Live Streaming Using Kaltura Live Streaming (HDS / HLS / DASH)

Kaltura Live Streaming

The Kaltura live streaming platform enables you to broadcast live events or 24/7 broadcasts to any screen. A Kaltura live stream can be provisioned in the kaltura management console ( KMC ) or directly from applications such as MediaSpace. Kaltura live streaming supports both passthrough and cloud encoding with multi protocol output for HLS, HDS, MPEG-DASH and Smooth Streaming.  Kaltura live streams can be delivered through a Content Delivery Network (CDN) such as Akamai, as well as support internal delivery in diverse network topologies with support for eCDNs and Multicast. Kaltura live streaming also support Live to VOD with a single embed code, instant provisioning and live captions passthrough.  

You can encode a stream with any RTMP encoder. Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder (Free) Telestream Wirecast (Commercial) and others such as ViewCast Niagara and NewTek Tricaster hardware encoders are supported. The encoder sends you stream out through a secure RTMP connection to the Kaltura Live Streaming service. Then, using a Kaltura Player, you can embed the live broadcast entry your websites. You can set the live stream entry metadata and specify broadcasting settings in the KMC in the same way VOD content is managed. 

In the Kaltura SaaS Edition, Live Streaming is an additional service.
To add Live Streaming to your account, contact your Account Manager.

In the Kaltura Community Edition, Live Streaming requires a Flash Streaming Server software installed such as Adobe FMS, Red5 and Wowza or alternatively, an Akamai CDN account.

Features Overview

• Instant provisioning  — streams are provisioned instantly without delays both in KMC and via API calls. 
• Cloud Transcoding — supports single RTMP stream ingest being transcoded in the cloud to a few different flavors for high quality adaptive delivery experience with minimal ingest bandwidth and CPU requirements.  
• Live Recording, and live to VOD — records your live broadcast for instant VOD access once the live event is complete via the same embed code.
• Live Clipping— enables you to create VOD clips from a live event while the live event is still active. 
• Passthrough and multi protocol support — stream to multiple protocols and delivery modes; HDS, HLS, MPEG-DASH, Smooth Streaming to delivery to mobile and desktop
• Live Captions — supports live captions passthrough to Kaltura players and compatible devices. .

To enable live streaming for your account 

Kaltura SaaS, MediaSpace  and On Prem Customers

•Contact us or call +1-800-871-5224

After your account is enabled you can set up Kaltura’s Live Streaming service.

This article describes how to set up the KMC, the encoder, and a device for the live streaming service using Kaltura Live Streaming (HDS / HLS / DASH) .

Users of Kaltura CE

To enable live streaming and webcam recording on Kaltura CE, you must have a Streaming Server (such as Adobe FMS, Red5 and Wowza) or a Live Streaming enabled CDN account.

Then you will need to integrate your Streaming Server or CDN with your Kaltura CE. Read "How to integrate Kaltura CE 4.0 with Red5" on our blog if you use Red5 (can be used with other Streaming Servers).

Workflow for Setting up Live Streaming

1. Set up the Hardware and Software.
2. Create a Live Streaming Entry in the KMC.
3. Configure the Live Streaming Parameters in the KMC.
4. Set up the Broadcasting Computer.
5. View the Broadcasting Setup (optional)

Setting up the Hardware and Software

  To set up the hardware and software for live streaming

For the purposes of documentation we outline the use of flash media encoder, your setup may differ from this guide if using a different encoder. 

1. Download the Flash Media Live Encoder (FMLE).
2. Install the FMLE on your local Windows machine. 
3. Connect your camera to the installed computer.

Be certain that your system has the minimum requirements.
See http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/flashmediaencoder/systemreqs/ for details.

Creating a Live Streaming Entry in the KMC

To create a live streaming entry in the KMC

1. Login into the KMC and go to the Upload tab.
   
2. Select Live Stream Entry.
   The Add New Stream window is displayed.
    
3. Select the Live Stream Type. For this particular example, select Kaltura Live Streaming.

   The following Live Stream types are available:

   Kaltura Live Streaming (HDS / HLS / DASH)– Default - Kaltura live streaming services are provisioned within the Kaltura data center. Supports cloud transcoding, extended DVR window, live to VOD archiving with a single embed code, instant provisioning, and multi protocol delivery.  Depending on your live streaming package simultaneous cloud transcodes will be restricted.

   Universal Streaming, Flash and Mobile (HDS / HLS) - Supports both Flash HDS (Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming) and HLS (Apple HTTP Live Streaming) from a single ingested stream. Akamai universal live streaming also supports DVR functionality that allows you to seek back in time within the live stream window. The default DVR window is 30 minutes. Contact Kaltura for more information.

   Manual Live Stream URLs - Allows you to associate custom live end user URLs with a Kaltura entry. This option is useful if you are using a 3^rd party to provision and broadcast a live stream.

   Legacy Flash Streaming (RTMP) - Delivers live content as an RTMP stream. RTMP is limited to only desktop Flash and does not support DVR. We recommend migrating live streams to “Kaltura Live Streaming”.

   Kaltura recommends Kaltura Live Streaming. Akamai Universal Streaming was previously the default, and does not include all the same features as Kaltura Live Streaming. Both Universal and Kaltura Live streaming      

4. Enter values for the following fields and check the relevant options.
   

   Field	Description
   Name	Required, minimum 5 characters. The name of the stream that will appear in the KMC entries list.
   Description	A description of the stream (Optional).
   Live Transcoding Profile	Select a transcoding profile from the drop down list. The available profiles are Cloud Transcode and Passthrough Cloud Transocde– enables cloud transcoding per defined cloud transcoding profile. The default cloud transcoding profile includes the source stream + 3 transcode flavors. Your ingest stream for default cloud transcode profile should be 1-2 mbs for 640P resolution. To broadcast multiple cloud transcode streams simultaneously contact your Kaltura account manager. Passthrough - takes the stream from the encoder and repackages the stream for desktop and mobile users without re-encoding. You can set additional transcoding profiles for live streaming. See How to Set Transcoding Profiles for Live Streaming and Adding a Transcoding Profile for more information.
   Enable Live DVR (provide the ability to seek within the recorded DVR to up to 24 hours prior to your existing point of the live stream).	The DVR window is set to 24 hours by default. The DVR window within your player will dynamically adjust per the duration of your event, up to 24 hours.
   Enable Recording	Check this to create a VOD of the live stream. The recordings are limited to 24 hours.

    

5. Fill in the values and click Create Live Stream. 

Configuring the Live Stream Parameters in the KMC

To configure the live stream parameters

1. Go the Content tab in the KMC.
2. Click on the Live Stream Entry in the Entries table.
3. Select the Live Stream tab.

   For the Kaltura Live Streaming (HDS / HLS / DASH) type, the primary and Backup URLs are automatically created by Kaltura.

4. Click Export for FMLE to export the client encoder information to an XML that will be used to enter into encoder.
5. Save the file.
6. Set up the broadcasting computer.

Setting up the Broadcasting Computer

 To set up the broadcasting computer

1. Connect your camera /recording device to the broadcasting computer.
2. Run the Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder (FMLE).
3. Select File > Openfile.
4. Select the exported saved file and click OK.
5. Click Connect and then click Start.
   Wait until you see the broadcasting prompt to start broadcasting. 
6. Select the relevant recording Device from the drop-down menu. Copy the details of the live entry to the Flash Media Live Encoder. You can copy the details manually, or use the “Export XML to FME” option.
   
   1. Enter or copy the Primary URL in the FMS URL field, and the Backup URL in the Secondary URL as configured in the KMC.
   2. Enter the Stream Name as displayed in the KMC.
   3. Enter the MBR settings if you have defined them. See Multiple Bitrate Encoding.
   4. Use the Preset dropdown menu in the FMLE to select the MBR.
   5. Enter the Bit Rates as configured in the KMC. If you select to Save to File, you must append %i to the 'Stream' field.
      The Stream name is formatted for use with the FMLE. If you are using an encoder other then FMLE, such as Wirecast, you will need to replace the "%i" with a "1". For example, remove the % and replace the i with a 1 for the first stream or 2 if it is the second stream and so on
7. Click Connect.
8. Enter the Broadcasting credentials, (User Name and Password) as configured in the KMC Live Stream tab and click OK. The system will prompt you twice for the Broadcasting credentials. 
9. Click Start. You are now broadcasting live.
10. When your broadcast is finished, click Stop.

Viewing the Broadcasting Setup (Optional)

If you checked enable recording– a new entry is created with the chunks of VOD recordings. It may take a few minutes until the content is ready.

To view the  broadcasting setup

1. Return to the KMC and select the Content tab.
2. In the KMC Entries Table, click the Preview & Embed link for the live stream entry.
3. Select the player from the drop-down menu and copy the Embed Code.
4. Paste the Embed Code within an HTML page or use the short link URL created for this live stream.
   
5. Browse to the page where the embed code was inserted and press Play on the video player.

To see the DVR.

1. Inside the live stream entry use the scrubber to go back to the point in the video that you want to view.
2. If you have DVR enabled, and play a previous section of the stream, the live button on the player is enabled and returns you to the actual current point in the live stream.
3. Click Stop.
4. Click Disconnect.

Advanced Configuration Options

There are multiple factors that can influence the video quality for live streaming. To receive good results you should optimize the settings based on your specific needs.

The following table can be used as a starting point for optimization and setup. A rough estimate is provided for the different factors, based on the video dimensions.

For further reading on how to set up these parameters in the Flash Media Live Encoder, as well as additional advanced configuration options, see the FMLE guide.