Tutorial:Streaming using VLC

This page is related to Streaming.

Introduction

VLC is a free, open source cross-platform multimedia player, media converter and streamer.

The tutorials from this page explain how to use VLC to stream a local video file, with or without transcoding, on the network. The streaming media can then be added inside a project and played on the HMP and or Elementi.

Note: If you choose to transcode the source video file, ensure your PC is powerful enough for real-time encoding of the selected format!

Tutorial

Difficulty: Easy.
Total duration: 5-10 minutes.
Requirements:
- PC running Elementi software (the latest version) and VLC software (tested with v2.1.5);
- Video file(s) as media source;
- Hyper Media Player (the latest firmware);
- Standard 100mbps network switch.

Steps

Stream option

Open Media dialog

Configure a network between the HMP and the PC running VLC & Elementi.
- Other devices present on the network may affect stream performance; always test with an isolated network first.
Open VLC and from the "Media" menu, choose the "Stream..." option. (see the image on the left)
In the "Open Media" dialog that opens, select the file you want to stream.
- It can be a video file from your PC or from the network, a disc or the output of a capture device.
- To add a file from your PC, select the "File" tab, press on "Add..." button, browse to your file, select it and then press "Open". This will add the selected file under the "File Selection" zone. (see the image on the left)
Press on the "Stream" button. The "Stream Output" wizard dialog will open.
Press on the "Next" button to go to the "Destination Setup" area.
Select the destination(s) for your stream from RTSP, RTP or UDP and then press the "Add" button.
Configure the details for the chosen streaming protocol.
- For the multicast streaming, the address used is usually from the range of local administrative multicast IP addresses (e.g. 239.x.x.x); but you can configure a different multicast address if needed.
Press the "Next" button to go "Transcoding Options" area.
If your source file is within the HMP video specifications and thus not needing transcoding, then disable the "Activate Transcoding" option. Otherwise, select a profile for transcoding that is compatible with the chosen streaming protocol and eventually make the necessary adjustments on the profile defaults. (Some examples can be found below.)
Press the "Next" button and then the "Stream" button.
Open Elementi, insert the streaming media source in your project and set its URI according to the chosen streaming protocol. Verify that the stream plays in Elementi.
Publish your project on your HMP.

Transcode into MPEG TS and stream over RTP/TS

This example shows how to stream a video file transcoded into MPEG-TS format, using MPEG Audio as audio codec and keeping the original video codec. This could be used, for instance, to stream a VOB file containing MPEG-2 video and AC3 audio; since AC3 audio is not supported by the HMP, the audio bitstream is changed on-the-fly to MPEG Audio.

Follow steps 1 to 5 from the tutorial above.
As destination, select RTP/MPEG Transport Stream from the drop-down list and then press the "Add" button.
On the new "RTP/TS" tab, enter a multicast address (e.g., 239.192.1.23). The port can be left as 5004.
- Inside the Elementi project, you will set the URI for the streaming media source as rtp://239.192.1.23:5004.
Press on the "Next" button to go "Transcoding Options" area. Make sure that "Activate Transcoding" option is enabled.
Select "Video - MPEG2 + MPGA (TS)" from the "Profile" drop-down list.
Press the small toolbox icon next to the "Profile" drop-down list.
On the Encapsulation tab, select MPEG-TS.
On the Video codec tab enable "Video" (to include the video stream in the output) and "Keep original video track" options (for this example there's no need to transcode the video track since the file contains an MPEG bitstream).
- If the video needs transcoding, then disable "Keep original video track" option and set the rest of the options according to your needs.
On the Audio tab, enable "Audio" option (to include the audio stream in the output), disable the "Keep original audio track" option and select "MPEG Audio" from the codec drop-down list.
- If the audio codec is supported by the HMP, then you can leave the "Keep original audio track" option enabled (the audio will not be transcoded).
- If the audio track is not needed at all, then disable the "Audio" option.
Press the "Save" button.
Follow steps 10 to 12 from the tutorial above.

Stream output
Step #2
Step #3
Step #5

Profile edition
Step #7
Step #8
Step #9

Transcode into MP4 and stream over RTSP

This example shows how to stream a video file transcoded into MP4 format, using H-264 as video codec and MPEG 4 Audio (AAC) as audio codec.

Follow steps 1 to 5 from the tutorial above.
As destination, select RTSP from the drop-down list and then press the "Add" button.
On the new "RTSP" tab, enter the path to your stream (e.g., "/vlc"). The port can be left as 8554.
- Inside the Elementi project, you will set the URI for the streaming media source as rtp://Computer_IP:8554/path.
Press on the "Next" button to go "Transcoding Options" area. Make sure that "Activate Transcoding" option is enabled.
Select "Video - H.264 + AAC (MP4)" from the "Profile" drop-down list.
Press the small toolbox icon next to the "Profile" drop-down list.
On the Encapsulation tab, select MP4.
On the Video codec tab, enable "Video" option, disable "Keep original video track" option and set the rest of the options according to your needs.
- If the video doesn't need transcoding, then enable "Keep original video track" option.
On the Audio tab, enable "Audio" option, disable the "Keep original audio track" option and set the rest of the options according to your needs.
- If the audio track is not needed, then disable the "Audio" option. If the audio doesn't need transcoding, then enable "Keep original audio track" option.
Press the "Save" button.
Follow steps 10 to 12 from the tutorial above.

Stream output
Step #2
Step #3
Step #5

Profile edition
Step #7
Step #8
Step #9