Stream From OBS or a Hardware Encoder
Send video from OBS, vMix or a hardware encoder into playout.video over RTMP or WHIP, go live when the encoder connects, and give it a Live Input slot on the calendar.
Before You Start
Sending your own encoder into playout.video is on the Business and Enterprise plans. Your browser camera, screen share and guests work on every plan and need none of this.
Add an Encoder Source
Open your stream in Live Studio and go to Sources.
Click RTMP / WHIP.
Choose the Input Type:
RTMP: for OBS, vMix, Wirecast and hardware encoders. You get a Server URL and a Stream Key.
WHIP: for senders that support WHIP, a WebRTC standard with less delay, such as OBS 30 or later. You get a WHIP Endpoint and a Stream Key.
Paste them into your encoder and start streaming from it.
In OBS, for RTMP, go to Settings → Stream, choose Custom, and paste the Server URL and Stream Key. For WHIP, choose WHIP as the service, paste the WHIP Endpoint as the server and the Stream Key as the bearer token.
Treat the stream key like a password: anyone with it can send video into your stream.
Start When the Encoder Connects
In the stream's Settings, Start when the encoder connects puts the stream on air when your encoder starts sending:
When the encoder connects, the stream goes live, and destinations with Start with the playout on start with it.
When the encoder stops sending, the stream stops about 30 seconds later (the time is shown under the switch). If the encoder comes back within that time, nothing stops.
That stop is a full stop, even if you started the stream by hand. On YouTube it ends the live, unless End broadcast when the stream stops is off. See YouTube Live Settings Explained.
If Live Studio is already open in preview or live, connecting the encoder changes nothing: going live is up to you.
With the calendar's Auto Start & Stop, the calendar starts and stops the stream, and this switch has no effect. A Live Input slot picks up the encoder when it opens.
Encoder Slots on the Calendar
On a scheduled stream, a calendar entry can be a slot for your encoder instead of videos: choose Live Input at the top of the entry dialog. During the slot:
Waiting Slate is what viewers see until your encoder is live, for example a "starting soon" picture or video. With none, they see black.
Auto Go Live (on by default) goes live as soon as your encoder is sending, and again if it reconnects. With it off, viewers see the waiting slate for the whole slot until you press Go Live in Live Studio.
Post Slate is what viewers see if the encoder drops during the slot. With a Post Slate Duration, the waiting slate comes back after that many seconds; without one, the post slate stays until the encoder returns or the slot ends. With no post slate, the waiting slate shows straight away.
When the slot ends, the stream moves on to the next entry, or to your fallback content.
A slot goes live only while the stream is running. With the calendar on Always On, start the stream before the slot opens, or switch the calendar to Auto Start & Stop so it starts itself. See Auto-Starting Your Stream From a Calendar Window.