Facebook Stream not showing up

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HeidiPianist

New Member
I am a brand new user using OBS to do FB livestreams. I appear to have set everything up correctly in OBS and when I hit "start streaming" in OBS, I DO see the video showing up in the Facebook Live Producer, but it does not show up on the page I'm streaming to in Facebook. I've tried streaming directly to my own timeline as well as to a page I manage and also in one of my groups. Same result every time. I tested streaming directly from my phone to make sure I hadn't been blocked by Facebook for some reason, but that worked fine, so that's not the problem. Please help! I've been working on this all day! I can't understand why my livestream wouldn't show up in Facebook.
 
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Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
If video preview appearing in Facebook Live Producer, then OBS is working as desired. Your issue is most likely entirely on the FB side
There are 2 methods to Live stream on FB - Go Live now, and Scheduled (which allows a URL for non-FB users to also watch). But Scheduled has specific rules that must be followed (spelled out on the site when you do the scheduling)

Within both are LOTS of options for restricting users, geography, what happens if stream disconnect happens, user comments, etc. And there is slight UI different options whether you trying to Livestream from a Personal Page, or a Group/Company page
I found a Google search and the Facebook documentation sufficient to get started with Live Streaming. Optimizing your stream takes a bit more work ;^)

On a group page (don't know about Personal), you can do Test Live streams that only group admins can see (helpful when playing with settings).
 
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HeidiPianist

New Member
I see there is a warning that showed up in the Event Log in the FB Live Producer. It says, "Facebook has not received video signal from the video source for some time. Check that the connectivity between the video source and Facebook is sufficient for the source resolution and bitrate. Check your video encoder logs for details. If problems persist, consider improving connection quality or reducing the bitrate of your video source."

My video bitrate is set at 3500 kbps. Now I can't get my camera to connect, so I can't even try to troubleshoot!
Lawrence_SoCal said:
If video preview appearing in Facebook Live Producer, then OBS is working as desired. Your issue is most likely entirely on the FB side
There are 2 methods to Live stream on FB - Go Live now, and Scheduled (which allows a URL for non-FB users to also watch). But Scheduled has specific rules that must be followed (spelled out on the site when you do the scheduling)

Within both are LOTS of options for restricting users, geography, what happens if stream disconnect happens, user comments, etc. And there is slight UI different options whether you trying to Livestream from a Personal Page, or a Group/Company page
I found a Google search and the Facebook documentation sufficient to get started with Live Streaming. Optimizing your stream takes a bit more work ;^)

On a group page (don't know about Personal), you can do Test Live streams that only group admins can see (helpful when playing with settings).
Click to expand...

Thank you, I do understand all that and I have successfully done many livestreams and tests using Producer, but not going through OBS. This appears to be an issue with the bitrate I have set in OBS. It's probably that my system doesn't have the capacity to run all this stuff... I think, like the error indicates, the problem lies in the bitrate of my video source but I don't know how to fix that.
 
qhobbes

qhobbes

Active Member
From what I recall, you had to Start Streaming in OBS and then Go Live in Facebook. I use resteam.io now and it just does it automatically when I start streaming in OBS.
 
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Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
HeidiPianist said:
Thank you, I do understand all that and I have successfully done many livestreams and tests using Producer, but not going through OBS. This appears to be an issue with the bitrate I have set in OBS. It's probably that my system doesn't have the capacity to run all this stuff... I think, like the error indicates, the problem lies in the bitrate of my video source but I don't know how to fix that.
Click to expand...

FB makes a number of simplified choices when streaming from a mobile device. Once you stream from a PC (including OBS) then FB gives you more control... so you have to set more details, click more things, etc (simplicity vs control).

Though I didn't notice if you indicated, I'm guessing you are NOT using FB's Scheduled Live Video, right? In which case, in OBS Start Streaming only sends the video stream to FB [with OBS properly configured, it will send stream to FB. And in LIve Producer, ypu'' get the preview window]. You have to chose within FB Live Producer, as @qhobbes notes, to "Go Live"

Again, if you start streaming in OBS, and you get a preview video window in Facebook\Live\Producer, then basically OBS is all set [plenty of tweaks/optimizations depending on desired outcome... but you are good to start]. Note I said "preview" window. To actually tell FB to stream that content to configured destination (everyone, or whatever you've set) is done entirely within Facebook, and Facebook has documented the process. I found following FB directions to get a stream broadcast fairly easy. It was the implications of the options, and optimizing the quality of the stream that took effort (and some of the nuances of Scheduled, that I/we needed)

Also, note when you first go to Live Producer, the streaming destination page listed (middle left side of screen). For me, it defaults to a personal page, and I have to change that to group page
 
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