Learn how to use a Wowza stream source with a transcoder in Wowza Video™ to automatically detect broadcast region, automatically start a stream when the video source starts, and automatically stop a stream after the video source disconnects.
Note: For information about stream sources and their benefits see About Stream Sources.
To learn about other transcoder settings you might see in the user interface, see Transcoder Setup page in Wowza Video.
1. Associate a Wowza stream source with a transcoder
You can create a transcoder at the same time as you associate it with a Wowza stream source. First add the stream source and then configure a transcoder to use it.
Note: The Advanced transcoders, stream targets, and stream sources feature is currently offered under limited availability meaning the functionality is available to select Wowza Video users. If you need this functionality, please email us at customerservice@wowza.com.
Add a Wowza stream source
- Under Advanced on the left navigation, click Stream Sources, and then click + Add New.
- Enter a Title, then click Create Stream Source.
Note: Wowza stream sources don't support source authentication.
Wowza Video creates the stream source. Next, create a transcoder and associate it with the stream source.
Add a transcoder
- Under Advanced on the left navigation, click Transcoders, then click + Add New.
- On the Transcoder Setup page, give your transcoder a title.
- Select a source protocol. For ingest to a stream source, select RTMP.
- For the source delivery method, choose Push to an existing stream source.
- Select the Transcoder Type and Billing Mode.
- To test the stream source automatically determining your Region, we recommend you set this to a location on another continent. For example, set the location to Japan if you are primarily streaming from within the United States. Wowza Video will override the selected value and use a DNS query to automatically detect the closest ingest location.
Note: If you are not testing a geographically dispersed stream, you can leave Region set to where the transcoder is most closely located from the options.
- Specify the remaining setup options, then click Create Transcoder. Wowza Video creates the transcoder and displays the Outputs & Targets tab of the transcoder detail page.
- Complete the transcoder by creating at least one output rendition and one targetfor it.
2. Test your connection
- Set up your video source using connection details from the transcoder's detail page.
- Start your video source.
Wowza Video receives the stream from the source, starts transcoding, creates output renditions for the stream, and sends each output rendition to the stream target assigned to it. - In the Wowza Video web manager, confirm that the live stream is playing by looking at the Video Preview in the Overview tab of the Transcoder Details page.
The video preview displays a frame from the live stream every 5 seconds.
- In order to check that your current broadcast location was correctly identified, check the Region on the Transcoder Settings tab of the Transcoder Details page.
The detected video source location is shown as the Region. - To end your test stream, stop the video source.
Once you disable the video source, the transcoder continues to run and accrue charges until it reaches the default idle timeout value of 20 minutes. The transcoder then stops automatically. You can edit the Idle Timeout value on the Transcoder Settings tab of the Transcoder Details page so that the transcoder stops sooner.
Alternatively, you can stop the transcoder manually by clicking Stop Transcoder at the top of the Transcoder details page.
