Wirecast 4 from Telestream is a program created for webcasting, live event recording, and broadcasting projects to the world. Conveniently placed on a laptop, this is one of the most mobile recording/broadcasting tools out there. If you are looking to produce high quality news reports or just shoot a class lecture, this is the tool for you.

To Cast or not to Cast

Your first step in purchasing one of these webcasting programs by Telestream is to look at what your need is. What will be your main use for a program such as this? There are many ways to utilize this program and many different settings it can be applied to. Live news reports or a corporate event, church services, sporting events, and even streaming live concerts are some of the main ways to utilize this application.

I am using the application to record a wedding ceremony and transmit it back to family members across the country who couldn't make it to the service. Telestream Wirecast 4 was easy to use and set up, plus I was able to add in a few nice effects and record the ceremony for future use. With Wirecast 4 you have the ability to add titles and transitions, additional movie clips, photos and much more. Wirecast is not just a thrown-together application; it has many options for streaming to Flash, QuickTime, and Windows Media. For the wedding, I was able to put together a collage of photos over the top of the ceremony video and cast that to my family as well - all from my laptop.

The Competition

I have looked into shooting live events in the past, but have never been able to afford any of the video mixers on the market. You can spend thousands of dollars on a video mixer, and then you might also need to buy cases to keep your investment safe. After all of that, you end up with a large, heavy application to mix and record live video. Now there is a much easier way to do all of this. With Wirecast 4 it's all in your computer. We plugged a camcorder into a laptop using the FireWire port and fired up the program. If you are running on a desktop computer, you can plug in a live USB camera or live FireWire camera and start broadcasting or recording right away. If you produce your own personal live webcast or shoot your webcasts and then upload them to a live stream, Wirecast has some incredible features for you. Adding in titles and transitions can give your project that extra edge to make it look more polished and professional. You also have the option to add in sound effects, photos, movie clips and text to your project. With Wirecast 4 being so portable it makes capturing multiple live events much easier than when using a big heavy system. Wirecast does the same job at a fraction of the price. Wirecast is available for Mac and PC and has average system requirements.

New Upgrades and Options

Wirecast 4 is the second release from Telestream (following its acquisition of Vara Software and Wirecast in 2008). Telestream first released Wirecast 3 with basic recording and broadcasting options. Still a wonderful piece of software, but now it has released Wirecast Pro 4 with more encoding options, a lot more graphics, 3D virtual sets, support for wireless IP cameras and other additions. A downside is the company doesn't have an option for the person wanting to get started into home webcasting. $500 is inexpensive for a program with features such as these, but for the average users at home just wanting to start a basic webcast to keep their family informed on what's going on in the family's circle, or the mom who just wants to share recipes with fellow cooking friends, it's a bit expensive.