How to live stream

To start streaming, select ‘Schedule an event’ from the create video page. If you don’t see this option, contact partnersupport@recast.tv to enable it on your channel.

• Adding your event details is similar to when you upload a video. You can set the category, title, description, and price. For more details on this click here.
• For live events you must provide a thumbnail image and this will be visible to Fans on the live tab of Recast. The live tab is the place where Fans can see upcoming live streams, so an eye-catching thumbnail will help attract viewers. For details on thumbnail specifications click here: [link]. You can also upload a trailer for your stream, up to 30 seconds.
• When scheduling an event, you can either choose to go live immediately, or schedule your event for a later date.

If you’ve scheduled the event for later, find it on your Publisher page and select ‘start streaming’ to load the stream setup page. Or you will be taken straight to this page if you choose to start your stream immediately. For most people, select ‘Create a URL’. This will provide you RTMP details to enter on your end. If you happen to be using your own streaming server, select ‘Use your own URL’.

Note: If you’ve selected ‘Create a URL’, please note this may take up to a minute to generate the RTMP details.

The URL and stream key can then be entered in your encoder to connect things up. It usually takes around 30-60 seconds for your stream to connect. This may take longer if you have DRM enabled.

Some streaming platforms automatically start your stream when you connect the RTMP, but on Recast you must click the ‘Go live’ button to start the stream. The stream will then go live immediately to your fans.

Once the stream is live, you can close this page. You can return to it at any time in Recast Publish. Find your stream in the ‘live events’ tab. Click ‘manage streaming’ to return to where you where. Or if you just need to view the stream itself, choose ‘view’. You can then view it as an admin or in the fan app.

For more information on our DRM implementation see here.

If you need to make your videos unavailable in certain countries, it’s very easy to edit this. After setting the price for your video, you can change the country availability. This can then be edited later too, if you have limited time geoblocking deals.

For an up-to-date list of the countries Recast are available in, see here. You can also set a default list of countries you want your content available in, so you don’t have to edit it on each upload.

Live streams scheduled for a future date/time can be accessed via the ‘Upcoming’ tab in the Live events’ section. ‘Start streaming’ will take you to the stream page to start the steam. The scheduled time/date and thumbnail can be changed via the ‘edit’ function.

Streaming Protocol

RTMP

Resolution

We support resolutions up to 1080p 16:9. We suggest streaming at one of these standard resolutions:

Frame Rate

We support input frame rates up to 60fps.

Video Bitrate

For most HD quality streams we suggest between 3 and 6 Mbps for the video Bitrate. Here is some more detail:

Bitrate Control

CBR (Constant bitrate)

Profile

We suggest using the main or high profile based on your output resolution and frame rate.

Audio Bitrate

128 kbps

Audio Channels

Stereo

Scan Type

We only support progressive scan on streams. You can stream using an interlaced feed but we are unable to deinterlace a stream input, so artefacting will appear.

Stream Length

Up to 6 hours. If you need to stream for a longer duration, please reach out to techsupport@recast.tv and we can discuss solutions.