With Wowza ClearCaster™ appliances, you can broadcast to a wide variety of destinations including the Wowza Video service; a Wowza Streaming Engine instance; video-sharing websites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter; and other RTMP-based destinations. You can create broadcasts and other RTMP-based destinations using Wowza ClearCaster Manager. We provide pre-made encoding templates for each destination that ensure high-quality broadcast performance and allow you to quickly start broadcasting.
Note: Wowza ClearCaster version 2.0.0.07 or later is required.
Note: Wowza ClearCaster Encoder build 2.3.9.00 or later is required to use Facebook Paired functionality. See Update Wowza ClearCaster™ software for instructions on how to update the software on your Wowza ClearCaster appliance.
Before you start
You should have access to the following items:
- A Wowza account and a ClearCaster subscription.
- A registered ClearCaster appliance with an internet connection and a video source. See Get started with Wowza ClearCaster for information about how to connect your Wowza ClearCaster appliance and video source.
Create the broadcast
After connecting the video source, you can create your broadcast.
- Sign in to Wowza ClearCaster Manager at clearcaster.wowza.com with your Wowza account.
- Click Broadcast in the menu bar, and then click Create Broadcast.
Enter a name for the broadcast in the Create Broadcast dialog.
We recommend a descriptive name that includes the destination and output. This allows you to spot the broadcast at a glance on the Broadcast page.
- Select the ClearCaster appliance that you want to use for the broadcast. Only appliances that are registered to your Wowza account appear in the drop-down menu.
- Select a destination to publish the broadcast to and set options specific to that destination.
From this point, the set up involved is different depending on the destination you stream to. Below we've included a list of what you need to set up depending on the destination you pick:
Built-in General: Other and IP Inputs
All destinations
A few options are shared for all destinations, such as Encoding Templates, Engineering View, and Graphics.
- Select one of the Encoding Templates that are pre-made specifically for your destination or special broadcast configuration. See About built-in Wowza ClearCaster destination and encoding options for more information.
- Select Record Broadcast if you would like to record the broadcast each time it goes live.
- Select a built-in graphics package or select Custom and enter a graphics URL if you want to include graphics. The built-in graphics packages can be edited in the Manage tab under Graphics. Additional graphics can be added using a browser-based graphics application that generates an output URL.
- Select Engineering View to view additional monitoring information on the external monitor connected to your ClearCaster appliance.
Facebook Paired
Facebook paired broadcasts are associated with one Facebook account, have a unique interface for management, and do not need a stream key. Unlike with other destinations, you have to use the Share option to create a broadcast URL that you can share with anyone with or without a Wowza account. With the broadcast URL, anyone can then pair the broadcast with their Facebook account or use a Facebook account that's already paired to publish to their page, group, or feed, and start, stop, and monitor the broadcast from the Facebook Paired broadcast interface.
- Primary ingest stream- Check this box if this is the main ClearCaster appliance that will record the broadcast. See Set up redundant Wowza ClearCaster broadcasts to learn about setting up a second, backup ClearCaster appliance in case the main appliance breaks or is disconnected.
- Optimize Path to Facebook Live - Check this box to use Facebook's live video ingestion servers to stream your broadcast. This gives the best quality stream overall, but streams can take up to 2 minutes to start. This is not best option if you want to start a broadcast as soon as you go live. See Speed Test - Facebook for Developers if you want to learn more about the technical details of how this works.
- This live stream is a 360 video - Check this box if the live stream is a 360 video. This allows Facebook to ingest the video at the correct size. This option is only available to ClearCaster Pro and Enterprise accounts and appears if the 1080p60 VR Encoding Template is selected. See How do I upload a 360 video for more information.
- This live stream is single fisheye - Check this box if the source camera uses a single fisheye lens. This allows Facebook to ingest the video at the correct size. This option is only available to ClearCaster Pro and Enterprise accounts and appears if the 1080p60 VR Encoding Template is selected.
- Field of View (FOV) - Input a custom degree for the open observable area of the video. For example, 360° video sets the field of view so the video shows a full 360°.
- Count Down Timer Steps - Check this box to provide a frame-accurate countdown clock for the last seconds before the preview video broadcast goes live. Set the countdown duration to 3, 5, or 15 seconds. This lets the on-air personality, or talent, know the exact moment the preview video stream goes live and helps to eliminate awkward pauses for both the talent and your Facebook followers.
LinkedIn Live
- Before you can stream to LinkedIn, you must be approved as a LinkedIn Live broadcaster. To request permission, you must submit an application. See Apply to become a LinkedIn Live Broadcaster.
- LinkedIn Live Access Token - Select the access token associated with the LinkedIn account you want to stream to. An access token can be created in the Manage tab under Integrations in the ClearCaster Manager.
- Broadcast Region - Select the region closest to where you're broadcasting to.
Important: The Broadcast Region can't be edited after the broadcast is created. You'll have to create a new broadcast to change it.
Built-in General: Other and IP Inputs
- Choose one of these options if your broadcast requires special configurations such as IP input of various types or output with SRT or MPEG-TS. See About built-in Wowza ClearCaster destination and encoding options for more information.
Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, Wowza Streaming Engine, Wowza Video, General Single Target, and General Multiple Targets
- Use a stream key to start, stop, monitor, and share from the Broadcast tab.
General Single Target streams to any RTMP destination. General Multiple Target streams to more than one target. - Server URL - Enter the protocol followed by the URL for your destination. For example, rtmp://mycompany.com/live/stream.
Redundant streams use more than one appliance and more than one Server URL. See Set up redundant Wowza ClearCaster Broadcasts for more information.
- Enter Server Authentication - Enter the user name and password if your destination requires source authentication.
- Stream Name/Key - Enter the name of the stream or the stream key value if needed by your destination.
- Click Create Broadcast.
Next steps
- All broadcast options except Facebook Paired - Now that you’ve created a broadcast, see Manage Wowza ClearCaster broadcasts to learn how to go live with your broadcast.
- Facebook Paired broadcasts - If you created a Facebook Paired broadcast, you must create a shared broadcast URL to go live. See Share management of a broadcast using Wowza ClearCaster.
