Status and figures

This page describes how to operate the stream during a show and how to check that it works. There are two buttons and one line of figures. The figures are important, because they show whether the stream arrives at the server, and a correct picture on your own screen does not show that.

The buttons

When the output of a playout is a stream, two buttons appear on its transport bar, beside STOP and GO:

Button
STREAM	Starts and stops the stream of this playout.
REC	Starts and stops the recording.

When Record while streaming is off, the two buttons are independent of each other. They are always independent of the cue list: starting the stream does not start the show, and GO does not start the stream.

To see the current state, move the pointer over a button. The tooltip shows No server set — fill it in under Settings, Connecting to the server…, or On air — click to stop.

The status block

The playout’s block at the bottom right shows the state of the stream:

Text	Meaning
off	The playout is not streaming.
connecting…	The program is connecting to the server.
2500 kbit/s · missed 0 (0.0%)	The playout is streaming at that bitrate. The second figure is the number of frames that the network could not carry.
recording	A recording is running.

For a stream, “missed” refers to the network, not to the computer. The sender drops frames that the connection cannot carry, so if the number increases, the upload cannot handle the bitrate you set.

For a card output, missed has a different meaning: there it shows the frames that the playout could not render in time. So the first figure indicates a problem with the connection, and the second a problem with the computer.

Move the pointer over the block to see the upload graph and the full text.

What to check during a show

At the start, check that the block changes from connecting… to a bitrate. This is the only proof that the server accepted the stream.

During the show, check that the percentage of dropped frames stays at zero. A few dropped frames when a large clip starts are acceptable, but if the number continues to increase, lower the bitrate.

At the end, stop the stream and the recording yourself. Closing the program also stops them, but the recording file is closed correctly when you stop it yourself.

When the stream does not connect

There are three possible causes, and the most likely is first:

1. The key. It has expired, it has been replaced, or it belongs to another channel.
2. The address. The server and the key are in the wrong fields, or the address starts with rtmp and the platform now requires rtmps.
3. The network. A firewall blocks the outgoing ports for streaming. This is common in church and school buildings.

The page the stream will not connect in part 14 describes each cause in more detail.