Livestream using OBS Studio
How to livestream with OBS.
To add Livestreaming to a space, all you need to do is put a .m3u8 link into any new or existing canvas!
You'll need two tools in order to stream in Mona. The first is OBS Studio, which is a free streaming application for your PC, and a streaming server such as Livepeer to get the .m3u8 URL to add to your Mona Canvas. It is not possible to add a twitch or Youtube URL into Mona directly, it has to be a .m3u8 link.
Due to Youtube/Twitch's Terms of Service policy and methods of getting the .m3u8 link being less reliable, it is not recommended to use the .m3u8 link from YouTube/Twitch directly.
We will go through the streaming process with these tools in mind. Other services are possible as long as the result is a .m3u8 URL to add to the Mona Canvas details page.
This tutorial will cover just the basics of getting a stream running from your computer into a Mona Space.
Setting up the Server
Login or Sign up for a Livepeer Studio account at http://livepeer.studio. You'll need to verify your email on signup. Signing up to a free account will give you 1000 minutes of free streaming per month.
Once signed in, create a Stream by selecting the Stream category on the left. And use the 'Create Stream' button.
Enter the name of your Stream and select 'Create Stream'.
You will need the 'Stream Key' and 'RTMP ingest URL' to copy into the OBS Studio settings.
Make sure that no one sees your Stream key. Note that when you press 'Reveal Stream Key', it is visible but quick and easy to copy with the available button.
It is also possible to stream to other sources at the same time (such as YouTube or Twitch) in Livepeer using the Multistream Targets options.
The information required would be the following :
Name - Title of the stream
Ingest URL - Found on your destination stream site
Stream Key - Found on your destination stream site
Profile - What resolution do you want to stream at
Mute Audio - It is possible to mute the audio of the stream if you like
On YouTube, after selecting the 'Go Live' option, the page will have access to this information.
On Twitch, the Stream key is found in the Creator Dashboard > Settings > Stream panel. The URL can be found at this link.
Setting Up OBS Studio
Install OBS Studio. Download the version for your device from https://obsproject.com/
A quick summary of OBS Studio is as follows :
The top half of the screen is what you are streaming. This can be made up from one Scene, or many that you can transition between. The layout may be a little different from above, as you can adjust the layout as you see fit by docking panels where you like. Scenes (Red Box) - The scenes panel includes different scenes that you can transition between. Each scene is made up of Sources. Sources (Green Box) - Sources are things that are included in the scene. This could be anything from your webcam, your desktop, a game or application, images or video, text, Audio inputs, and more. A simple example would be a desktop and a webcam. It is possible to make your stream as simple or complicated as you like (as long as your computer can handle it). Audio Mixer / Scene Transitions - The Audio Mixer is useful to see if your audio inputs are assigned and working correctly as well as at the right level. The Scene transitions is the default transition type (there are many options) between scenes. Controls (Yellow box) - The Controls panel covers important buttons to start Streaming or recording among other things, but the key one here is also Settings, as this is where we set up where you will stream to. It is possible to automatically Record what you stream, if you want to upload that to Youtube later. A simple example is to add a Display Capture source of your main display to a base scene to as content to stream to Mona.
Open up the Settings panel in OBS.
Go to the 'Stream' panel. Under the 'Custom...' Service, enter the RTMP ingest URL and the Stream Key into the details.
Go to the 'Output' Panel in Settings, and then the 'Streaming' tab. Make sure the 'Output Mode' is set to 'Advanced' if it isn't already.
Set the 'Keyframe Interval (0-auto)' to 2 seconds.
Make sure to 'Apply' your settings.
Starting the Stream
Once set up, select 'Start Streaming' in OBS Studio. Note that you select the 'Link Canvas' or 'Save Edits' in the Mona Canvas link after you have done this. Once you hit 'Start Streaming' your timer starts in Livepeer as well. Make sure to 'Stop Streaming' when you are done so you don't waste your time.
Users would need to reload the Space after you have started streaming. The Canvas may not update automatically inside of Mona.
You can confirm the status of the stream in your Livepeer dashboard. It should show Healthy in the main section. You can also check the 'Health' tab to make sure the Transcoding and Realtime has a Healthy status.
Getting the .m3u8 URL
Copy the Playback URL from the Stream Dashboard page. This will be used in the Mona to link your live stream into the Mona Canvas.
Note how the address ends with .m3u8. This is very important for streaming inside Mona. Other types of URL/website will not work, such as Twitch or YouTube URLs.
Copy the Playback URL into the link Canvas information covered in the next tutorial Add a Livestream to a Canvas
Ending the Stream
To end the stream all you have to do is select 'Stop Streaming' in OBS Studio. This will stop the counter in Livepeer, so make sure to stop the stream when you are done otherwise you will waste your free time. Note that the image that will remain on your Mona Canvas will be the last frame of your stream.
If you would like to delete a Stream from Livepeer, select the stream on the left and then press 'Delete'. You don't have to do this as you could use the same stream source in future streams.
And that's it! You are now live streaming in Mona!
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