Knowledge base

Multi-bitrate or transcoding enables the broadcast of a stream in the best quality possible, depending on your viewers' internet connection. Without this feature, your stream is only broadcast in a single quality and viewers who do not have a good internet connection may not be able to read it.

There are two ways to offer this feature to your users: local transcoding or cloud transcoding.

Local transcoding vs. cloud transcoding: pros ad cons

- Let Infomaniak manage your transcoding

The entire process is automatic: Infomaniak configures ands transcods the different qualities necessary and your viewers are guaranteed to be able to follow your broadcasts under the best possible conditions, regardless of the speed of their internet connection.

• A single, maximum-quality stream will be sent on your part.
• A software encoder is sufficient, although we recommend a hardware encoder for greater reliability and performance.

- Locally manage manual transcoding

The entire process is manual: you must configure the qualities and their number and possess the necessary hardware and network configuration to ensure transcoding and sending data

• An encoder is required for transcoding (Infomaniak sells them, if necesary).
• The encoder (or the server dedicated to this task) must be sufficiently powerful to simultaneously transcode your streams in different qualities. If not, the stream will be interrupted and unstable for your viewers.
• A good internet connection is required to simultaneously send the stream in different qualities.

This guide explains how to broadcast an online meeting via kMeet in a separate stream accessible through a unique URL using Infomaniak's Video Streaming.

Preamble

• Broadcasting a conference-type meeting in a Video Streaming stream rather than within the kMeet app offers several advantages:
  • Public large-scale broadcasting without limiting access to an audience restricted to invited participants.
  • Attracting a wider audience, such as conferences, webinars, or live events, where hundreds or thousands of viewers can follow the event without joining a private call.
  • It allows you to reach an unlimited number of viewers.
  • No need to manage access for each participant, the stream can be viewed via a simple link.
  • Only a web browser is required to access the streaming feed.
  • Passive access: viewers are not forced to participate actively or interact; they can simply watch the event without registering or logging in, which is better suited for large events.
  • No voice interruptions or microphone-related disturbances; this keeps the stream smoother and focused on the speaker.
  • Higher streaming resolution when kMeet might be limited by bandwidth constraints and lower video quality to avoid network overload.

Create the Video Streaming sharing link

Requirements

• Streaming a kMeet video feed within a Video Streaming feed is possible with the kSuite Pro or Enterprise offer only.
• You must be a moderator of the kMeet to create a live streaming link, but it is not necessary to have an Infomaniak Video Streaming offer.

Then:

1. Start kMeet via kmeet.infomaniak.com or from one of the apps for desktop or mobile devices.
2. Once in the meeting, click on the action menu ○○○ in the kMeet toolbar.
3. Choose Start live streaming:
   
4. Click the Start button:
   
5. Wait for the Video Streaming feed to be created:
   
6. Once the stream link is displayed in the same place, click on the icon on the right to copy the URL for the live stream; paste the URL into a message to participants or anyone who needs to attend the live stream.
7. A symbol on kMeet and an audio signal will indicate the start of the live stream via Video Streaming:
   

The stream will run continuously for up to 24 hours, and will no longer be accessible once the kMeet meeting is stopped.

This guide explains how to live stream a list of videos from the VOD service using the Video Streaming product.

What's the purpose?

This feature allows using the VOD service to create a video playlist and then using the Video Streaming service to broadcast it live, for example in the context of a music video channel, teleshopping, documentaries, etc. It's possible to insert advertisements between each video, manually or using VAST tag. The playlist will be looped infinitely until the user stops it.

Some usage examples

Streaming a playlist can serve as a fallback solution as soon as a live stream cuts off (voluntarily or involuntarily) and in this case, take over the air. As soon as the live encoder pushes a stream again, it takes control of the playlist. This allows broadcasting alternative content if there's an issue with the live stream or if the user only streams live content in the evening, for example, they can automate playlist content broadcasting for the rest of the day.

It's also possible to schedule playlist broadcasting from the Video Streaming scheduling tool. Thus, you can choose single or different playlist broadcasting time slots in advance, or recurrently. The live streaming encoder will be automatically disconnected during the entire playlist broadcasting period; once the time slot ends, the encoder will reconnect, and its content will be streamed.

Prerequisites

• Own a VOD service (at least the free VOD space with the Video Streaming service)
• Own a Video Streaming service in the same organization and managed by the same account

Live Streaming a VOD Playlist

Building the playlist from a few imported videos

Import the videos to the VOD space:

1. Log in to the Infomaniak Manager (manager.infomaniak.com) from a web browser like Brave or Edge
2. Click on the icon at the top right of the interface (or navigate through the left side menu, for example)
3. Choose VOD/AOD (Streaming universe)
4. Click on the name of the relevant object in the displayed table
5. Click the Select button (in the Quick Import section)

Once the videos are imported:

1. Click on Media in the left side menu
2. Click on Playlists / WebTV in the left side menu
3. Click the button to add a new playlist
4. Name the playlist and determine if it should be automatic (linked to a folder) or manual
5. Choose the folder or specific videos to use for building the playlist
6. Click the Create live button
   
7. Choose the Video Streaming stream that should broadcast the playlist and adjust your preferences:
   

This guide provides instructions for securing a video streaming with a unique key (hash).

This method offers the highest level of protection and allows, for example, restricting your broadcasts to a member area requiring authentication. Since the way to generate this code is specific to each site, it will be necessary to implement the required PHP functions and adapt your player integration code accordingly.

Restriction by Unique Key (Hash)

For this:

1. Log in to the Infomaniak Manager (manager.infomaniak.com) from a web browser like Brave or Edge
2. Click on the icon in the top right corner of the interface (or navigate through the left side menu, for example)
3. Choose Video Streaming (Streaming universe)
4. Click on the name of the relevant object in the displayed table
5. Click on Settings in the left side menu
   
6. Click on Restrictions in the left side menu
7. In the Restriction by Unique Hash tab
   

Operation of Restrictions

This method requires retrieving information related to the configuration of your stream and the connecting user.

Firstly, it is necessary to define a password (a key) at the administrative console level. As soon as this key is added, connected viewers and those attempting to view your stream will be instantly blocked.

Here is the principle to follow to authorize access to your stream:

• Design your own authentication system (for example, a member area)
• Take the password configured above in our console
• Retrieve the IP addresses of users via $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"] for example
• Take the identifier of the stream to target
• Retrieve the current date and time (without minutes and seconds)

These elements will then be hashed by the code provided in the Manager to generate a unique token specific to each user, which will be transmitted to the stream at the time of loading. The streaming platform will then check the validity of the hash to authorize or reject the connection.

Important Remarks

• To ensure the security of access to the stream, the validity of each token is limited in time
• It is important to disable the cache on the pages that allow access to the stream; indeed, if the token generation is cached, other users will attempt to authenticate with someone else's hash, causing their rejection even if they have permission to consume the stream

This guide explains how to broadcast a 360° live stream using Infomaniak's video streaming service.

Prerequisites

• Have a 360° camera compatible with one of the following formats:
  • 360 monoscopic equirectangular (2D)
  • 360 stereoscopic (3D) side by side equirectangular (left/right separation)
  • 360 stereoscopic (3D) top/bottom equirectangular (top/bottom separation)
• Your encoder or camera must also be able to stream via an RTMP connection (learn more)
• Note that a 360° video stream requires a source with a high bitrate and a bitrate control set to CBR; the bitrate will depend on the type of content and data consumption, which will also be higher than a standard stream
   

Create a 360° player

Broadcasting a 360° live stream requires a 360° player. This option is free and can be activated quickly:

1. Log in to the Infomaniak Manager (manager.infomaniak.com) using a web browser like Brave or Edge
2. Click on the icon at the top right of the interface (or navigate using the left sidebar menu, for example)
3. Select Video Streaming (Streaming universe)
4. Click on the name of the relevant item in the displayed table
5. Click on Integration then Players in the left sidebar menu to create or edit an existing player
6. Check the 360 Player box and configure the projection (360 format)
   
7. Click the Save button
8. All content broadcasted by this player (whether in 360 format or not) will now be interpreted as 360°

This guide explains how to record or archive all of your Video Streaming, which can be useful for creating TV replays or reviewing videos recorded by surveillance cameras, for example.

Enable or Disable Automatic Recording of Live Streams

To enable this option:

1. log in to the Infomaniak Manager (manager.infomaniak.com) from a web browser such as Brave or Edge
2. click on the ‍ icon at the top right of the interface (or navigate using the left sidebar menu, for example)
3. select Video Streaming (in the Streaming section)
4. click on the name of the relevant object in the displayed table
5. enable live stream recording from the stream dashboard
   

Once this feature is enabled, the stream will be automatically and perpetually recorded from the moment it is sent to (or pulled by) the Infomaniak platform.

Be vigilant regarding your FTP space, which could quickly become saturated. If needed, you also have the option to manually schedule recordings using the scheduler tool.

How Automatic Recordings Work

Once this option is enabled, an mp4 file will be automatically generated after each broadcast, which will be transferred to the FTP or VOD space you configured.

Important details:

• a broadcast is defined as the time between connecting and disconnecting from the video encoder
• recording quality: in the case of a multi-bitrate stream, the maximum source quality will be preserved
• file size limitation: in the case of streaming, you have the option to set the maximum duration for each mp4 file; this option allows you to avoid generating overly large files and ensures the recording of your archives to the FTP or VOD space of your choice (once the duration is reached, the recording is automatically stopped, sent via FTP, and a new recording is started)

Customizing Recording Names

To allow you to easily identify and classify your archives, the name of the recordings can be dynamically customized using parameters specified within braces.

Example: template_{stream_id}_{date|format:YYYY-MM-dd_hh:mm:ss}_{fragment_id|from:1|prefix:fragment_(|suffix:)}.{extension}

• stream_id // represents the stream identifier as a string.
• date | format: ISO 8601 // date of the recording day.
• time | format: ISO 8601 // time of the recording.
• datetime | format: ISO 8601 // date and time of the recording.
• fragment_id | from: number | prefix: string | suffix: string // number of the fragment in case a recording is split, with the possibility to prefix and/or suffix it. Each fragment will be incremented, "from" indicates which will be the first reference fragment.
• extension // final file extension.

These parameters and their options are optional, and their order is completely flexible. They can be used as many times as desired. If you provide the same option multiple times, only the last one will be considered. Any unrecognized option will simply be ignored.

Example 1

Situation: you have two daily schedules, the first starting at 10:00 AM and the second at 8:05 PM. By configuring the file naming this way: template_{date|format:hh:mm:ss}, you will obtain the following file names:

For December 5, 2019:

• The first recording at 10:00 AM will be named: template-10:00:00.mp4
• The second recording at 8:05 PM will be named: template-20:05:00.mp4

For December 6, 2019:

• The first recording at 10:00 AM will be named: template-10:00:00.mp4
  The recording from the previous day with the same name will be overwritten and replaced by this one.
• The second recording at 8:05 PM will be named: template-20:05:00.mp4
  The recording from the previous day with the same name will be overwritten and replaced by this one.
• And so on.

This logic can be particularly useful for having a loop recording system, for example for video surveillance. The user will retrieve the video only when needed, thus avoiding archiving a potentially infinite number of videos and risking saturating the FTP space.

Example 2

Situation: this time you have a perpetual recording, 24/7, with a file duration limit set to 360 minutes. By configuring the file naming this way: template_{date|format:YYYY-MM-dd}_{fragment_id|from:1|prefix:fragment_(|suffix:)}.{extension}, you will obtain the following file names:

• The first file of the day at 12:00 AM will be named: template_2019-02-05.mp4
• The second file of the day at 6:00 AM will be named: template_2019-02-05_fragment(1).mp4
• The third file of the day at 12:00 PM will be named: template_2019-02-05_fragment(2).mp4
• The fourth file of the day at 6:00 PM will be named: template_2019-02-05_fragment(3).mp4

By configuring the file naming this way: template_{date|format:YYYY-MM-dd}_{fragment_id|from:0|prefix:fragment_(|suffix:)}.{extension}, you will obtain the following names:

• The first file of the day at 12:00 AM will be named: template_2019-02-05_fragment(0).mp4
• The second file of the day at 6:00 AM will be named: template_2019-02-05_fragment(1).mp4
• The third file of the day at 12:00 PM will be named: template_2019-02-05_fragment(2).mp4
• The fourth file of the day at 6:00 PM will be named: template_2019-02-05_fragment(3).mp4

If you want to prevent your TV or video stream from appearing on other sites that do not belong to you, you can restrict the broadcast to your own site only and prohibit embedding elsewhere.

Domain Restriction

To do this:

1. Log in to the Infomaniak Manager (manager.infomaniak.com) from a web browser like Brave or Edge
2. Click on the icon in the top right corner of the interface (or navigate through the left sidebar menu, for example)
3. Choose Video Streaming (Streaming universe)
4. Click on the name of the relevant object in the displayed table
5. Click on Settings in the left sidebar menu
   
6. Click on Restrictions in the left sidebar menu
7. In the Domain Restriction tab
   
8. Add the domain restriction, with your own website and any authorized sites to load the stream

This guide explains how to customise a player with the image of your choice if you have added restrictions to your themes or in the following cases:

• Scheduled interruption of the broadcast (possibility to display a countdown before resuming the broadcast)
• Geographical restrictions 
• Other restrictions (blocking via IP, domain(s), token, etc.)

Customising the thumbnails of a player

1. open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. go to Video streaming
3. click on the stream concerned
4. click on Integration then on Players in the menu to the left
5. click on the player to be customised
6. go to the Thumbnails tab
7. customise the thumbnails of your choice

This guide explains how to manage potential overages of consumption for Infomaniak's video streaming.

Acting Before Exceeding

In case of exceeding the package, an overage invoice will be generated, which may result in an additional cost. It is therefore important to choose the right option to apply in case of overconsumption.

In order to access the video streaming service:

1. log in to the Infomaniak Manager (manager.infomaniak.com) from a web browser like Brave or Edge
2. click on the icon at the top right of the interface (or navigate through the left side menu, for example)
3. select Video Streaming (under Streaming)
4. click on Manage
5. click on Manage Overages
   

The 3 possibilities in case of exceeding are:

• A. Interrupt the live stream 
• B. Set a limit (in GB or TO) before interrupting live streams
• C. Continue broadcasting 

This guide explains the possible origins of any latency you may observe between the source of a video and its live streaming via the Infomaniak video streaming service.

Availability in Case of...

... rendering on the Manager

Once your encoder is connected to Infomaniak master servers, the stream may undergo several transformations, especially in the case of transcoding or adding a watermark. In these cases, the video must be re-encoded in one or more formats, which requires processing time that inevitably affects the final rendering.

... single-bitrate stream without processing

In this case, the stream is available within just a few seconds.

... transcoded stream or with watermark

This processing takes about 25 seconds for the transformed stream to be visible in the different qualities.

... delay between the source and the rendering to viewers

To avoid micro-cuts during streaming, the video player buffers several seconds of the video. Thus, you may easily notice a delay of 30 to 60 seconds between the original source and the stream rendered to viewers.

To minimize this delay, the only way is to have a single-bitrate stream, without transcoding, without watermark, with a not too high bitrate, and to reduce the buffer as much as possible in the player configuration. Depending on your needs, it is necessary to make a compromise between the immediacy of streaming and the features you want to use to enhance your viewers' experience and customize the branding of your live broadcasts.