SOLVED: Your live stream will play automatically as soon as it’s available

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If you’re familiar with Ant Media server, you’re likely to be greeted with this “Your live stream will play automatically as soon as it’s available. Get ready to be part of the action!“

This notification message appears when you set up a new live stream before the video broadcast from the source is captured by Ant Media server.
The time it takes for the video to show and for this notification message to go away will depend on how you’ve set up everything. By default, this message has to disappear once the video starts streaming in the player. But in some cases when it gets stuck and the video is not showing up, it’s an indication that there is something wrong:

In this article, we would like to examine a couple of reasons that can cause this message to persist without going away and how to deal with them:

Incorrect RTMP Broadcast URL Structure

The “Your live stream will play automatically as soon as it’s available…” message can continue to appear on your web player if the RTMP broadcast to Ant Media is not configured correctly.

The Ant Media RTMP broadcast involves the transmission of live or on-demand multimedia content from a source like OBS to a server, which then distributes the content to various channels like Twitch, Youtube, Facebook, or your website and application.

What is the Correct Ant Media RTMP URL structure?

Your Ant Media server works as an RTMP server, which captures RTMP broadcasts from sources like the local OBS on your computer. What is important here is to understand the RTMP URL structure you’re meant to use which has to look as follows:

If your Live stream session is contained inside the LiveApp application of the Ant Media server, then the following would be the RTMP URL structure you’re meant to use:

rtmp://your-IP-Address/LiveApp/

If your live stream session is created inside the webRTCappEE application, then the following would be the RTMP URL structure:

rtmp://your-IP-Address/webRTCappEE/

You have to replace your-IP-Address with your actual IP address of the Ant Media server. For example, if the server’s IP address is 197.123.112.107, then the following would be the RTMP URL structure for a stream session created inside the LiveApp application

rtmp://197.123.112.107/LiveApp/

Your Source is not broadcasting

A stream broadcast source is a device or application that captures the audio and video content for broadcasting. This could be a camera, microphone, or software application that generates a live stream.

To stream to Ant Media server, you will need to use software like OBS or any other live-stream broadcast software and ensure that you set up the right RTMP credentials from Ant Media.

Setting up OBS for Ant Media

To correctly set up the Ant Media RTMP credentials in OBS, follow these steps

1. Go to the OBS Settings section

Inside your OBS, you need to fill in the right RTMP credentials from Ant Media. This can be done by going to the settings section as seen in the image below:

2. Under settings, Click on the Stream section

In OBS, the RTMP credentials can be entered under the stream section. Here is how you get there:

3. Click on the drop-down and select custom as seen in the image below:

4. Fill in the Ant Media RTMP credentials under Custom. See the image below:

When filling in the credentials, it’s important to understand the following:

Server: This is the RTMP URL for your Ant Media server. It contains your server IP address and the name of the Ant Media application that serves as a container for your streaming sessions and their respective settings. You can refer back to the beginning of this article and learn more about the Ant Media RTMP URL structuring.

Stream Key: Whenever you create a new Live stream session in Ant Media dashboard, you have an option of specifying the Stream ID. This Stream ID also serves as the stream Key. If you don’t specify the Stream ID when creating a Live stream, Ant Media will automatically generate for you a random string. See the image below:

The stream ID is what you have to use in your OBS to serve as the Stream Key. If you don’t use the correct Stream ID, then your stream will not be captured in Ant Media.

Firewall is blocking critical ports

A firewall controls how traffic comes in and out of your server. The ports act as the logical endpoints that allow traffic requests to pass through. You can think of ports as doors to your house. If these doors are tightly locked, you won’t be able to enter. In the same way, when ports are closed on the server, traffic won’t be allowed to come in and go out.

Allowing Ant Media ports through the Firewall

To broadcast to Ant Media server, the RTMP 1935 has to be configured to allow incoming traffic through the firewall. Here is the step-by-step guide we’ve prepared to help you understand how to allow Ant Media ports through the firewall.

Check your local Firewall to allow RTMP

If you’re using custom firewall configurations on the computer you’re using to broadcast to Ant Media, then make sure you allow or open the RTMP port. In Windows, this can be achieved by using Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security.

In macOS, the Firewall feature can be used to define the type of ports you want to allow.

Your Internet/ Network Connection is slow

The speed of the network on your server and your local computer will determine if the broadcast to Ant Media is successful or not. If you’re using a poor VPS provider, they will assign your server with limited internet speeds and bandwidth that cannot support high-quality streaming. I would recommend that you find a better VPS server provider like Contabo, because you will be assured that your bandwidth and internet connection won’t be capped, something that could hinder your streaming projects.
Even on your local network connection, it’s critical that you use faster internet that can manage streaming. If you’re using a poor internet connection, you will experience issues with your streaming in Ant Media.

Reduce Video Bitrate

Video bitrate is the amount of data processed per unit of time in a video file. It’s usually measured in kilobits per second (kbps) for digital video. Essentially, it represents how much information is transmitted or processed in the video every second.

Higher bitrate generally means better video quality because more data is used to represent the video, providing more detail, clarity, and smoother motion. However, higher bitrate also means larger file sizes.

Here is a table of various video bitrates and the recommended bandwidth connection you need to stream:

Video Bitrate (kbps)	Recommended Bandwidth Speed (Mbps)
8000 – 12000	15 – 25
5000 – 8000	10 – 15
3000 – 5000	5 – 10
1500 – 3000	3 – 5
800 – 1500	1.5 – 3
400 – 800	1 – 1.5
Below 400	Below 1

When you’re broadcasting a video stream to Ant Media server, the video data needs a stable connection. But if your internet connection is slow or unstable, it might struggle to transmit data quickly and consistently.

To adapt to a poor internet connection, streaming services may automatically reduce the video bitrate. This is often done to prevent constant buffering. When the bitrate is reduced, the video quality also decreases. You might notice pixelation, blurriness, or a loss of detail.

Video Bitrate in OBS

Inside OBS, you can define the video bitrate by going to the Output settings as seen in the image below:

If you have a slow internet connection on your machine, then make sure you define a lower video bitrate for your live stream to Ant Media server.

Update Ant Media to the Latest

If you’ve explored all the above options and still experiencing the problem, you can either reinstall Ant Media server or just update it to the latest version. It could be a bug so updating might see the issue you’re facing. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you understand how to update Ant Media on Linux.

The Ant Media team is always publishing new releases on the GitHub repo so make sure you install the latest version.

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