= Live Video Streaming =

May First/People Link is committed to [https://support.mayfirst.org/wiki/live-video-streaming-support supporting video streaming], as well as free software. These two goals have have challenged us to use tools that allow for high quality video streams using entirely free software. 

This page documents how to run a professional quality video stream of an event. If you are in a hurry and want a quick and easy way to stream from your web cam or cell phone, see our [wiki:broadcast broadcast page]. 

If you are running linux, and want a quick and easy way to stream your desktop, see [wiki:StreamDesktop how to stream your desktop].

= Video streaming with free software =

We recommend downloading and installing the [https://obsproject.com/ Open Broadcaster Software]. It runs on windows, linux and macintosh operating systems.

It will broadcast to a number of proprietary services and, with a little tweaking, it can broadcast to May First/People Link's free and open source streaming service as well (thanks to a [https://epir.at/2018/03/08/obs-icecast-streaming/ helpful blog post].

Start by [/newticket opening a ticket] requesting a username and password on one of our icecast servers. Once you have a username and password, you can continue.

Then, launch the obs program.

== Output settings ==

Click `File -> Settings`.

Then, `Output`.

Then, the `Recording` tab.

Make your recording tab match the screen grab below.

[[Image(obs-recording-configuration.png)]]

Note: the `File path or URL` setting is critical and will contain your icecast username and password as well as your "mount point". It should be in the format:

{{{
icecast://USERNAME:PASSWORD@a.stream.mayfirst.org:8000/MOUNTPOINT.webm
}}}

The USERNAME, PASSWORD, and MOUNTPOINT should be replace with values specific to your account.

Click "OK" to return to the main screen.

== Input settings ==

The input settings will depend on your equipment. But for a quick test, you can click the plus sign under the "Sources" box and add "Video Capture Device" to add your web cam.

Audio should be using your default mic.

== Broadcast ==

When you are ready, simply click the "Start recording" button. Remember: since we are tweaking OBS to broadcast to our streaming service via the recording functionality, we click "Start Recording" when we want to stream and ''not'' the start streaming button.