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Getting Started with Restream
Getting Started with Restream
Daniel Murphey avatar
Written by Daniel Murphey
Updated over a week ago

⚠️ Caution! As of September 28, 2023, Restream is no longer an option for new Event Apps. If you selected Restream as the stream provider in a Session or Live Stream feature before that date, you can continue to use the Restream Studio until the Event ends or unless you select a different stream provider. Use the Webex Events Production Studio for a reliable, professional streaming solution for your future events!

This article shows how to use Restream in the Webex Events platform to produce a professional-quality live stream. Because Restream can no longer be selected for new Events, we've removed some sections of the article that describe activating Restream.

Screenshot showing a live stream with the chat panel open in the Web App.

Invite Speakers

Edit any Live Stream feature or Agenda Session in which Restream is the selected Stream provider, find the 'Invite Speakers' link below the 'Launch Studio' button, and click Copy. Now share it with your speakers and presenters to give them login-free Studio access. We highly recommend sharing the Restream Speaker Instructions article with them, also.

⚠️ Caution! If you're using Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations, the 'Invite Speakers' URL changes any time you activate or deactivate closed captions, or when you change the provider to or from Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations.

  • Before saving these changes, download any recordings from the Studio that you want to save.

  • Send speakers the most up-to-date link after saving your changes. Refer to our Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations article for more information.

Screenshot of Screenshot of a Session's Live Stream settings panel. The Invite Speakers link's copy button is indicated.

💡 Keep in mind, up to 10 people can be in the Studio at a time. Anyone with the link can join and no login of any kind is required. If you have more than 10 people joining your stream, you may choose to have a "waiting room" in another meeting tool, or use another streaming Studio with the Webex Events RTMP Player.

Launch the Studio

In the same modal where you copied the speaker link, click Launch Studio to open the Restream studio in a new tab. This is where the behind-the-scenes magic happens! Before you're fully in the Studio, enter your name and check your audio and video on the 'Ready to join' screen. Click Join Stream when you're ready.

Screenshot of the Ready to join page.

⚠️ Caution! The 'Launch Studio' button isn't for guests who shouldn't have access to Studio controls. The 'Launch Studio' link changes every 24 hours to keep your Studio secure. Give speakers the link we mentioned in the section above, or have them log in to the Webex Events platform and click the 'Launch Studio' button if you want them to manage the views, banners, etc. 👆

Studio overview

Let's take a tour of the Studio. Give yourself and your speakers plenty of time to play around and get familiar with the Studio before you go live.

Each numbered section below corresponds to the numbers in this image:

Screenshot of the Restream studio with numbers from 1 to 11 labeling the sections described later in this article.

1. Speaker and content cards

You and the other people in the Studio appear here, along with any shared screens, local or cloud video files, and presentations added to the Studio. Depending on the type of card, you can take several actions.

💡 Keep in mind, videos uploaded to the Video clips section don't appear as content cards.

Screenshot of the Content and Speakers cards in the Restream Studio.
  1. Click the three-dot menu to edit your name or a guest's name, video, or presentation as they appear to attendees. You can also adjust your video settings, change the profile image that displays to attendees when your video is muted, and remove guests from the Studio.

  2. The Network connection indicator shows each host's and guest's internet strength.

  3. Click the sound icon to mute a guest or video. Use the volume slider to control guest and video volume in the stream.

  4. Use the Loop button to play local video or video storage content from start to finish on repeat.

  5. Click the Maximize button to show the speaker or content over all other elements on the stage. Click it again to resume showing other content.

  6. Show speakers and content to your audience with the Add to/Remove from stage toggle.

  7. Jump to a specific place in a video with the scan slider.

  8. Play or pause videos.

  9. Control slides added to the Studio using the Presentation source type.

2. Stream preview

This is your live stream as viewers experience it in the Web App or Mobile App.

3. View options

These options control the arrangement of speakers and content in the live stream. Drag and drop items in the Stream preview to organize them so the right content always has pride of place. 🌈

  • Contain shows each presenter and source with some space between them. This is great when you want to show a background image with sponsor content, highlight chats, or show captions.

  • Cover is perfect when you want to place focus on the speakers and don't need to show background content or non-person sources.

  • Half Screen is a combination of the Contain and Cover layouts. The main speaker or source takes up half of the stream, and anyone else shows up on the left in a smaller frame.

  • Picture-in-Picture, Cinema, and Thumbnails are great when speakers are sharing content and discussing it, whether it's their screen, a video, an image, or something else! The content they're discussing can take center stage while the speakers appear in small frames either below the content, or to the side.

4. Mic, camera, sources, and settings

Screenshot of the mic, camera, screen, invite, sources, and settings buttons explained below.
  1. Mute or unmute your mic and camera.

  2. Share your screen using your browser's screen share functionality. A shared screen appears as a content card.

  3. Copy the Studio guest link to invite speakers.

  4. Add Source gets its very own section below. 🏆

  5. Click the Settings (⚙️) icon to adjust your Video input, Audio input, and Audio output devices. There are also some additional stream settings under General, and you can set a solid or virtual background on the Virtual Background tab.

💡 Keep in mind, the 'Live Stream Quality' and 'Video resolution' settings don't affect the stream for attendees.

5. Add Source

The 'Add Source' (➕) menu has six options. Refer to the Speaker and content cards section of this article for details on how to control each option after you add it to the Studio.

Screenshot of the Add to your stream modal.
  • Extra Camera lets you select a secondary camera connected to your computer. This is useful for showing yourself from multiple angles, or showing someone else in the room with you.

    💡 Keep in mind, adding an extra camera doesn't add a secondary audio input.

  • Presentations lets you add up to 24 PDF, key, pptx, or docx files from your computer, or click Drive to select a file from your Google Drive account. Once the presentation uploads, click it to add it to the Studio. Your Studio guests can also add presentations and control the slides. Only you can activate the toggle to add presentations to the live stream stage, however.

    💡 Keep in mind, Restream doesn't support video, audio, or animations in presentations, and only the first 500 slides in a presentation will be loaded.

  • Video storage lets you upload a video file from your computer. The file will take some time to import and process, so add videos well before the live stream starts.

  • Local video lets you select a video file stored on your computer. Once the file processes, select it to add it to the Studio. Remember that Local video and Video storage are the only types of videos you can loop.

  • RTMP Source lets you bring a single RTMP stream from a third-party tool like Webex or OBS into the Studio so you can take advantage of all the layout and branding opportunities Restream offers. This also lets you use the Restream studio to stream from a combination of on-site and off-site locations.

    ⚠️ Caution! This is an advanced use case that requires you to configure and operate an additional third-party tool. Read Restream's RTMP Source guide for setup instructions and required encoding settings.

    💡 Keep in mind, RTMP Source shouldn't be confused with the Webex Events RTMP Player.

  • Background music lets you choose from Restream's list of music tracks.

Before we continue, let's talk about the benefits of each type of pre-recorded video you can use in the Restream studio. Including Video clips, which we'll cover later, Restream provides three options for sharing pre-recorded video in your stream. Here's a breakdown of the benefits and limitations of each:

Video clips

Video storage

Local video

Max length

1 hour

2 hours

Unlimited

Max size

2GB

5GB

Unlimited

Total allowed

(all Studios)

200

25

NA

Play/pause

No

Yes

Yes

Volume control

No

Yes

Yes

Hosted

Yes

Yes

No

Video loop

No

Yes

Yes

💡 Keep in mind, when sharing Local video, your internet speed may affect the quality of the video in the stream. We recommend using Video storage or Video clips for the best results. Follow Restream's video and audio guidelines for the best recording and encoding settings.

6. Private chat

Expand this chat panel to send messages only visible to people in the Studio. Message everyone, or message specific speakers.

7. Brand selector

If you have a lot of custom content to upload and you won't use all the assets in every stream, it can get a little hectic trying to find the right assets during showtime. That's why we've partnered with Restream to bring you Brand folders so that any assets you upload to one Brand won't appear in the others.

Simply click the Brand button in the top right corner of the screen to make a new Brand or switch between existing ones.

Animated GIF showing a user clicking the Brand dropdown in the Restream studio.

You can add up to 10 Brands. Captions and everything on the Graphics tab — Theme, Primary Color, Logos, etc. — are unique to each brand. Just like before, all assets in one Studio are shared with every other Studio in your Event App.

8. Chat

If chat is activated on your for the Session or Live Stream feature, then any chats that come in from viewers will appear in the Chat tab. Click on a message to display it onscreen during your live stream.

Animated GIF showing a stream host clicking a chat to add it to the stream.

💡 Keep in mind, you'll only have access to viewer chats that were posted after you joined the Studio.

9. Captions

Add a 'Lower Third' type caption to the stream to show a static banner with additional context, quotes, or calls-to-action.

Use a Ticker for an eye-catching banner than moves across the bottom of the screen. Save time buy creating these pre-stream and simply select them at the right moment, or create them as-needed during the stream.

Animated GIF showing a stream host adding a Ticker to the stream.

10. Graphics

This tab has lots of options to brand your stream and make it your own. When you upload graphics assets to one Studio in your Event App, those assets are available in every other Studio! So, if you want to use the same custom countdown reel, sponsor banners, or overlays in every live stream in your Event App, you only have to upload once.

Screenshot of the lower portion of the Graphics tab.
  • Theme lets you choose how Captions, chat comments, and speaker names appear on the stream.

  • Primary color determines the theme color.

  • A logo appears in the top-right corner of your stream. Logos should be 512 x 512px JPG or PNG files.

  • Overlays always appear on top of other live stream speakers and sources. Add up to 50 custom frames or information banners to your live stream, or you can use overlays as transitional graphics. Overlays should be 1920 x 1080px JPG or PNG files, up to 25 MB.

  • Video clips lets you upload up to 200 videos of 2 GB or less and 1 hour or less. Supported formats are MP4, FLV, MOV, TS. WEBM, and GIF. Simply click a video clip to show it in the stream. You can't pause video clips or control their volume.

    💡 Keep in mind, video clips MUST be 16:9 ratio and no less than 720p. Processing/upload time varies depending on internet connection. Uploads could take up to 2x the video duration (example: a 1 hour video may take up to 2 hours to upload and process).

  • Backgrounds always appear behind other live stream speakers and sources. They're a great way to make sure your stream is on-brand! Backgrounds should be 1920 x 1080px JPG or PNG files, up to 25 MB.

11. Go Live/Download recordings buttons

When you're ready to stream to the Webex Events platform, click Go Live! You can continue to add or remove speakers from the stream, change graphics, views, and more.

While you're live, the 'Go Live' button becomes the 'End Stream' button. After you click 'End Stream', a new 'Preparing recordings' progress bar appears. When the recording is ready, the status bar turns into the 'Download recording' button.

That was a long article! Have some ice cream and top it off with some pro tips. 🍨

😎 Pro Tips!

  • For the best results, use the Restream studio in the most up-to-date version of Google Chrome.

  • Don't forget to download your stream recordings and host them online so attendees can watch them later!

  • Read our Restream FAQs article for even more great tips and tricks.

  • Screen sharing works best when you have two monitors so you can click from slide to slide while still viewing Studio on the other monitor.

  • Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations is a fantastic enhancement for your live streams. It uses machine learning to provide closed captioning and written translations at no additional cost! We also support human closed captioning and audio captioning through third-party caption vendors.

  • If you’re serious about streaming (and we hope you are), we recommend investing in a high quality microphone and webcam. A pair of wired headphones is also a good idea because it reduces the potential for echo if you're bringing on guests.

  • Although streaming requires a lot of data, most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should work fine. Review our Internet Best Practices article for information and recommendations about internet setup and speed.

Questions? Chat Us or Email support@socio.events

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