Live sources and stream targets¶

Each incoming stream or feed received by Makalu is referred to as a live source and can be received as:

• Compressed signal (for example, live sources received via SRT, which are highlighted in the Makalu UI with a red thumbnail)
• Uncompressed signal (for example, SDI live sources in on-premise environments, which are highlighted in the Makalu UI with a green thumbnail)

To receive incoming streams and to make them available as live sources internally, Makalu supports and uses the streaming servers Wowza and Nimble. Depending on the deployment, one or both supported streaming servers are available.

Live sources are used by multiple Makalu apps, for example, to preview incoming streams or to schedule them in a rundown. Each playout output signal can also be routed internally and used as a live source ("backchannel") again. Every live source is defined by a set of configuration properties (metadata), such as the protocol used, the URL used to receive the stream, or (if required) information about its encryption.

The target for an outgoing live stream is referred to as a stream target. Like a live source, each stream target is defined by a set of configuration properties (metadata), such as the protocol used, the target URL, or (if required) stream credentials. Stream targets can be used by multiple Makalu apps, for example, to schedule them in a rundown, defining which parts of the scheduled program should be streamed to downstream service providers or video platforms.

To manage, preview, monitor, and route incoming and outgoing live streams, Makalu includes the Stream Control app.

Accessing Makalu Stream Control¶

To access Makalu Stream Control:

1. Open the Makalu Hub as described in section Accessing the Makalu Hub.

2. In the app list in the left column, in the section Streams, select Makalu Streams.

The Stream Control UI is opened in the Streams tab of the main Makalu UI.

Manage live sources¶

Using the live sources overview¶

To access the live sources overview, in the navigation sidebar on the left, select Live Sources > Overview.

The live sources overview is displayed.

In the Live Sources area, all currently available live sources are listed with their basic properties (for example, name, transmission protocol, streaming service, port, and bitrate). You can customize the columns to be displayed and manually trigger a list update by using the corresponding buttons at the top right above the list.

To display only specific live sources, use the Filter area above the list. There, you can search live sources by name, protocol, connection status, and type (backchannel or "regular" live source).

The number of available live sources is limited. Depending on the infrastructure and the Makalu subscription, this number may vary. The total number of live sources available and current utilization is displayed at the bottom left under Live Source Limit:

Viewing the configuration properties of a live source¶

To view the configuration properties of a live source, select it in the live sources list. A preview player and the properties are displayed at the top of the page. They vary depending on the streaming server type and transmission protocol used. Some properties are only available for live sources received via a specific streaming server type, as indicated in the following table.

The following table summarizes the available live source properties:

Creating a live source¶

Depending on your deployment, one or both supported streaming server types (Wowza and/or Nimble) may be available to you when creating a live source.

To create a live source:

1. In the navigation sidebar on the left, select Live Sources > Overview.

   The live sources overview is displayed.

2. At the top right, click Create.

   Notice

   If both streaming server types are available in your deployment, either select Create Wowza Stream or Create Nimble Stream, depending on the type of live source you want to create.

   The Create Live Source menu is displayed.

3. Enter a unique name for the live source.

   Notice

   The name must not contain spaces or special characters. Hyphens or underscores are allowed as separators.

4. Select the protocol to be used.

   Notice

   Depending on the selected streaming server type and protocol, additional configuration properties may be displayed. Enable or select them as necessary.

   For example, if you select the RTMP protocol, you can enable authentication using the additional property On Connect Authenticate. If enabled, the URL of the created live source (which must be used to provide the source stream to Makalu) will include a username and password for authentication.

   When you select the SRT protocol, you can enable AES encryption using the additional property Use SRT Passphrase. If you enable it, you can additionally select the type of AES encryption to be used (128, 192, or 256 bits).

   If you create a Nimble live source and multiple Nimble streaming servers are available, you can additionally select which streaming server to use for the live source. You can also decide to use either automatic port selection (by leaving Autoport enabled) or manually select a port from a specified range.

   For more information about the available properties, see the section Viewing the configuration properties of a live source.

5. (Optional) To make the live source available only to selected channels, select one or more channels in the Send to Multiple Channels dropdown menu. By default (if you do not select any channels), the live source is available for all channels.

   

6. Click Create.

The live source is created with the selected properties and added to the list of available live sources. It is also available in Makalu Traffic as a primary event and can be added to shows. In Makalu Automation, it is available under Media > Live and can be previewed and added to the rundown.

Previewing a live source¶

To preview a live source:

1. In the navigation sidebar on the left, select Live Sources > Overview.

   The live sources overview is displayed.

2. In the live sources list, click the name of the live source to be previewed.

   A preview player and detailed information about the live source are displayed at the top of the page.

3. In the preview player, click the Play icon.

   The preview starts.

   

4. Use the player controls, for example, to trigger pause, play, or full-screen view.

Editing a live source¶

To edit a live source:

1. In the navigation sidebar on the left, select Live Sources > Overview.

   The live sources overview is displayed.

2. In the live sources list, click the name of the live source to be edited.

   A preview player and detailed information about the live source are displayed at the top of the page.

3. Edit the properties as required (Name and/or assigned Channels).

4. (Optional) If you're editing a Nimble live source and multiple Nimble streaming servers are available, you can change the streaming server to be used.

   Notice

   An example scenario for this could be, for instance, if server A has an error or outage and the stream needs to be switched over to server B.

5. Click Save.

The changed live source configuration is saved.

Deleting a live source¶

To delete a live source:

1. In the navigation sidebar on the left, select Live Sources > Overview.

   The live sources overview is displayed.

2. In the live sources list in the Action column, activate the checkbox of the live source to be deleted.

3. Click the Delete selected live source icon at the top right.

4. Confirm the displayed dialog by clicking Confirm.

The live source is deleted and removed from the list.

Manage stream targets¶

Using the stream targets overview¶

To access the stream target overview, in the navigation sidebar on the left, select Stream Targets > Overview.

The stream target overview is displayed.

In the Stream Targets area, all currently available stream targets and jobs are listed, along with basic information (such as name, type, source, and status). You can customize the columns to be displayed and manually trigger a list update by using the corresponding buttons above the list.

To display only specific stream targets, use the Filter area above the list. There, for example, you can search stream targets by name, type (YouTube, Generic, etc.), or active status.

You can display and edit the details of each stream target by clicking the corresponding stream target name.

The number of available stream targets is limited. Depending on the infrastructure and the Makalu subscription, this number may vary. The total number of stream targets available and current utilization is displayed under Stream Targets > Static Routing at the bottom left under Stream Target Limit:

Creating a static routing stream target¶

A static routing stream target enables you to permanently stream any live source to any valid target, without having to schedule it in a rundown.

To create a static routing stream target:

1. In the navigation sidebar on the left, select Stream Targets > Static Routing.

2. At the top right, click Add.

   The Create a stream target menu is displayed.

3. Select the protocol to be used.

   Depending on the selected protocol, different configuration properties are displayed.

   

4. Set all configuration properties as required.

5. Click Confirm.

   The static routing stream target is created and added to the stream targets list with the status inactive (red).

   

6. Select the live source to be used from the Source dropdown menu.

   If the source stream is valid and running, preview playback starts automatically.

7. Right next to Source, click the Save source stream icon.

The source of the static routing stream target is saved. If the source and target are valid and the stream is running, the status changes to active (green).

Editing a static routing stream target¶

To edit a static routing stream target:

1. In the navigation sidebar on the left, select Stream Targets > Static Routing.

2. Look for the target to be edited and, in the bottom left of the corresponding tile, click the View and edit configuration data icon.

   

   The target settings are displayed.

   

3. Change the settings as required.

4. Confirm your changes by clicking Update.

The changed static routing stream target settings are saved.

Deleting a stream target¶

To delete a stream target:

1. In the navigation sidebar on the left, select Stream Targets > Overview.

   The stream targets overview is displayed.

2. In the stream targets list in the Action column, activate the checkbox of the stream target to be deleted.

3. Click the Delete selected stream target icon at the top right.

4. Confirm the displayed dialog by clicking Confirm.

The stream target is deleted and removed from the list of stream targets.

Synchronizing stream targets between Wowza and Makalu¶

Under certain conditions (for example, due to special customer requirements regarding the stream format or certain specific stream properties), it may not be possible to create a stream target using the default mechanism provided by Makalu Stream Control. In this case, the corresponding stream target must be created manually in the Wowza Manager UI. Afterward, it can be synchronized with Makalu using Stream Control and can then be used like a "regular" stream target.

To synchronize stream targets:

1. In the navigation sidebar on the left, select Stream Targets > Static Routing.

2. At the top right, click Sync.

   All synchronizable stream targets created in the Wowza Manager UI are listed.

3. Select one or more stream targets to be synchronized.

   

4. Click Confirm.

The selected stream targets are synchronized with Makalu and can afterward be used like "regular" stream targets.