TWiT Live

From The Official TWiT Wiki

TWiT Live refers to the live video and audio streams of TWiT network shows (and at least one non-TWiT network show) that are broadcast over the Internet. A show schedule is available. The easiest way to watch is at http://live.twit.tv/

[edit] Origins

According to Leo Laporte's own blog & Twitter feed [1], it was on April 30, 2008 that TWiT Live started broadcasting live video from the TWiT Cottage in Petaluma, California.

[edit] Live Video Streams

This live video stream allows viewers to watch the creation process of all of the TWiT netcasts and enables them to interact with Leo through one of two associated chatrooms. Originally, the video was broadcast on both the UStream.tv and Stickam video services, but is now broadcast on Justin.tv, UStream, BitGravity 1 Mbps stream and 400 Kbps stream. All available streams are easily accessible at live.TWiT.tv.

BitGravity offers many other features which Leo uses. To see some of the features Leo may use, go to bitgravity.com/interactive.

As of October 2009, Leo stopped broadcasting TWiT live on Stickam due to reliability issues on Stickam's end, and having to restart the stream every few hours. Leo has no plans to go back to Stickam at this time.

[edit] Watching / streaming TWiT Live directly

[edit] Streaming with VLC

It is possible to watch the BitGravity stream inside of VLC using the following method in v1.0.1 (note that you can replace the "high" with "low" in the following URLs, if you prefer a lower bandwidth stream):

In VLC, select File > Open Network from the file menu.
1. enter http://bglive-a.bitgravity.com/twit/live/high (1Mbps stream) in the URL field, then click Open, or
2. save the http://bglive-a.bitgravity.com/twit/live/high in a text file and save as *.vlc, for example twit-live.vlc

You will require VLC v1.0.1 as the stream does not play with v1.0.2 or 1.0.3. You can download version 1.0.1 from the VideoLAN.org download archive.

[edit] Bitgravity Buffering problem with VLC

After running the BitGravity stream in VLC for 10-15 minutes, you may experience brief but repeated buffering of the stream. The exact cause of this is unknown, however it appears to be due to the BitGravity streaming server lowering the amount of transmitted data resulting in underruns. A workaround for this problem is to play the stream using mplayer (Linux and Mac OS X) or the GUI-bundled package, SMPlayer (Windows and Linux) as it does not exhibit the same stream rebuffering problems. Mac OS X users can also play the BitGravity streams with QuickTime after installing the Perian codec library.

[edit] Streaming with mplayer

You can use mplayer using the following methods:

$ mplayer -aspect 16:9 http://bglive-a.bitgravity.com/twit/live/high
Or save the url http://bglive-a.bitgravity.com/twit/live/high in a text file, saving as *.pls (for example: twit-live.pls)

To load a playlist with mplayer: $ mplayer -aspect 16:9 -playlist twit-live.pls

You can also add -stereo # option if you only hear audio in one channel, for example: $ mplayer -stereo 1 -aspect 16:9 -playlist twit-live.pls

Some GNU/Linux systems have an old version of ffmpeg which cannot play the stream. One workaround for this is to compile a more recent build of ffmpeg, as it use ffplay directly. To use ffplay, enter the following:

$ ffplay http://bglive-a.bitgravity.com/twit/live/high

[edit] Google Gadgets

If you are a fan of iGoogle you can add the TWiT Live iGoogle Gadget to your iGoogle homepage... click the Add to iGoogle button on TWiT Live iGoogle Gadget to add it to your iGoogle homepage.

[edit] TWiT Live Desktop

TWiT Live Desktop is an Adobe AIR application. TLD v1.5 works with AIR v1.x and provides Stickam video while TLD v2.x works with AIR v2.x and provides BitGravity video.

[edit] TWiT TV App

The TWiT TV App (v1.10 for Windows as of February 2010) runs a chromeless browser instance, and has options to play the UStream, Stickam and BitGravity feeds. For the full article, see TWiT_TV_for_Windows.

[edit] Links to TWiT Live Video Streams

[edit] Live Audio Stream

See TWiT.am Audio Stream.

[edit] Configuration to View TWIT Video Downloads

Some older Windows based systems may have issues viewing the MP4 format used to encode the TWIT video downloads. The free Media Player Classic application is the easiest program to load as it is a simple, single EXE file. In addition, for the H.264 playback in Media Player Classic (and Windows Media Player), it may be necessary to load the free ffdshow program.

Instructions for ffdshow installation and download links for Media Player Classic and ffdshow can be found here:

http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/highdefdvd_test_page2.html

[edit] Live Chat

[edit] IRC

Leo, other hosts, and guests sometimes receive live feedback via live chatrooms. The most expansive are the Internet Relay Chatrooms, listed below: For Family-friendly IRC chat, go to: irc.twit.tv/#twitlive or irc.twit.tv/#twitlive2 For Adult IRC chat: irc.twit.tv/#unfiltered For Off-Topic chat: irc.twit.tv/#offtopic

[edit] Stickam/Ustream Chatrooms

Both Stickam and Ustream both have associated chatrooms for the TWiT Live accounts. Contributions to both these rooms require (free) registration at the respective websites. See more information in Stickam Chat and Ustream Chat.

[edit] Known issues

[edit] Flash Player

You need the Flash Player (currently Adobe Flash Player version 10, but works with AFP v9) to view the TWiT Live video streams and to chat. There is at least one known issue relating to the Stickam setup, but it is documented on the main Stickam Chat page. (Note that the Stickam stream is not currently supported.)

[edit] Caller Audio for The Tech Guy show

The question that gets asked the most often is: "why is there no caller audio?" The answer is that the radio stations and network that own "The Tech Guy" program (11am - 2pm Pacific Time Sat. & Sun) have asked Leo to mute it. Please keep in mind that the network pays Leo a salary for doing the show and they want listeners to listen via the radio and hear their ads (from which the network get the money to pay Leo) instead of the "ad-free" broadcast on that Leo offers on Twit Live. The network owns the show - they set the rules - therefore, no caller audio!! Leo has said many times that he was surprised that the network allowed the video and his audio to be broadcast on TWiT.tv at all.

Sometimes both sides of the phone conversations are broadcast live, for example, when Leo's playing a pre-recorded segment, the last few minutes of the show or when he forgets. Generally speaking, though, it's just best not to ask about when and why you can or cannot hear the caller audio. Lay back, listen, and enjoy the show.

To always hear both sides of the conversation, you can tune in to a radio station or connect to a radio stream or download the netcast TWiT.TV/ttg when it is released after editing.

[edit] Future expansion

Leo projected on April 2, 2009 that in five years TWiT Live will be broadcasting from the Moon.