Usually used after setting up Facebook and YouTube events
Overview of signal flow for streaming to web/social platforms
Things to consider before you start:
- Copyright: most social platforms have automated ways of identifying audio (and sometimes visual) copyrighted material. Even if we have all the proper permissions from the copyright holder, the live streams will get shut down if copyrighted material is detected. There is a process for whitelisting material we have permission for, but it can be hard to make it actually happen.
- Do a test stream that uses all potentially copyrighted material with plenty of time before the actual event.
- Encoders: we have a limited number of hardware encoders downstairs. They are used to feed Gavel streams to Invintus as well as special events and social streams. With TV (David W., Aidan) and/or production (Mikko), figure out which encoders are available and decide well in advance which encoders will feed which platforms
- Each encoder can run one 1080p stream or two 720p streams at one time. Invintus and Facebook are typically 720p and YouTube is typically 1080p (so with this configuration, Invintus and Facebook could share one encoder but YouTube would need its own dedicated one).
Log into the encoder’s web interface
Get the IP address and password from TV (David Waters, Aidan) or production (Mikko)
Check the “Status” tab
Under “Stream Status” you can see if the encoder is currently streaming anything. Each encoder can do one 1080p stream or two 720p streams, so make sure you don’t try to add more than that.
Make sure you check with TV (David Waters or Aidan) or production (Mikko) before stopping a stream.
Set up a stream
- Click on one of the stream tabs (after checking with TV/production, click “Stop” if it’s already running).
- Make sure “Video Source” is set to “HD-SDI”
- For “Encode Profiles,” select either “HD 720” (typical for Facebook) or “HD 1080” (typical for YouTube). This should automatically fill in the rest of the “Encoder Setup” fields for you.
Set up an output
- On the right under “Output Setup” make sure the “Output Format” is “RTMP”
- In the “URL” field, copy the URL and key you got from the streaming platform. It should look something like this:
- Facebook instructions (URL should look something like this: rtmp://live-api-s.facebook.com:80/rtmp/991974224385411?s_ps=1&s_sw=0&s_vt=api-s&a=AyyFVtEvSTJb8sSP)
- YouTube instructions (URL should look something like this: rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/5vng-my36-vxb2-crh9)
Start the stream
Preview the stream in the destination platform to make sure it’s working
Don’t forget to check sound and captions (if applicable)