How to setup live streaming direct to YouTube with the Sony PXW-Z90 Camera.
Here is a step by step basic guide on how to setup live streaming using RTMP protocol direct to YouTube there are similar steps for other online apps such as Facebook and Vimeo.
Firstly, check the firmware you have installed on your
PXW-Z90 camera
, to do this you need to follow these menu steps
MENU > OTHERS > VERSION DISPLAY
.
For RTMP/RTMPS streaming functionality on the PXW-Z90 camera you need to have downloaded the V2.00 Firmware which is available for FREE from the Sony Website - When doing this we found the process to be much more stable on a PC rather than a MAC computer.
https://pro.sony/en_AU/product-resources/software-firmware/firmware-pxw-z90-v2-00
Ok now to set up your live streaming
You need to start with setting up YouTube
Go to your YouTube Studio account, now if you have never streamed live from your YouTube account before you will not be able to stream for the first 24 hours of requesting to do so - so head into the “Go LIVE” setup the day before you need to stream anything.
CREATE > GO LIVE > NEW STREAM
The only details that are mandatory that you need to enter in here is the title and category of your content and whether the content is made for kids
Click CREATE STREAM
When the Manage Stream screen comes up you need to take note of both STREAM KEY and the STREAM URL as these are details you will need to enter into the camera so it can connect with YouTube. The STREAM KEY is hidden so it’s a good idea to copy this and the URL into Notepad or Word Doc on your computer for easy and quick reference.
Now to connect up your PXW-Z90
First, you need to connect the camera to a WIFI network - you do this by heading to the NETWORK SET section on the MENU
MENU > NETWORK SET > Wi-Fi SET > ACCESS POINT SET
Wifi networks that are discoverable will show in the list, if your network doesn’t show in the list or is not discoverable you will need to select MANUAL SETTING and know whether you are using a WEP or WPA network when entering the name and password for the WiFi network.
Once the camera is connected to a WiFi network a tick is visible on the menu to show which network you are connected to and indicators show the strength of the signal the camera is picking up.
So you’re on WiFi - what's next?
You need to connect the camera to YouTube via RTMP. You can also connect to Facebook and other streaming software and you can use each of the presets to save different settings for each type of app you would want to connect to. So, go to the NETWORK SET section of the menu to do this
MENU > NETWORK SET > RTMP/RTMPS
If this is the first time you have tried RTMP streaming from your PXWZ90 this then you need to put the YouTube settings into one of the Presets - there are three available so you may want to set one up for YouTube at 720p or another at 360p which are the two resolutions you can use to stream on the PXW-Z90 or maybe a different streaming channel like Vimeo or Facebook.
So lets setup YouTube at 720p on PRESET 1, to do this simply scroll down to
PRESET 1 and select
DISPLAY NAME
Here you can set a display name for your Preset. You may want to change to YouTube 720p for easy reference at another time.
SIZE
This gives you the option to select between 720p and 360p streaming resolution
.
DESTINATION SET
This is where we need to enter the information of the STREAM KEY and the STREAM URL that we were given on the YouTube Stream Settings earlier.
.
So first enter the URL you enter the rtmp:// address, this is quite laborious using the typing function of the Sony camera - but note you can either use the joystick toggle to enter or the touchscreen which you may find easier. Use the bar at the top to select between alpha, numeric and special characters screens for entering the URL address. Once entered click the large OK button in the bottom left.
Next, the Stream Name is where you enter the STREAM KEY from YouTube, this displays as an asterisk shortly after you enter a letter, this makes it hard to know where you are up to. Unless you are really speedy at this you can push the
DISPLAY
button on the side of the camera and it will keep the STREAM KEY viewable whilst you enter it and once you finished and pressed OK it will change back to the asterisk view.
Once you enter these details press OK and return to the RTMP/RTMPS menu, scroll up to
PRESET SELECT
and
choose PRESET 1
where you have just configured the previous steps.
If this is all done correctly you are pretty close to streaming now, but before we get to that if you find that your
EXECUTE menu selection is greyed out or faded
and unselectable and nothing is happen - you will need to change the
REC SET
in your MENU.
Make sure that your FILE FORMAT is HD or lower to be able to EXECUTE the RTMP streaming function of the PXW-Z90.
Changing your FILE FORMAT for Streaming on the PXWZ90
To change your FILE FORMAT to a format that will allow you to stream follow these steps in the MENU
MENU > REC/OUT SET > REC SET
Go to
FILE FORMAT
and select either
XAVC HD
or
AVCHD
in the menu options.
This will update the REC FORMAT and when you return to the RTMP/RTMPS streaming menu EXECUTE will now be highlighted white ready to go ahead for streaming.
So you have the camera, connected to the WiFi network, you have entered the YouTube details into the Destination set - you are ready to EXECUTE!
Starting the Stream to YouTube
Once you have pressed
EXECUTE
it will ask you which network you are streaming from, in this setup we have followed you would
select Wi-Fi
You then are ready to connect your camera stream to your YouTube preview screen. To stop and start the connection between the camera and YouTube you simply
press the THUMBNAIL button on the camera
.
You should now see a preview of your camera in your Stream Management of YouTube.
To start streaming your content hit the GO LIVE button at the top right corner of the screen!
And you are now live streaming to YouTube with the Sony PXWZ90 Camera!
Other tips and tricks
For Ethernet connection or Wired LAN you will require separate accessories from Sony (VMC-UAM2, CBK-NA1) to connect the USB port from the camera to an ethernet cable.
RTMP/RTMPS providers: Both YouTube and Facebook have checkboxes for reusing the "Stream Name". Unless you really enjoy entering the "Stream Name" every time you want to stream, you will want these to be checked.
Note that using this method you can only go to one site at a time. If you want to be tricky, you can create an RTMP stream to go to apps such as
restream.io
, and then you can go to multiple apps at once!
