Set up a livestream

In this article you will learn how to set up a live clip. This includes creating a live clip, setting up a stream (hosted by Blue Billywig or a third party), publishing the live clip and using additional features: pausing and recording a live stream.

1.0 | Create a live clip

In the Media Library:

• Click Upload & Transcode in the left sidebar menu
• Open the third tab “Live stream”

It’s possible to set up a:

• Blue Billywig live stream
• A third party stream

Set up a Blue Billywig live stream if you want Blue Billywig to handle the reception, processing and distribution of the live stream.

Set up a Third party stream if your stream is already hosted by a third party and merely needs to be rendered in the Blue Billywig Player.

2.0 | Set up a Blue Billywig live stream

Set up a Blue Billywig live stream if you want Blue Billywig to handle the reception, processing and distribution of the live stream.

2.1 | Configure stream type

• Title and Stream name
  Stream names must be unique and may contain alphanumeric characters, dashes and underscores. The maximum allowed length is 24 characters.
• Stream type: Video or Audio
  Always choose the video option if you want to stream video and audio. For example, if you want to broadcast a live podcast, choose audio.
• Ingested type: RTMP or Webdav
  If you are unfamiliar with RTMP or Webdav, select RTMP.
• Ingest variant: Simple or Multi
  If you are unfamiliar with the meaning of simple or multi ingest variants, choose ‘simple’.
  
• After clicking “Create Live stream” the “Streams” tab is opened automatically. The “Streams” tab displays both the stream details and ingest details:

2.2 | Stream details: Pause a live stream

By pausing a livestream, the thumbnail of the live stream will display. In the “Streams” tab of the live media clip:

• Check the option “Paused” and click “Save”.
• To resume: uncheck the “Pause” checkbox and save your settings.

2.3 | Stream details: Record a live stream

Recording your livestream makes the content of your stream available as an on-demand item in the OVP with the already associated metadata. In the “Streams” tab of the live media clip:

• Check the option “Recording” to start recording and click “Save”.
• The item will automatically appear in the Media Library as an on-demand item.

2.3 | Ingest details: Connect to source application

Use the Ingest URL and Stream key in the source application you are using to record video or audio.

Both the ingest URL as well as the stream key must be entered in your source application to provide access to the live stream server:

3.0 | Set up a Third Party live stream

Set up a Third party stream if your stream is already hosted by a third party and merely needs to be rendered in the Blue Billywig Player.

• After entering a title:
• Source URL
  The source URL to be displayed in the player.
• Stream type: Video or Audio
  Always choose the video option if you want to stream video and audio. For example, if you want to broadcast a live podcast, choose audio.
• Type, Bandwidth, Width and Height (optional)
  Provide additional (optional) information about the type, bandwidth, width and height. You can edit/add these properties later.
• Click “Create Live stream” to create a live media clip and proceed to the third section below (3.0 Publish a live stream).

4.0 | Publish and embed your live stream

Before embedding a live clip on your website, make sure to:

• Enter relevant metadata, such as a title, description and deeplink. These fields can be found under the tab “Metadata” of the live clip (learn more about adding metadata):

• Upload a thumbnail for the live clip (learn more about thumbnails);
• Change the status from Draft to Published and click Save to save all changes (learn more about publishing a media clip).

To embed the live clip:

• Open to the “Embed” tab:

• Select the embed type and playout (learn more about playouts and embedding a media clip)
• Copy the generated embed code and place in your page’s source code to embed the live clip