The RTMP pulldown is an address at which others pick up your program. You switch it on on the “Ausgabe” (output) tab, copy the address and pass it on. Whoever has it plays your program in OBS, VLC or any other program that plays RTMP. No login and no stream key is needed for that.
It is meant for everything that needs your finished program as a source: the screen in the hall, the desk of another production that takes your picture over, or a computer that records.
Switching it on
- Open the “Ausgabe” tab in your studio.
- Switch on the switch in the “RTMP-Pulldown” box.
- Copy the address that appears below it. It looks like this:
rtmp://rtmp.pgm.studio:1935/live/followed by 20 characters. - Go on air. Something only arrives at the address while you are on air.
The address stays the same when you switch the pulldown off and on again, and also when you end your studio and start it again on another day. So you can pass it on in advance.
Playing it
In OBS. Add a “Media Source”, remove the check mark at “Local File” and enter the address in the “Input” field.
In VLC. “Media”, then “Open Network Stream”, paste the address, “Play”.
With ffmpeg. ffplay to watch, ffmpeg with -c copy to record. That way the program ends up in a file
unchanged:
ffplay rtmp://rtmp.pgm.studio:1935/live/YOUR-ADDRESS
ffmpeg -i rtmp://rtmp.pgm.studio:1935/live/YOUR-ADDRESS -c copy program.mkv
Whoever plays it gets exactly the program that also goes to your channels: the same picture, the same sound, the same bitrate.
The pulldown is a destination
For going on air the pulldown counts like a channel:
- It alone is enough to go on air. You do not need a channel that is switched on for that.
- It does not count towards the eight channels that can be active at the same time. It comes on top.
- On the desk it is in the list of destinations as “RTMP Pulldown”, with state and bitrate like any other.
- If you switch it on or off while you are on air, the studio asks first. If it is the last active destination, switching it off ends the broadcast.
Whoever has the address can watch
The address is the only thing needed to play. So treat it like a link to an unlisted video: pass it on only to those who are meant to see your program.
If somebody should no longer be able to watch, create a new address. The button for it is next to the address. After that:
- Nothing arrives at the previous address any more.
- If you are on air right now, the studio changes to the new address by itself, as a rule within ten seconds.
- Everybody who is to go on playing needs the new address.
Nobody but your studio can send at the address. Whoever knows it can play, but cannot feed anything in.
What the pulldown is not
- No link for the browser. The address is RTMP. A browser does not play it; it takes a program such as OBS or VLC.
- No replacement for a platform. It is meant for a handful of receivers, not for your viewers. That is what Twitch, YouTube and Kick are for.
- Not without being on air. Program and preview on the desk always run; the pulldown only while you are on air.
- Not without delay. Programs such as OBS and VLC buffer when playing. How far the picture is behind your desk depends on the program that plays it.
When nothing arrives
| What you see | The reason | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| The player reports an error or stays black | You are not on air | Go on air, then reload the source in the player |
| It ran and breaks off | The broadcast was ended or the pulldown switched off | Check the state on the “Ausgabe” tab |
| It runs for you but not for others | They have an old address | Pass on the current address from the “Ausgabe” tab |
| No connection from a company network | The network does not let port 1935 out | Take another network or have the port opened |
| The switch cannot be switched on | The pulldown is not available in this studio | Write us an e-mail |
If the destination “RTMP Pulldown” says “Sendet” (sending) on the desk, the program is arriving at our server. Then it is the address or the network on the other side.