Live video streaming tutorials for the encoder you already have

If you have never streamed before, start with OBS Studio: it is free and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. If you already produce in vMix or Wirecast, use that guide instead, since the settings are the same idea in different menus. A hardware encoder such as a Teradek Cube makes sense when you want to broadcast without a computer.

It is nearly always one of four things. The stream key was pasted into the URL box as well, the application name is a guess such as "live" instead of the one on your account, the network you are on blocks outgoing traffic on port 1935, or the encoder needs the username and password and they were left empty. Check them in that order. If it still times out, open the chat and we can see whether anything reached your service.

In your Primcast control panel. Open your video account, go to the Live streaming card and look under Encoder settings: the server address with your application name, the stream name, the username and the password are all there, each with a copy button. That username and password are only for publishing the stream, not the ones you sign in with. On a dedicated server the values come from your own machine's configuration instead.

Let your upload speed decide. Measure it on the machine that will broadcast and keep video plus audio together to about two thirds of that figure, because running right at the limit is what causes drops later in a show. So if a speed test shows 6 Mbps, send around 4 at most. The paid live video plans take up to 5 Mbps in, enough for 1080p, with 128 kbps of audio counted inside that. If viewers buffer, lower the bitrate or drop to 720p before anything else.

Check the keyframe interval first. Your stream is cut into HLS segments on keyframes, so keyframes that arrive unevenly make uneven segments, and viewers feel that as buffering while the encoder reports no problem. Set a fixed interval of 2 seconds and turn off scene-change keyframes.

Yes, with any mobile app that lets you type in a custom RTMP address and stream key, such as Larix Broadcaster. Use the same server, application and stream name as on a computer. Older guides point to the Wowza GoCoder app, but Wowza no longer supports it, so skip that advice.

No. Adobe ended Flash Player at the close of 2020, and Flash Media Live Encoder has gone years without an update. RTMP, the protocol it used, is still how encoders send video to a server today. Your viewers then watch in HLS, which plays in any current browser and on phones with no plugin.

Yes. The fields are the same on a dedicated streaming server running Wowza or similar software. Put your own server's address and application name where these guides use ours.