Social Streaming Best Practices

1. The webcast frame size for your Studio presentation should be set to 540p (960x540 px).
2. Social Streaming from the Studio platform will only include the media panel stream. If you want the slide content to be included in the social stream, you must include the slides as a source and should select a webcast layout without a separate slides panel. NOTE: Interactive elements will not be included in your social stream (polling, CPE credit, chaptering, polling, surveys, etc).
3. The Social Stream will begin once you start your presentation. To test and view your stream in third party social media sites you must start the webcast first.
   
4. A 30-60 second delay is expected between the Studio platform and social media sites. Please consider this delay when interacting with your audience in social media.
5. Reporting and user data from third party site will not be aggregated to the Studio Data Portal. Access social stream viewer data from the third party site reporting.

Instructions on how to create a Facebook Live Stream, click here.

Recommended Facebook Live Encoder Settings:

• Video bit rate: 2500 Kbps

• Resolution: 1280 x 720

• Frames per second: 30

• Maximum Stream Time: 4 hrs.

• 720p (1280 x 720) - 0.9-3.6 Mbps

• 480p (853 x 480) - 0.6-1.6 Mbps

• 360p (640 x 360) - 0.4-1.1 Mbps

1. Schedule your event in advance. While we recommend scheduling a week out, Facebook only allows you to schedule 6 days and 23 hours in advance.
2. When testing a Facebook Social Stream, be aware that the Server/RTMP URL Facebook provides is only valid for 4 hours after the initial connection occurs. If more than 4 hours have elapsed since your test, edit your scheduled event to receive a new Server/RTMP URL and Stream Key and update accordingly in Studio. This only applies if you're NOT using a Persistent Stream Key.
• During testing, the webcast must be started FIRST to view the live stream on Facebook.
3. If you'd like the Stream Key to be permanent, confirm Enable Persistent Stream Key is selelcted.  If this isn't selected, you won't be able to use this stream key again after the stream ends.
4. The Facebook Live stream must begin within 10 minutes of the scheduled event time or the keys will expire and the event will be automatically canceled. For example, if your live event is scheduled to start at 10:30 AM Central but the live stream doesn’t begin by 10:40 AM Central, the event will be canceled.
5. If the Facebook event loses connection to the live stream, the scheduled event will stop and end. If this occurs, the event is unusable and a new event must be created.
• One of the benefits of using Studio for Facebook Live streaming is that even if your encoder or speaker’s video feed fails, the Studio engine will not stop the stream going into Facebook Live. While your viewers might see a black screen while your stream reconnects in Studio, this will avoid the event being cancelled by the Facebook Live system.
6. A Facebook event doesn't allow the option for a stop time (only a start time), therefore, the event will end when the live stream ends. Include an end time in your post so your viewers can plan accordingly.
7. Facebook will record up to 4 hours of HD video content. If you want to stream longer segments, break up your content and create multiple events.
8. Include a branded image for your event that is consistent with your brand guidelines. This will make your post stand out, look professional, and encourage sharing.

Instructions on how to create a YouTube Live Stream , click here.

Recommended YouTube Live Encoder Settings:

• 720p (1280 x 720) - 0.9-3.6 Mbps

• 480p (853 x 480) - 0.6-1.6 Mbps

• 360p (640 x 360) - 0.4-1.1 Mbps

1. Schedule your event in advance. While YouTube allows you to schedule an event at any time in the future, we recommend scheduling a week out.
2. An admin user is required to start and stop the live stream from YouTube, unless you select the advanced option to “Automatically start the event when you start sending data”.
   
   • The webcast must be started FIRST to view the live stream on YouTube.
3. Include a branded image for your event’s thumbnail that is consistent with your brand guidelines. This will make your post stand out, look professional, and encourage sharing.
   

1. Log in to the third party platform as an admin user.
2. Schedule the Social Streaming event one week in advance. Once you have created the event, save the Server/RTMP URL and Stream Key information. You will need this information to configure and test your Social Stream in Studio.
• Scheduling in advance allows your subscribers to receive a notification about your stream and to share it in advance.
3. Include a branded image for your event that is consistent with your brand guidelines. This will make your post stand out, look professional, and encourage sharing.

Recommended Periscope Live Encoder Settings:

• 540p (960 x 540) - 0.8 Mbps

1. The Periscope mobile application is required to set up the live stream post and to retrieve the RTMP publishing information.
2. Pre-scheduling an event is NOT an option through Periscope.