Get Started with Resi (Hardware Encoder to Web)

Updated March 08, 2023 19:24

This guide will walk you through getting started with your Resi hardware, getting your account set up, broadcasting, and understanding your viewership. If you’re unable to complete your setup, please contact our technical support team.

After you purchase hardware and select your subscription plan, you’ll receive two emails. The first will confirm the details of your purchase. The second email will notify you that your hardware has shipped and will provide some links and information to help you get started.

1. Accessing Studio
- Once you've completed the sales process, you’ll receive two emails:
  - An email from either Studio or Resi's support team, prompting you to log in and access your account for the first time.
  - A welcome email from our support team with information and links to get you started using Studio.
  If you don’t receive the user invite email, first check your spam folder to confirm future correspondence won’t be filtered there. If you didn’t receive it all, contact our technical support team.
  
  Here are three helpful links that can assist on your Studio journey:
  - For helpful documentation and videos on getting started with Resi, visit the Resi Help Center.
  - Connect, learn, and share tips and tricks with other Resi users by joining the Resi User Group on Facebook.
  - Schedule a Group Onboarding Training Call. A member of the Resi success team will walk you through Studio from your initial configuration all the way through to broadcasting your events to physical locations. You are welcome to ask questions during the live session to ensure you are confident using our streaming platform by the conclusion of the call.
2. Confirm your account settings

First, log into Studio from the user invite email you received.

In some cases, the first time you log into Studio, it will automatically determine your data center. This configures your account to the closest data center for peak performance. Once this process is complete, click Continue to Studio to access your account.

We recommend familiarizing yourself with your Studio Settings and making sure they’re configured correctly:
1. Check your Web Settings
- Web Presets - Web presets define video and audio channel settings used for transcoding content from your encoder to a web destination. Make sure the audio and video channels match your intended usage. By default, Resi uses a preset with video channel 1 and audio channels 1 and 2. Learn more
- Web Channels - Web channels temporarily store your web videos until they expire and provide embed options. Create as many web channels as you need to store content. Learn more
1. Check your Encoder Settings
- Encoder Presets - Encoder presets contain input and output settings your hardware encoder will use to capture, store, and send content to the cloud. Make sure your input signal matches the output signal from your camera/switcher. Learn more
- Encoder Channels - Encoder channels are folders in the cloud where the original captured format of video content is stored.
1. Check your Organization Details - Find your active subscriptions and settings here, as well as manage your billing information. Learn more
1. Check your Account Details - In the Account Details section, you can manage your login information and edit anything except for the email associated with your account. Make sure the details are correct.
1. Check your Users & Permissions - In the Users & Permissions section, you’ll see your team and their details. Make sure the information is configured correctly and/or invite other team members. Learn more
3. Schedule an onboarding call

In our onboarding training calls, the Resi success team provides a structured walkthrough of Studio, from setting up your account through your first broadcast. Sign up for an onboarding session here.

We strongly recommend attending an onboarding session because you’ll be able to ask any questions you have and our success team can make sure you’re set to go once the session is concluded. All team members that are using Resi are welcome to attend.

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To get the most out of the onboarding session, we recommend you connect and test your hardware beforehand so you can follow along through the session. Your Resi hardware will come with setup instructions. You can also find them here: Encoders | Decoders. You will also need to know how to configure your network in order to reliably stream to the web.

Connect your encoder to your equipment

Your hardware setup may be different than others depending on what you’d like to accomplish. The simplest path is to directly connect your camera to your encoder with an SDI cable. Organizations have also had success with audio SDI embedders, switchers, and other accessories. Generally, to power up an encoder and set your signal up:
1. Connect your cables. Make sure the power cable, ethernet cable, and SDI cable are connected securely. If you prefer, you can use HDMI cables with server-grade encoders.
2. Turn on all equipment in line from the camera to the encoder.
3. Turn on the encoder when everything’s connected. The power switch will be on the back. You should see the blue light power on and the lights blinking by the network cable.
Learn more about setting up an encoder.
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Once you have set up your account and hardware, run tests to make sure your encoder is receiving a signal, and that your audio and video signals are coming through correctly.

Test if your encoder is receiving a signal

To test and make sure the audio and video are being captured, you’ll need to start your encoder to see what it’s capturing. You can start your encoder from the Dashboard. Click Start next to the encoder you want to use.
1. In the modal that appears, configure your encoder broadcast.
2. Click Start Encoder. The encoder will have a green ‘started’ tag when it’s capturing data.
3. Navigate to the Encoder Videos tab. The live encoder video will appear as the most recent encoder video.
4. Click the video to start playing it. Check and make sure your video and audio are coming through correctly.
If you see color bars, make sure the output format from your camera matches the input format in the encoder preset you’re using. Learn more

If you’re experiencing other issues with receiving a signal, we recommend disconnecting your signal path piece by piece then reconnecting it piece by piece and checking for a signal at each step. By doing that, you’ll see which part of your signal path is causing the issue. Learn more

Our support team is unable to troubleshoot the path your signal takes from the camera to your encoder. However, we do have troubleshooting resources in our Help Center.

Once you’ve tested and confirmed your hardware is working properly and receiving signals, you’re ready to set up destinations to live stream to. If you’re planning to stream to another physical location with a Multisite plan and Resi decoder only, you’re ready to broadcast.

Before moving into setting up destinations and broadcasting, we recommend attending an onboarding session if you haven’t yet. Our success team will provide a great overview of how Studio functions and guide you through setting up your presets, channels, notifications, and creating schedules. You will have the opportunity to ask questions to ensure you are confident going into your first stream with Resi. Schedule an onboarding training call here.

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You can broadcast to the web (websites, hosting platforms, mobile apps), YouTube, or Facebook with Resi.

Available destinations vary based on your subscription. To see a breakdown of your current plan, see your Organization Details page.

1. Set up web streaming

To stream to the web, you’ll embed the player into your hosting platform (website, Church Online Platform, etc.) and/or use Stream URLs to stream through an OTT app, depending on the plan you have with Resi.

You will need a web channel to stream to the web or social media. You created this in the Account Setup step, but it’s a good idea to double-check to ensure you’re ready to move forward.

Web presets define video and audio channel settings used for transcoding content from an encoder video to a web video. By default, you will initially have one web preset and it won’t be listed in the Web Presets page. It will be named “Default web preset” and pull from video channel 1 and audio channels 1 and 2.

Having additional web presets is helpful if you want to use more than two audio channels. For example, if you want to have a translation of your event you can pull from different audio channels but still use the same video. Learn more
1. To create a new web preset, head over to the Web Presets page and click +Add Web Preset.
2. Configure the video/audio channels for your new web preset and give it a name.
3. Click Add and your new web preset will be available to use.
Learn more about setting up web presets.

Web channels store your web videos until they expire and provide embed options to display the most recent broadcast associated with the channel.

You can create as many web channels as you need. It can also be helpful to have multiple web channels because the embedded player for a channel only displays the most recently streamed content item in that channel. If you want to keep an event available on-demand for viewers, you can use an additional web channel to capture other content without overriding that event. We have additional web licenses available if you’d like to stream to multiple destinations concurrently. Contact your Customer Success Manager if you need an additional web license(s). To store content indefinitely, save it to the Library (requires a Content Library subscription).
1. To create a new web channel, navigate to the Web Channels page and click + Add Web Channel in the upper right corner of the page.
2. Configure the details of your new web channel. Give the web channel a name, select how long you want content to be stored, configure the stream delay if necessary, then any additional options you want for the web channel.
3. Click Add. Your new web channel will be available for use to store your web videos and provide embed options.
Learn more about creating web channels.

If you want your embedded player to always display the most recent content, use the web channel embed code. If you want the embedded player to display a specific event until it expires, use the embed code from that event’s details page.

2. Connect social media destinations

You can broadcast to both YouTube and Facebook with Resi. First, you’ll need to link your social media accounts to your Resi account. We recommend giving Resi the highest permissions possible for both YouTube and Facebook to avoid any partnership errors that may affect broadcasting.

To connect your Resi account to YouTube or Facebook,
1. Navigate to Settings > Social Media.
2. Click the + Link Account button in the top-right.
3. Select the social media platform you want to link and grant access.
4. Enter your credentials and follow the instructions provided by the sign-in utility and follow the steps they provide to link your account.
5. When you click Save, the account will show up in your social media destinations.
If it’s your first time streaming to a YouTube account, YouTube will place a 24-hour hold before you can stream. We recommend connecting your Resi account to your YouTube account well ahead of your event date.

Facebook’s access token lasts three months, after which, you can renew it simply by selecting the “renew access” button within Studio. Learn more

For step-by-step guides to linking and broadcasting to YouTube and Facebook, see:
- How to Stream to YouTube
- How to Stream to Facebook
3. Test your broadcast

Once you’ve set up your web channels and social media accounts, you’re ready to test a broadcast to make sure it works the way you need it to before going live to your viewers. To test your end-to-end configuration, start a test broadcast by manually creating a web video from an encoder video.
1. 1. Navigate to Media > Encoder Videos.
  2. Hover over an encoder video and click the actions icon > Start a Web Video.
  3. Configure your web event on the next page.
  4. Choose the playout behavior for the web player. Learn more
  5. Click + Add Social Destination to select YouTube and/or Facebook. You’ll need to add them one at a time.
  6. Once you click Start, the web video will start and show up as the most recent web video in your web videos tab.
  7. Click the video and check to make sure the audio/video plays back properly.
    
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Now that you’ve connected, configured, and tested your setup, you’re ready to broadcast. Just as when you tested your setup, you can schedule or manually start a stream. Manually starting an event allows you to begin broadcasting immediately.

With Resi’s scheduling feature, you can create your events ahead of time and repeat them as often as you would like. The encoder will start at the time you choose and your web/social media broadcasts will begin at the time you choose. Please note, Resi operates with a 90 second buffer to provide your viewers with the best experience possible. This means your events will experience a 90 second delay before broadcasting.

Schedule a live event
1. To schedule a live event, navigate to the Schedule.
2. Add an event by clicking the + Add Event button in the top right or hovering over the date and clicking Add Event.
3. Fill out the event’s details in the next page and select your destinations by clicking the + Add Destination button. You can broadcast to:
You’ll need to configure each destination individually. Once you do, the destinations your scheduled event will broadcast to will be listed under Content Destinations.

Click Save to schedule the event. It will now appear on the schedule and broadcast at the date/time you’ve selected.

For a step-by-step guide to scheduling an event, see Schedule an Event.

Manually start an event

If you’re manually starting a live event, make sure to start your encoder first, which will create an encoder video to start a web video from. You can start your encoder from either the Dashboard or your Encoders page.
1. Click Start next to the encoder you want to use.
2. In the modal that appears, configure your encoder event.
3. Click Start Encoder. The encoder will have a green ‘started’ tag when it’s capturing data.
4. The live encoder video will be the most recent encoder video in the Encoder Videos tab.
5. Hover over the encoder video you want to create a web video from and click the actions icon > Start a Web Video.
1. Configure your web event on the next page.
2. Choose the playout behavior for the web player. Learn more
3. If you want to broadcast to social media, click + Add Social Destination to select YouTube and/or Facebook. You’ll need to add them one-by-one.
4. Once you click Start, the web video will start and show up as the most recent web video in your web videos tab.
For more details, see Manually Start or Stop a Web Video.

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Once you’ve sent content to your encoder, it will appear in your media until it expires.

Media is where you’ll manage all of your content. It consists of five sections:
- Library. After your event is finished, you can save any web video to your library tab indefinitely if you’ve subscribed to Resi’s Content Library. Each video will have its own embed code and stream URLs, so you’ll be able to create an archive and playback the content wherever and whenever you’d like. From this tab, you can:
- Web Videos. After your event has finished, videos you’ve broadcasted to destinations (web, social media) will appear here until they expire. You can either watch or use web videos for on-demand events or to schedule for the next replay event. From this tab, you can:
- Encoder Videos. Any videos captured by your encoder will appear here until they expire. You can use encoder videos to start a web video or playback at a physical location on a decoder if using Resi’s multisite platform. From this tab, you can:
- Playlists. Playlists give you more control over how you present your content to your audience. You can display library videos to your audience in a format that is sequential or grouped by topic. Learn more
- Recently Uploaded. This shows which videos you’ve uploaded recently, when they were uploaded, and their status.
Learn more about managing your Media.

Upload a video

In the Media section, you can also upload a video to use for a live or on-demand event as an encoder/web video, or library video.
1. Navigate to Media.
2. Click + Upload Video in the top-right.
3. Choose whether this will be a library video or an encoder/web video.
1. Click Select Video File.
2. If the video meets the file requirements, you’ll see a green checkmark. Click Continue.
3. Fill in the details for your video.
4. Click Start Upload.
If your video doesn’t fit within Studio’s file requirements, we recommend using a video converter to do so. We’ve seen organizations have success with Handbrake, a free video conversion tool.

Learn more about uploading videos in Studio.

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A replay event re-broadcasts the most recent content in a web channel to your viewers. When they watch it, they’ll experience it as if it were live. For example, if you broadcast a service on Sunday and you want to replay it Monday for those who may have missed it, you can schedule a replay event using the web channel which has that content. It will then re-broadcast at that time.

The video in a web channel that will be used in a replay event is designated by a replay tag. Use the scheduler as you would to schedule out a live event except this time you’ll use Replay as the content source.
1. Navigate to Schedule.
2. Click + Add Event in the top-right.
3. Fill out the event details.
4. Select Replay as the content source.
5. Add web and/or social media destinations by clicking the + Add Destination button.
6. Configure destinations one at a time, including the web channel you want to replay the most recent content from.
7. Click Save.
8. Your replay event will now appear on the schedule and broadcast at that time.
Learn more about scheduling a replay event.

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After you’ve gone live, you can see details about who watched your broadcast from the Analytics page.

Currently, Resi only provides analytics for the embed player and Stream URLs.

View your audience statistics
1. Navigate to the Analytics page.
2. Select Event Analytics to see broadcast performance or Library Analytics to see library video performance.
3. Choose a date range from the dropdown menu or calendar on the right. Make sure your selected date range covers the event(s) you want to learn about.
1. Select the destination you want to see data from:
1. Customize your view to get the information you need. Learn more
2. Your audience is broken into eight metrics to analyze viewership data. This is how you’ll see your viewers, views, time watched, and more.
1. Below the event metrics, the viewer breakdown section provides information about how and where your content is viewed. Change this by clicking the Viewer breakdown by drop-down menu and selecting an option.
The heat map

At the bottom of the Analytics page is a heat map. It’s a visual representation of where your content is being streamed around the world. Markers point out specific cities where your events are viewed and a Heat Map that shows you the "hottest" regions that are consuming your content. Expanding the map will give you a more broad "heat" distribution and zooming in will narrow it. You can choose whether either the markers or heat distribution are visible by selecting or deselecting them at the top of the map.

Learn more about event analytics.
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