Live Event Operator Training - Persistent Streams

Who can use this feature

Live Event Operators

Supported features: Live Events

Before You Begin

Refer to the table below to get familiar with common terms you will read and hear in the training course. Click on a term name to expand the table and read the definition.

The back end is where the Live Event Operator manages the event details (event title, date & time, encoder settings, starting/stopping events).

The front end is where viewers go to pay and watch content.

A Live Event container, aka a container, has all the information for that unique event. Each event has its own container.

Software that converts the signal from the camera into a video stream to be sent over the internet. Essentially this turns your phone/table/laptop into a broadcast studio.

A transcoder receives the video steam from the Encoder and displays it on the event page of the Vidflex site.

Same as television monitors. 720: HD, 1080: true HD, the bigger the number the bigger the screen. Affects Bandwidth.

This is how much of the video gets sent each second. Higher bitrate numbers mean better quality video is sent. Affects Bandwidth.

The amount of signal available to connect to the internet. A wired connection is always preferable but WiFi or Cellular usually works just fine. A combination of Resolution and Bitrate is what determines the amount of bandwidth required.

The default settings of the Vidflex platform are what we’ve found to provide a good balance between internet usage and quality of image on playback.

A test that measures the available internet bandwidth. Use the ‘Upload Speed’ number to help you find the best Encoder and Transcoder Settings. We recommend www.speedtest.net

Meaning: Digital Video Recording. Every live event container has its DVR setting enabled by default. After a live stream is over the 'DVR' becomes instantaneously available for viewing on-demand.

The "Go Live Now" button on a live event container, pushes the streamed content to the viewers on the front end.

Ending an event by clicking the "End Event" button once a container goes live, will trigger the DVR recording for on demand playback. This also ends the ability to continue streaming to this container, and will remove the "Live" status that viewers see.

Getting Started

Complete all the steps in order before moving on to the next section. We recommend that you read the steps below on another device or monitor so that you can follow the tutorial on this page.


Estimated time to complete course: 30-60 minutes

  1. Install your preferred encoder software or configure your hardware encoder. Otherwise, download and install one of the free recommendations below:
    1. NEW - Get Vidflex Stream for iOS devices
    2. Get Larix Broadcaster for iOS devices
    3. Get Larix Broadcaster for Android devices
    4. Download Open Broadcast Software for Windows & Mac devices

Attempt Your First Stream

Run A Speed Test

Go to speedtest.net and note the “upload speed” you get from it. Use the information below as a guideline when deciding your bitrate. As a general rule of thumb you want to have double the amount of upload speed than what is required to act as a buffer.

  • If your upload speed is greater than 5 Mbps (5000 Kbps), you can stream a 720p HD resolution with a bitrate of 2500 Kbps
  • If your upload speed is greater than 8 Mbps (8000 Kbps), you can stream a 1080p HD resolution with a bitrate of 4000 Kbps
  • If your upload speed is less than 4Mbps there is potential for choppy or blurry video. To help prevent this from happening you need to lower the bitrate from your encoder. For more assistance see this help article

    (Watch time: 2 mins)
    Chapter Markers:
    • [00:00:09] Run A Speed Test 
    • [00:00:27] Knowing Your Upload Speed 
    • [00:01:38] Users with Limited Upload Speed
    • Upload speeds do not have to be exact. Try to stay within 500 Kbps to keep it safe
    • In most cases we recommend streaming a 720p resolution @ 2500 Kbps for all events
    • For users that have limited uploads speeds between 2 to 3 Mbps available, configure your encoder to stream a 720p resolution @ 1500 Kbps
      •

Starting Your Test Stream

On Android it's possible to do all of the following steps with a single device. But, if you are streaming with Larix on an iOS device we recommend having another tablet, phone or laptop nearby to do the verification process in step 6.

The workflow outlined during your test stream, will be the exact same process as a real live event.
  1. Find your test container within the Library, and click on it
  2. Click "Activate Stream", and wait up to 5 minutes for it to start
    1. This only needs to be done for the first game of the day, all subsequent games on this persistent stream will be already in the "Ready" state

  3. Copy your encoder settings - Skip the Format setting as we want to keep it on its default for Separate

    1. If using Larix click on the "Launch Larix" link from the mobile device that has the Larix app installed on it, and follow the prompts

  4. For OBS users and most other encoders, use the copy to clipboard button next to the Stream URL and Stream Key settings, and paste each one into your encoder's output settings 
    1. Save the settings by clicking 'Apply' and 'OK' if you're encoder has it

  5. When ready, click the Start Streaming button from your encoder
  6. Go back to the live event container's back end "Event" screen to verify you can see your video in the "Stream Preview" player

    7. Important
    If this is a shared persistent stream with other Live Event Operators, and you are not the first scheduled event that day, you may already see the preview window in the " Ready" state, and there may already be a stream visible in your preview window. That is okay. Once the previous operator ends their event, you will be able to go live. 

    If you attempt to go live before the previous operator has ended the event, you will receive a pop up saying that "This stream is live on another event" 
  • Once you have verified your stream coming through to the preview player, and are ready for your viewers to see your content. Press the “Go Live Now” button, to push your stream to the front end

The "Go Live Now" button must be pressed in order for your event to be seen on the front end. It will not automatically go live at the Scheduled Start time.

  • Press “Yes” on the confirmation pop up to go live

  • When you are finished your test stream, press the “End Event” button

Once you end the event, you will not be able to stream to this container again. Your encoder settings will not change, but you will need to stream to your next scheduled event in your library.

  • Confirm "Yes" in the pop up to end the event. This will trigger the DVR recording of this event. 

Event Dashboard Video Tutorial

(Watch time: 8 mins)
Chapter Markers:
  • [00:00:11] Logging In
  • [00:00:41] Navigating The Library
  • [00:01:43] Inside Your Event Container
  • [00:02:20] Permanent Encoder Settings
  • [00:03:04] Starting Your Preview
  • [00:04:01] Important Differences From VFLive
  • [00:04:59] Going Live
  • [00:05:46] Ending Your Event
  • [00:06:17] Forgetting To End An Event
  • [00:06:55] Starting Your Next Game
  • [00:07:58] Streaming To A Different Persistent Key

Optional Advanced Encoder Set Up

To get the best possible production value whether you're using a mobile device or on a computer, we recommend going through one or both of the links below. Select the Larix link if you're streaming from mobile, or OBS link if you're streaming from a computer.

Optimizing Larix Broadcaster on mobile devices:

Get a better understanding on how to use Open Broadcaster Software like a pro:

Help

Check out the related articles below for more in-depth steps. Each related article is an expanded version of topics discussed in this Live Event Operator Training course. We recommend starting with "Managing a Live Event {short version}".

If you have any issues completing the steps above, please email: support@vidflex.com

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