How to set up a stream with people from multiple locations

How to set up a stream with multiple people connecting in remotely

Many streaming services and encoders offer a way to include multiple people in a stream from different locations, but please note that the below instructions apply to organisers using Quicket Hosted Streaming with OBS Studio as your encoder. 

Perhaps the most straightforward way is to use a free tool called OBS.Ninja, but it's not a bad idea to have backup, so we'll also go through using Skype with OBS. Just keep in mind that the Skype option may require some more downloads for you as well as configuring additional settings in Skype.

OBS.Ninja

Each person that's making an appearance in your stream will need to go to OBS.Ninja to get set up. Depending on how they are appearing in your stream, they'll need to click 'Add your Camera to OBS' or 'Remote Screenshare into OBS.'

For both options, they will be able to select their video and audio source (note that for remote screensharing, Chrome is the best option for your guest to use, as Firefox does not allow audio sharing alongside screen sharing).

When they've selected their options, they must click 'Press when ready' - they will see a URL appear at the top of the page, which they will need to send to you (or the person who is streaming / recording in OBS).

For your guests to appear in the stream, you'll then need to set up a Browser Source.



Enter the URL you were sent in the URL field, and you can configure some additional settings. Note that you will need to add a Browser Source for each guest that is remotely connecting into your stream, which means each guest will need to send you their own URL.



Once you click OK, you should see them appear in your Scene! As always, it's a good idea to practice doing this and to test out everyone's video and audio sources, as well as their internet connections, before going live. If you find you have an echo for each person who is connecting in, scroll down to our section in this article titled 'The Echo Problem,' or check out the instructional video (linked below) from the creator of OBS.Ninja.

You can find additional help and resources on the OBS.Ninja website. We suggest checking out the short instructional video the creator of OBS.Ninja provided as well.

OBS with Skype

You can find the original source for these instructions here which is a good resource to bookmark as it goes a bit more in depth.

For this option, in addition to OBS Studio, you'll need:
  1.  Skype for Desktop (the Skype app that comes built-in with Windows 10 will not work as it does not include NDI support)
  2. A plugin for OBS called obs-ndi (a note on this plugin: many factors could have contributed to this, but the Quicketeer writing this article had some trouble getting the plugin to work on a Windows 10 laptop but had no trouble at all on a Mac). 
NDI is a technology that allows you to handle each person in a call as a separate feed, and Skype is the only free application which supports NDI.

Set up Skype

In your Skype account, go to Settings (which you'll find in the top left side of your Skype for Desktop app), then select Calling then Advanced. Under Content Creators slide 'Allow NDI usage' to ON. 



Note that only the person streaming the call in OBS will need to allow NDI usage in their Skype account. If you are not the person streaming the call, do not turn this option on.

Set up OBS

Once you've got your Skype call running, you can open OBS Studio to add your new sources for the stream. If the obs-ndi plugin was installed correctly, when you click to add a Source, you should see the option 'NDI Source.'



Once you've selected this, you'll be able to configure some more options, the most important of which is the drop down 'Source name.'



The 'Source name' will pick up all the NDI sources detected from Skype. Each person who is on the call who you want to appear in the stream will need their own Source set up. E.g. if you are on a call with 2 other people and all 3 of you should appear in the stream, you'll need to set up 3 NDI sources.

Each NDI will be prefixed with your computer name followed by the Skype keyword. Typically these options will appear to select:
  1. Skype - (Local) is your local video feed. If you've initiated the Skype meeting from your computer, this is the source name you need to use for your audio and video.
  2. Skype - live, which will be followed by each speaker's Skype ID. If you have 2 other people on your Skype call, you should see each of them appear here. This is what you'll need to select for each person joining the call / stream (except yourself, where you'll use the Local option instead).
  3. Skype - Active Speaker always contains the feed of the speaker who is actively speaking. Unless you need a special configuration, you may not need to use this. The typical scenario, in fact, is to place each person included in the call in a specific area of the scene. However, it could be useful, for example, if you have a scene with a video or a screen sharing session and you want the NDI source to always display the person who is talking, since there isn't enough space to include everyone.
After configuring the source and clicking OK, if all goes well, you should see the new source in your scene. Do this for each person on your call. 

The Echo Problem

Because Skype injects into each NDI source not the just video but the whole audio feed, viewers to the stream will hear the call echo each time for the amount of people on the call. Not ideal! But there is a fix. You just need to make sure that OBS Studio outputs to the audio stream only one NDI source. All of the others can be turned off.

To do this, click Edit in OBS Studio, then select Advanced Audio Properties.



This will list all of the active audio sources in the scene. Track 1 is what is used by OBS Studio during streaming. Every audio source which has Track 1 ticked will be also streamed to your viewers. As such, it's enough to untick Track 1 for each source except one NDI source, to solve this problem. You can see an example in the screenshot above: all the Track 1 checkboxes are turned off, except for the one related to Liz, which is the NDI source connected to the local Skype feed and is the person streaming.

If you're planning to record your stream, keep Tracks 2 - 6 ticked for each NDI source, as this will allow OBS Studio to store each audio source in different tracks, giving you more flexibility if you're planning to do any post-processing of the video.


    • Related Articles

    • Streaming FAQ

      How do I get started streaming? First, it's best to decide which platform you want to use to stream your content. There are many options - YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and now Quicket. Platforms like YouTube and Vimeo are great if you'd like to have a ...

    • How to stream your event using Quicket Hosted Streaming

      There are many different options you can use to provide content and stream an event, such as YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook. But if you want to ensure your content stays between just you and your ticket buyers, you can use Quicket Hosted Streaming and ...

    • Your event streaming checklist

      Running an event online rather than in-person might make you feel slightly removed from your guests, but it is still an experience that they're investing time and money to attend, and you want them to come away feeling it was worth their while. Below ...

    • How to set up streaming for content on another platform

      If you'd like to keep your streaming and ticketing on one platform, you can use Quicket Hosted Streaming to stream directly to your ticket buyers. There may be a situation, however, where you need to use another service such as Zoom or YouTube (or ...

    • How do I access an online event stream?

      If you booked tickets to an event that uses Quicket's streaming platform, all you need is your unique 5-digit code to access the stream. There are several places you can find this if your booking was successful. You'll know that an event is using ...