YouTube Live Stream Issues

[The JC]

Hi everyone,

 

YouTube/Google Help forums haven't helped so I'm posting this here :)

 

My workplace has set up a private YouTube live stream so colleagues working from home can tune in to see what's happening on site and still feel part of the team [We're a theatre; they're able to watch rehearsals on stage during the day and shows in the evening if they wish].

 

The stream is going via a wired Internet connection with an average connection speed of 5000 Kbps into our staff network system. We have a 1080p camera which is going into a dedicated Windows PC via a BlackMagic Web Presenter. The PC is literally used for nothing else, it sits in our Comms Rack and isn't touched unless there's an issue with the stream. YouTube is set to Live broadcast in 'Webcam' mode, rather than sending it via 3rd party software like OBS. We figured this would help reduce lag.

 

Here's the rub: For the first few days the stream worked seamlessly on PCs, Laptops and mobile devices [Anything with access to YouTube]. However, in the last two days the PCs and Laptops have been buffering the video every second or two, regardless of the resolution selected; eventually YouTube gives up and chucks up an error code. On the other hand, mobile devices (Phones and tablets) simultaneously have no issue at all watching the stream uninterrupted at 1080p, both in the workplace, at people's homes and on roaming mobile data. This is making me assume that it's not necessarily related to the wired internet connection speed as mobile devices can still receive the stream with no issues. I had also considered that maybe the stream was having an impact on the staff network which is why we had buffering issues on the staff PCs, but several staff members have tested with their own PCs and Laptops at home and got the same buffering results. On top of that, if I sign into the streaming account on any PC or laptop, regardless of the network I'm on, and go into YouTube Studio, I can watch the stream from the preview window uninterrupted.

 

Has anyone come across this issue? Given the new covid world we live in Live Streaming has boomed in popularity over the last year as people can't attend mass events, so hopefully there's someone out there who can help!

[TomHoward]

We found the browser-based Youtube streaming to be really rough compared to using OBS. Using a stream key and OBS allows you to set your own bitrates, use hardware encoding if it's available, etc.

[timsabre]

I agree with Tom, use RTMP streaming straight to youtube servers rather than Youtube's self-streaming options.

You will get a delay of 15-30 seconds from "live" whichever way you do it.

 

Also, how long is the stream running for? I have had things go weird on long streams. You might do better stopping and restarting the stream every 2 hours or something.

Edited May 25, 2021 by timsabre

[GaryNattrass]

I have done loads of testing for streaming over the past year and OBS is great for base level but if you also drop the stream to 720p it will be more stable and suit You Tube etc better.

 

I have not heard very good things about the Black Magic Web presenter and it is quite old now and there are better quality units on the market inc their ATEM vision mixers/ streamers.

 

Also if you have the budget invest in a dedicated hardware streamer as it will give even more control and also allow main and back-up steams to be set up as well as multi platform if you need it.

 

I have sourced a streamer from TBS and their software is excellent and very stable to use with lots of options inc NDI, I personally went for this one as it also gives reverse video capability but they have various hardware encoders available: https://www.pciex.ne...=32571628060756

Edited May 25, 2021 by GaryNattrass

[The JC]

Thanks for the suggestions; with our current setup our lag time (when viewing it on a stable device) is only around 2 seconds. The stream is actually running constantly - As the video’s privacy settings are “invite only”, we thought it was impractical to keep distributing new YouTube links every few hours, although I can totally see why this would affect performance. The stream has been reset 3 times since the glitching started and it hasn’t had any positive impact on performance.

We’ll investigate and try some bits out ?

[J Pearce]

It is worth noting that you should be aware that a private stream may still have copyright implications - even if those invited to the stream might otherwise be in the room seeing the same thing. The law is not always logical.

[sleah]

It is worth noting that you should be aware that a private stream may still have copyright implications - even if those invited to the stream might otherwise be in the room seeing the same thing. The law is not always logical.

I can confirm this is the case. A couple of years ago I was doing some trialling of YouTube streaming with a private stream. I happened to connect a Freeview tuner to it (just as a source to test) tuned to BBC News. After a few hours Youtube saw it's ar3e, shut down the stream and banned me from live streaming for 30 days.....

You only need something slightly recognisable as audio for the algorythms to hammer you.

I've had Facebook videos get copywrite hits when it's 30 seconds of song audio which is distorted that is playing at a party with crowd noise mixed in.

Yup, you can't share your drunken party videos these days... the thought police WILL find you!

[david.elsbury]

It’s hardly the thought police, I’m sure you’d agree its fair and reasonable for artists to be compensated for their work…

[richardash1981]

It's hardly the thought police, I'm sure you'd agree its fair and reasonable for artists to be compensated for their work…

I agree. Unfortunately, when a auto-detection runs adverts on my video because of an incorrect claim for original performances of music which is hundreds of years old, the money isn't going to the artists!

[timsabre]

We have the same problem with church music, youtube gives copyright claims on 200 year old hymns which sound like someone else's commercial recording. Youtube cannot or does not understand the concept of public domain music.

[J Pearce]

its fair and reasonable for artists to be compensated for their work…

 

If everyone agreed with and respected that, which was rather my point regarding the copyright implications of private streams, then we wouldn't need the content matching algorithms which will always struggle to handle complicated scenarios like a copyrighted performance of a public domain work.

[abbotsmike]

What does the youtube stream health page say?

 

Nothing wrong with the setup you're using per se, but the low latency and ultra low latency options on youtube used to only be available on "webcam" mode. They are inherently less stable!

 

Would it be an option to set up a zoom call or google meets call, and have people able to join that instead?

[The JC]

What does the youtube stream health page say?

 

Nothing wrong with the setup you're using per se, but the low latency and ultra low latency options on youtube used to only be available on "webcam" mode. They are inherently less stable!

 

Would it be an option to set up a zoom call or google meets call, and have people able to join that instead?

 

 

 

The stream health is consistently on Excellent. ‘Broadcasting’ it has never really had any problems, it just seems to be at the receiving end. Fine and dandy on mobile devices, but desktops/laptops just can’t cope for some reason regardless of what network they’re connected to (Office or personal or even 4G)

[abbotsmike]

What does the youtube stream health page say?

 

Nothing wrong with the setup you're using per se, but the low latency and ultra low latency options on youtube used to only be available on "webcam" mode. They are inherently less stable!

 

Would it be an option to set up a zoom call or google meets call, and have people able to join that instead?

 

 

 

The stream health is consistently on Excellent. 'Broadcasting' it has never really had any problems, it just seems to be at the receiving end. Fine and dandy on mobile devices, but desktops/laptops just can't cope for some reason regardless of what network they're connected to (Office or personal or even 4G)

 

I'd play with dropping the bitrate, changing the resolution and checking that the people watching are watching at the same res you're streaming at. With the lower latency options it's having to transcode a copy for each different view bitrate and resolution. It might just be that youtube allocates more server capacity to maiing it seamless on mobile than desktop or something similar, especially for small, private streams.

[cfmjohn]

Is there any chance the affected desktops/laptops are connected to a corporate VPN and could be accessing the stream via a tunnel back to the office instead of direct from their home connection to YouTube?