The GWDG live-streaming infrastructure makes it possible to broadcast lectures, conferences or other live-events to large audiences and offers an alternative or addition to video conferencing for particularly large events. Live video can be recorded and streamed with OBS Studio (free, desktop, multi-platform) or any other RTMP-capable software, including conferencing solution such as Zoom, Cisco WebEx or DFNconf. The audience follows live-streaming events via a browser-based video-player, which can also be integrated into existing websites if needed. No software download or account registration is required for viewing.
This service is still in development and offered “as is”, primarily for testing purposes. If you plan large conferences or events, please tell us in advance so we can plan accordingly.
To start streaming, you need a channel and a channel-secret. Please file a support ticket to request your channel credentials and tell us your preferred channel name. Once the channel is created, you can follow the instructions or tutorials matching your recording tool of choice and start streaming.
Setting | Value | Example |
---|---|---|
Stream-URL | rtmp://live.gwdg.de/stream | |
Stream-Key | <channel>?secret=<secret> | myChannel?secret=1234 |
Player URL | https://live.gwdg.de/play/<channel> | https://live.gwdg.de/play/myChannel |
Some tools combine stream-server and stream-key into a single URL:
rtmp://live.gwdg.de/stream/<channel>?secret=<secret>
(full stream URL)
You can publish more than one stream at the same time or create private streams by appending a unique stream name to the channel part of your stream-key. Channel and stream name are separated by a colon (e.g. <channel>:<stream>?secret=…
) and the stream name should be between 3 and 16 characters (letters, digits,-
or _
) long. The player URL changes accordingly, so only viewers knowing the full stream name can watch a stream.
Example: To create a private stream, change your stream-key to myChannel:someRandomName?secret=1234
and direct your viewers to the player URL https://live.gwdg.de/play/myChannel:someRandomName
.
The streaming server will automatically downscale submitted video to 720p (1280×720, 30fps) if necessary. Higher or lower video profiles can be selected by adding a &profile=<name>
parameter to the stream-key. Available profiles are:
Profile | Resolution | FPS | Bitrate (v+a) | Alias | ABR? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
360p30 | 640 x 360 | 30 | 400k + 96k | no | |
480p30 | 854 x 480 | 30 | 600k + 96k | sd | no |
720p30 | 1280 x 720 | 30 | 1600k + 128k | hd, default | yes |
1080p30 | 1920 x 1080 | 30 | 2400k + 128k | fhd | yes |
The profile should match the resolution and framerate of the transmitted stream as closely as possible to avoid unnecessary down-scaling or frame-dropping on server side. Higher profiles may not be available to all channels. If the selected profile is not available, the default profile is selected automatically.
Example: To transmit full HD video, the stream key would be myChannel?secret=1234&profile=1080p30
Some profiles can be combined with Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) Streaming to better accommodate mobile or low-bandwidth viewers. If enabled, the video stream is encoded with multiple resolutions and bitrates at the same time and the player will automatically switch to the highest possible resolution based on available client bandwidth.
To enable “Adaptive Bitrate Streaming”, choose a profile that supports it, and add ,abr
to its name. For example: profile=1080p30,abr
. Note that ABR requires more CPU resources on server-side and should only be activated if necessary.
OBS Studio is very popular in the streaming community and there are many guides available online. The only real difference is that you are not streaming to twitch or youtube, but to a custom streaming server. If you discover online resources that you find particularly useful, please tell us so we can link them here.
BigBlueButton does not have an integrated live-streaming feature, but can of course be recorded and streamed client-side with OBS or similar software.
Zoom allows direct streaming of meetings, but the feature is disabled by default. Follow the official instructions to enable this feature. Once activated, you will have a new “More” button in your zoom client which allows you to activate live streaming for meetings hosted by yourself. Planned meetings can be configured via a new “Live-Streaming” tab below the meeting details.
Warning: Zoom relies heavily on cloud-resources outside of the EU to record and stream your meetings, even if your account is 'on-premise' enabled. Video and audio data will be transferred and processed in non-EU data centres if you enable this feature. Make sure you meet the GDPR (DSGVO) requirements.
If live-streaming is enabled for your paid Webex Meetings or Events plan, you can stream directly from within Webex. No additional software required. Details can be found in official documentation.
What software to use?
The stream does not connect, or disconnects immediately
profile
or expire
) are valid.The stream disconnects after approximately 10 seconds
abr
(Adaptive Bitrate Streaming) is enabled, the input resolution must match the selected profile. Odd or non-standard video resolutions cause errors.How to reduce video delay?
Viewers complain about buffering
ffmpeg
this can be enforced with the -re
input parameter.Video skips or jumps forward in time
ffmpeg
this can be enforced with the -re
input parameter.Video quality is bad
Audio and video is out of sync
Audio is in wrong language
Video won't play on some devices
h264
encoded video and aac
encoded audio. Both are supported by all modern browsers nowadays. If you find a device or browser that cannot play these codecs, please tell us.Is there a way to start video playback automatically (autoplay)?
Are live-streams recorded? Can I get a recoding of a past live-stream?
What does this service cost?
Der Dienst verarbeitet keine Personenbezogenen Daten mit Ausnahme von IP-Adressen, die zusammen mit Zeitstempel, Pfad und Browser-Kennung zum Zwecke der Fehlersuche und Missbrauchserkennung protokolliert und entsprechend der üblichen Fristen automatisch wieder gelöscht werden. Tracking-Cookies oder andere Tracking-Mechanismen kommen nicht zum Einsatz. Serverstandort Deutschland. Kontaktmöglichkeiten siehe Allgemeine Datenschutzerklärung