Get started with live stream in 5 minutes
Creating a live stream is simple with api.video. After you create it, you have a variety of options for connecting live video and to begin broadcasting. Check out this short video to get started!
This guide helps you follow along with the video and learn how to set up your live stream with api.video, and then use OBS to broadcast.
API reference
Choose an api.video client
The clients offered by api.video include:
Install
To install your selected client, do the following:
Create an account
Before you can start streaming, you need to create an api.video account.
Once you are logged in to the Dashboard, select the environment of your choice (sandbox or production) and copy your API key.
Create a live stream container
The first part of setting up your live stream to broadcast is to create a live stream container. Once you create the container, you can use it for live streaming. Here is the code to create the container:
Connect live video to your live stream container
You'll want to grab your live stream's streamKey from the response. It's required for use with OBS. To get started:
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Install OBS. You can grab the software here: OBS Studio
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Establish a source. In the sources section, choose a video feed to share. You could choose to share your screen or to share your camera (on a Mac: Video Capture Device, and then in the "Device" dropdown, select the camera). You should now see the video source in the main OBS window.
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Connect OBS to api.video. Under Settings, choose Stream. You'll see a choice for service - select api.video.
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The server should be Default, and the streamKey is the value you received in the JSON response when you created the stream container.
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Click OK to accept the changes.
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Press Start Streaming.
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Share the embed, iFrame, so that others can watch your stream!
If you can't find api.video in the list of services, you can choose custom and rtmp://broadcast.api.video/s for the server.
Live stream directly from your dashboard
If you don't want to set up your live stream programmatically, api.video enables you to demo live streaming from the dashboard with the click of a button. Do the following:
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Log in to your dashboard
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Navigate to Livestreams
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Click Create a live stream
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Enter the title and choose the remaining configuration items. Click on Create to create the live stream object.
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Once the live stream object is created you can either click on the Start livestream button and test it out from the dashboard.
The live stream object contains all the information you'll need if you choose to broadcast using something else like OBS. You can pause the live stream at any time by clicking pause on the video. If you don't see your live stream start right away, give it a few minutes to get ready.
Conclusion
There are many ways to set up a live stream. OBS is one of the most popular ways to get started.
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