These instructions walk you through how to host a livestream on ChefsFeed's platform (as opposed to elsewhere like YouTube or Zoom). The steps are the same whether you're on mobile or a laptop/desktop computer.
1. Create a new experience and select LIVESTREAM:
2. In the Livestream Platform section, choose ChefsFeed, which is the default option if you have the right permission enabled:
We automatically create the livestream URL when you publish the experience, which is shown and sent to guests who RSVP. Don't worry about updating guests if the link ends up changing later, for example if you change platforms—we send them a generic link that always redirects to the current livestream URL.
3. When it comes time to host the experience, following the LIVESTREAM STUDIO button in your hosting experiences dashboard. This link is also emailed to you when you publish the experience and the day before it starts.
If you don't go live within 15 minutes of the experience start time, we automatically end the event and it can't be recovered.
4. You're now in the livestream studio. You have to be signed in to your host account to access this page. Before going live it's critical you understand and abide by livestreaming best practices to ensure the event goes smoothly and your guests have a good experience:
- Ensure you're on a strong internet connection. Test here and ensure an upload speed of at least 10 mbps. The faster the better!
- An ethernet cable will provide a faster and more reliable internet connection than Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi is generally faster than using cellular data. If you use cellular data, ensure you have enough high-speed data for the entire experience.
- Ensure your device(s) are plugged into power or have more than enough battery for the experience.
- Restart your device if you haven't done so recently.
- Close other applications and tabs (if streaming from a browser). Streaming can consume a lot of CPU and you don't want to compete with anything else.
- Ensure you're running up-to-date versions of all relevant software, including your operating system, browser, and/or encoder.
- If you use a VPN, turn it off.
- Use Chrome or Safari (if streaming from a browser).
- If streaming from an encoder, be sure your settings abide by the limitations and best practices of our streaming technology partner, Brightcove.
- Do a test stream ahead of time to check video and audio quality so you can make adjustments.
Note the chat is always open for you and it opens about 10 minutes before the experience start time for guests.
If you want to stream right from your browser, follow these instructions.
If you want to stream from an encoder, follow these instructions.