Live streaming: how to create a live video on OKAST : Support OKAST

To start you need to go to Content Management > Live contents, then click on Create a live.

For the live source, you will have 2 possibilities:

RTMP (Real Time Messaging Protocol) source: if you choose this option, we will encode and host the stream for you, the encoding credits and bandwidth of your plan will be debited.
SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) source: SRT is an open-source video streaming protocol sharing the same advantages than RTMP but with less latency. It allows you to live stream your content over suboptimal networks. One big drawback, however, is that the playback option is unavailable.

Warning: live RTMP option is only for customers who subscribed to the Start Plan and above. If the option is not activated, contact us, so that we can activate it in your back office. Due to its complexity, this specific encoding costs the double (X2) than normal encoding credits.

Steps to generate a live RTMP:

1/ First choose whether you want to start your live streaming immediately, or if you want to schedule it at a later date.

To program it, activate the button and choose a duration as well as a start date:

⚠️ Please note: The time displayed on your back office matches your time zone.

Warning: for now, the maximum duration of a live show is set to 3 hours maximum. But be careful with the duration of the event because once the live starts, you won’t be able to change the end time, and it will automatically stop your live streaming. The best is to plan a longer duration than you planned and stop the broadcast manually by clicking on the “stop stream” button.

If you schedule your event, you can then decide to display your content on your platform, and it will automatically display a countdown like this:

2/ Then choose the input stream quality. According to this input quality, we will encode the streams differently: for 1080p (full HD) we will also encode the stream in 720p (HD) and 360p (SD). For 720p input we will only encode in 2 resolutions: 720p and 360p.

Warning: if your video is in 720p at the input, do not choose 1080p otherwise it may affect the broadcast (and it will also debit your encoding credit for nothing), so check this setting beforehand.

3/ Then activate the content with the button: and save all the information.

4/ Add the content in a free or paid offer (this step is a prerequisite to be able to launch the live streaming).

5/ Go back to your content and launch the live streaming by clicking on the “Start live” button.

Warning: if the button is deactivated, it means that you have not followed the previous steps and that your content is neither activated nor in an offer. If the steps have been followed, just click on the “Save” button and the button should turn blue.

Once the button is activated, we will generate a server for your stream, and give you a streaming URL and a key.

These identifiers will be necessary to send your video stream in input to our server. The OBS tool, which is a free software, allows you to easily push your input video stream (camera, webcam, etc…) to the streaming server. But there are many others.

Setting examples for Stream source on OBS

Once your source stream is sent to the server, wait until the connection is on “connected” status and the quality of the stream is good (this can take up to a few minutes).

You will then be able to test the good diffusion of your live show without broadcasting on your platform.

As soon as everything is ok (connection, image, quality), you just have to click on “Start broadcasting” and you will be able to broadcast on your platform.

Finally, when your live is finished, don’t forget to click on the “Stop stream” button so that your encoding credit is not debited further.

⚠️ Important warnings:

If you are scheduling a live streaming, then the stream URL and key will be generated automatically 5 minutes before the specified start time. However, we recommend manually start the live 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start time in order to retrieve the credentials (URL and key) and do the necessary tests.
A started live cannot be stopped and then restarted. Once it is stopped, you will not be able to restart a live with the provided credentials. It also means a new URL for your content on the platform. If this happens to you, you will need to create a new “live” content, and inform any users currently viewing the new link of the content on the platform.
Once the live is started, you must have a video stream in input, otherwise the live will be stopped automatically for security reasons. Without an input stream for more than 5 minutes, the auto-stop will stop the live and you won’t be able to restart it (you’ll have to create a new one).
At the end of your live, please click on the “Stop stream” button, otherwise your encoding credit will be lost…

Create an automatic replay for your live stream

Once the live streaming is over, you have the possibility to automatically generate a replay that will be available to your users on demand (like a hosted content). The “Create a replay” button will be displayed automatically:

⚠️ WARNING : Before that, you will also have the possibility to edit the video a little, for example, if you want to delete the beginning of your live stream. To do this, drag the sliders that appear below the video player:

The generated replays are identifiable in your catalog via the icon:

⚠️ The time of availability of the replay can vary but is generally not immediate, plan a small delay between the end of your live stream and the creation of the replay on the platform.

⚠️ You can generate a replay up to 14 days after the end of the live streaming. After that, we will delete the file and it will not be possible to retrieve it.

⚠️ A replay has a time limit of 6H.

Follow in real time the number of views

From your back office, in Analytics > Contents, you can observe in real time the number of views of your live content and see its evolution over time, without having to reload the page. You can know at a given moment, the number of views as well as the number of views accumulated since the beginning of your live.

At the end of the live, a dotted bar indicates when the live has stopped and you can see the people still present on the live and perhaps participating in the chat.