Turn-key approach for OBS?

C

cdrobsonjr

New Member
I have a PTZOptics 20X-NDI Network Broadcast Camera which I chose because it was touted to not require a high computing power as the video stream was already in a format suited to stream directly to Facebook and all that was needed was software capable of making the connection between the camera's video stream and Facebook by making the required log in protocols. What I am further hoping is possible is to create the most simple process possible to start up OBS and make the connection to Facebook with as little as possible user input. We are a small church and don't want several someones with computer savvy to set the streaming in motion every service. I am planning to have the computer on boot-up autostart the OBS program. What I need is knowledge of how to set up the parameters to make the streaming connection to Facebook and hopefully have another script or macro to actually start the stream, and another to close it when the service is completed.
Anybody know how to accomplish this? The one single camera (using POE Ethernet connection and running via NDI) will not need any manipulation during a service - just points at the pulpit.
 
*IF* you are streaming just the camera direct to Facebook, then OBS isn't involved at all
If you are streaming using NDI to the OBS computer, and the OBS computer is streaming to Facebook, then it has to be powerful enough to decode the incoming video, and re-encode to stream.

A simple FB setup is a low security option, which is just asking for trouble. A simple runbook works for us so that non-technical folks can run a livestream
Also, I'd ask if you want non-Facebook users to be able to watch a service? if yes, and you don't want complicated 3rd party re-streaming options, then you must use Facebook's Scheduled Live stream option. With a scheduled (vs ad-hoc/Go Live now setup) video event, you get a consistent URL so setting up on a smart TV, Roku, etc is easy/peasy. And now folks can watch on TV vs small screen with bad speaker type devices. but depends on your audience
Our setup uses a unique streaming key (not a persistent one) so we log into FB each service, get the current streaming key and copy into OBS
Logging into FB's Live Studio is desired regardless so one can monitor livestream and act as Digital Usher, so getting unique stream key takes only a few seconds [I created a run book with pictures so anyone can follow it.. biggest challenge over last 2 years has been Facebook's changing interface]. But I get that our setup does require a trained OBS operator for every service. With that said, I did train a non-technical Mac user to run our setup on a Windows PC.. so one can hope.. ;^)
As noted elsewhere on these forums in recent discussions, OBS is designed as an interactive compositing tool. IT really isn't meant for unattended operation. Others have mentioned other (not OBS) software for unattended/fully-automated streaming setups.
For the truly simple, largely hands off type setup, I would look to something other than OBS like direct from camera to Facebook, or one of the small little hardware appliances. Windows OS updates, OBS updates, etc... keeping that simple, yet secure for Internet connectivity = opposite demands

For anyone else reading this... in this scenario, I would not have recommended a PTZ camera, as the whole point (of its expense) is ability to manipulate position and zoom. With a fixed position and focus setup, a simple PoE NDI (non-PTZ) camera would be a lot cheaper. And I know of at least one with an interchangeable lens so one could get the desired 'zoom', that would be about 1/4 the cost new of a Tier 1 NDI PTZ 20x camera

With that said, I setup Exceldro's Advanced Scene Switcher to automate the start and end of our service (required copyright slide. initial scene that becomes video thumbnail, Go in Peace as service ends with a fade to black, etc). I also add a small logo/watermark to our livestream video with OBS
 
Lawrence_SoCal said:
*IF* you are streaming just the camera direct to Facebook, then OBS isn't involved at all
If you are streaming using NDI to the OBS computer, and the OBS computer is streaming to Facebook, then it has to be powerful enough to decode the incoming video, and re-encode to stream.

A simple FB setup is a low security option, which is just asking for trouble. A simple runbook works for us so that non-technical folks can run a livestream
Also, I'd ask if you want non-Facebook users to be able to watch a service? if yes, and you don't want complicated 3rd party re-streaming options, then you must use Facebook's Scheduled Live stream option. With a scheduled (vs ad-hoc/Go Live now setup) video event, you get a consistent URL so setting up on a smart TV, Roku, etc is easy/peasy. And now folks can watch on TV vs small screen with bad speaker type devices. but depends on your audience
Our setup uses a unique streaming key (not a persistent one) so we log into FB each service, get the current streaming key and copy into OBS
Logging into FB's Live Studio is desired regardless so one can monitor livestream and act as Digital Usher, so getting unique stream key takes only a few seconds [I created a run book with pictures so anyone can follow it.. biggest challenge over last 2 years has been Facebook's changing interface]. But I get that our setup does require a trained OBS operator for every service. With that said, I did train a non-technical Mac user to run our setup on a Windows PC.. so one can hope.. ;^)
As noted elsewhere on these forums in recent discussions, OBS is designed as an interactive compositing tool. IT really isn't meant for unattended operation. Others have mentioned other (not OBS) software for unattended/fully-automated streaming setups.
For the truly simple, largely hands off type setup, I would look to something other than OBS like direct from camera to Facebook, or one of the small little hardware appliances. Windows OS updates, OBS updates, etc... keeping that simple, yet secure for Internet connectivity = opposite demands

For anyone else reading this... in this scenario, I would not have recommended a PTZ camera, as the whole point (of its expense) is ability to manipulate position and zoom. With a fixed position and focus setup, a simple PoE NDI (non-PTZ) camera would be a lot cheaper. And I know of at least one with an interchangeable lens so one could get the desired 'zoom', that would be about 1/4 the cost new of a Tier 1 NDI PTZ 20x camera

With that said, I setup Exceldro's Advanced Scene Switcher to automate the start and end of our service (required copyright slide. initial scene that becomes video thumbnail, Go in Peace as service ends with a fade to black, etc). I also add a small logo/watermark to our livestream video with OBS
Click to expand...
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*IF* you are streaming just the camera direct to Facebook, then OBS isn't involved at all



***This is intriguing! I have not found this possibility described or detailed as to how this would be done – can you please enlighten me?

If you are streaming using NDI to the OBS computer, and the OBS computer is streaming to Facebook, then it has to be powerful enough to decode the incoming video, and re-encode to stream.



***Hopefully I’ve gotten a powerful enough PC and graphic card – i7 3.5-5Ghz – nVidia GTX 1660 Ti. (has NVENC). Will this do???
A simple FB setup is a low security option, which is just asking for trouble.



A simple runbook works for us so that non-technical folks can run a livestream



***Also intriguing – never heard of this – can you elaborate, where to find, how to use, etc.?


Also, I'd ask if you want non-Facebook users to be able to watch a service? if yes, and you don't want complicated 3rd party re-streaming options, then you must use Facebook's Scheduled Live stream option. With a scheduled (vs ad-hoc/Go Live now setup) video event, you get a consistent URL so setting up on a smart TV, Roku, etc is easy/peasy. And now folks can watch on TV vs small screen with bad speaker type devices. but depends on your audience



***My objective was to get as close to the same experience as our current use of a smartphone logging into FB, go to livestream, click Go Live. Having gone live, home viewers get to watch in quasi real time. Once the service is over, we can post it and FB makes it available for later non-live viewing as well.


Our setup uses a unique streaming key (not a persistent one) so we log into FB each service, get the current streaming key and copy into OBS
Logging into FB's Live Studio is desired regardless so one can monitor livestream and act as Digital Usher, so getting unique stream key takes only a few seconds [I created a run book with pictures so anyone can follow it.. biggest challenge over last 2 years has been Facebook's changing interface]. But I get that our setup does require a trained OBS operator for every service. With that said, I did train a non-technical Mac user to run our setup on a Windows PC.. so one can hope.. ;^)


As noted elsewhere on these forums in recent discussions, OBS is designed as an interactive compositing tool. IT really isn't meant for unattended operation. Others have mentioned other (not OBS) software for unattended/fully-automated streaming setups.



***Yes, I’ve gathered from reading already that this is not for the uninitiated, non-techy operator. Thus my wistful longing to be able to have some kind of macro language to manage the individual setups for each broadcast.

For the truly simple, largely hands off type setup, I would look to something other than OBS like direct from camera to Facebook, or one of the small little hardware appliances. Windows OS updates, OBS updates, etc... keeping that simple, yet secure for Internet connectivity = opposite demands.



***Once again, take me by the hand and show me how that is done!
 
First, no need for switching to a bold font. ugh, makes it harder to read for me and my older reading glasses eyes

So, direct to Facebook (or YouTube, etc) is something some cameras offer, you'd have to look into whether your specific model camera and firmware revision supports doing so. Calling PTZOptics tech support probably your best option.

As for PC specs, you are missing the most important info, as there are over 12 generations of i7 (off top of my head, could be more). so i7-xxxx would indicate generation/model and provide performance info. Importantly, the nVidia GPU appears to be the one with Turing NVENC, so you are good to go with video encode offload (from CPU). Assuming similar age GPU and CPU, you should be fine for a simple OBS House of Worship (HoW) setup

By runbook, I simply mean a written guide book (set of step-by-step instructions) specific to our livestream.
The Facebook livestream method you are using, the ad-hac Go Live now does NOT create a video watching URL which non-Facebook users can connect to for real-time viewing (as speed of light isn't that fast, and Facebook and others always re-encode the video, then distribute, normal latency of 10-30 seconds delay from true real-time is normal/expected). I won't go into more detail, there are plenty of articles about how/why all content delivery networks work like this

You can set up something that is simple, or you can set up something that is secure. It is extremely rare to have something that is convenient, simple, and secure. And hackers do broad sweeps, so you can't say you aren't a target. All FB (and elsewhere) users are a target. period. That said, there are ways that aren't that complicated, that enable some minimal security to protect your HoW reputation (vs someone hacking in and posting inappropriate or malware content to your FB feed/site)

The bigger question I'd ask, is whether you will have someone seated in front of OBS PC during livestream? if yes, then for typical HoW volunteer, I targeted creating a consistent operations environment, and then documented that in a way that doesn't require technical expertise. Now, I don't have to be there for every service, but if something technical goes wrong (audio doesn't connect to PC, camera feed not working/responding, etc, then I usually do need to get involved)

I strongly recommend checking out StreamGeeks YouTube channel and their recent video series on OBS. StreamGeeks is run (I believe, by) PTZOptics folks, and they also recently published a revised OBS user guidebook.

As for automation of OBS, I make use of OBS Plugin Advanced Scene Switcher (AdvSS) https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/advanced-scene-switcher.395/. I'm not currently using PTZOptics OBS plugin for camera control (presets, etc), as we have a Panasonic PTZ camera, but both use same Sony derived VISCO over IP controls, so I may try out their plugin, vs Panasonic separate app for camera control. So, it is totally possible to setup Scenes in OBS, and then using AdvSS or other plugin/tool to auto change camera present location based on OBS Scene Selection.
Because we broadcast both liturgy (service bulletin) plus camera, and change relative amount of scene space for camera vs text (on left side of screen), I use OBS Scenes. Assuming you will be full-screen video the entire time, you only need one scene, and could simply change camera preset selection (Pulpit, Lectern, Alter, etc) as appropriate during service. If you keep camera pan/tilt/zoom movement sort of slow, movement during service is totally watchable. The PTZOptics plugin has speed control, so totally doable

As for 'taking you by the hand', recognize what that means, which is discussion of exactly what your setup looks like, what you are trying to accomplish (in more detail than posted here). And then hours of setup. Typically that is a consulting gig. I'm happy to have an overview discussion, and point you in a direction I recommend, with things for you to consider. If a truly simple setup, with some pointers, you may have a complete setup running in a few hours, then I'd guess a few more hours to document your setup to facilitate training others. Or you coudl get more sophisticated, and that could be a dozen or more hours. it just depends

At this point, it sounds like you have the beginnings of a nice setup with a circa 2019 computer and GPU adequate for OBS streaming at 1080p, and a PTZ camera to go with it. For truly simple setup, it appears PTZOptics has an article on direct broadcast to FB from their camera
https://ptzoptics.com/live-stream-directly-to-facebook-and-youtube/
Note the article is a bit older, as Facebook now accepts general 1080p streaming (vs 720p) and I send at 7200 kbps every service [this changed late last year, I think). Note the audio hookup instructions
Then someone would simply use a handheld remote to control camera preset selection [ie, pick which preset to move camera to], or one could use the current OBS PC (not run OBS, just use it for Digital Usher, and PTZ camera control). Even with this, I'd recommend using FB's Scheduled Video event
 
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