Technical specification may be helpful to unit IT professionals or others who are helping request streaming services.
ITS operates a pair of servers running Wowza Streaming Engine to serve as "origin servers." The origin servers receive encoded video from a live event and forward the encoded streams to two cloud based streaming services, typically Wowza Streaming Cloud and YouTube. The origin servers are also capable of streaming directly to end users if necessary.
Operating origin servers on campus has main two benefits:
- Encoded streams can be redirected to two or more streaming services.
- The originating stream can be monitored. In the case of user issues, problems can be more easily diagnosed than if video were sent directly from the on-site encoder to a streaming service.
ITS also operates two software-based video encoders that can be used to encode video output directly from the source. Video output (1080i at 59.94 fps with embedded audio) can be sent to these encoders via fiber from Hill Auditorium, Rackham Auditorium and the Athletic campus. The encoders receive the incoming video and send the encoded material to the origin servers for live streaming. This setup can reduce the demands on production teams because they do not have to operate an encoder on site.
Producers operating an encoder for a live event should observe these specifications:
- Video codec: H264, Baseline or Main, 2 second keyframe interval
- Frame rate: 29.97 fps
- Video bit rate: 1500 kbps
- Output size: 1280x720
- Audio codec: AAC
- Audio bit rate: 96 kbps
ITS can also arrange to provide an encoder and operator for your live event.