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What is the difference between live and pre-recorded videos?

Written by Holly

There are two types of videos you can add to your summit: pre-recorded and live.
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When we refer to a talk as being live vs. replay, we mean that...

  • On your public-facing summit, a live talk is the first run of your talk - when your talk first airs to the public. Live talks appear listed on the Schedule page

  • If you set up your talk to start at 14:30 and it is 25 minutes long, that means that your talk will no longer be live at 14:55

  • After a talk has finished its live run, it turns into a replay

  • Once the talk becomes a replay, it will appear on the Replay page of your summit

  • Most of the time, you will have to upload your replay link to HeySummit

Pre-recorded videos

You can add pre-recorded videos to HeySummit. These are invisible to your attendees until the time you have scheduled the talk. A pre-recorded video is one that you have already recorded and uploaded before your event goes live.
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Current session Broadcast tab showing live, pre-recorded and external broadcast types


If you are using pre-recorded videos, you don't have to worry about adding a replay video - HeySummit will automatically use the link provided and create a replay for you.
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To set up a pre-recorded session, open Content & Schedule > Sessions, choose Actions > Manage Session, then open Broadcast. Set Broadcast Type to Pre-recorded, choose the provider, and enter its requested video URL or ID. Save the session, then use Preview from the session list to check the result before attendees see it.
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You might want to send some questions to your attendees before you record a video for uploading.

  • This way, you can incorporate questions that your attendees might have, creating a better connection between speakers and attendees.

  • You can use your email provider to do this. All you'd have to do is export your attendees' email addresses.

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • No need to add a replay

  • You can upload on popular hosting sites like YouTube, Vimeo or use your link

  • You know how the video will look to your attendees

  • You'll have to upload the video to a hosting website as the process is not automatic

  • Your speakers will not be able to interact with attendees live (as they could do with one of our live integrations)

Live videos

Unlike pre-recorded videos, for all live videos, you (as the event organiser) are responsible for recording and uploading the replay to HeySummit. HeySummit doesn't automatically pull the replay from the link you set up in Broadcast as it would with pre-recorded videos.
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For a live session, use Broadcast Type to choose Live broadcast with a provider, or External URL to send attendees to another webpage:

Live broadcast and External URL

For an embedded live stream, choose Live broadcast and select a supported provider, such as Vimeo Live or YouTube Live. To send attendees to an external webpage when the session begins, choose External URL and paste the full destination URL.

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • No need to film in advance, as you just have to add the custom stream ID/URL

  • Not dependent on you having a paid account with one of our live integrations

  • You first need to create the live stream on your chosen platform

  • You will have to record and upload your replay

Live integrations

Finally, you could use one of our powerful webinar integrations. With our live integrations, all you have to do is connect a host to your HeySummit account and the platforms will do the rest. However, keep in mind that you will still need to record and upload a replay for LiveWebinar and Zoom. BigMarker is the only integration which automatically records and uploads the replay.

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • You do not need to film in advance

  • When you create a talk in HeySummit and set up your host webinar provider, HeySummit automatically creates a talk within your chosen webinar provider

  • You can use the live webinar platform features to interact with attendees (polls, Q&A, etc.)

  • You will need a Zoom, BigMarker or LiveWebinar paid account

  • Not all live integrations are created equal. For Zoom and LiveWebinar, you'll have to record and upload your replay using either an in-built screen record function or other software and host that recording on a video platform of your choice like Youtube or Vimeo

Ultimately, do not feel like you have to choose one or the other. You can have an event that mixes both pre-recorded and live videos. For example, you might want to have pre-recorded videos for smaller talks, and a live video for a keynote speech - it's up to you to evaluate what your audience will get the most value from.

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