Going Live: Live Streaming & Live Events

Stream live to your audience on your website, apps, and anywhere you embed it. Bamboo gives you a ready-to-use stream for your streaming software, adds countdowns and live badges for scheduled events, and records every live event as a new video in your library.

In this article:

Create a live event: name, images, and live chat
Stream settings: your Bamboo stream or an external HLS source
Go live with your streaming software: connect OBS or any other encoder
Schedule your event: countdowns, live badges, and event visibility
Privacy and monetization: public, private, password, PPV, and subscriptions
Recordings: every live event becomes a video
Share and embed: links and embed code
Go live inside a channel: add your event to a channel's schedule

Create a live event

Go to Content → Live and click Add Live Stream.
Fill in the details:
- Name and Description: what viewers see on your website and apps.
- Categories: where the live event appears on your website and apps.
- Thumbnail: 1920×1080.
- Poster Image: 720×1080, for portrait layouts.
- Enable Live Chat: lets viewers chat during the broadcast.
Set the stream, schedule, and privacy and monetization, then click Create Stream.

To edit a live event later, click it in Content → Live. Its settings are grouped into tabs: Details, Scheduling, Stream, Access, and Distribution. Click Save Changes when you're done.

Stream settings

Stream Source: by default, your own Bamboo stream, with everything your streaming software needs: RTMP URL, Stream Key, and HLS Playback URL. Already streaming from another platform? Choose Custom HLS URL and paste your stream's HLS URL.
Fallback Video: plays if the live stream isn't available during its scheduled airtime.
Recording Category: the category the recording of this live event is added to. See Recordings.

Go live with your streaming software

You can use any streaming software. We recommend OBS, which is free and easy to use.

In your streaming software, open the stream settings. In OBS, go to Settings → Stream.
Paste your Bamboo RTMP URL as the server, and your Stream Key as the stream key. Use the copy buttons next to each field in Bamboo.
Click Start Streaming. Your live event starts playing in Bamboo shortly after.
When you're done, stop streaming in your software.

Tip: streaming software uses different names for these fields. The RTMP URL is often called the "Server" or "Broadcast URL".

Schedule your event

Set a Start Date & Time and an End Date & Time to turn on countdown timers, live badges, and event visibility on your website and apps. Times are shown in your current time zone. Going live right now? Click Set to now.

Good to know: start and end times don't start or stop your broadcast. Your stream starts and stops from your streaming software.

Privacy and monetization

Privacy: Public or Private. Private live events are hidden from all users, whatever their subscriptions or purchases.
Password: viewers need this password to watch. Leave it empty for no password.
Price (PPV): sell access to this live event as a pay-per-view purchase.
Subscriptions: include this live event in one or more of your subscriptions.

To sell live events, first set up your payment gateway. Learn more: Stripe integration

Recordings

Every live event is recorded automatically and added to your library as a new video, in the Recording Category you chose. Add start and end times to your event for the best results.

The recording follows your default privacy setting in Content → Content Settings (Default Content Privacy).

Open the live event's Distribution tab for:

Live Stream Page URL: the event's page on your Bamboo website (when your site is live).
Standalone Page URL: a page with just the live event, ready to share anywhere.
Embed Code: choose a player, then copy the iFrame or JavaScript embed.

You can also click the ⋯ menu next to a live event in Content → Live to Share, Copy Link, Copy Embed, or Open Standalone Page.

Learn more: Player Studio: Create and Customize Your Player

Go live inside a channel

Your live events can also air inside a Scheduled channel, between your regular programs. Drag the live event onto the channel's schedule in Playout and set its run time. Learn more: Add live events to your channel

Learn more: Set Up Your TV Channel · Scheduling your TV channel · Embed your videos