Are virtual platforms finally catching up to Gen Z creators?

There was a brief period in 2020 where low production value video was deemed acceptable at virtual events — the world was falling apart, so did it really matter that we were having such a rough time of it at online meetings, conferences and quarantine cocktail events?  Well yes, yes it did. The virtual events industry was lagging behind Twitch streamers and YouTubers who had long been taking advantage of live video studio tools that offered them vibrant, professional graphics, smooth transitions, lower thirds and other accoutrements that we pro XPers were missing out on.  That supposed pandemic leeway for virtual events is long gone. If you’re planning a virtual or hybrid event, it’s imperative that you have professional-looking graphics to complement the video content. There are a number of studio tools out there, including Restream, Streamlabs, Onestream, Dacast, vMix, XSplit, OBS Studio, Switcher Studio, StreamYard (more on that one below) and Wirecast. These combine live video and graphics and output an RTMP (real-time messaging protocol) stream — a high-performance transmission that a platform’s server converts into video and streams to viewers. The vast majority of top-tier virtual platforms are able to convert these RTMP streams. Confused? Here’s a guide....