alternatives to BI for webcasting

[LambWatch]

I am really only using Blue Iris for it's HTTP webcasting functionality (Windows Media) but am really struggling to get a reliable and stable webcast (it lasts for only about 5 to 10 minutes before freezing).

I want to stream my IP cameras via Webcams Streaming Live & Free on Camstreams and their broadcasting software doesnt natively support RTSP.

Would appreciate any thoughts on this.

Cheers

DAniel

 

[bp2008]

What kind of streams does it accept?

 

[bp2008]

If you have to "push" a stream to them, then I recommend trying ffmpeg or VLC. Neither will be particularly easy to set up but they should both work.

 

[LambWatch]

Camstreams "pull" a HTTP stream I think on a port you specify. It's not a push platform. So it only consumes bandwidth when somebody actually tunes in.

I am wanting to webcast my RTSP IP camera at the URL LambWatch Channel 2 - a Webcam in Earby, Lancashire, UK, Streaming on Camstreams

BI only succeeds in webcasting audio and video for between 5 and 10 mins and then the video stops but audio continues. If left for much longer, the actual camera on BI refuses to restart.

Pretty sure it's a bug with BI

 

[bp2008]

It does sound like a bug with BI.

I recommend VLC media player then, as it should be able to act as the streaming server for camstreams to connect to. FFmpeg is not as easy of a solution, as its streaming server is for linux only.

Here is a thread I wrote that demonstrates how to run VLC from the command line to make it consume an rtsp stream and host it via http. In my example it is transcoding the video though this is probably unnecessary for you. You can also set up the stream using VLC's GUI which is likely easier. http://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php?1395-How-to-Use-VLC-to-transcode-IP-video-to-an-HTML5-compatible-format

 

[LambWatch]

I've had a go with VideoLAN stream but got a bit confused. Ideally I do want to use Windows Media Video 9 codec for the video and windows media audio 9.2 for the audio.

I can't see those options for codecs in the VideoLAN profile options.

Camstreams themselves have an encoder which works really well for non-IP cameras. It makes the encoding process a breeze. It's just it doesn't support IP cameras very well so I am trying to achieve the same thing that their encoder achieves for my IP camera.

Here's a link to their encoder

Download and set up the Camstreams Encoder or Windows Media Encoder.

If I can achieve this with VideoLAN, that would be great, but I can't see much sign of Windows Media codecs in video LAN.

 

[bp2008]

Hmm. Here are a few other options that I found by googling (so I can't vouch for any of them) that should let you emulate a webcam that perhaps camstreams can access.

VLC2VCam plugin - Turn VLC to a virtual webcam(VCam) and broadcast its videos lively.

http://ip-webcam.appspot.com/static/doc.html

Virtual Webcam Driver

 

[LambWatch]

Thank you for those suggestions! I shall give them a try and let you know on a side note, would you know why BI doesn't let me choose Windows Media Video 9 in the video codec for the webcast? The camstreams software uses it so id love to give it a try to see if it fixes the problem:

http://www.ipcamtalk.com/troubleshooting/2840-windows-media-video-9-choose.html

 

[bp2008]

No idea, as I've never used the windows media encoding stuff. Maybe something extra needs downloaded from Microsoft and installed.

 

[fenderman]

@LambWatch This issue is addressed in the new update according to the release notes.

 

[LambWatch]

Ooh exciting! If this fixes the problem I will be well chuffed and must arrange for some beer tokens for Mr Blue Iris.

 

[LambWatch]

Looks like he's cracked it. Wonderful