Live Streaming

Our REST APIs use standard HTTP response codes, authentication, and verbs, and return JSON-encoded responses. Using these APIs, you will be able to start a live event and stream the content to our network, which will deliver that content to your audiences. Once a live entity is created, Uiza allocates dedicated resources and return an RTMP server to ingest and deliver your stream. The overall framework is articulated in the diagram below.

Step 1: Create a live entity

To start streaming, you need a live_entity to be created with resources allocated, ready to broadcast the live signal. You could create a live entity by using Create A Live Entity API.

/v1/live_entities

POST https://api.uiza.sh/v1/live_entities

Request Body

Name	Type	Description
name	string	The name of your live entity.
region	string	Choose the region closest to the location of your streamer.
description	string	The description of your live entity (maximum is 1000 characters)
dvr	boolean	Indicates whether Digital Video Record (DVR) is enabled for the live_entity. Set as true to enable and as false to disable. The default value is false.
encode	boolean	Indicates whether encoding mode is enabled for the live_entity. Set as true to enable and as false to disable. The default value is false, when the encode is true, it required a preset_id.
preset_id	string	The identifier of the video_preset to be applied when encoding your signal.
relay	array	A list of ingest servers to be relayed. Contains url and key and name (optional) in each ingest server.

200

live_entities without encoding

  "id": "2b970a39-874a-4d2a-be8a-fd445646d74c",
  "name": "Test event without encoding",
  "description": "Event for Test",
  "region": "in-bangalore-1",
  "status": "init",
  "dvr": false,
  "encode": false,
  "ingest": null,
  "playback": null,
  "relay": [
    {
      "url": "rtmp://youtu.be/live",
      "key": "Abco1",
      "name": "Youtube 1"
    }
  ],
  "preset": null,
  "created_at": "2020-03-23T07:22:34Z",
  "updated_at": "2020-03-23T07:22:34Z"
}

live_entities with encoding

{
    "id": "b7f02d48-d0ec-4c34-86d1-247a38eda4e1",
    "name": "Test event with encoding",
    "description": "Event for Test",
    "ingest": null,
    "playback": null,
    "relay": [
        {
            "url": "rtmp://youtu.be/live",
            "key": "Abco1",
            "name": "Youtube 1"
        }
    ],
    "region": "in-bangalore-1",
    "status": "init",
    "dvr": false,
    "encode": true,
    "preset": {
        "id": "9432fa62-5988-11ea-883b-028fc5698662",
        "name": "Uiza LIVE 720p",
        "description": "",
        "is_default": true,
        "profiles": [
            {
                "id": "85844e8b-6281-11ea-883b-028fc5698662",
                "name": "720p H264 30fps Normal Latency",
                "segment_duration": 4,
                "orientation": "landscape",
                "video_profile": {
                    "video_resolution": "720",
                    "video_codec": "H264",
                    "video_bitrate": "2000K",
                    "video_frame_rate": "30"
                },
                "audio_profile": {
                    "audio_channel": "2",
                    "audio_codec": "AAC",
                    "audio_bitrate": "128K",
                    "audio_frame_rate": "1"
                }
            }
        ],
        "created_at": "2020-02-27T17:42:52Z",
        "updated_at": "2020-02-29T16:47:34Z"
    },
    "created_at": "2020-03-23T07:22:34Z",
    "updated_at": "2020-03-23T07:22:34Z"
}

Sample Request

curl -X POST https://api.uiza.sh/v1/live_entities \
-H 'Authorization: uap-c1ffbff4db954ddcb050c6af0b43ba56-41193b64' \
-d '{"name": "Test Event", "region": "in-bangalore-1", "description": "Test 1"}'

Defining correct region helps Uiza allocates the resource that is closest to the streamer location. This will minimize the risks of network issues and reduce the impact on your business. While we are adding more and more regions to Uiza Network, please check the current available regions below:

in-bangalore-1 (Bangalore - India)

in-mumbai-1 (Mumbai - India)

sg-singapore-1(Singapore)

Step 2: Retrieve a live entity

You will need the ingest.key and ingest.url to configure your broadcasting software. These 2 attributes could be retrieved by using the id you get in the response in Step 1 for the Retrieve an entity API.

It is important that the value of the status you get from the response is ready, meaning that resources have been allocated and ready to ingest and broadcast your live feed. If the status of your entity is init, meaning that Uiza is still allocating resources for your entity and your live signal will not be able to be ingested and broadcasted during this process. Please, be patient and keep requesting for the entity's information until you get the ready status. This process may take up to 1 minute.

/v1/live_entities/:id

GET https://api.uiza.sh/v1/live_entities/:id

Path Parameters

Name	Type	Description
id	string	The unique identifier of a live entity to be retrieved information

200

{
 "id": "2b970a39-874a-4d2a-be8a-fd445646d74c",
 "name": "Test Event",
 "description": "Test 1",
 "ingest": {
   "url": "rtmp://f45dd07a0e-in.uizadev.io/transcode",
   "key": "live_TB62vHgxSY"
 },
 "playback": {
   "hls": "https://f45dd07a0e.uizadev.io/fmp4/22013d8a-d5fa-48f0-9a63-1f471ca9e81d/master.m3u8"
 },
 "region": "in-bangalore-1",
 "status": "ready",
 "dvr": false,
 "broadcast": "offline",
 "created_at": "2019-12-11T02:47:04Z",
 "updated_at": "2019-12-16T02:53:30Z"
}

Sample Request

curl -X GET https://api.uiza.sh/v1/live_entities/2b970a39-874a-4d2a-be8a-fd445646d74c \
-H 'Authorization: uap-c1ffbff4db954ddcb050c6af0b43ba56-41193b64' 

You could also set up a webhook to be notified automatically when your live_entity is ready.

Step 3: Configure your broadcasting software and start broadcasting

Most available broadcasting software uses RTMP protocol which requires a server's URL and a Stream Key to direct the live signal to the ingest servers. Use the ingest.url and ingest.key obtained at Step 2 to configure your broadcasting software in their Settings. The following are the 2 most popular broadcasting software that we strongly recommend.

OBS Studio (Available for Mac, Windows, and Linux) - Get it here.

Streamlabs (The best live streaming app for iPhone & Android) - Get it here.

Once you have configured the ingest.url and ingest.key, you could start streaming right away.

Step 4: Configure the playback link to your player and start watching your live stream!

The playback links (hls for HLS streaming and mpd for MPEG-dash streaming) of your live entity is the value of playback returned in Step 2. With the HLS link obtained, you could play your live stream by these methods:

1. Configure the HLS link to Player SDK.

2. Paste the HLS link to Safari and play directly with Apple's native player.

3. Install the HLS extension and play it on Google Chrome browser.

The mpd video format could be played natively by Microsoft Edge.

By following these 4 steps, you will be able to live stream your event using Uiza🙏. We understand that this beta version of ours requires quite some amount of manual involvement, but we are working hard to deliver a more delightful experience with more APIs and automation. If you are ready to live-stream your first event, let's move on to the API Reference.