The Wowza Video™ service allows you to protect copyrighted content by embedding a watermark into transcoded streams. Watermarks aren't available for passthrough streams, transcoders, or video output renditions, however, and aren't saved in Wowza Video recordings.
To learn about other live stream or transcoder settings you might see in the user interface, see Live Stream Setup page in Wowza Video or Transcoder Setup page in Wowza Video.
You'll need to choose which workflow you'll use, live stream or transcoder, before you begin this task. See Decide between a live stream or transcoder workflow for more information about these workflows.
Live stream workflow
Embed a watermark in a live stream
In the live stream workflow, we'll automatically configure the transcoder, output renditions, and stream targets to get you started quickly. This is the preferred workflow for most of our customers.
You can also embed a watermark in an adaptive bitrate live stream. Create the stream as you normally would using the live stream creation wizard, and then edit the stream's transcoder to include the watermark.
- Click Live Streams on the menu bar, and then click Add Live Stream.
- On the Add Live Stream: Live Stream Setup page, enter a Live Stream Name, choose a Broadcast Location, and then click Next.
- If you choose a Broadcast Location that supports passthrough streaming, on the Video Source and Transcoder Settings page, specify the Live Stream Type as Adaptive bitrate.
- Specify all of the other settings for your live stream, review your choices, and click Finish to create the live stream.
Now, edit the live stream's transcoder setup to embed a watermark.
- Click Advanced on the menu bar, and then click Transcoders.
- On the Transcoders page, select the live stream's transcoder. It appears as [Live stream name] / Transcoder.
- Click the Transcoder Setup tab of the transcoder's detail page, and then click Edit.
- Under Watermark, select Embed a watermark in the transcoded stream.
- Click Browse and navigate to and select the image to embed as a watermark in the live stream.
Watermark images must be GIF, JPEG, or PNG format and no larger than 2.5 MB.
- Specify the corner of the video frame in which the watermark should be positioned.
- If necessary, enter a Watermark Width and Watermark Height to scale the image to fit in the video frame. Leaving either field blank keeps the original measurement.
- Specify the Watermark Opacity by entering a percentage between 0 (transparent) and 100 (opaque).
- Click Save.
The watermark will appear in the live stream wherever it's played except, however, in any passthrough video output renditions you create and assign to the live stream's transcoder.
If you're having problems or want to discuss this article, post in our forum.
Transcoder workflow
Embed a watermark in a custom transcoder
In the transcoder workflow, you'll manually configure the transcoder, output renditions, and stream targets to fit your specific streaming solution.
- Under Advanced on the left navigation bar, click Transcoders, and then click Add Transcoder.
- On the Add Transcoder: Transcoder Setup page, enter a short, descriptive Transcoder Name.
- For Transcoder Type, choose Adaptive bitrate.
- Under Watermark, select Embed a watermark in the transcoded stream.
- Click Browse and navigate to and select the image to embed as a watermark in the transcoded stream.
Watermark images must be GIF, JPEG, or PNG format and no larger than 2.5 MB.
- Specify the corner of the video frame in which the watermark should be positioned.
- If necessary, enter a Watermark Width and Watermark Height to scale the image to fit in the video frame. Leaving either field blank keeps the original measurement.
- Specify the Watermark Opacity by entering a percentage between 0 (transparent) and 100 (opaque).
- Specify the Billing Mode, Broadcast Location, Source Protocol, and other transcoder setup options.
- Click Add.
Wowza Video creates the transcoder and displays the Outputs & Targets tab of the transcoder detail page.
The transcoder isn't finished until you create outputs and targets for it. Remember, any passthrough output renditions you create and assign to an adaptive bitrate transcoder won't display the embedded watermark.
If you're having problems or want to discuss this article, post in our forum.
