RTMP In: Streaming into Goldcast from other sources

Contents

• Overview
• Recommended streaming specs for RTMP sessions
• Audience engagement features in RTMP sessions
• Creating an RTMP session
• Editing an RTMP session
• Connecting an RTMP channel to an external streaming platform
• Testing an RTMP session
• Adding a failover key

Overview

The RTMP In feature allows speakers and event organizers to broadcast live streams from an external platform into a Goldcast event. This process happens in real-time and is ideal for situations in which an event is being hosted somewhere other than the Goldcast platform (i.e., Zoom), but the event organizer would still like to provide virtual attendees with an interactive experience.

Recommended streaming specs for RTMP sessions

Audience engagement features in RTMP sessions

This table lists the audience engagement features available for RTMP In sessions. You can decide which of these to enable when you set up your session.

Learn more about Goldcast's Slides, Q&A, and Poll features.

Creating an RTMP session

You need to create an RTMP channel as part of your RTMP session creation. 

Note:

• Events can have up to five RTMP channels.
• The RTMP feeds will not broadcast to your event before the event start time.
• Once an RTMP channel has been connected to a stream, and the channel is live, it cannot be deleted.

To create an RTMP session and channel:

1. Log in to Goldcast Studio with your credentials.
2. Click the hamburger icon on the top left, and select the Events tab to get a list of all your events.                               
3. Click Program on the menu on the left and click the Agenda section. This will open up your event Agenda.
4. Click the +Session button
5. Select RTMP session type
6. Enter a session title, start time, and end time (note that the session time must fall during the event’s start and end time).
7. Select an RTMP channel. If you’ve previously created channels for this event, you can select one from the dropdown. If you have no channels, you can add one by entering the channel name and clicking Save to the right. Once the channel is successfully saved, you can continue editing your session. 
   • You can assign multiple sessions to the same RTMP channel for an event. This may be useful if your event has multiple sessions, but each uses the same source stream.
8. Click Save to save the session.
9. You will receive a pop-up saying Broadcast session created successfully.

Note: You can change the RTMP channel to which a session is assigned to at any time. 

Editing an RTMP session

1. Log in to Goldcast Studio with your credentials.
2. Click the hamburger icon on the top left, and select the Events tab to get a list of all your events.                             
3. Click Program on the menu on the left side of your event and click Agenda.
4. Click on the session name you’d like to edit.
5. Scroll to the RTMP Channel section and open it by clicking the arrow on the right.
6. Click the dropdown to change the channel selection or create a new one.
7. Click Save in the upper right corner of the window.

Connecting an RTMP channel to an external streaming platform

If you plan on connecting your RTMP Channel to a Zoom live stream, please review the platform's live streaming documentation in addition to the information provided in this section.

After you've created an RTMP session, you will have access to the Stream URL and Stream Key that will be used to connect the channel to your live stream.

Your Stream URL and Stream Key can be copied from the session on your Agenda by clicking the Link and Key icons. We recommend storing it in a note or document to return to later.

While the exact location will vary depending on your platform, you will typically paste this information into fields provided in the Stream Settings for your streaming platform.

Note: To complete the setup process, particularly on Zoom, you may need to bring the Channel live first. 

Testing an RTMP session

Before your event begins, you will want to test your RTMP channels to ensure the connection has been established correctly.

RTMP Channel testing can be performed from the Agenda section on the menu on the left side of your event. 

1. Find the session you would like to test. Before starting the test, the channel name will be listed on the left side of the tile with a red dot, indicating the channel is not running.
2. Click the Test Rtmp In button. 
3. The button will display Connecting…
4. Once the channel loads, it will be live for 2 hours. The red dot will turn green, and the status will say, Channel active until xx: xx time

5. Click the Watch button and then click Watch Live to view the stream

Now you can confirm that your stream is set up correctly and is visible inside Goldcast.

Adding a failover key

Failover is a backup operational mode in which the functions of a system component are assumed by a secondary component when the primary component becomes unavailable - either through failure or scheduled downtime.

Pro Tip: We recommend adding a failover key for your events, as implementing failover helps prevent service disruption.

Please contact our customer support team to get the failover key since this is not displayed in the Studio but can be shared with you before your event. If the stream goes down, you can start streaming to the failover key, and our service will automatically detect that data has stopped on stream 1 and switch to stream 2.