Live Streaming Guide
Broadcast live to your Pendigit channels from your computer with OBS (or any RTMP encoder) through Pendigit Manager, or straight from your phone camera with the Pendigit mobile app. This guide walks you through both.
Before you start
- A Pendigit account.
- At least one channel you own or edit. Live streams can only be placed on channels whose schedule you can manage.
- Accepting the content upload, copyright and community rules agreements.
- A stable internet connection with enough upload speed for your stream quality.
- A single broadcast can last at most 12 hours.
Streaming with Pendigit Manager
Pendigit Manager prepares the live stream and gives you the connection details you enter in OBS.
1
Open your channel
Sign in to Pendigit Manager, open Channels and select the channel you want to broadcast on. The Channel Detail page opens.
2
Click Go live
Click Go live in the page header to open the Go live dialog.
3
Fill in the stream details
Enter a Title and an optional Short description, select the Channels the stream should air on, choose When (Now or Later with a date and time) and a Duration (1–720 minutes). Accept the agreements.
4
Create the stream
Click Go live at the bottom of the dialog. The live stream is created and placed on the selected channels.
5
Copy the connection details
The dialog now shows Server, Stream key and Backup server. Copy them with the Copy buttons and enter them in OBS as described below.
6
Go live and follow the status
Once OBS sends video, the status changes from "Waiting for encoder" to "Encoder connected" and then to "Live". The stream normally goes live automatically; if a Go live button appears in the panel, click it. While live you can follow Watching now and Likes.
You can also create content with "Is Live Stream" ticked in the content form. The same connection details then appear on the Content Detail page, and you can add the content to your channel schedule like any other content.
Setting up OBS
OBS Studio is free broadcasting software for Windows, macOS and Linux. Any encoder that supports RTMP works the same way.
1
Open OBS, then go to Settings → Stream.
2
Set Service to Custom.
3
Paste the Server and Stream key from Pendigit Manager, then click OK.
4
Add your scenes and sources, then click Start Streaming.
Recommended output settings
| Video codec | H.264 |
|---|---|
| Keyframe interval | 2 seconds |
| Video bitrate | 5,000–8,000 kbps for 1080p |
| Frame rate | Up to 60 fps |
| Audio | AAC, 48 kHz, stereo |
Keep your stream key secret: anyone who has it can broadcast on your stream. If it leaks, use Generate new key in Pendigit Manager before going live and update OBS.
Streaming from the mobile app
You can broadcast from your phone camera with the Pendigit app for iOS and Android. No extra software is needed.
1
Open the Go live screen
Open the TV section, then open the side menu. On iOS tap the menu button on the TV tab; on Android open the menu while in TV mode. Tap Go live.
2
Fill in the form
Under Quick go live, select your Channels, enter a Title and an optional Short description, choose When (Now or Later) and a Duration, and accept the agreements.
3
Go live now
Tap Go live now to create the stream and open the camera.
4
Start broadcasting
The camera screen opens. Tap Go live; after a few seconds your stream is public. If a Make stream public button appears, tap it.
5
Scheduled streams
If you chose Later, tap Schedule live stream. At the scheduled time, open the stream from My live streams on the same screen and start broadcasting.
Controls while live
- Mute or unmute your microphone.
- Switch between the front and back camera.
- Under More controls: stream quality details and a small preview of what viewers see.
- Under More controls: Freeze, Blur or Blackout the picture, or hold to bleep the audio. Viewers and the recording see the effect.
- End stream finishes the broadcast after a confirmation.
Good to know
- The app asks for camera and microphone access when the broadcast screen opens. Live streaming does not work without them.
- The app sends 720p video at 30 fps. Hold the phone horizontally for a full-width picture.
- If the connection drops, the app reconnects automatically for up to 10 minutes.
Now or later?
- Now: as soon as your stream goes live, the program on air is interrupted and your stream starts on the selected channels. If the stream does not start within 15 minutes, the channels are not changed.
- Later: the live program is added to your channel schedule at the chosen time and the following programs move later. Start streaming shortly before the start time.
After the stream
- The broadcast is recorded. When the recording is ready, the content becomes a regular video that viewers can watch on demand.
- When your stream ends, the program that was interrupted on your channels continues from where it stopped.
- If you end earlier than planned, the following programs move earlier. If you run longer, the program is extended automatically in 5-minute steps, up to 60 extra minutes.
- If no video reaches the server for 10 minutes, the stream is ended automatically. An ended stream cannot be restarted; create a new one instead.
Troubleshooting
I don't see the Go live button.
The Go live button only appears for channels whose schedule you can manage. Ask the channel owner to make you an editor, or create your own channel.
The status stays at "Waiting for encoder".
Check that Service is set to Custom and that the Server and Stream key were pasted without extra spaces. If you generated a new key, update it in OBS.
I get a message that the maximum number of live streams has been reached.
The number of streams that can be live at the same time is limited. Try again when one of the active streams ends.
My stream ended by mistake.
An ended stream cannot be restarted. Create a new live stream and go live again.
Ready to go live?
Open Pendigit Manager to broadcast from your computer, or download the mobile app to go live from your phone.
