How I learned how to record a Periscope live stream, part 1.
Update May 2015: It appears that the app I used (Shou) no longer works on my iPhone. I will be testing other apps to find an easier way to record Periscopes. Stay tuned for an update.
Live streaming is making a comeback even though it’s technically been around for some time(UStream, Spreecast, Livestream.com etc). The capability these days has grown from desktop to mobile thanks to two new apps that are making waves across social media: Periscope and Meerkat.
Since their creation, both apps have seen ample use by journalists and citizens alike.
As their popularity grows, some things have been nagging me as I experimented on both platforms.
Both allowed the user (who’s live streaming) to save their streams, download and share their link. As far as I know the only way for viewers to share a live stream directly, as it happens, is to share a link to their followers. As a viewer, if you’re watching a live stream on either app, the only way to share what you actually see to your own followers is to screenshot your phone and sharing the pictures to your followers. But that was it.
There wasn’t a way to record a live stream as a viewer to save the raw video from someone’s stream.
Until now. I might have found a way to do it; on an iPhone at least.
It took me a couple hours, but Tuesday night I figured out a way to record a Periscope live stream. I was able to record someone’s live stream, save the video onto my camera and then share it back on Twitter and Facebook. I even shared it successfully as a portrait video.
Why did I do this? Partly because I was bummed that sites, who aggregated Persicope/Meerkat streams when the East Village explosion was starting to spread on social, only used grainy screenshots taken from Periscope live stream users during their initial coverage. No one had actual user video from these live streams to share nor could they embed them after the user’s live streams went down.
Another part that nagged me was figuring out how producers (both digital, social and TV) could utilize these apps and pull in live streams from staffers while they were out in the field. If there was a way to beam back live stream video footage to the newsroom to disperse, these apps utility could be amplified.
I took my iPhone and started to look around for free apps that would allow me to record my screen. From what I found on the app store, there weren’t any reliable apps that I could use.
After a quick search online I found an app, Shou, that required some sort of phone emulator to work.
Ultimately the app did what I needed it to do — it allowed me to record my screen and show everything I did on my iPhone. I started my experimentation, recording Periscope live streams and exporting them.
Then I figured out how to rotate the video (the app’s exporting view required two additional apps for me to do this) before I could share it on Twitter and Facebook.
My first attempt ended up truncating the video into a small box when I shared on Twitter. My second test, after I had experimented all night, showed the full portrait video of the Periscope live stream on Twitter and Facebook.
Now I have a way to record a person’s live streams to share on social, in portrait mode. Now there’s a (rough) way to save live stream videos to cut, edit and share on social and digital if and when necessary.
There’s some potential issues to figure out from this discovery:
- The ethical (and legal) use of recording, sharing and attributing this kind of recording. Is commenting on a person’s live stream the best way to ask for permission to record their live stream with proper attribution? When can and can’t we do something like this? What are the legalities of recording an ongoing live stream and when can fair use be used?
My take: Journalists and news orgs should treat this as they treat any sort of UGC by asking for permission before recording. It may even be wise to start recording the live stream first, then ask for permission so you can get an audio confirmation from the person. If they say no, cut the recording and delete it immediately. However, I do not know what should be done, besides what’s stated above, at certain events like concerts and sports.]
2. A way to figure out a useable workflow so that digital/social/TV producers can grab staffer’s live streams while they’re on the scene and pull it back in house to cut and share on multiple platforms; or, f other staffers are out, a way for them to easily join the live stream, record it and share it on their own social channels as well and telling their followers to follow their colleague’s live stream.
My take: This will vary greatly from newsroom to newsroom. Bigger newsrooms will always have the resources to iterate quickly and make this work. Smaller newsrooms may not have the technology or the staff power to establish a proper workflow. All you would theoretically need is one person to use their phone to record their colleague’s live stream , save it on their phone and either email it to staff (if the file size is small enough) or upload it to Dropbox for other staff memebers to download, use or share. Alternatively there are screen recording tools that you can download that will allow you to capture the live stream from your desktop and save the video there as well.
3. Figuring out how to track down someone who may have learned how to record your live stream and claim it as their own. Now that I know how to record someone’s live stream I could theoretically trim it, save it and share it on social and claim that I recorded it. How do we make sure that a method like this isn’t used in malicious manner?
My take: Vetting will still have to happen to verify if the person who’s sharing these videos is the original source. There may be initial clues on authenticity (sound and visual quality for example) that can help determine if this is the true source.]
4. Improving the quality of the saved stream. Right now with the process that I use through my phone, the audio quality is diminished, and it makes it hard to hear the person talk. Background noise near my phone often superseded the audio from the saved live stream.
I’m pretty excited that I’ve figured this out. Perhaps there will be easier ways to record live streams in the future. Maybe it will be an easier process to go from recording → exporting → reformatting → sharing too.
In the meantime, I welcome your thoughts and let me know if you’ve come up with a better solution. In part two, which you can read by clicking here, I will break down exactly how I did this this so other iPhone users can test this on their own.
