Choosing the correct stream settings can help you reach the right audience and get the best quality stream.
Note: This article is for streams using an encoder or mobile, but not webcam streams.
Reuse stream settings
You can easily create a new stream using the same settings as a previous stream. The new stream will copy the previous stream’s metadata, settings, and the stream key. You’ll have a chance to change the stream after it’s created. To get started, select your stream and click Reuse settings.
Edit metadata
Choose these settings when you create a stream or by clicking Edit from the stream settings page or when you schedule a stream.
Details page
Privacy
For users aged 13–17 on YouTube, your default privacy setting is set to private. If you’re 18 or over, your default privacy setting is set to public. All streamers can change this setting to make their live streampublic, private, or unlisted.
Traffic sources for Immersive Live stream
Get more information about how viewers discover Immersive Live with traffic sources. You can find the playback location of your published Immersive Live, and sources of your viewers in the traffic source section of Vertical Live Feed.
Type
To reach the correct audience, choose your type of stream, like Gaming or People & Blogs.
Tags
Tags are descriptive keywords that you can add to your video to help viewers find your content. Tags can be useful if the content of your video is commonly misspelled. Otherwise, tags play a minimal role in your video's discovery.
Schedule
When you schedule your stream for later, it may show up in your subscribers feed as upcoming. Viewers can click “Set reminder” to get a notification when the stream is about to begin.
Monetization page
You can earn revenue on live streams by enabling ads and using Super Chat. Some channels have access to channel memberships. Learn more about monetizing your live stream.
Rights Management page
Manage rights on your live content, like where to monetize, turn on/off Content ID, and set ownership. Turn on/off Content ID and choose a rights policy. For example, you could choose a policy that shows advertisements to viewers in the United States but tracks viewers in the rest of the world. Learn more about rights management.
Live Redirect page
After your stream ends, you can send your audience to a Premiere or another live stream. Here are some tips:
- Set up your Premiere before setting up your live stream.
- Remember to tell your audience that when the live stream ends, wait for ~2 seconds for their screens to reload to the Premiere.
Comments and ratings
Choose if and how you want to show comments, such as holding comments for review and how to sort them.
Stream settings
Add a trailer to your live stream
Get your audience excited about your scheduled live stream by showing a trailer. Your trailer will play for viewers on the watch page before the live stream starts.
Trailers can be played on streams scheduled from the “Manage” tab in Live Control Room.
- Upload your trailer to your YouTube channel like you would with a regular upload.
- Go to YouTube Studio
Go Live. - Create a scheduled live stream or choose a scheduled stream from the “Manage” tab.
- From the top right, click Edit.
- Click Customize.
- Under “Trailer,” click Add.
- Choose your trailer video.
- Click Save.
Go Live.Eligibility
This feature is available to creators that have more than 1,000 subscribers and no Community Guideline strikes.
Requirements
- Video type: Use any YouTube supported video type.
- Video length: 15 seconds – 3 minutes.
- Aspect ratio and resolution: We recommend the same aspect ratio and resolution as the Premiering video.
- Audio and video rights: Make sure that the trailer does not infringe on other content.
Make sure there’s no content that will violate our Community Guidelines.
Stream key
Stream keys are like your YouTube stream’s password and address. They tell your encoder where to send your feed and let YouTube accept it. You’ll create a stream key in YouTube, and then enter it into your encoder.
To reuse the same stream key, create a custom stream key. Under “Select stream key,” click Create new stream key. Enter your preferred settings and click Create. Your stream key will show up in the stream key list.
Stream URL
Enter this URL into your encoder to tell it where to send your stream feed.
Stream latency
Stream latency is the delay between your encoder or camera capturing an event and the event being shown on your stream. Lower latency may mean more playback buffering. If you don’t interact with your audience, a lower latency isn’t as important. Learn more about stream latency.
Enable DVR
Enabling DVR lets viewers pause, rewind, and continue during your stream. Once a viewer resumes playing, the event will continue where they paused. Learn more about DVR on live streams.
360 video
You can stream in 360 degrees using Live Events. 360-degree videos help you provide an immersive viewing experience. YouTube only supports equirectangular projection for 360 videos at this time. Here are some tips:
- Choose the highest supported resolution and bitratethat you can stream.
- A resolution of 2160p or 1440p is preferred for live 360.
- Choose a 16:9 aspect ratio for the best video quality. Learn more about aspect ratios.
YouTube supports live streaming ingestion and playback of 360-degree videos on computers in Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge, and Opera browsers. 360-degree playback is also supported in the YouTube and YouTube Gaming apps.
Auto-start & auto-stop
When these settings are on, you can start or stop streaming from your encoder. Copying a stream by selecting “Reuse settings” will also copy your auto-start and auto-stop selections.
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