360 live 1.01the following requirements are based on the use of the ricoh theta s camera. this...

Document Version 1.0 (released June 2016)

Streambox360Live™

Document History:

June 1, 2016. Initial beta release. Document version 1.0. DB

July 7, 2016. Updated info about Blackmagic driver. Document version 1.01. DB

July 7, 2016. Updated info on External Microphone. Document version 1.02. DB

Streambox® 360 Live Streaming

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1 INTRODUCTION

360° panoramic‐space videos require high resolution, high motion fidelity, and high overall quality. With

Streambox Cloud Encoder you can capture, encode, and Stream full 1080p 30fps 360° panoramic‐space

video from the Theta’s HDMI port.1 Streambox provides support for network bonding of any of USB

modems, WiFi, and LAN/Ethernet. Streambox Cloud will convert a single stream to a YouTube‐360

compatible stream or triple‐play streams for other content delivery networks, CDNs.

2 REQUIREMENTS

The following requirements are based on the use of the Ricoh Theta S camera.

This camera captures near 360° panoramic space.

1. Ricoh Theta S camera (Figure 1)2

2. MacBook Pro (2014‐2016 models, i7 recommended)

3. BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Recorder (Figure 2)3

4. Micro HDMI to HDMI cable (to connect #1 to #3)

5. Micro USB to USB cable (to charge #1)

6. Thunderbolt cable (to connect #2 to #3)

7. Tripod extension post with ¼‐20 camera mount (Figure 3)

8. Optional – camera extender with monopod base/feet (items #7 and #8

provide a freestanding mount for the Ricoh camera with nominal

obstruction of 360° panoramic space)4

9. Streambox Cloud Encoder

(go to http://www.streamboxvr.com to download Encoder)

10. YouTube account with 360 event enabled for YouTube 360 Streaming

1 The Ricoh Theta S UVC Blender software with USB is an easy way to start but is limited to 15 fps at a 1280x720 resolution. 2 https://theta360.com/en/about/theta/s.html 3 https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/ultrastudiothunderbolt 4 Example: http://www.amazon.com/Smatree%C2%AE‐Q3‐Telescoping‐Threaded‐Thumbscrew/dp/B00XN1P9QI

Figure 1. Ricoh Theta S

Figure 2 BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Figure 3. Tripod extension post



3 STREAMBOX SETUP

3.1 THE BIG PICTURE The basic 360 setup workflow is to connect the Ricoh Theta S camera to the BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini

Recorder which connects to the Mac Book Pro where the Streambox Cloud Encoder can process the

stream and send it to the Streambox Cloud where it is routed to YouTube and then out to the world (see

Figure 4).

3.2 THE SETUP ORDER The following descriptions apply to Figure 4 and its corresponding number:

1. Connect the Ricoh Theta S camera to the BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Recorder with a micro‐

HDMI to HDMI cable. Make sure Blackmagic software is installed and configured for HDMI (see

section Blackmagic Design Desktop Video Software)

2. Connect BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Recorder to MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt cable.

Installation and operation of Streambox Cloud Encoder will be discussed below (see section

Streambox Cloud Encoder)

3. Turn on the camera for live streaming, the camera must first be off, then you need to push

and hold the bottom ‘Capture mode’ button and then push the top ‘Power’ button . Then

release both after you see word ‘Live’ on the Camera. The word ‘Live’ under will appear if you

are in streaming mode (see green circles for button location).

4. If you plan to spend some time with the setup, it is recommended that you attach the Ricoh

Theta S camera to a USB power supply via a micro‐USB to USB cable. This charges the internal

battery as well as provides power for operation. We recommend to pre‐charge camera before

prolonged usage with USB.

5. Setup your event on the YouTube LIVE STREAMING Events, Create a new event page

(https://www.youtube.com/my_live_events?action_create_live_event). Creating an event and

Advanced settings will be discussed below (see section YouTube Events).

6. Strat Streambox CLoud Encoder and Select ‘Setup Ricoh HDMI…’ from Service menu to auto‐

configure encoder for Ricoh Streaming

7. Stream to Streambox Cloud and route to YouTube. Setting up a Streambox Live account and

routing a stream will be discussed below (see section 3.5, Streambox Cloud Account Setup)

Figure 4. Schematic of Basic Setup



If you are new to 360 video, there will be some setup for each component. The first time through can be

a little tedious but once you get things setup, it’s quite easy. So we will walk you through each step

along the way. Let’s go…

3.3 BLACKMAGIC DESIGN DESKTOP VIDEO SOFTWARE Installing the Desktop Video software provides the needed drivers for its UltraStudio Mini Recorder.

Follow the link below and download and install the latest version (at least version 10.5) onto your Mac

Book Pro.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/family/capture‐and‐playback

Note: Remember to set the Blackmagic video input to HDMI

3.4 STREAMBOX CLOUD ENCODER SOFTWARE The heart of this enhanced 360° panoramic‐space experience lies in the Streambox Cloud Encoder

software which can deliver full 1080p, 30fps, video via the HDMI port on the Ricoh camera. Compare

this to the Ricoh Theta UVC Blender software with USB connectivity which is limited to 1280x720

resolution at 15fps. The Blender is a great starter program but for professionals and enthusiasts

Streambox Cloud Encoder delivers the better experience. You can download the OSX Encoder software

at:

http://streamboxvr.com

Once installed, find the CloudEncoder icon in your Applications folder and double‐click (see

image to right). A dialog will open that gives you the option to Activate the Encoder software,

Buy activation, or the free trial option, Use w/Cloud (see Figure 5).

NOTE: For initial setup we recommend choosing ‘Use w/ Cloud’.

If you are a first time user, you will be asked to create an account on the Streambox Cloud Server (see

section ‘Streambox Live’ below), otherwise the Streambox Cloud Encoder opens (see Figure 6). It will

take a few seconds to load and establish connection. Once loaded take a few minutes to familiarize

yourself with the user interface.

Figure 5. Activation Dialog



Figure 6. Streambox Encoder with Ricoh Camera Input

3.4.1 Video Input & Settings

You need to tell the Encoder which video input to use. Select the

‘Service’ menu from the top bar and choose ‘Setup Ricoh HDMI…’ to

automatically configure all settings for Ricoh streaming in 360 Video.5

A dialog will be displayed (see image to right). Choose ‘Yes, go on’ –

an ABN dialog will open (see Figure 7).6

Automatic Bitrate Negotiation (ABN) is a useful feature that we

recommend each time you are on a new network. ABN determines

the optimal bitrate and settings for a particular network.

ABN can take up to several minutes depending to the quality of the

network connection and bandwidth. You can allow ABN to fully

determine the optimal bitrate and latency (recommended) or at any

time you can ACCEPT the current bitrate. Once ABN is complete you

will see the Encoder, as in Figure 6. Here you can see the bitrate was

set to 2940Kbps (2.9Mbps) and the latency about 1298ms (1.3

seconds). This was determined to be the best settings given the

network bandwidth and condition.

5 For Advanced users, Go to the ‘Service’ menu, select ‘Video’ and choose ‘Blackmagic’ for Ricoh Theta S camera. Also ensure that on the same menu, 360 VIDEO, Fisheye Correct, and are checked and Audio “Fix 32 Khz” is selected. 6 Please note that an ABN network test can be repeated as needed or performed independent of Setup for Ricoh by Clicking the ‘Low Delay’ button from the Encoder’s lower drawer.

Figure 7. Automatic Bitrate Negotiation (ABN) Dialog



3.5 STREAMBOX CLOUD ACCOUNT SETUP You will need a Streambox Cloud account in order to stream with the free version of the software, or to

stream to the web. If you are a first time user, or have just installed a new Encoder, then when you click

‘Use w/Cloud’, as in Figure 5 above, a ‘Metadata is Not Set for Encoder’ dialog will be displayed (Figure

8). If you have an account, you can enter the Group name and a Contributor name. If you do not have an

account, you should click on the ‘Create Account’ button.

When you click the ‘Create Account’ button the following Registration Form appears (Figure 9). Don’t

omit the ‘Contact Email’ since that is the only way we can keep you informed of updates.

Once the account is created the following dialog window will open (Figure 10). Click ‘Go to Streambox

Live here’ to open the Streambox Live page (inside red outline). Alternatively, and here after, you enter

‘live.streambox.com’ in your web browser (see Figure 11).

Figure 9. Registration Dialog

Figure 8. Metadata Form

NOTE: You will need to

know your Username

and password for later

access. You may want to

jot it down.



Figure 12. Streambox Cloud Basic Interface

NOTE: At this point, go back to the Metadata for Encoder window (see Figure 8 above) and enter your

Username for Group and provide any name for Contributor. After you click ‘OK’ you should be back in

the Encoder window as in Figure 6.

On the log‐in page enter your Username and Password and click the ‘Log In’ button. You should now be

in the Streambox Cloud (Figure 12). Spend a few minutes to get to know the ‘Live Channel’ interface.

As we move along, many of the steps you are

taking are one‐time only to get your Live

Channel set for 360 streaming to YouTube.

Onward.

Switch to the ‘Advanced Mode’ from the

navigation menu (upper right‐hand corner – see

Figure 12). From the ‘Advanced Mode’ page,

click on ‘Accounts’ from the menu bar (image

below).

On the Account Information page (Figure 13 – next page), make sure that ‘Live Streaming: Enabled,

Publish New Streams, and Full HD are all checked. Though optional, it is a good practice to also provide

First Name, Last Name, and E‐mail so you can be notified of updates and server status. Click ‘Save’.

Figure 11. Streambox Cloud Log‐in Page

Figure 10. Registration Complete ‐ Click for Streambox Live



Now click on ‘Decoders’ in the menu bar (image to right) to open

the Decoders page (Figure 14). This is where you setup decoders

which are destination routes.

You will notice that a default Live Channel decoder was created for you

(streamboxvr360 in this case). We need to setup this decoder so click

‘Edit’ – the Edit Decoder page will open (Figure 15).

This is the page that will route your stream to YouTube. For that, there are two items that need

attention. CDN7 needs to be set to ‘Custom’ (see green circle). This opens two fields, Server URL and

Stream Key. These respectively are the address and keys to your site on YouTube. Later, we will cover

how to obtain these values from YouTube (see on

page 10). The blowup demonstrates how this might

appear with real values.

For 360 live streaming set Type to ‘Live Streaming

Channel’ and lower down on the form, make sure

‘Enable HD Streaming’ is checked.

All other settings can be the same as in Figure 15. Of

course, ‘Name’ will reflect the account name which

will be unique to you. You may change Name if you

desire.

You may also choose to create a new Decoder – click

‘Add Decoder’ and fill in the same form as above.

7 Content Delivery Network is a system to deliver web content; like YouTube

Figure 14. Decoders Page Figure 13. Account Information Form

Figure 15. Edit Decoder Form



4 YOUTUBE SETUP

Time to setup your YouTube account. If you don’t have a YouTube account, you will need

one. In YouTube, click the user icon in the upper right‐hand corner and then click the

‘Creator Studio’ button (see arrow in image on right). The CREATOR STUDIO page will open.

Next click ‘LIVE STREAMING’ from the left‐panel list, and then

click ‘Events’ (see image on right). Then on the upper right‐hand

side click the ‘New live event’ button – which opens the new live

event form (Figure 16).

First, enter a Title; for example, My 360 Test #1. It is also a good practice to provide a short Description

and any appropriate Tags.

Then set access to ‘Public’, ‘Unlisted’, or ‘Private’ from the dropdown opposite the Title field.

Then choose Type ‘Custom’.

Now click ‘Advanced settings’ from the top of the form (see Figure 16). In the ‘Advanced settings’ form,

scroll to the lower‐right panel, check 360° video (see arrow), and then click ‘Create event’ (Figure 17).

Now click ‘Ingestion Settings’ from the top of the form. Then, on the bottom right corner, select the

‘Custom ingestion’ option, then ‘Select a stream’, and ‘Create new stream’ (Figure 18).

You will want to give your ingestion stream a unique Name; for example, we used ‘360 video stream’ but

any name will do. Again, it is good practice to provide a Description.

Figure 17. Advanced Settings (lower‐right panel)



You will also need to set the Maximum sustained bitrate that you can support to ‘3000 Kbps – 6000 Kbps

(1080p)’. If your network cannot support sustained bitrates of 6000 Kbps (6 Mbps) then you may not be

ready for live 360 streaming. Click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Now you will be in your Stream page (note the title of your stream in the upper left‐hand corner). If you

look a half a page down from there you will see where you can ‘Select your encoder’. From the

dropdown, select ‘Other Encoders’ which will reveal the required settings to point your stream toward

YouTube; that is, Stream Name, Primary Server URL, and Backup Server URL (Figure 19).

We now need to jump back to the Streambox Live ‘Decoders’

form and fill in the values from the ‘Select your encoder’ dialog

(see on page 8). Use ‘Primary Server URL’ here for ‘Server ULR’

and ‘Stream Name’ here for ‘Stream Key’ (Figure 20).

Figure 18. Ceate Stream Dialog

Figure 19. Select Your Encoder Dialog

Figure 20. Streambox Decoder Form with YouTube Values



5 THE WORKFLOW…

Everything is now set up to stream 360 live at 1080p. From this point on, streaming should be easy to

setup. So let’s go through the steps (I refer you back to our workflow overview below):

Steps 1 & 2: Make sure the Ricoh is powered on for Streaming and optionally connected to a power

source via the USB port (see item 1 on page 3)

Steps 3 & 4: Connect BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Recorder (see items 2‐4 on page 3)

Step 4: Start Streambox Encoder on Mac Book Pro and stream to Streambox Cloud (see on

page 4)

Step 5: Open Streambox Cloud in your browser

(live.streambox.com). If it opens in the Live

Channel view switch to Advanced Mode (see

on page 7).

Choose your 360 video and click the ‘ROUTE’

button (Figure 21). This will open your

Decoders page (see on page 8). From the

decoder you setup for YouTube, click the

‘START’ button. In a few seconds, the Status

pane will display the stream activity.

Step 6: Open your Events page on YouTube and

shortly you should see the stream status

(Figure 22). If it’s GOOD, at this point you can

click the ‘Preview’ button.

Once the PREVIEW window displays your

stream (it will be at a lower resolution than

the live stream), YouTube displays the ‘Start

Streaming button – click it and you are live!

Figure 21. Streambox Cloud ‐ Live Page

Figure 22. YouTube Events Page ‐ Stream Status



6 EXTERNAL MICROPHONE

Though not required for 360 streaming, the latest release of the Cloud Encoder has support for the use

of an external microphone. Now, in addition to the audio tied to the video source, an audio overlay can

be added to your video stream. For example, this feature could be employed where a news reporter

wanted to add their voiceover narration to a live video stream.

6.1 REQUIREMENTS 11. Latest Version of Streambox Cloud Encoder for OSX

12. Installed microphone (built‐in or external)

6.2 SETUP

6.2.1 Latest Version of Streambox Cloud Encoder

Make sure you have the latest Streambox Cloud Encoder. Click on the ‘Streambox Cloud Encoder’ menu

(red arrow) and select ‘Check for Updates’. If there is an update available, go ahead and download &

install that update. The version number should be at least the same or greater than shown here (green

arrow)



6.2.2 Setup Audio Input in Encoder

Make sure your microphone is plugged in if it is external; e.g., a USB microphone. From the ‘Service’

menu select ‘Audio’. From the ‘Audio’ list select the desired microphone (in this example, we have

chosen the Samson C01U external USB microphone). That’s it, you are now set to use an external

microphone to voice live streams.

6.2.3 Checking the Status

You can check the status of your audio input from the Status Box. If it is hidden, click the right‐chevron

button (red arrow); the Status Box will slide out to the right.

Select the ‘Encoder’ tab on the top (between the ‘Network’ and

‘Statistics’ tabs). Then, in the ‘Audio’ panel, you can verify that

your input is working from the levels monitor (green arrow).

Simply tap your microphone with your finger to see if the levels

monitor responds accordingly.

END of Document

360 live 1.01the following requirements are based on the use of the ricoh theta s camera. this...

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