TO BROADCAST AN EVENT
Broadcasting an event on the Meridix Broadcast Network is a simple,
two step process. The two main steps are 1) connecting your
audio stream, and 2) publishing a real-time text version of the
event. We recommend that you begin with audio first.
Once you have downloaded the
Encoder software, installed it, and obtained a LiveID, you will be able to
login. You must have a valid, live internet connection
before you can login.
Go to Start > Programs > Windows
Media > Windows Media Encoder. When you do this, the
following screen should display:
Most of the time, it will default to
"Broadcast a live event". However, if that option is not
highlighted, simply click once on "Broadcast a live event" to
highlight it. Then click on "OK".
On the next screen, you will see the
following:
On this screen, leave the audio box
checked, leave the dropdown at (default audio device) and click on
Next at the bottom.
On the next screen, you will see an
option to do a Push or a Pull broadcast.
Most of the time, Push will be the
default setting. If it is not, select the Push setting and
then click on Next.
On the next screen, you will see a
number of text boxes requesting information.
In the "Server name:" box, simply
type broadcast.meridix.com:80 as shown. In the "Publishing
Point:" box, please type in your LiveID. For example, if your
LiveID was "Meridix", you would put Meridix in the publishing point
box. For the "Copy settings from:" box, simply leave the field
at the default and make sure that the box under it is unchecked
(unchecked should be the default). Then click on Next.
On the next screen, you will see
encoding options.
Leave "Multiple Bit Rates Audio (CBR)"
in the dropdown, then in the bit-rate area below, uncheck 135K,
and put the check in 24K. This step is extremely
important. Make sure that 24K is the
ONLY option checked in the entire list. Then click
next.
The next screen, "Archive File", is
optional. This only affects your local copy of the broadcast
(you can save a copy of your broadcast on the computer) and does not
affect your archiving on the server.
Regardless of what you do here, our
broadcast network will record the audio of your event directly on
the server. Then click on "Next".
The next screen is also optional.
You can type in brief information
about your event, if you would like. Then click on Next.
You will now see a settings review
screen.
Simply verify that all of your
information is correct in the screen, including the publishing
point, which in the example above is "Meridix", but yours will be
different. Then make sure to put a check in the box
"Begin broadcasting when I click Finish" if it has not already been
done for you. When you are completely ready to go on the
air, click on Finish.
The next box you will encounter is a
"Broadcast Password" box.
Simply type in your LiveID and
password. DO NOT select the "remember password" field, leave
it unchecked. Then click on OK.
After you type in your LiveID and
password, you may have to wait up to 2 minutes for the system to
authenticate you. Do not worry if the computer does not appear
to be doing anything for 1-2 minutes.
At this point, it is
possible to get a screen asking telling you that it cannot detect
the publishing point type if you are using multicasting. This
screen only appears for some users. If you do see this screen,
simply select OK as the warning does not actually affect clients on
the Meridix Broadcast Network. If you do not see the "cannot
detect publishing point type" screen, don't worry.
When you see the screen
below, you are broadcasting LIVE.
TO PUBLISH THE
REAL-TIME SCORE / TEXT / DATA
Now that your audio is connected, it
is time to show the world that your event is available.
Simply open Internet Explorer (IE is required, Firefox has not yet
passed our certification process) and verify that you have an active
internet connection.
1. Login to the LiveID Online
Manager at
http://www.meridix.com/mpb/login.
2. When you see the main menu,
simply select "MBP Online" from the top of the Navigate menu in the
left hand corner.
3. You will now see a screen
with the message "Global Alliances under which you are authorized to
report events". If an alliance is available to you and you
know you are authorized, select the alliance. However, if you
do not have any alliances available, select "Don't Use Alliance or
None Available" and click on Select This Alliance.
4. On the "Select Type,
Division, and LiveIDs" screen, select your event type (REQUIRED),
division (optional), and home and away LiveIDs (optional) if any are
available to you. When done, click on "Next Step".
5. On the next screen, it asks
"You Have Four Options." If you had left an event without
completely ending it (lost internet connection, etc), your event
will be available to resume under "My Events In Progress". If
this is not the case, and you are starting a NEW event, select from
the bottom two options. If you had scheduled an event in your
scheduler and wanted to use it as a template, select it from the 3rd
option. If you want to start a totally new event (or if no other
options are available), select "Create New Event" from the bottom
option.
6. On the following screen,
"Associate with an official event?", most users will not have any
official events available to them (only state approved reporters
have this) and must select "Create New Event" from the
NO category.
7. When you select this option,
you are taken to the MBP Online Real-Time scores/text/data input
screen. On this screen, to change data, simply click on
elements and they will be surrounded with a
green box. Change the data in the box and
then click off of the box in the white space surrounding the page.
When you click off of an item, it is automatically submitted and
updated on the network. The change of the event title field is shown
below.
8. You must initialize data
when you first come into the event. For example, you must type
in a new event name, a new venue, update the team names, update the
records, the timeouts remaining, perhaps set the period to "Pregame",
etc. After you do this, you can then change data as it
happens for the rest of the event.
NOTE - YOU CANNOT LEAVE FIELDS
BLANK. FIELDS MUST HAVE SOMETHING IN THEM to be submitted
properly. If you are not updating all information on a play-by-play
manner, simply put in 0's or a general statement such as "Thank you
for joining us", whatever may be appropriate.
9. If you ever need to leave
the event without wanting to archive it (for example, you lose your
internet connection), you can do so by selecting the "Come Back
Later" button at the bottom of the screen. This will allow you
to resume the event under the "My Events In Progress" in step 5 of
the tutorial above.
10. When you are finished with
the game, make sure all of the event information is filled in and
the period field is set to "Final". This tells your users that
the event has finished. Now to end the event, simply select
the "Archive Event XXXX" button from the bottom of the screen and
confirm that this is the case.
11. Once your event has
disappeared from users/listeners view by archiving the event, you
can now stop your audio encoder by selecting Stop in the Windows
Media Encoder.
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