Question / Help Is OBS right for me?

[CWinthrop]

Hi all. I've been reading up on OBS over the last couple of days, and I have a question about it.

What I'm looking for is a way to have a server set up (OBS perhaps?) that a user can connect to by remote with video (supplied by a webcam) and audio (supplied by microphone) then feed that to other users (like a one-way teleconference). Bonus points having just the audio stream available separately for users that don't need the video component.

Can OBS do this, or am I looking in the wrong direction?

 

[dodgepong]

Currently, OBS streams both video and audio, and can't stream audio-only. However, without knowing more about what you are actually trying to do, OBS should work, but you'll still need a server set up for people to connect to if they want to watch. You can use a free service like Ustream to do so, or set up your own RTMP server, though that option is more expensive and complicated.

How many viewers would this service have? Because there might be more simple options available.

 

[CWinthrop]

Okay, long story short: I work for an internet radio station, and we're moving away from Shoutcast streaming, and want to add video streaming as well. The setup we have now is our DJs connect to a transcode server that sends the stream out to listeners (tuned in via website and/or media players).

We're basically wanting the same thing, only without using Shoutcast, and with the addition of video. Roughly 50-100 viewers at a time. Station management has already approved setting up a private RTMP server to handle the streams, so that's not a problem, just have to figure out what to run on it.

If you know of a better way to do it, I'm all ears.

 

[dodgepong]

Well, if you wanted to still do audio streaming, you'd have to set up a transcode on the RTMP server (perhaps with ffmpeg) to take out the audio track and serve it up through a different server type. I don't know much about audio-only streams, so I'm not sure what delivery method you had in mind for the audio stream.

But for the video stream, OBS should do the trick.

 

[CWinthrop]

Okay, focusing on the video stream. I'm assuming that the server would have a web interface for viewers to actually view through, right? How would the DJs send their video and audio to the server?

 

[dodgepong]

You would have to create a web interface for viewers to watch. You can use a tool like JWPlayer or Flowplayer to watch the video. You would give the DJs the server and stream key information, and they would run OBS and stream to the server.

 

[CWinthrop]

Ah, that's the part I don't quite get. Would they have to run OBS on their own systems? All the DJs run various versions of Windows and SAM Broadcaster now.

 

[dodgepong]

Most likely, yes. I'm not sure how else you plan on getting video from them.

 

[CWinthrop]

I was thinking (or hoping) something like the browser-based control from BigBlueButton, actually.

 

[waterise]

This won't be helpful, but I own a few radio stations & it's a shame Winamp/SHOUTcast is going away. For now at least. Good to see others taking precautions.

 

[CWinthrop]

Problem is, while the Shoutcast transcoding/broadcasting software will still work, our license keys probably won't. :) So we're looking into alternatives. And we intend to be one of the stations that stays on the air with no interruption.

 

[Muf]

I think you might need to make some changes in your workflow if you want to add video. As far as I can see, SAM broadcaster is pretty much a one-stop shop that manages playout, DSP, encoding, and streaming to the ShoutCast server. OBS performs a similar role for video streaming, in that it manages the encoding and streaming part of the chain.

If you want to add video, first off you're going to need some sort of video source. I'd imagine that a WinAmp visualisation is not exactly something your listeners are dying to see, so at the very least you'd want music videos, and preferably some sort of VJ setup. To do this you'll need VJ software like Arkaos GrandVJ to supply the visuals.

If you want to continue using SAM Broadcaster, you'll have to disable its encoding and streaming features. If you install Virtual Audio Cable, you can have SAM Broadcaster output to the virtual audio device, and add that device to OBS as an audio source. For the video portion, you'll have to use OBS to capture the video output from the VJ software.

From there, you're getting into the stuff dodgepong was talking about -- send it out to an RTMP server that serves the video stream with audio, and separates the audio on the side to stream an audio-only version. I believe nginx can be set up to do that.