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How to Set Up Youtube for Live Streaming - Part I

Streaming video live is very useful as a way to allow remote viewers to participate in an event. Common situations suitable for live streaming are church services, weddings, sporting events where an individual desires to participate without being physically present.

 Youtube provides the ability to host live streams for free and without restrictions on viewership. You need to have a Google account. This tutorial assumes you already have a Google account. If you use Google mail (Gmail), you have a Google account. If your email ends in @gmail.com, you have a Google account. If you access your email by going to mail.google.com, you have a Google account. If your email app has the following icon
, you ave a Google account. If you have an Android phone, you most likely have a Google account!

 Additionally, Google requires that the said account is of good standing. See these conditions. 

 To get started, log in to https://www.youtube.com and sign in (sign-in link is at top right). See illustration below for location of sign in link.
 
To access live streaming, launch the Creator Studio from the Google Account icon show below on the top right. When you click this account icon, it reveals a pop up menu that allows you to access the Creator Studio, switch accounts and other features.

 

The left panel of the Creator Studio contains the navigation bar that you use to access a number of features including live streaming, dashboard and video manager.



The procedure for setting up a stream is as shown below. The Live Chat set up permits viewers to send comments during the event. Such comments can be optionally filtered and moderated.
 

When setting up a simple (one camera) stream, the  basic information required is show below. It includes:
  • A stream title (name of Event )
  • An event description
  • Optional schedule for the next stream
  • Category of event
  • Stream privacy
Once this information is entered and the encoder set up, you can begin to stream by starting the encoder.
 

The following panel is key to successful encoder setup. Encoder software accepts video in your camera's format and converts it to a format suitable for the streaming server. The encoder set up requires two key parameters: the server URL and the stream key/name. Both are show below. When using Larix, convert this information into an URL that looks as follows:
rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com:1935/live2/sgkw-jb1j-6bjh-8xs1
  • The number 1935 is the port number. For Google live streaming servers, it is currently 1935.
  • The blue text is the Stream name/key that must be entered exactly as show in the illustration below.
  • If there is any error in the URL, the encoder will not connect to the streaming server. The encoder recommended for smartphone-based streaming is Larix. Some encoders are hardware boxes. Others are PC software such as the Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder but require a video capture card to connect the camera to the PC/laptop.
 

The button in the illustration below with the words "Change Thumbnail" allows you to select and upload a customised icon for you streaming video. The thumbnail requirements are as follows:

Your custom thumbnails should:

  • Have a minimum resolution of 1280x720 (with minimum width of 640 pixels).
  • Be uploaded in image formats such as .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG. 
  • Remain under the 2MB file size limit. 
  • Try to use a 16:9 aspect ratio as it's the most used in YouTube players and previews.
  • See this article for Thumbnail policies.


 

 The icon shown below with a grey dot and the word "OFFLINE" shows when your basic live stream is on or off. When on and healthy, the dot changes to green and the word to LIVE. If the stream becomes shaky the dot can change to orange or other colours to show that all is not well. That would require you improve the Internet speed or reduce  resolution of the transmitted video.
 
On the lower right part of the user interface, you will find the Share panel. The URL shown in this panel is the URL you would send to those who wish to view the stream. The stream can also be embedded in a web page. See the next illustration on how to get the code to use in your HTML page.


 

If you right-click on the preview panel as shown below and select
Copy embed code, you can paste the resulting code, an iframe, into your HTML to embed the live stream.

Best wishes in your live streaming endeavors. Remember, the Messiah is soon coming. You need to prepare for that day.
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Location: Nakuru, Kenya

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