Automate 24/7 Stream for a scheduled Playlist

[bcoyle]

Yes, I still have a working channel on the air. CasparCG consumes a lot of resources, and I would like to live stream the channel on our website, so that is why I am looking at OBS.

It look like it may be a timing issue at this point. After the media starts playing I query the duration of the clip from OBS and set my duration counter using that so I can get an accurate duration before calling the next clip.

I am updating the current scene so the other elements keep playing on the ticker I have built into the scene. I am using the RestartMedia method now in the program. I have it coded to RestartMedia after I update the media source then have a slight delay before I query the duration thinking OBS could not keep up with the commands being sent.

I am going to comment out some of the other code blocks tomorrow to see if I can get a consistent playout.

So how did it work out?

 

[Tim_F]

So how did it work out?

Well I have worked out most of the bugs. I have went back and forth on using VLC and the media player.

I connected one of my Decklink cards to it to see how it looks on final output. Not quite happy with the quality of the video output compared to CasparCG.

Will have to mess with the video settings to see if there is any improvement.

But at least I do have a 24/7 working channel using OBS.

 

[Tim_F]

Still trying to get the video loads/plays sorted out, just may be the way OBS handles it. With that said the channel seems to be working fine. Will have to let it run on my development PC for a few days then decide whether or not to move it to the live server.

Here are a few YouTube videos of what it currently looks like.
Test 003
Test 004
Test 005

The playlist for the channel are handled by a custom scheduler I created a few years ago. New playlists are generated daily so new content and AD's can be updated.

 

[bcoyle]

Still trying to get the video loads/plays sorted out, just may be the way OBS handles it. With that said the channel seems to be working fine. Will have to let it run on my development PC for a few days then decide whether or not to move it to the live server.

Here are a few YouTube videos of what it currently looks like.
Test 003
Test 004
Test 005

The playlist for the channel are handled by a custom scheduler I created a few years ago. New playlists are generated daily so new content and AD's can be updated.

Could you change the test videos to unlisted. They are private and I can't play them. Thanks.

 

[bdluna]

@bcoyle Greetings! I've been reading this thread and watching for sometime in hopes of a solution appearing sooner than later. I started a 24/7 local weather channel for Southern Tennessee and North Alabama last year. We've grown leaps and bounds and have even been picked up on a couple of local cable companies, all with by using a combination of OBS and Wirecast.

So here's my setup for "Tennessee Valley Weather" (www.tnvalleyweather.com)... Wirecast has been running as my primary "log" on a continuous loop unless there's severe weather, then we break in and go wall-to-wall. I've got Wirecast's form of a playlist, called "shots" set up in this fashion... Our Recorded Weather Show, Spots, Promo, Spots, Current Conditions, Spots, Forecast Images, Spots, all on the aforementioned loop. From there, the programming leaves via NDI to another machine running OBS and joins with our "L Bar" and then goes out to Restream.

This has worked "ok" for us but we're outgrowing what we've got, but still on a budget, and OBS is a really reliable too. It also handles our live weather cams really well, most are RTSP while others are brought in via M3U8 or YouTube for some national feeds we've got rights to or pick up from public sources.

I would LOVE to be able to schedule things hourly or, better yet, just be able to enjoy the reliability of OBS and have a good rundown for our various inputs. So I've been watching this thread religiously. haha. :D

Check out what we've got and let me know what you think. We built this out from a radio station I manage. We've been blessed... use a Baron Lynx backbone and even have our own app and doppler radar... yes, it's a real doppler that serves our area. But our streaming backbone is OBS and the devilish Wirecast which I'd LOVE to move on from. Any tips or suggestions are WELCOME!

Thanks everyone!

 

[bcoyle]

@bcoyle Greetings! I've been reading this thread and watching for sometime in hopes of a solution appearing sooner than later. I started a 24/7 local weather channel for Southern Tennessee and North Alabama last year. We've grown leaps and bounds and have even been picked up on a couple of local cable companies, all with by using a combination of OBS and Wirecast.

So here's my setup for "Tennessee Valley Weather" (www.tnvalleyweather.com)... Wirecast has been running as my primary "log" on a continuous loop unless there's severe weather, then we break in and go wall-to-wall. I've got Wirecast's form of a playlist, called "shots" set up in this fashion... Our Recorded Weather Show, Spots, Promo, Spots, Current Conditions, Spots, Forecast Images, Spots, all on the aforementioned loop. From there, the programming leaves via NDI to another machine running OBS and joins with our "L Bar" and then goes out to Restream.

This has worked "ok" for us but we're outgrowing what we've got, but still on a budget, and OBS is a really reliable too. It also handles our live weather cams really well, most are RTSP while others are brought in via M3U8 or YouTube for some national feeds we've got rights to or pick up from public sources.

I would LOVE to be able to schedule things hourly or, better yet, just be able to enjoy the reliability of OBS and have a good rundown for our various inputs. So I've been watching this thread religiously. haha. :D

Check out what we've got and let me know what you think. We built this out from a radio station I manage. We've been blessed... use a Baron Lynx backbone and even have our own app and doppler radar... yes, it's a real doppler that serves our area. But our streaming backbone is OBS and the devilish Wirecast which I'd LOVE to move on from. Any tips or suggestions are WELCOME!

Thanks everyone!

Hi Ben. It's actually nice to talk to someone that is willing to say who they are and what they are really interested in. I've been very busy today and haven't had much time to look at your channel, but from what I can tell, pretty nice. Your channel is pretty sophisticated. If you look back thru the thread, you will see that my app is more of a public access tv model where it programs shows with big segments and then fills,ads and psas to flesh out the 30/60 desired program length. All this is automated and designed to produce 24/7 schedules that can go out months. Yours is real time mostly, so have to talk with you more. Time for bed, so will talk to you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow, Bill

 

[bdluna]

Hi Ben. It's actually nice to talk to someone that is willing to say who they are and what they are really interested in. I've been very busy today and haven't had much time to look at your channel, but from what I can tell, pretty nice. Your channel is pretty sophisticated. If you look back thru the thread, you will see that my app is more of a public access tv model where it programs shows with big segments and then fills,ads and psas to flesh out the 30/60 desired program length. All this is automated and designed to produce 24/7 schedules that can go out months. Yours is real time mostly, so have to talk with you more. Time for bed, so will talk to you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow, Bill

Thank you for your kind words. We are working hard to make it professional, informative, and enjoyable all while keeping it as *simple* as possible to operate behind the scenes. Everything, from our live stream, to when we have to break into programming for severe coverage was designed and built around the concept of a one man operation. You never know when/if you may be short handed for whatever reason, so I wanted a setup that was simple enough that one person could come in and start the process to go live or conduct general channel operations.

 

[bcoyle]

Thank you for your kind words. We are working hard to make it professional, informative, and enjoyable all while keeping it as *simple* as possible to operate behind the scenes. Everything, from our live stream, to when we have to break into programming for severe coverage was designed and built around the concept of a one man operation. You never know when/if you may be short handed for whatever reason, so I wanted a setup that was simple enough that one person could come in and start the process to go live or conduct general channel operations.

Hi Ben. Was looking at your station a little more. I labeled a screen capture of your station. Could you tell me about where the individual elements come from. Am trying to picture, how my app would (could?) duplicate this

 

[bcoyle]

I looked at wirecast. Seems pretty good. How come you don't like it. It seems cheap enough.

 

[bcoyle]

Ben - What part of all this to do imagine native to OBS and my App?

 

[CharlieV]

Hello,

I have been using DPO-100 playout free Software. Features include multiple playlist, schedule time to play playlist, video clip, picture or ip input, loop playlist. DPO-100 is HDMI output only, so you would need a second monitor or a HDMI terminator (depending on your video card output). That second window output is captured and added in OBS and goes on air. I also use a Decklink Duo Card for OBS output to broadcast. (install Decklink Plugin). Hope this helps and may simplify your setup a bit. I was using VLC and adding saved playlist but I didn't get the control I get with DataVideo DPO-100.

 

[bcoyle]

Hello,

I have been using DPO-100 playout free Software. Features include multiple playlist, schedule time to play playlist, video clip, picture or ip input, loop playlist. DPO-100 is HDMI output only, so you would need a second monitor or a HDMI terminator (depending on your video card output). That second window output is captured and added in OBS and goes on air. I also use a Decklink Duo Card for OBS output to broadcast. (install Decklink Plugin). Hope this helps and may simplify your setup a bit. I was using VLC and adding saved playlist but I didn't get the control I get with DataVideo DPO-100.

Hi Charlie. Welcome to our thread. As you can tell, we are a bunch of people interested in 24/7 automation. The great thing is that everyone brings a little more knowledge to the the table. If you have a SDi output card, I'm assuming you aren't broadcasting over the internet? Anyway, tell a little about what you're doing.

 

[Vine]

anyone found video scheduler for obs

 

[bcoyle]

anyone found video scheduler for obs

I'm working on one. You should read the whole thread, there is a lot of information

 

[bcoyle]

I've decided to call my project "the Caster Project"

 

[bcoyle]

Sounds good. I am waiting your project :)

Tell me about yourself

 

[EndoSkull]

Hey Bcoyle,
Looks like your project is exactly what I've been searching for. I run a gaming channel for a niche building game - been looking to do a sudo tv station for the game itself.

Any idea when you'll release an alpha/beta version?

 

[bcoyle]

Hey Bcoyle,
Looks like your project is exactly what I've been searching for. I run a gaming channel for a niche building game - been looking to do a sudo tv station for the game itself.

Any idea when you'll release an alpha/beta version?

HI. Have you read the complete thread. This is more a public access tv app. It really isn't live at all. What did you have in mind?

 

[EndoSkull]

I was under the impression that it allowed me to create a schedule of content run it and then allow obs to stream it.
My use for it was to create content revolved around different builders - patch news - and the in-between go to an audio-only mode

I'm getting tired - but I thought based on your demos - I could set up content with both video - still images and text.
Thanks

 

[bcoyle]

I am the radio guy. We have talked before, maybe 2 months before. My radio still on 7/24 live stream on Youtube.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Sorry. I have a lot of people asking questions , then never continuing the dialog. So figure, that they are not interested. Currently, I just tell them to read the whole thread first. Probably my fault. I should probably make a video showing what it does currently, to get a little more excitement going.