Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms in the world with over 1.6 billion members. Facebook Live is the platform's flagship product to stream live video to members' timelines, pages, and groups. Read below the instructions to stream to Facebook.
Live Stream Setup
Login Mode
Create a new channel or use an existing one. Create a new destination.
To use our integration with Facebook select "Login to Facebook". To use the manual connection mode skip the instructions to step 5 below.
Facebook will ask for your credentials and based on your profile give you access to a timeline, pages, and groups. Drop down and select where you want the video to stream on Facebook. Read about publishing to Facebook timelines/pages/groups.
Enable a video source. Push the "Go Live" green icon, wait till you see the video in the preview player, and last, start sending the video to your Facebook destination by clicking on the green play button. The button will change to a red square and the video will show on your Facebook timeline/page/group based on the selection made before.
Manual Mode
To connect to Facebook manually complete steps 1-2 as explained before. This method is recommended when you want to have more control over the post and the video inserted into your Facebook page or group. Open a separate browser tab and log in to Facebook. From the page or group, you want to post the live stream, find the "Create Live" icon and click on it.
This will open Facebook Studio (see image below).
In Facebook Studio, take the following steps labeled 1 to 5 above -
Create a (1) instant stream by clicking on the "Go Live Now", or schedule a delayed post with embedded video. You can also manage here upcoming live events.
Select the (2) "Use a stream key" icon to connect Videolinq to Facebook.
Select a (3) "persistent key" to avoid the need to regenerate new stream keys every time you connect to Facebook.
Copy the (4) RTMP path and stream key to your Videolinq Facebook destination profile and save.
If you are adding closed captioning to the live stream via Videolinq, disable the Facebook automated closed captioning service by selecting Settings/Viewer/Turn on auto-generated captions.
Repeat the steps listed above for the Login Mode: enable a video source. Push the "Go Live" green icon, wait till you see the video in the preview player, and last, start sending the video to your Facebook destination by clicking on the green play button. The button will change to a red square and the video will show on your Facebook timeline/page/group based on the selection made.
Features and Limitations
Few things to remember when live streaming to Facebook:
Facebook disconnects poor streams with low bandwidth or not enough frames. Confirm you are sending the proper video with at least 720p resolution, 2 MBps video, and 15 frames per second.
Streaming from a mobile device is limited to 4-hours. Streaming from the Videolinq console on a computer is limited to 8 hours.
When using the Videolinq integration (Login to Facebook option), not all features are available for your stream. We recommend using the manual connection mode for access to advanced features.
Access to certain pages and groups on Facebook depends on the User credentials and permissions.
Tips & Tricks
When using the direct login method to configure live streams, not all social media platforms allow reconnecting a video source (Videolinq). Some platforms will issue a new stream key, meaning a new "page" (hyperlink) is created.
Twitter and Twitch support reusable stream keys.
Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn generate a new stream key if the video source stops.
For best practice, when creating a social media link used to invite viewers, create the Videolinq destination in manual mode, and not the direct login option. This adds the option to re-use the same stream key when the video source disconnects, for up to 90 seconds. This can be voided on Facebook which allows during manual setup to select a "persistent" stream key.
If you have difficulties connecting to Facebook or have questions about this article - contact our team by opening a support ticket.