Creating and managing a live event can be a daunting task, but with the right tools and preparation, it can be a highly engaging experience for your audience. Whether you are hosting a virtual conference or livestream, it is important to have a solid plan in place to ensure everything runs smoothly.
In this guide, we will walk you through the essential steps of creating and hosting a live event, including content protection settings, engaging your audience, and analyzing the performance of your event.
With these tips, you will be well on your way to hosting a successful live event that will leave a lasting impression on your audience.
Before we start
Before proceeding, ensure that you have a BlendVision One account/Business Organization to create/operate your live event.
Access the Live module to manage your live event
You can access the Livestream List through the “Live” item from the left sidebar on the BlendVision One web console.
In the Livestream List, you can confirm all created events and manage them accordingly:
- Search for your events using the Livestream Name.
- Press the “Add Livestream” button to add a new live event
- Click the individual live event in the list to access their live settings page
- Click the Control Room icon to access the control room of each event
- Click the Publishing Tool icon to manage the publishing method
- Click the Menu icon to archive your live event.
For instructions on how to utilize the Live module, you can refer to the following chapters:
- Create and set up your live event from the Livestream List
- Host your live session from the control room
- Get analysis and performance reports from the Analysis module
Create and set up your live event from the Livestream List
In BlendVision One, you will need to create and set up your live event before the event date. We recommend that you create and set up your event at least 7 days in advance of your event to allow for sufficient time to complete event setup and finalize the preparations for content delivery.
BlendVision One provides two ways to create a live event:
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Through the web console: the basic way to create your live event is by using the BlendVision One web console. Please refer to:
- Create a Live Event for detailed steps on creating a live event.
- Supported Input Formats of Live Events for the supported input formats.
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Through the BlendVision API:
You can also integrate our API with your own CMS/system to seamlessly incorporate and leverage our platform's streaming capabilities within your services.
Refer to our Developer Guide for detailed information.
You can also enable the following features to protect your content and provide a unique viewing experience to your audience:
-
Ultra Low Latency (ULL):
BlendVision One provides the option for ULL, allowing you to broadcast your activities at a much lower latency. Your audience can watch live sports events, news broadcasts, gaming, and online auctions unfold in real-time, as if they were there in person.
Please refer to Ultra Low Latency Live (UUL Live) Introduction for further details. -
Live-to-VOD:
You can utilize your live events as VOD content to allow your audience to watch a replay after the live session has ended. -
Chatroom/Poll:
BlendVision One provides interaction features, allowing you to engage your audience during the live session for a highly interactive experience.
- Player Template: You can customize your player UI/behavior for the iframe player or showroom and save the settings as templates for use in different events.
-
Security:
We provide DRM (FairPlay/Widevine), geo-region control, watermarks, domain control, and different visibility levels to protect your content. You can set up these security features to prevent unauthorized access and distribution of your live content.
BlendVision One provides three methods to deliver your event content to your audience.
Each has their own advantages and unique support features, so you can choose the delivery method that best suits your needs.
Please refer to Share and Publish a Live Event for further detailed information:
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Showroom:
Showroom is an easy way to deliver your content as a customized web page. It provides a highly customizable theme and viewer access can be controlled. You can quickly set up your customized showroom and player before simply sharing the URL with your audience. - iframe Player: You may want to integrate your live content into your own website. BlendVision One provides auto-generated iframe player code and API for you to embed an iframe player with customized styles and content protection onto your website.
- Player SDK (Web/iOS/Android): If you need further customization and deep integration with your application/service, you may wish to utilize the BlendVision Player SDK on Web/iOS/Android. Please refer to our developer guide for more details.
Note:
- Player Template settings on the BlendVision One web console only reflect on the showroom and embed iframe Player. If you use the Player SDK method, please refer to the developer guide on customizing your player UI.
- Most security features (such as visibility, domain control, etc) will be unavailable when using the Player SDK. You will need to develop the relevant functions within your system and integrate them with the Player SDK.
- You may need to integrate BlendVision One API when choosing the iframe and SDK player methods. Token access is required for playback and content protection on these methods. Please refer to Integrate Existing Membership Systems for Private Content for more details.
Once a live event is created, some settings can no longer be changed.
We strongly advise you to double check your event settings before clicking the save button.
If you want to edit your event settings after it is created, please refer to Edit a Live Event for more instructions and information on editable settings.
Host your live session from the control room
After the live event is created, you can check and manage all events from the Livestream List.
To start a live event, you will need to activate the starting procedures from the Control Room.
The following flowchart illustrates the status transitions for a live event:
- The rectangles represent the status of the live event.
- The polygons represent the actions started from the Control Room or Livestream List.
- The arrows in white indicate the status transitions triggered by the user's actions.
- The arrows in black indicate automatic status transitions that occur when certain conditions are met, such as the start of a scheduled Live-to-VOD or the completion of server setup.
This table details further information on each status:
State | Description |
Preparing | Once an event is created, the status will display as “Preparing” to show that system resources are built up. |
Scheduled |
This is the initial state of an event when it is scheduled but not yet ready for streaming. For the events with the following settings, this status will be skipped.
|
Wait for Preview |
When there is 12 hours left before the event starts and server resources have been built up, the event will transition to this status automatically. In this status, the server is ready but not yet open for pushing signals. To proceed, you can start the Preview action in the control room. |
Initiating | After the “Preview” action is triggered, the status will display as “Initiating” indicating that the streaming server is currently processing. |
Preview | When the streaming server is ready for receiving an input signal, the status changes to "Preview" indicating that you can start previewing the stream video from the control room of your event. |
Live | To publish the live event to your audience, you can click the "Go Live" button. The event will be live on air, and the status changes to "Live". |
Encoding | For events that enabled the “Live-to-VOD” function, once the live event has ended, the content will start transcoding to VOD. The status automatically changes to "Encoding”. |
VOD Ready | When the VOD of the “Live-to-VOD” function is ready to be broadcast, the status changes to "VOD Ready" indicating it is waiting for the scheduled start time. |
VOD | Once the transcoding has been completed and the Live-to-VOD event can be played as VOD content, the status will change to "VOD" automatically. |
End | When the live-only event ends or the viewable period of the VOD of a Live-to-VOD event ends, the status changes to "End". The servers will stop receiving signal input, and your audience will not be able to watch the video. |
Closed | When the event has ended or is canceled by clicking the “Cancel” button, the status will change to "Closed". However, the live channel will still be kept and can be reused. |
Archived | You can click the “Archive” button to archive the live channel. The status will change to "Archived" and will no longer be reusable. |
You can manage your live event and change the live status by triggering specific actions in the Control Room or Livestream List. Please refer to the articles below:
-
Live Control Room: Manage your live event from the control room
- Preview a Live Event for steps to preview a live event.
- Start and End a Live Event for steps to start or end a live event.
- Cancel a Live Event for steps to cancel a live event.
- Reuse a Live Event for steps to reuse a closed live event.
- Archive a Live Event for steps to archive a live event.
Note:
- Once a live event has been created, it will be included in the concurrent livestream count until it is archived.
- The duration of live hours will be calculated from the “Preview” status to the “Closed” status.
Get analysis and performance reports from the Analysis module
After a live event is complete, you can get the performance report via the Analysis module.
Please refer to the article below to learn more:
- Overview Analysis for an overview of the VOD/Livestream with visualized graphics.
- Individual Livestream Analysis for the performance report of each live event.