The Wowza Video™ service provides direct playback URLs you can use to deliver live streams to viewers or other video services directly from the transcoder, bypassing standard stream delivery through a CDN. You might choose to stream directly through the transcoder to reduce latency or to use a protocol not offered through a CDN. Direct playback URLs are often used to stream to services like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others.
When choosing to deliver your stream directly from a transcoder, consider the following feature details:
- Protocols supported – Direct playback URLs are available for RTMP, RTSP, WOWZ, and WebRTC.
- Cost – Egress costs for direct playback are typically greater than the costs associated with delivering streams to viewers through a CDN. For more information, see the terms of your Cloud subscription for details on the associated costs.
- Maximum viewer connections – By default, direct playback is limited to 10 viewers. You can change the default value to allow additional viewers. The maximum number of viewers a transcoder can support varies depending on configuration options you selected when you set up the transcoder. Generally, adaptive bitrate transcoders are larger and support more viewer connections (up to 300) while passthrough transcoders are smaller and support fewer viewer connections. Make sure you do sufficient testing to ensure your streaming goals are met.
Before you start
You should complete the following tasks:
- Create a live stream or transcoder with a video source:
- Live Stream – Create a live stream for your video source. View our Connect to Wowza Video topics to learn how to create a live stream for your stream for the specific source endcoder or IP camera.
- Transcoder – Create a transcoder with the highest quality output rendition your bandwidth allows. You'll only need to specify one output rendition and no targets, because you're streaming directly from the transcoder. See Create and manage transcoders in Wowza Video for more information about creating a transcoder.
- Instructions for connecting Wowza Video to video sources differ by source. See Connect to Wowza Video for more information about connecting to various video sources.
Live Stream Workflow
Use the direct playback URL in your playback setup
Provide the direct playback URL to the service you're streaming to.
- Under Advanced on the left navigation bar, click Transcoders, and then select the live stream's transcoder. It appears as [Live stream name] / Transcoder.
- On the Direct Playback URLs tab, expand the entry for the protocol you want to use. You can choose between HLS, RTMP, RTSP, WOWZ, and WebRTC. Each protocol has playback URLs for the source and for each output rendition, including the passthrough rendition.
- Select the highest output rendition that your bandwidth allows and provide that URL to the service you're streaming to. Refer to the documentation for the service you're streaming to for specific playback setup instructions.
- (Optional) Click Edit on the Direct Playback URL tab to change the maximum number of viewers who can access the live stream directly through the transcoder.
When you start your live stream in Wowza Video and your video source, the stream bypasses the CDN and is delivered to viewers directly from the transcoder.
Transcoder Workflow
Use the direct playback URL in your playback setup
Provide the direct playback URL to the service you're streaming to.
- Under Advanced on the left navigation bar, click Transcoders, and then click the name that corresponds to the transcoder you created.
- On the Direct Playback URLs tab, expand the entry for the protocol you want to use. You can choose between HLS, RTMP, RTSP, WOWZ, and WebRTC.
- Select the output rendition that corresponds to the output you created for the transcoder and provide that URL to the service you're streaming to. Refer to the service's documentation for specific playback setup instructions.
- (Optional) Click Edit on the Direct Playback URL tab to change the maximum number of viewers who can access the live stream directly through the transcoder.
When you start your transcoder in Wowza Video and your video source, the stream bypasses the CDN and is delivered to viewers directly from the transcoder.
