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Clevercast Translate at Home (T@H) lets you broadcast a live stream with remote simultaneous interpretation. No interpreters have to be present at the event. They can watch the live stream at home and translate it in realtime. Clevercast receives all audio streams and merges them with the broadcasted video and audio. The result is a live stream with multiple languages.

You can add Clevercast player to your website by copying its embed code. It allows your viewers to switch to their preferred language while watching the video. Clevercast uses adaptive streaming to provide the best possible experience on any device and platform. We use Amazon CloudFront for global delivery, so viewers anywhere in the world can request the stream from a local server.

Translate at Home allows simultaneous translation to any number of languages. It doesn’t require expensive equipment or advanced knowledge of live streaming. You can broadcast the live stream with OBS Studio, Wirecast, vMix or any other encoder. You can even re-stream your Zoom meeting.

Translators need a fast, wired internet connection and a headset with noise cancelling. You send them a secure link to their language room in Clevercast. They use it to watch the live stream, translate it and communicate with each other via their browser (Mozilla Firefox). Several translators can alternate for the same language.

Fragment from Sintel by the Blender Foundation. Press the headset menu to change the language.

How does it work?

» Start by creating a T@H Event in Clevercast. Add the interpretation languages.

» Configure your encoder to send an RTMP or SRT broadcast to Clevercast, containing a single video and audio stream.

» Clevercast creates a Language Room for each translation. Provide your translators with the secure link to their room.

» Translators open the link in their browser. They can see and hear the incoming livestream, connect their microphone and start translating.

» Copy the embed code of the T@H Event to your website. Viewers can click on the headphone button to select their preferred language (see player on the left).

Why choose Translate at Home?

In COVID-19 times, it may not be possible for all interpreters to be present at the broadcast location. But there are also other reasons to prefer T@H over a broadcast with multiple audio tracks or channels.

» Unlimited number of languages. If you’re not using T@H, you are limited by the number of languages supported by your encoder.

» Ease of use. No complex setup with multiple audio streams that need to be merged with your video broadcast.

» Low cost. Translators don’t need to travel, and you don’t need expensive equipment (eg. interpreter booths) at the event location.

» Fast deployment. T@H can be set up in no time at any location. You can use any RTMP or SRT encoder.

Don’t expect the translated audio streams to be on par with a multilingual production on site. If you need audio of the highest quality or a dynamic mix of the audio channels, you should choose an on-site production with an SRT multi-track or RTMP multi-channel broadcast.

Current Limitations

One current limitation is that our ingest servers are only located in Europe. This has a consequence for both broadcasters and translators.

» For a video broadcast from outside Europe we recommend using SRT instead of RTMP, unless you have a very fast connection.

» Translators should have a connection fast enough for realtime audio. This should be tested in advance, especially for translators from outside Europe.

Translators should use a wired internet connection (even a good Wifi connection can lead to audio distortion) and a headset with noise cancelling.

Since the translated languages are sent over the internet in real time with a small buffer, there will probably be jitter or packets dropped. Unless you have a perfect connection, some volume fluctuations and glitches are inevitable.

Clevercast allows a faded version of the original audio to play in the background of the translated audio streams. At this time, the volume must be configured before the event starts. The audio streams cannot be mixed differently during the live stream.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Live Streaming

How do viewers choose their language?

You embed Clevercast player on your website(s). The player on your site will automatically show all available languages through a dropdown menu (headphone button). Viewers use it to select their preferred language.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. Clevercast automatically transcodes your incoming broadcasts into multiple resolutions for adaptive streaming, including HD. Languages can be selected in the same way on iOS and Android devices.

How many languages are possible?

An unlimited number.

How many concurrent viewers can watch the live stream?

Since we use Amazon CloudFront for worldwide delivery, the number of concurrent viewers is more or less unlimited. If you expect 10.000 concurrent viewers or more, we’d appreciate a heads up.

Can I limit the accessibility of the live stream?

Yes. You can create white- and blacklists for countries, domains and IP addresses.

Can Clevercast simulcast separate languages to third parties?

Not yet. Clevercast currently delivers a single live video with multiple audio streams.

Recording & Video On-Demand

Can Clevercast record the translated video server-side?

Yes, if recording is enabled for your account. The live stream can be recorded as a single mp4 file containing all audio (= languages) and video (= resolutions) streams. You can download it afterwards from Clevercast.

Can Clevercast host the recording afterwards as Video On-Demand.

Yes, if this is enabled for your account. Clevercast can let you trim your recording and publish the result to an on-demand video item. Clevercast player can also be embedded on your site for Video On-Demand. Language selection will work in the same way as the live stream.

Platform

Can I customize the look and feel of my embedded player?

Yes. Clevercast player can be branded as desired. We don’t require our logo or watermark. Even the player’s colors can be customized You can also use our player API.

Do you have statistics?

Yes, we have both realtime and post-event statistics like number of viewers, concurrent viewers over time, location of viewers, used devices, referrers… But there are no per-language statistics.

Can Clevercast also host the page on which the video is embedded ?

Yes, you can use our Webinar solution if you don’t want to host the video on your own site. In that case, you can limit the number of viewers by requiring them to register or by inviting them.

How does your pricing work?

Our pricing is based on the number of languages, the duration of your live stream and the traffic used by your viewers.

Simultaneous Translation

What are the requirements for interpreters?

They must be able to send the audio stream to Clevercast without much distortion or packet loss. This can roughly be translated into the following requirements:

  • A bandwidth of at least 5 Mbps up and down.
  • A wired connection to the internet! Even a good wireless connection with plenty of bandwidth may still cause audio distortion.
  • A recent version of Mozilla Firefox. (Although Google Chrome also supports WebRTC, we currently don’t recommend using it.)
  • A headset with noise cancelling for audio output and input, and a suited location. Too much jitter will cause volume fluctuation and glitches in the audio stream.
  • No excessive packet round-trip time. If packets arrive too late, the audio will be dropped or distorted. Our ingest servers are located in Europe, so translators in Europe will mostly be fine.

For more info, see our guidelines for interpreters.

How do I know if an interpreter meets the requirements?

Do sufficient testing! Each interpreter should test in a situation that matches the live event as much as possible.

Can an interpreter use Wifi?

No. Even if it works during testing, it may still cause distorted audio during the live event.

Does Clevercast T@H allow multiple translators for the same language?

Yes, they can translate sequentially from the same room. Translators in a language room can communicate with each other via text chat.

Should I be wary of network congestion?

Yes. If translators are in an intranet with much more traffic than during the test (eg. people viewing the live stream, multiple translators at the same location) this may cause problems (eg. dropped packets, audio distortion) that did not arise during testing.

Various

Can the translated audio streams be a mix of the interpretation and the original audio stream (eg. in the background)?

Clevercast allows viewers to hear a faded version of the original audio in the background of the translated audio streams. But this background volume must be set before the event starts and can not be changed during the live stream.

Can Clevercast simulcast the translated languages to third party platforms ?

T@H currently delivers a single live stream that contains multiple languages. It is not yet possible to separate the languages and send them as live streams to third party solutions.

Can I have a redundant setup?

Clevercast provides a backup URL for a redundant broadcast. If the main live stream becomes unavailable, Clevercast player automatically switches to the backup stream. However, your translators will also have to switch to the backup language rooms.

What is the latency of the live stream?

By default, we use HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) with segments of 6 seconds. Due to player buffering this will result in a minimal latency of 18 seconds, but this may be higher on some connections and devices (with a maximum of 2 minutes on iOS devices).

We can configure your account to use smaller HLS segments, but this may cause disruptions for viewers with a slow internet connection.

More info

Clevercast Broadcasting Guidelines

How to: simultaneous interpretation with Translate at Home (T@H)

How to: broadcast multiple audio tracks with SRT

How to: broadcast RTMP audio channels with OBS Studio

Multi-language streaming FAQ

Troubleshooting live streaming

Do you have any questions?

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