A live source is the origin of the video stream displayed in the player, coming from your streaming server, and is required before you can begin a live broadcast. This guide walks you through creating a live source and configuring its type, input settings, and latency.
Simplified live stream processing
In this article:
Create a live source
- Go to Live Streaming > Configure Sources.
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Click Create Live Source in the upper right corner.
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Select the type of live source:
- Ravnur Media Services (RMS): provides advanced streaming server control and low latency capabilities.
- MUX: alternative streaming infrastructure. The stream shuts down automatically after 12 hours. Contact Ravnur Support to activate this format.
- HTTP live stream URL: use an .m3u8 playlist manifest URL to create a generic live source and stream it to the player. This source type has no automatic shutdown limit and supports continuous streaming.
The playlist manifest URL must use https.
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Add the input settings.
Depending on the source type, some fields may not be displayed.
- Account: select the appropriate account. By default, both RMS and MUX accounts record Video on demand (VOD), which the system saves automatically to the Videos section as a media file. To disable VOD recording or stream from different geographic regions (for example, the East Coast and West Coast), contact Ravnur Support to request a dedicated RMS account.
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Encoding: select an encoding preset. Standard Passthrough applies no encoding and is the default. Standard 720p and Premium 1080p take a single-bitrate stream from an on-premises encoder and generate multiple bitrate streams: Standard 720p produces 4 resolution/bitrate pairs when the contribution feed is 720p or higher, and Premium 1080p produces 5 resolution/bitrate pairs.
All renditions become available within 1-2 minutes after the live event starts. Reload the page to see the full Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) ladder.
- Ingest video format: select RTMP, SRT, or RTSP. RTSP supports both Pull and Push options.
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Add the live source details:
- Title: enter a descriptive name. This name appears in the list view and in the drop-down lists for configuring the Channel and Live Event. Example: Live Source 1 - SRT low latency.
- Description: enter details that help other users understand the purpose of this source. The description appears on the Live Source details page. Example: "Used for City Council meetings. No live captions. Standard latency."
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Enable low latency: reduces stream latency to 7-14 seconds with HLS passthrough output. Choose standard latency for the most resilient stream when low latency isn't required, and low latency when viewers interact with the stream, such as during a Q&A.
Actual latency varies depending on the content delivery network (CDN) used and the viewer's operating system and player.
- Key frame interval: set the interval. The default is 2.
6. Click Create Live Source. This live source appears in the Live Sources list and is ready to associate with a Channel or Live Event.
Considerations
- You can't change encoding, ingest video format, or other input settings after creating a live source. Create a separate live source for each configuration you need, such as one with Standard Passthrough encoding and another with Premium 1080p encoding.
- Create more than one live source when you run concurrent live events, use ABR encoding for one event and passthrough for another, stream from both an RMS origin and a non-RMS .m3u8 origin, or need different latency settings across events.