RTMP protocol from a camera to Isadora

[laurentR]

Hello,

I was reading about new DJI cam ( pocket an action) and their ability to stream live via wifi and RTMP protocol directly to YouTube and other social media. I know nothing about RTMP, but I was wondering if it could be possible to stream this signal to a local wifi router and get the signal into Isadora? ( I know the RTMP actor to stream from Isadora, but a way to receive it ?  ). That could be a nice and cheap way to manage a small stabilized cam on stage! Of course, the question of compression quality, delay and wifi signal stability could be another problem... 
If anybody has knowledge or experience about it, welcome!

[Woland]

@laurentr said:

I know nothing about RTMP, but I was wondering if it could be possible to stream this signal to a local wifi router and get the signal into Isadora?

Isadora cannot receive an RTMP stream directly, but that's not really a problem because the inherent latency that comes with RTMP streaming would make a camera like that unsuited for use as a live feed camera (unless you're fine with your live feed having a few seconds or even a full minute of latency). Granted I could be wrong, but I think that RTMP streaming is not often used to show something to an audience that is physically present in the same space as the camera because of this latency (whereas if your viewers are all over the world, the latency doesn't matter at all because they can't tell that what they're seeing is a few seconds behind what's happening in real life). 

In terms of wireless live feeds, the lowest-cost option that's serviceable is a smartphone, a dedicated video network, and the NDI HX app (I expect that there are also cameras capable of outputting to NDI on their own wirelessly, but I doubt that these are cheap [or if they are cheap, they're less to be of a usable quality]). The next tier up is a nice camera with an HDMI output and a reliable wireless HDMI system. The cheapest wireless HDMI systems are usually spotty with short ranges, the mid-tier ones are okay/useable with a decent range and reliability, and the pricey ones tend to be excellent in both range and reliability. That's where my personal experience ends, so I can't speak to any super-costly, crazy-awesome solutions for wireless live feeds, but I'm sure that they exist and that they're even better than what I've just mentioned. If we're lucky, there might be someone here on the forum who's fortunate enough to have been able to play with the fanciest toys and could give their insight.

Best wishes,

Woland

[DusX]

I have been wanting to test this camera for sometime.. the Logitech Mivo. It offers RTMP output but also NDI, so it may be a great wireless option for use with Isadora.

https://www.mevo.com/pages/mev...

[jfg]

An RTMP camera input in Isadora would also be very important for me. For video installation, where the delay does not play such a role as in the theatre, it would be very nice to have such an actor. Until now I used ardrone-ffmpeg but it doesn't work properly on M1 Mac with Monterey anymore.

best Jean-François 

[IP_Trinity_Laban]

@dusx We've got one of these (along with the Mevo Plus), and it works pretty well (and no need to go through the Livestream studio to get an NDI feed out like is the case for the Plus).

One thing to note though is that the Start is much less good in lower light than the Plus. The PoE adapter is useful too though.

[laurentR]

Thank you all for your answers. I am agree about NDI and phone solution, it is the most easy and reliable way when looking for a cheap solution and it is the one I am used to do most of the time ( sometimes adding a smartphone gimbal ). But in this specific case, i wanted to use DJI pocket because of its discretion, its great stabilisation and some accurate manual settings that are not existing on phones apps. 

The Mivo seems intersting too, but in my case not a convenient solution for the reasons I said before, and also the lack of integrate screen to preview easily what you're filming on stage.
I wish constructor implement more NDI than other protocol, but unfortunately, this does not seems to be the case right now, at least on low budget devices...

[liminal_andy]

RTMP is a lot easier to send than it is to receive. If such an actor were to be created, you would need to port forward the network at minimum, potentially set up a proxy. It's an old standard that is less efficient than competing solutions like SRT. It requires larger frame buffers and longer delays, which will be intense for the decoder to manage. If you want to use this camera and only have access to RTMP, I would suggest https://garaninapps.com/rtmpmi... which will set up the server and/or proxy for you and deliver NDI to Isadora. Best to use specialized software for this.

[IP_Trinity_Laban]

Just to add to the conversation, I wondered if anyone had any experience with the Kiloview N1/N2 Wireless NDI Encoder (N1=SDI, N2=HDMI) for when the NDI-HX app isn't necessarily suitable? 

We've had good success with full NDI wired encoders (Bird Dog Flex) for when wired signals can be sent (although, latency is comparable, even if a little higher than with the HX app).