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Streaming room only

Sunday, December 18, 2005


Thanks to the growing use of streaming media, UW faculty, researchers and staff can now expand the reach of their work by capturing presentation content as it happens and hosting it on a Web server for viewing or listening, either live or at a later date. Think of it as making an event “streaming room only.”

The content can be either pre-recorded material, such as audio, video or other multimedia files, or subject matter from an actual live event. “The technology really lends itself well to event planners who want to have material available after a conference has concluded,” says Peter Mann, DoIT Streaming Media Services Manager. “It gives them the flexibility to distribute material to those who couldn’t attend, and it’s a great archival tool.”

DoIT’s Streaming Media Services team has worked with a wide array of campus groups to stream content. In October, they helped to produce a live stream of Bill Gates’s campus presentation and then archived the material for viewing by others after the event.

Streaming Options


  • Illustrated Audio. Create higher-quality images of PowerPoint slides and synchronize them with recorded audio. This is one of the most frequent uses of streaming media.
  • Audio Only. Publish audio-only versions of any live event such as music performances. This technology has enabled students in a campus Introduction to Buddhism class to listen to chanting by Gyuto monks.
  • Video. Save a live event for future reference or convert existing video libraries to streamable media and make it available to your audience online. Professor Clint Sprott has used this to make available his “The Wonders of Physics” presentations.
  • Live Event. Stream a live event across campus or across the world. Use single or multiple camera angles or audio from more than one speaker. The blooming of the Titan Arum was streamed live, for example.

Visit www.doit.wisc.edu/streaming and click on “Streaming Showcase” to see examples of these and other streaming media projects.

Do you want to explore the possibilities of streaming media for upcoming events or projects? Email streaming@lists.wisc.edu for more information.