Bitrate For Facebook Live
Steven
Among the many technical aspects surrounding live streaming, there are a few things every streamer should now be able to choose the best live streaming settings for Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and any other platform. The best settings for live streaming are not necessarily the highest quality settings. Apart from the video quality, when it comes to live streaming, bitrates, encoding and latency are just as important.
Before you can decide the best live streaming settings for your live videos, you need to know what goes into it. These are a few technical aspects of live streaming of which every streamer should be aware.
Video quality is one of the most important aspects of video in general. Within video quality, there are 2 things we need to focus on: resolution and frame rate. The resolution is the size of the video on the screen in pixels. One example of a high resolution would be 1080p, which means the screen will be 19201080 pixels. We also refer to them as HD (high-definition), SD (standard-definition), and 4K, which is an ultra-high-definition video (2160p).
A video is, in fact, several still images in a sequence. Each image in this sequence is called a frame. So, if the frame rate of a video is 30 fps (frames per second), it means that each second has 30 images. The more frames you have, the smoother the video will be. When you have a low frame rate, like 15 fps, your video will be choppy. Ideally, you should try to stream at a higher frame rate (30 fps). If you want a cinematic look, you can go for the 24 fps which is the frame rate many movies are shot at.
Your video bitrate and your audio bitrate should always be 20% lower than your upload speed, to keep your live stream stable. If you have 10 Mbps upload speed, your video and audio should be less than 8 Mbps. But, keep in mind that higher resolutions will also demand more from the computer.
Encoding is basically taking the video information in this specific format and translating it to a different one, that the live streaming platform understands. An encoder software, like ManyCam, usually has presets to help you determine your encoding power. Some will say, from slow to very fast, others might call it high quality or high speed. Regardless of the name, these presets can help you achieve the quality live stream you want.
The faster the encoding is, the less quality your video will have but the easier it will be to carry out the information. When you choose a slower encoding preset, you will get a better quality but with a bigger delay between what the camera captures and what the viewers see.
When compared to YouTube or Twitch, Facebook has a lower quality streaming. The maximum video resolution accepted by Facebook is 1080p, while on YouTube you can have resolutions as high as 4K / 2160p.
But, if you need to show images and videos in higher quality, then you will need your internet speed to keep up with your live stream. Even with great bandwidth, delays can happen. You might get a bit more latency, which is not necessarily a bad thing. All it means is the experience will not be as real-time as with lower latency. The advantage here is, it reduces viewers playback buffering.
The best YouYube bitrate settings for your stream can vary greatly because it relies on many factors. If you are unsure of the best bitrate for your stream, you can leverage a live encoder software such as ManyCam, which can define it automatically for you to achieve the best possible quality.
Since YouTube is a video-first platform, as you can see, there are many options when it comes to live streaming. The best live streaming settings will again depend on your live streaming setup. You should always aim for the highest quality stream, as long as it gives you a reliable stream base.
To make it easier to understand, on ManyCam they are named with Speed vs Quality because when you get the best quality, it will be slower and high speed will be of lower quality. So, the faster it is, the less power it uses. In other words, if you choose to encode on slow (high quality), it will require a lot more processing power and it can be hard to do. Especially when streaming games, you need to find the right balance between quality and speed.
More importantly than researching the platform guidelines, you need to know your hardware and software specifications, and internet speed. This information will come in handy for any live stream you decide to do and it can also show you where you might need upgrades.
To find the sweet spot between stability and quality, you will need to run several tests. When determining the best encoding settings for live streaming, you should start with the fastest encoding preset. Make sure that works well. Then, slowly increase the quality to find out when you start losing stability.
I am trying to stream a webpage to Facebook Live video using ffmpeg. I know I can use OBS, but I'm trying to do it from a server, so I can't go with OBS. It works fine when I'm previewing, but as soon as I press 'Go live', at first it seems like it's starting, but then when it takes me to the live view it just says that the video has ended. I even checked the error of the video log using Graph API, nothing. I'm using PhantomJS to pipe screenshots to ffmpeg:
As I said, it's working fine in the preview of the live stream on Facebook, but just ends immediately when I go live. I added the bitrate options to try to keep a constant bitrate as mandated by Facebook ( -video/production-broadcasts), and I have a keyframe every 5 frames (rather low frame rate at 5fps) so that requirement is fulfilled as well.
When you create a live stream, Wowza Video automatically creates multiple adaptive bitrate output renditions based on the aspect ratio and resolution of the source video. However, you're only going to need the highest bitrate output rendition, which is 1280 x 720 in this tutorial. That's what you'll send to Facebook.
Most Facebook Live stream targets expire 60 days from when you authorize your Facebook account to connect to the Facebook Live target. However, the target might become invalid sooner than that. If the target expires or you have trouble streaming to Facebook, renew the target by editing it.
If your Facebook Live stream target fails due to a problem at Facebook, Wowza Video displays an error message from Facebook. Common causes for streams to fail are that you don't have the right permissions on the Timeline or other destination at Facebook, or you try to send a stream to Facebook that violates the company's community standards.
If Facebook blocks you from sending the stream from Wowza Video, visit the Facebook Help Center or see Facebook's Community Standards to troubleshoot the connection.
When you log in to Facebook for the first time from Wowza Video, Facebook displays the message, "Wowza Video would like to post to Facebook for you. Who should be able to see these posts?" This is the Business integrations visibility and post audience setting, which is the default privacy level for Wowza Video live streams you share on your Timeline and is the most public Privacy level you can use.
If you try to set the Privacy of an individual Facebook Live stream target to a level that's more public than the Business integrations visibility and post audience setting, the Business integrations visibility and post audience setting is used instead. To change the Business integrations visibility and post audience in Facebook, do the following:
When setting up your capture settings in ProPresenter, it's important to make sure your live stream settings result in high quality and reliability based on your internet connection. This article includes the recommended video bitrate settings when streaming to an RTMP server from ProPresenter. For more information on this capture feature, please visit the article here.
You can set or adjust your encoding setting through the Live Capture menu in ProPresenter. To do this, go to the top menu and select Screens > Capture Settings or click on the Live icon in the top right corner of the Toolbar and select Capture Settings. Click the Encoding drop down menu to set the resolution and frame rate of your video stream.
When setting the Encoding, you also have the option to select Custom Encoding. This will prompt a window that allows you to set custom Resolution, Frame Rate, Video Bitrate, and Audio Bitrate settings for your live stream. For Audio Bitrate, we recommend 128 Kbps, when streaming to YouTube and Facebook. After selecting the custom information, press OK.
From social media to live streaming services and video-sharing platforms, each online medium has its own unique set of requirements for hosting and delivering videos. As content creators and businesses strive to reach wider audiences, understanding these varied video requirements becomes essential to ensure an optimal streaming experience. While trying to ensure the maximum quality of the live stream, content creators should remember that each platform has its own limitations on maximum allowed resolution, FPS, or bitrate.
Resolution. Facebook Live supports various resolutions for live streaming, including 1080p (Full HD), 720p (HD), and lower resolutions. Higher resolutions are not supported. The available options may depend on your device and network conditions.
Frame Rate. Facebook Live allows streaming at different frame rates, typically including 30 frames per second (fps) and 60 fps. Higher frame rates may provide smoother motion, but it may require more bandwidth and processing power.
Bitrate. The maximum allowed bitrate for Facebook Live streaming depends on the selected resolution and frame rate. For example, a common range might be 2-4 Mbps for 720p at 30fps and 4-6 Mbps for 1080p at 30fps. The maximum allowed bitrate on Facebook Live is 15000 Kbps.
Audio. Facebook Live typically supports stereo or mono audio streaming. The audio bit rate may vary, but it is generally around 128-256 kbps for stereo audio.
Encoder Settings. To broadcast a live stream on Facebook Live, you can use various encoding software and hardware. Facebook supports a range of popular encoding options, including OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) and Streamster.