Facebook became in 2018 the largest online platform for User generated social media video. Broadcasters use Facebook Live to reach and grow their base of followers. The platform helps brands and individuals announce new products, stream games concerts and live events, or just speak out what's on their mind. Most Facebook Live broadcasts last 1 hour or less. Here are few best practice suggestions how to live stream on Facebook.
What will be the time limit of my live stream?
When live streaming to Facebook you fall under two categories: live streams that originate from a mobile device such a phone or tablet are limited to 4 hours total. Live streams that are created by a hardware or software media encoder are limited to 8 hours long. When you live stream to Videolinq and configure your stream job to use a specific Endpoint (Facebook Live), your stream will run for up to 8 hours. Streaming via Videolinq will bypass the 4 hours stream limitation when streaming to Facebook from a mobile device.
Can I stream on Facebook 24/7?
No. To those who remember - there was a time that live streams on Facebook never stopped, but all this has changed. Today, live streams on Facebook are limited to 4 or 8 hours long, depends on the source of the stream.
Can I stream on multiple Facebook pages?
Yes. To do this setup your Videolinq channel with 1 source of the video (webcam or RTMP encoder), and 1 destination (your 1st Facebook page). You can assign the first Facebook page by login to your Facebook account (direct connect). When the channel is ready, add up to 24 more Facebook destinations. The number of destinations is limited by a Videolinq service plan. For each of the additional Facebook pages you want to stream to, you will need a unique "RTMP" path and "stream key". Generate this by login in advance to each profile, creating the live stream, and copying the values to your Videolinq Facebook new Destination. When ready, start the video source and push 'Start' on all Destinations or 'Start All". The video will stream to all the destinations at the same time.
TIP:
When setting up a new stream in Facebook Live Studio Creator, check the "Use a persistent stream key" box. Checking this option will allow you to reconnect to the same stream without the need to re-generate a new one.
Here’s how to do this:
Login to your Facebook profile and look for the "Publishing Tool" or "Videos" links.
Click on the "LIVE" or "+Live" links to enter the Facebook Live Studio Creator. Use your camera as video source, or select the "Connect" tab to use a media encoder.
Check the "Use a persistent stream key" box.
Copy the RTMPS path and stream key to the Videolinq Endpoint profile and Save.
When you start your media encoder, the live stream will reach Facebook Live. If you are streaming to YouTube or Twitter, the video will reach these destinations too.
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