Speedify LIVE: PTZ Cameras for Livestreaming Events

On the 64th episode of Speedify Live we are joined by Paul Richards, marketing director of PTZOptics, a company that produces robotic pan-tilt-zoom cameras that are being used for all areas of streaming: education, healthcare, businesses, and even worship services.

We discuss streaming equipment, what pan-tilt-zoom cameras can actually do to improve livestream productions, what new PTZ products are on the horizon, and Paul even gives some very useful advice about streaming.

Here are our 5 takeaways from our chat with Paul from PTZOptics:

1. PTZOptics has a developer portal, where they have documentation on how you can use PTZOptics cameras with your own apps, using different control languages, from IP to HTTPS and TCP commands, they have everything! 
2. Paul has published multiple books, including the OBS Superuser Guide Book that came to be because Paul wanted to make videos on the subject and while doing the research, he decided why not put it into a book as well? It’s a handy guidebook for anyone looking to stream with OBS! 
3. One of the new things PTZOptics is launching soon is a new auto-tracking camera, the SimplTrack Lite, that can improve your stream’s production value a lot by making it seem like you have an entire crew moving with you, even when it’s just you and your cameras! 
4. With streaming growing fast, the PTZOptics team has started focusing more on it as well. They have even created a Twitch plugin that allows the audience to control the PTZ cameras by paying a set amount of Bits to do so.
5. Paul says there’s a lot of ways to build an audience, but there are no shortcuts, only good strategies! He mentions the blue ocean strategy, saying that you can look at what others in your space are doing, but you shouldn’t compete, rather learn from others and think about how you can do things differently, in your own way, and connect with your audience.