Getting going with your first YouTube live stream at DVinfo.net

Andrew Smith · May 13th, 2016, 07:33 AM

Well, I've unboxed the Matrox Monarch HDX and then managed to have an insanely busy week. This is always a tragedy when you've got brand spanking new gear that is begging to be used for the first time.

So, I've lobbed in to my YouTube account and clicked on the "Stream now (beta)" option in the navigation menu on the left. What is then revealed is this:

Andrew Smith · May 13th, 2016, 07:40 AM

Clicking on the button to get started, you then come through to the obligatory paragraph of legalese.

The good news is that the helpful people have bolded the text that you want to see, enabling you to get through to the important stuff straight away. Essentially, you hereby promise that you have all permissions required for whatever content you put out there through your live stream.

Your account must also be verified, of which mine already was so that I could post content longer than 15 minutes.

From the initial view of the interface, it looks like YouTube has put a bit of work in to this, with a clear enough check-list that has been created for us first time users.

Andrew Smith · May 13th, 2016, 08:00 AM

Depressingly, after futzing around with screen capturing the YouTube interface, I went back to click on the link for the free guide for those starting streaming for the first time. It wasn't there. Now I've got this nagging wondering if there is something profound I have missed out on and will never get to know. Life can be like that.

Google search didn't help. Especially when I mistyped "streaming" as "steaming." I was confused by the results there for a couple of seconds.

The first item in their helpful list was to set up the encoding software for the stream. YouTube at this stage seems to be set up with domestic users in mind and has 'live verified' software encoder titles that people can use.

You can see a list of the software apps here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2907883?hl=en

The list includes a link to the very impressive Open Broadcaster software which I've had excellent success with simply for its ability to do a recording of a desktop screen during a presentation. The finished file worked in seamlessly with editing on Premiere Pro CS6.

The rest of the tips on the top right corner are pretty much what you could have guessed by looking at the rest of the interface. Put a title in, select options for your stream, go live, yada yada yada.

Under the stream info section (name and description fields) there is what looks like the truly important content that we are after. It's the "ENCODER SETUP" area with the server URL to point your encoder at and a "stream name/key."

I guess I now have to grab my Monarch and plug it all in again. Need it for the next step.

Andrew

Simon Denny · May 13th, 2016, 02:20 PM

Nice work Andrew, this is a great resource for people wanting to stream. How about adding the Matrox Monarch HDX setup along with this as a guide.

Andrew Smith · May 13th, 2016, 05:13 PM

It's coming! Just felt the need to sleep during the night.

Andrew

Seth Bloombaum · May 13th, 2016, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Smith

...Especially when I mistyped "streaming" as "steaming." I was confused by the results there for a couple of seconds...

When I've told people that I teach a streaming course, several have looked at me funny and said "screaming?" Possibly there's a market for that sort of thing I don't know about!

Thanks for sharing your experience with YT live!

Andrew Smith · May 14th, 2016, 03:21 AM

So, I've plugged in the Monarch HDX and it's done the Christmas lights / party lights flashy thing as it boots up internally. Of course, it goes without saying that even more developer time went in to the rest of the product than just the flashy light sequence.

Worth noting is that this is professional equipment. There's no physical on-off switch like domestic appliances have. The power lead is either connected and on ... or it isn't. This also makes switching off the unit a very simple exercise than any three year old can do without risk of offending, say, the embedded operating system - especially if it means you can watch the flashy light sequence again.

So once the unit is started up, you can then run the super-handy "MonarchHDXUtils" app that does a quick scan of the network and lists all of your Monarch streaming devices.

The good thing is that this solves the next question of "what IP address did the DCHP on this network assign to the device?" now that I need to talk to it via a web browser.

The bad thing is that these things are $3k (Aussie dollars) each and I've only got one of them, whereas you could have at least half a dozen listed here with space to spare. Slightly crushing to the ego.

This reminds me of when I was ordering the unit and asking about delivery time. The guy checked with the supplier/warehouse and announced "They've got two in stock!" to which I replied "Fantastic! I just need one!" Well, it was funny at the time.

Here below is the interface of the MonarchHDXUtils app. You can click any of the blue text and it will launch a web browser window and point it to your device. It can also update your firmware directly from the internet, which is also very handy.

Andrew Smith · May 14th, 2016, 08:17 AM

I've been futzing around and will type up the details soon, but here's a test stream that I will run for the next half hour or so.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSNQ...b7JAjNmFw/live

This is being sent out at 2000kb/s to youtube and at a 720p resolution from 50Mbit XDCAM 1080P source footage being played off my Premiere Pro CS6 timeline and output through the MXO2 via HDMI and in to the Monarch unit. Uplink is through my cable connection.

It's raw footage from a press conference.

Andrew

Edit: Archive of the stream is now set to unlisted. You can view it here:

Andrew Smith · May 14th, 2016, 09:07 AM

Well, that's a test that has worked very well. Especially once I have un-checked the "mute audio" button. LOL.

The quality of the encoded video is just stunning, and far exceeds what I was expecting to see. Amazing.

Andrew

Seth Bloombaum · May 14th, 2016, 11:40 AM

Just looked at the archive of your test - that quality is stunning!

There were major frame drops / stuttering in the first 1:45 of the clip - was that to do with settings, or, ???

Andrew Smith · May 14th, 2016, 07:02 PM

I was running the upload data rate a bit high at one stage. I think. (it was very late night for me) So once I realised this I dropped it down a fair bit. The beginning of the archive probably represents what I was doing before I posted the link here for anyone else to take a look at.

All up, for my first ever stream to YouTube, I am mightily encouraged by the sheer quality this thing puts out.

For the conference on Saturday we'll have quite a few times the upload bandwidth compared to what I have at home. Still need to go to the venue this week for a technical test with the all the gear hooked up to their system ... but it's promising to be awesome.

Andrew

Simon Denny · May 15th, 2016, 01:27 PM

Very clean Andrew, gota be happy with that. For the price of the Monarch HDX this is worth it.

Hey what camera did you use.

Cheers,
Simon

Andrew Smith · May 15th, 2016, 07:01 PM

I shot the footage with a Sony PMW-300 with the Philip Bloom 'outdoor' colour profile accidentally left on.

Wherever I go, this camera is regarded as being easily the best for picture quality, especially in low light, out of the pool of cameras being used (with the exception of a big shoulder mounted news camera over twice the price) and at a commercial shoot recently the director/creative (looking at the director's monitor) remarked what a great lens it has. Clients remark on how clean and clear the image is.

Yeah, I love the camera too. You never regret buying good quality gear (proven yet again with the Monarch).

(gently strokes the camera, mutters to himself 'my precious!') :-P

Andrew

Simon Denny · May 15th, 2016, 08:47 PM

Oh yeah, the 300 has a nice Image.

Great work.

May 13th, 2016, 07:33 AM	#1
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Getting going with your first YouTube live stream Well, I've unboxed the Matrox Monarch HDX and then managed to have an insanely busy week. This is always a tragedy when you've got brand spanking new gear that is begging to be used for the first time. So, I've lobbed in to my YouTube account and clicked on the "Stream now (beta)" option in the navigation menu on the left. What is then revealed is this: Attached Thumbnails

May 13th, 2016, 07:40 AM	#2
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream Clicking on the button to get started, you then come through to the obligatory paragraph of legalese. The good news is that the helpful people have bolded the text that you want to see, enabling you to get through to the important stuff straight away. Essentially, you hereby promise that you have all permissions required for whatever content you put out there through your live stream. Your account must also be verified, of which mine already was so that I could post content longer than 15 minutes. From the initial view of the interface, it looks like YouTube has put a bit of work in to this, with a clear enough check-list that has been created for us first time users. Attached Thumbnails

May 13th, 2016, 08:00 AM	#3
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream Depressingly, after futzing around with screen capturing the YouTube interface, I went back to click on the link for the free guide for those starting streaming for the first time. It wasn't there. Now I've got this nagging wondering if there is something profound I have missed out on and will never get to know. Life can be like that. Google search didn't help. Especially when I mistyped "streaming" as "steaming." I was confused by the results there for a couple of seconds. The first item in their helpful list was to set up the encoding software for the stream. YouTube at this stage seems to be set up with domestic users in mind and has 'live verified' software encoder titles that people can use. You can see a list of the software apps here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2907883?hl=en The list includes a link to the very impressive Open Broadcaster software which I've had excellent success with simply for its ability to do a recording of a desktop screen during a presentation. The finished file worked in seamlessly with editing on Premiere Pro CS6. The rest of the tips on the top right corner are pretty much what you could have guessed by looking at the rest of the interface. Put a title in, select options for your stream, go live, yada yada yada. Under the stream info section (name and description fields) there is what looks like the truly important content that we are after. It's the "ENCODER SETUP" area with the server URL to point your encoder at and a "stream name/key." I guess I now have to grab my Monarch and plug it all in again. Need it for the next step. Andrew

May 13th, 2016, 02:20 PM	#4
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream Nice work Andrew, this is a great resource for people wanting to stream. How about adding the Matrox Monarch HDX setup along with this as a guide.

May 13th, 2016, 05:13 PM	#5
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream It's coming! Just felt the need to sleep during the night. Andrew

May 14th, 2016, 03:21 AM	#7
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream So, I've plugged in the Monarch HDX and it's done the Christmas lights / party lights flashy thing as it boots up internally. Of course, it goes without saying that even more developer time went in to the rest of the product than just the flashy light sequence. Worth noting is that this is professional equipment. There's no physical on-off switch like domestic appliances have. The power lead is either connected and on ... or it isn't. This also makes switching off the unit a very simple exercise than any three year old can do without risk of offending, say, the embedded operating system - especially if it means you can watch the flashy light sequence again. So once the unit is started up, you can then run the super-handy "MonarchHDXUtils" app that does a quick scan of the network and lists all of your Monarch streaming devices. The good thing is that this solves the next question of "what IP address did the DCHP on this network assign to the device?" now that I need to talk to it via a web browser. The bad thing is that these things are $3k (Aussie dollars) each and I've only got one of them, whereas you could have at least half a dozen listed here with space to spare. Slightly crushing to the ego. This reminds me of when I was ordering the unit and asking about delivery time. The guy checked with the supplier/warehouse and announced "They've got two in stock!" to which I replied "Fantastic! I just need one!" Well, it was funny at the time. Here below is the interface of the MonarchHDXUtils app. You can click any of the blue text and it will launch a web browser window and point it to your device. It can also update your firmware directly from the internet, which is also very handy. Attached Thumbnails

May 14th, 2016, 08:17 AM	#8
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream I've been futzing around and will type up the details soon, but here's a test stream that I will run for the next half hour or so. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSNQ...b7JAjNmFw/live This is being sent out at 2000kb/s to youtube and at a 720p resolution from 50Mbit XDCAM 1080P source footage being played off my Premiere Pro CS6 timeline and output through the MXO2 via HDMI and in to the Monarch unit. Uplink is through my cable connection. It's raw footage from a press conference. Andrew Edit: Archive of the stream is now set to unlisted. You can view it here: YouTube (Short URL) Last edited by Andrew Smith; May 15th, 2016 at 05:17 AM. Reason: Added direct link for unlisted archive of the video stream

May 14th, 2016, 09:07 AM	#9
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream Well, that's a test that has worked very well. Especially once I have un-checked the "mute audio" button. LOL. The quality of the encoded video is just stunning, and far exceeds what I was expecting to see. Amazing. Andrew

May 14th, 2016, 11:40 AM	#10
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream Just looked at the archive of your test - that quality is stunning! There were major frame drops / stuttering in the first 1:45 of the clip - was that to do with settings, or, ??? __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

May 14th, 2016, 07:02 PM	#11
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream I was running the upload data rate a bit high at one stage. I think. (it was very late night for me) So once I realised this I dropped it down a fair bit. The beginning of the archive probably represents what I was doing before I posted the link here for anyone else to take a look at. All up, for my first ever stream to YouTube, I am mightily encouraged by the sheer quality this thing puts out. For the conference on Saturday we'll have quite a few times the upload bandwidth compared to what I have at home. Still need to go to the venue this week for a technical test with the all the gear hooked up to their system ... but it's promising to be awesome. Andrew

May 15th, 2016, 01:27 PM	#12
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream Very clean Andrew, gota be happy with that. For the price of the Monarch HDX this is worth it. Hey what camera did you use. Cheers, Simon

May 15th, 2016, 07:01 PM	#13
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream I shot the footage with a Sony PMW-300 with the Philip Bloom 'outdoor' colour profile accidentally left on. Wherever I go, this camera is regarded as being easily the best for picture quality, especially in low light, out of the pool of cameras being used (with the exception of a big shoulder mounted news camera over twice the price) and at a commercial shoot recently the director/creative (looking at the director's monitor) remarked what a great lens it has. Clients remark on how clean and clear the image is. Yeah, I love the camera too. You never regret buying good quality gear (proven yet again with the Monarch). (gently strokes the camera, mutters to himself 'my precious!') :-P Andrew

May 15th, 2016, 08:47 PM	#14
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Getting going with your first YouTube live stream Oh yeah, the 300 has a nice Image. Great work.