Mobile Streaming With Larix Apps and Wowza

Justin Miller:

For those developers looking to create their own live video streaming app to connect to Wowza Streaming Engine or Wowza Streaming Cloud, we highly recommend Larix Broadcaster SDK and Larix Playback SDK. Both are available for purchase from softvelum.com. To test the capabilities for both broadcast and playback, we’ll be installing the Broadcaster and Player apps available on the Apple Store and Google Play. Larix Broadcaster is capable of streaming using the RTSP, RTMP, and SRT protocols. Larix Player can play back via RTMP, SRT, and HLS, along with a few other options. For this test, we’ll set up Larix Broadcaster to stream RTMP to a locally hosted Wowza Streaming Engine instance and use Larix Player for playback via HLS. We’ll also repeat this using Wowza Streaming Cloud. Now, before you begin, make sure both the local instants and the two mobile devices for the app are on the same Wi-Fi network.

Also, check to make sure what the computer’s network address is. Sometimes, this differs from the application connection settings, and you will want to use the computer’s network address. In Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, we’ll go to Server and select Source Authentication. Here, I’ll Add Source with the username ‘Denver’ and the password ‘Boulder’. Once it’s been added, go to Applications and select the default Live application. Under Sources (Live), you’ll find the application connection settings I mentioned. If the IP address differs, use the network IP address. We’ll format this as a URL for Larix Broadcaster to include source authentication. It will appear as: RTMP://IP address:host port/application name/stream name

In Larix Broadcaster, use the cog. Under Connections, hit plus, name the connection, then paste in the URL. You’ll want to change the target type to RTMP authorization, and then enter ‘Denver’ for the username and ‘Boulder’ for the password. Save your settings and make sure the connection is checked before returning to settings and using Back to return to the main page.

Hit the big red button and your connection is active. In Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, you can verify the stream is working by going to Incoming Streams and verifying there the stream is active. In Larix Player, we’ll play back the stream using HLS. With the plus, we’ll name the stream ‘Arvada’, and then enter the URL in the standard HLS format, which would be: HTTP://IP address:host port/application name/stream name/playlist.M3U8

When you’re finished, select Arvada and the stream will begin. Keep in mind, HLS generally has a 30 to 45 second delay. This can be reduced by lowering the player’s buffer size, changing the encoder setup to low latency, going into the application set up in Wowza Streaming Engine and setting it for low latency, as well as going into the properties and modifying the chunk size. For a quick out-of-the-box solution, consider using Wowza Streaming Cloud.

You’ll need to create a live stream by going to the top, and under Live Streams, choosing Add Live Stream. Name the stream and set the location closest to you. Next, you’ll need to choose your encoder, which in our case will be Other RTMP. For those who we want to lower their latency, check the box to Yes, create an HLS stream with reduced latency. To keep things simple, we’ll leave everything else as default and go right to Finish. Now, for the Larix Broadcaster, you’ll need to use the primary server URL with / and the stream name at the end. You’ll use RTMP authentication once again, with the source username and password, and Larix Player will use the HLS playback URL. When you’re ready to start the stream, click Start your live stream now. Once the stream’s started, you can then go into Larix Broadcaster and start your live stream. I’d give it about 15 seconds or so before you begin playback using Larix Player. All right. Well, that’s it for testing broadcast and playback for mobile devices to Wowza Streaming Engine and Wowza Streaming Cloud. Thanks for watching and happy streaming.