator and the District Administrator.

Can media be deleted?

Access to Media can be removed, but never deleted. Removed Media is automatically archived on the PlanetHS servers and can be managed as requested by each school needed.

Can I create custom tags for my media?

Custom Tags may be created within each club/class/team in PlanetHS and applied to any approved Media to enable easy filing, access, viewing and storage.

Can I tell who has uploaded and approved Media?

PlanetHS provides an Audit Log that is viewable only to the relevant Sponsor, the School Coordinator and Principal, which shows who uploaded, edited and approved the Media.

Live Video Streaming

What type of events can be streamed through PlanetHS.com?

Any event that is meaningful to the school, its students, teachers, parents or administrators may be streamed through PlanetHS - whether streamed live for immediate viewing throughout the world and automatically archived for future viewing, or simply streamed to our server for future enjoyment.

Who may create a stream on PlanetHS?

Every club, class and team may create a live stream on PlanetHS.

How is the producer of a live stream determined?

The Club, Class, Team Sponsor or the School Coordinator designates the Producer when setting up the Live Stream. The Producer must have an account on PlanetHS to be designated.

What software do I need for live streaming?

Just the PlanetHS Live Streamer which is the proprietary encoder that is integrated into the scheduling features of PlanetHS. This integration protects the school by only allowing events to be streamed on PlanetHS.com that are scheduled by an authorized school representative. This software is based upon the widely used Adobe Air software to take the digital information from the camera(s) used at your live event and encode that information into a format that is streamed on the internet.

Do I have to pay for an encoder?

No, there is no fee to use the proprietary Live Streamer encoder from PlanetHS, or any other feature of PlanetHS.

Do I need a powerful computer to stream live events? What about streaming at the site of the event – can I use a laptop?

You do not need a powerful computer for basic video streaming. You can absolutely use a laptop for live video streaming as long as of the laptop has one of the commonly available connectors or ports that may be used to connect the audio/video devices to the laptop.

What about Operating Systems?

The Live Streamer from PlanetHS works with Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

What kind of video camera do I need?

You can use almost any kind of video camera and microphone with live streaming – including a web cam. At a minimum the video camera must have live outputs – meaning that it must have some way of having what it is recording sent to your computer. In most instances this is done via analog outputs (the yellow/red/white cable connectors) that are connected to an analog to digital converter, such as Grass Valley's Canopus or Terratec products. While there are some advantages to having the features of professional quality cameras, such features are not necessary to begin streaming. High Definition (HD) cameras also have limited value since the transmission rate for most internet video streaming is such that the image is degraded so that an image that is captured as HD is not capable of being viewed in HD.

What kind of microphone do I need?

In many cases the camera's microphone will work well for a basic production and many cameras offer microphone accessories that allow you to use wireless or secondary microphones. You can also purchase microphone headsets which help you keep your hands free. Depending on your needs, microphones can be purchased for $20-200. For some larger productions, such as some sporting events, multiple microphones may be used, including wireless microphones that may be a significant distance from the others. When using multiple microphones, an audio mixer is needed to take multiple microphone inputs and to consolidate those signals into one audio signal that is matched simultaneously with the video signal that is then encoded and streamed.

How can I connect multiple video cameras?

In order to connect multiple cameras you will need a video mixer/switcher – which cost $500-2,000 based on how many inputs are available and other special features such as fading, audio effects, and built in monitors.

What formats of video streams/files does PlanetHS.com support?

Live Streamer produces live stream in the Flash format. Users may upload video clips for their favorite clubs or teams on PlanetHS.com using most any of the common video formats. All uploaded video clips and photos must be approved by an authorized school representative before being viewed on PlanetHS.com.

What kind of internet connection do I need for live video streaming?

In many instances, the preferred internet connection, a wired Ethernet connection, is not available for live streaming. If one is available it should have capabilities of at least 350Kbps upload speed for optimum quality. However, live video streaming can work with any internet connection including wireless and cellular modems.

What about the viewers, how fast should their internet connection be?

The best experience as a viewer is available to those users who have at least 768Kbps download speeds via DSL, cable, or LAN. These speeds will reduce buffering in the live stream.

What do my viewers need to watch the stream?

An internet browser and Adobe Flash Player, or a compatible plug-in, are required to view a stream. Well over 90% of all computers in the market already have Adobe Flash installed, so typically nothing new has to be downloaded or installed. The plug-ins are free and are available for most operating systems and browsers. The PlanetHS.com website has been tested with various browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.

Does the school need to purchase extra bandwidth to stream events?

No, all bandwidth is used between the PlanetHS.com servers and the viewers. Schools streaming with PlanetHS.com are only impacted by increased traffic to the school or booster club's web site, or by a large number of people viewing the streams while on their network.

Will the school's IT department need to make any adjustments?

It is possible that the school's firewall will need to have settings adjusted to permit PlanetHS.com to be used inside the school by not blocking or "whitelisting" media.planeths.com and www.planeths.com. Ports 80, 443, and 1935 may also need to be opened.

Do we have to pay for storage of archived events?

No, PlanetHS.com stores all of the events for a predetermined amount of time on our servers at no additional cost.

How is the Live Streamer updated?

Each time you use the PlanetHS Live Streamer it automatically checks for updates with Adobe Air and the PlanetHS Live Streamer and provides prompts for each update. If you are having trouble updating, uninstall the current version of the Live Streamer and install the updated version.



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