Going live

You stream from broadcasting software like OBS Studio using your personal ingest URL and stream key.

Note

Streaming requires your account to be approved for streaming — the Go Live page becomes available once you’re approved. See Becoming a creator.

Get your stream key

In the Studio’s Go Live page you’ll find:

• Ingest (RTMP) URL — where your encoder sends video.
• Stream key — a private token that authorises your stream.

Danger

Treat your stream key like a password. Anyone with it can stream as you. If it leaks, reset it from the Go Live page.

Set up OBS

1. Settings → Stream.
2. Service: Custom.
3. Server: your ingest URL.
4. Stream key: your key.
5. In Output, use a reasonable bitrate (see below) and a keyframe interval of 2 seconds.
6. Select Start Streaming. Your channel goes live within a few seconds.

Quality & bitrate

Your live stream is delivered to viewers at the quality you broadcast — there’s a single live rendition, so the resolution and bitrate viewers receive are the ones your encoder sends. (Choosing between multiple live qualities isn’t available yet.)

For a stable broadcast:

• Stream at a resolution and bitrate your upload can sustain comfortably — that’s exactly what viewers receive.
• Use a 2-second keyframe interval.
• A maximum ingest bitrate may be enforced. If your stream is rejected or capped, lower your encoder bitrate.

Note

Multiple quality options are available for on-demand videos — a past stream or upload is processed into several resolutions after the fact, so on-demand viewers can pick a quality. Live playback uses the single rendition you broadcast.

Latency

Viewers watch with low latency, but the player favours a stable picture for distant or weak connections. Expect playback to run slightly behind real time.

Ending a stream

Stop streaming in your encoder. Your channel leaves “live”, and the session can become an on-demand past stream (if recording is enabled for your channel) and a source for clips.