Each room/channel has a dedicated RTMP. Only 1 session or video can be streamed at a time to that RTMP so sessions should be scheduled accordingly or additional rooms/channels will be needed. Read more about
Streaming Channels here.
You will be provided a live session summary file from X-CD, it can also be downloaded any time after the channels have been assigned. Follow these steps to get your
live session summary.
The platform will display a countdown till the session start time. Production can and should be pushing content to the RTMP ahead of the countdown hitting 0.
Sessions can be offset to allow for roll-in video and audio. This will override the countdown, meaning if a session is offset by 5 minutes then when the countdown hits 5 it will start pulling the video source from the RTMP. Read more about setting up a
session offset here.
Sessions should end on time, however, if a session does go over in length you will have a 30-minute buffer from the session end time. After 30 minutes the attendees/viewers' video player will hide and they will be notified the session has ended. Ensure that no other session needs the use of this channel if you do go over.
Questions will be asked on the platform using the Q&A tab, a moderator, volunteer or admin will be required to bring the questions from the platform and ask them in the live stream. They are the bridge between the attendees watching the presenters on the stream. Read more about the
Q&A tool here.
Stream Outputs
Your video bitrate should be between 1000Kbps - 2000Kbps.
Your video resolution should be 1280x720 or 1920x1080 if you are in the recommended bitrate range.
Your audio bitrate should be 96Kbps.
If you are experiencing dropped frames as noted in your streaming software, please try these options:
- Reduce the resolution of the stream
- In general, the higher the stream resolution, the higher the CPU usage. Reducing the resolution to a smaller size may help reduce frame drops. Alternatively, if you have a newer Nvidia graphics card, you can try turning on hardware encoding. This offloads most of the processing onto the GPU.
- Reduce the bitrate of the stream
- If your upload bandwidth isn’t sufficiently matched to your bitrate, then you may experience stuttering. This occurs because OBS can’t maintain the specified bitrate, and will constantly be changing the bitrate. You want to find a bitrate that you can stream consistently, as any spikes in bitrate will likely cause stuttering.
- If streaming over WiFi try using an ethernet cable
- Live streaming over WiFi can be incredibly unreliable as the signal strength can change constantly during the stream. Try broadcasting a live stream whilst using an ethernet cable connected directly to the modem. If this stops the frame drops, then you likely have WiFi issues. If WiFi is the only option, then it’s recommended to find a WiFi channel that is the least congested, using an app like ‘WiFi Analyzer’ available on Android. Additionally, make sure your WiFi channel is not set to ‘Auto’.
- Check your firewall settings
- In some cases, firewalls could be blocking the port required for RTMP. Make sure outbound TCP port 1935 is accessible.