Test Multicast and Unicast source with FFMPEG

The basic format of an FFmpeg command is: ffmpeg [input arguments] -i [input url] [output arguments] [output url]

The input will be up to you based on whatever video sources you have available. For the output, all you need to do is make sure you're telling ffmpeg to output as MPEG-TS over UDP multicast or unicast.

Windows

An example command looks like this:

ffmpeg -f dshow -i video="My Webcam" -f mpegts udp://239.5.5.5:5555?pkt_size=188

To determine the available a/v devices on windows, use this command:

ffmpeg -list_devices true -f dshow -i dummy

On an ASUS laptop, this command worked best:

ffmpeg -f dshow -rtbufsize 16M -i video="ASUS USB2.0 Webcam":audio="Microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio)" -video_size 640x480 -r 25 -threads 4 -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -profile:v baseline -level:v 3.2 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -ar 44100 -f mpegts "udp://239.5.5.5:5555"

Lenovo with external MS LifeCam example using alternate video source name:

./bin/ffmpeg -f dshow -rtbufsize 16M -video_size 352x288 -i video="@device_pnp_\\?\usb#vid_045e&pid_075d&mi_00#7&efedfc8&0&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global":audio="Microphone (Lenovo USB Audio)" -s 352x288 -r 25 -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -profile:v baseline -level:v 3.2 -preset ultrafast -tune zerolatency -b:v 420k -c:a aac -b:a 64k -ar 44100 -f mpegts "udp://239.5.5.5:5555"

The above output shows video bitrate forced to 420k, camera source capture matching the codec sizing, and codec presets

MacOS

Publish audio (aac 44100 stereo) and video (h264 profile baseline 3.2) over multicast:

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -video_size 640x480 -framerate 25 -i “0:0” -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -profile:v baseline -level:v 3.2 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -ar 44100 -f mpegts “udp://239.1.1.1:1234?pkt_size=188"

Linux

Publish a video-only stream over multicast:

ffmpeg -f video4linux2 -framerate 24 -i /dev/video0 -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -c:v libx264 -x264-params keyint=120:scenecut=0 -f mpegts udp://239.5.5.5:5555

Publish audio (aac 44100 stereo) and video (h264 profile baseline 3.2) over multicast:

ffmpeg -f pulse -i default -f video4linux2 -thread_queue_size 64 -framerate 25 -video_size 640x480 -i /dev/video0 -pix_fmt yuv420p -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -profile:v baseline -level:v 3.2 -c:v libx264 -x264-params keyint=120:scenecut=0 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -ar 44100 -f mpegts udp://239.5.5.5:5555

video size and thread queue size are adjusted to allow better streaming with live in ffmpeg

Verifying the stream by subscribing to it: ffplay -i udp://239.5.5.5:5555

File source

Publishing a stream over multicast from a media source file:

ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -i [media file] -c:v h264 -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -profile:v baseline -c:a aac -b:a 128k -ar 44100 -f mpegts udp://239.5.5.5:5555?pkt_size=188

Unicast Testing with File Source

The test box has two NICs installed on a 10.0.0.x network, with the primary server binding on 10.0.0.5.

The first test is on the primary interface 10.0.0.5, with the first step of creating the TS endpoint for consuming / listening:

http://localhost:5080/tsingest/mpegts?action=create&contextpath=live&streamname=mystream2&cast=unicast&ip=10.0.0.5&port=5678

Upon success message in the browser, start streaming with FFmpeg:

ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -i sample.ts -c:v copy -c:a copy -f mpegts udp://10.0.0.5:5678?pkt_size=188

The second test is on the secondary interface 10.0.0.19, with the first step of creating the TS endpoint for consuming / listening:

http://localhost:5080/tsingest/mpegts?action=create&contextpath=live&streamname=mystream1&cast=unicast&ip=10.0.0.19&port=1234

Upon success message in the browser, start streaming with FFmpeg:

ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -i sample.ts -c:v copy -c:a copy -f mpegts udp://10.0.0.19:1234?pkt_size=188

Lastly is the binding on the any address 0.0.0.0:

http://localhost:5080/tsingest/mpegts?action=create&contextpath=live&streamname=any&cast=unicast&ip=0.0.0.0&port=1111

Upon success message in the browser, start streaming with ffmpeg on a local IP to the box paying close attention that the ports match:

ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -i sample.ts -c:v copy -c:a copy -f mpegts udp://10.0.0.5:1111?pkt_size=188