Clients are emailed the DRM setup information prior to the event date. This
email includes the following;
1. DRM Profile - attachment
2. KID for the DRM Security Setup
3. Stream Publishing Point (if using our bandwidth)
4. Encoding password (if using our bandwidth)
5. Encoding Profile - attachment (if using our bandwidth)
6. Service Technician Contact Information
Setting Up Your Encoder
First, you will need to know how much up speed to the Internet you have
access to at the venue (location of the event). Run a speed test from the
website speedtest.net. The up speed test results will be the "available
venue bandwidth", which you will need to know later in the setup.
The Microsoft encoder can be downloaded for free off the
Microsoft website.
After installing the encoder software, load and setup the session as described
below. If you are using our bandwidth, we have included your encoder profile
as an attachment in your email. Copy that profile to your desktop and double
click it, which will load the encoder with the settings installed.
Before you get started with setting up your encoder, you will need to know
the username and password for accesing the streaming server. If you are using
us for bandwidth, that information is in the email you received. Enter you
username and password only when prompted by the encoder. Sometimes you will
receive a popup after entering this information in regards to the publishing
point. Click on the "dont show this again" option and click OK.
Encoder SOURCE Settings
From the encoder main screen, click on the properties tab. Then click on the
Sources tab.
Make sure that the Video and Audio device settings match the devices you
are using on the computer. After making any changes, click on the APPLY
button if there is one at the bottom of the screen. Also, it is a good idea
to save the profile - FILE, SAVE each time you make changes.
Encoder OUTPUT Settings
From the encoder main screen, click on the properties tab. Then click on the
Output tab.
Make sure that the check PUSH option is checked, not the PULL. Make sure that
the SERVER NAME and PUSHLISHING POINT fields match the push settings
supplied by your CDN bandwidth service provider. If you are using us for
bandwidth, those settings are located in the email you received. Leave the
COPY SETTINGS FROM blank. If you are archiving the event, check the
ARCHIVE TO FILE option and enter a file name for the archive.
After making any changes, click on the APPLY
button if there is one at the bottom of the screen. Also, it is a good idea
to save the profile - FILE, SAVE each time you make changes.
Encoder COMPRESSION Settings
From the encoder main screen, click on the properties tab. Then click on the
Compression tab.
If you are using us for bandwidth, these settings have been setup for you,
and the Destination, Video and Audio options should be set to CUSTOM.
Otherwise, you will need to setup this page to tell the encoder how much
bandwidth you wil be using for both the video and audio portions of the stream.
Set the DESTINATION to "Windows Media Server (streaming)"
Set the VIDEO to "Multiple Bit Rates Video (CBR)"
Set the AUDIO to "Multiple Bit Rates Audio (CBR)"
Set the BIT RATES to the total bandwidth you wish to use for the stream.
This setting includes both the video and audio combined. If you use multiple
bit rates (so users can view at different levels of bandwidth) you must
have enough up speed to stream the multiple bit rates combined. For example,
if you choose 548 and 148, you will need 696Kbps up speed to stream to the
CDN server. Make sure that the total bit rate does not exceed the "available venue bandwidth".
When choosing your Bit Rates, make sure to choose ones that have 29.97fps
Frame Rates with 340x240 output sizes.
You can customize the amount of bandwidth (bit rates) for the video and
audio sources by clicking on the EDIT button next to the DESTINATION option.
From the EDIT screen, click on the Bit Rate Tab you wish to edit (there would
be multiple tabs if you choose to use multiple bit rates). For example, on the
screen above, there is a tab for 537Kbps.
From the Custom Encoding Settings screen, edit the Audio Format for the
level of audio you wish to encode, and the Video Bit Rate to the amount of
bandwidth you want to use for the video source. As you make changes, the screen
will display the total bit rate that will be used. Make sure that the total
bit rate does not exceed the "available venue bandwidth".
Click the OK button when you are finished making changes.
You will be returned to the Compression page, that will display your new
settings. click on the APPLY
button if there is one at the bottom of the screen. Also, it is a good idea
to save the profile - FILE, SAVE each time you make changes.
Bit Rate Note: If you are buying bandwidth from a CDN, you will paying
for the total amount of bandwidth used during the webcast. SO, for example, if
you encode with a bit rate of 500Kbps, you will use 500Kbps for every viewer
that watches the webcast. Make sure you know how much you will be paying for
your bandwidth prior to the event.
Encoder SECURITY Settings
From the encoder main screen, click on the properties tab. Then click on the
Security tab. This is your DRM setup page.
If you are using DRM, make sure that the Use DRM to protect content option is
checked.
You will need to install the DRM Profile that was provided to you by Webcastia,
which was attached to the email you received. From the email make sure to copy
the DRM profile file to your documents folder. Click on IMPORT and find the
profile file. You will be asked to enter a password, use "WEBCASTIA". The profile
should now be displayed on the page.
You will need to add the KEY ID to the screen. This is the KID that was listed
in the email you received. Copy and paste this KID to the Key ID field. To
paste on this screen, you will need to use the CTRL and V keys together.
After making any changes, click on the APPLY
button if there is one at the bottom of the screen. Also, it is a good idea
to save the profile - FILE, SAVE each time you make changes.
Encoder TITLE/COPYRIGHT Settings
From the encoder main screen, click on the properties tab. Then click on the
Attributes tab.
Edit the different items on this page by highlighting each item and clicking
on the EDIT button.
After making any changes, click on the APPLY
button if there is one at the bottom of the screen. Also, it is a good idea
to save the profile - FILE, SAVE each time you make changes.
Testing the Encoder
You can test your stream by clicking on the START ENCODING button on the
main encoder screen. From the VIEW menu, check on the MONITOR PANEL so
that you can monitor your stream statistics.
Open your media player and open the URL:
"mms://"the server name"/"the publishing point"
For example: "mms://media1.webcastia.com/myevent"
You will be prompted to enter an end-user access code, if you need one
to test, contact the Service Technician that is listed in the email you
received.
During the Event Stream
From the MONITOR PANEL make sure that your CPU Usage does not reach
100% and stays there. If this is the case, your computer is using too
many resources and the encoder will fail and shutdown, or you will loss audio. You should ONLY encode from the
computer you are using to encoder. Close all other programs, such as
chats, virus software, etc., to reduce the CPU Usage.
If the total Bit Rate is close or equal to the "available venue bandwidth",
the encoder will fail and shutdown. Keep your total bit rate well below the
available bandwidth as much as possible.
Internet Connection at the Venue
We reccommend that you hard cable the Internet connect with an ethernet cable, rather
than encoding wireless.
Also, you should connect directly to the ISP modem (use a data switch to
connect along with the buildings Internet). You should bypass and routers
in the building. You should also re-boot the modem before webcasting.
