Telestream Wirecast 5 Now Available

Telestream, a provider of digital media tools and workflow solutions, released a major upgrade for its Wirecastlive streaming production software. Wirecast 5 adds enhanced encoding and playback options; a new, more efficient user interface (UI); high-quality screen capture; and more flexible input/output integrations for easier, high-quality live streaming.

New features and improvements in Wirecast 5 include:

• x264 encoding enables x264 live encoding with stunning quality at lower bit rates.
• High quality screen capture provides the ability to broadcast multiple application windows from the same computer, as well as HD screen capture in 60 FPS with amazing quality. This is great for game streaming, as well as online application demos.
• Updated UI has been redesigned to include new keyboard shortcuts, live preview swap, shot bin improvements and more.
• Output program feed permits output of SDI/HDMI program feeds to Blackmagic Design Intensity and DeckLink capture cards. This enables users to send live feeds directly into editing, effects and broadcast design systems.
• Web stream plugin allows an IP or web-based live feed to be used as a source, supporting RTMP, RTSP, MMS or HTTP as input sources into Wirecast. This enables a Wirecast live stream to be used as a source in another Wirecast.
• Improved H.264 playback delivers smoother playback of pre-recorded H.264 videos in Wirecast.
• Stream delay adds an optional time buffer between the live feed and final broadcast, preventing mistakes from airing live. This is a key feature for gamers wanting to delay their live on-screen action to hide their strategy from online competitors.
• Cross-platform Teradek plugin integration with Teradek Cube, Bond and Sputnik is now available for both Mac and PC. This adds flexible and economical live streaming options for easier capture of remote sources and more scalable publishing of local sources.

Wirecast 5 represents a major effort in refining every area of the live streaming workflow, and it also ships with an Output SDK. The SDK enables capture card manufacturers and other partners to easily develop program feed output integration with Wirecast.

Wirecast is the only cross-platform, all-in-one live streaming production software that enables capture, live production, and encoding of live streams for broadcast to multiple servers and platforms simultaneously. Wirecast is ideal for streaming or recording live internet shows, broadcasting breaking news and sports, streaming live concerts and games, transmitting church services, corporate meetings, lectures and more. Wirecast is also available as part of numerous, ready-to-use, 4-channel turnkey systems integrated with the Matrox VS4 capture card.

Telestream Releases New Closed Captioning Software Products
Telestream announced a major version 6.0 release for its MacCaption and CaptionMaker closed captioning software products. With this release Telestream has simplified the product offerings with new pricing options and configurations, bringing them within reach of more users. A more intuitive user interface makes the products easier to use, saving time and effort. This is the first release since Telestream acquired CPC and its award-winning closed captioning products in August.

“With this release, we are extending our captioning software products to a broader audience with a more complete set of features at very competitive prices,” said Dan Castles, CEO at Telestream. “This release represents a major first step in integrating these world-class captioning products and technology into all of our offerings.”

MacCaption and CaptionMaker allow users to easily author, edit, encode, and repurpose video closed captions and subtitles for television, web, and mobile delivery.  Utilizing exclusive e-Captioning technology and next generation CEA-708 digital captioning technology, these software products simplify the process of complying with FCC and other regulatory requirements, enabling greater access to standard and high-definition broadcast content for television, online, and mobile viewers.

While more than 48 million Americans, or over 20% of the population, have hearing loss and rely on closed captions to comprehend TV shows (Lin, Niparko, & Ferrucci, 2011), closed captioning goes well beyond the deaf and hard of hearing. Closed captioning is used by a large number of non-native language viewers to help them better understand the programs they watch. Captions are also used in noisy environments such as airports, restaurants, and construction sites to supplement the audio.

Version 6.0 of MacCaption (for Mac) and CaptionMaker (for Windows) includes completely new, simplified product configurations. The Desktop configuration provides award-winning closed captioning authoring technology at a much lower price point, making it ideal for anyone who wants an affordable captioning solution. The Pro configuration adds more format support, conversion of those formats, and TV broadcast export features, required by caption service providers, TV networks, and post-production facilities. The Enterprise configuration adds automation for high-volume workflows, making it particularly useful for major networks, content providers, asset management, and distribution services. All configurations now include an exclusive, built-in Auto Time Stamp feature which dramatically reduces the time it takes to synchronize captions to the video.