Configure Receiving Zixi Broadcaster to Output NDI Stream

Owned by alon.men@zixi.com
21 Apr 2021
4 min read

Now that we have a Zixi Broadcaster ingesting NDI and delivering a compressed Zixi stream, as described in the previous section, we can now set up another Broadcaster at another location to ingest the Zixi stream, decode it, and publish it to the network as an NDI stream.

The Broadcaster can also ingest any other supported input type such as HLS, RIST, SRT, or others, and publish that as NDI to the network.

For this tutorial we are using the Zixi protocol to transport NDI content from a Broadcaster in one location to a Broadcaster in another location so we will be ingesting a Zixi protocol stream, via a Pull request.

Step 1 – Log in to Receiving Zixi Broadcaster

First, you need to log in to the Zixi Broadcaster that you will use to receive the stream.

When the Broadcaster is first installed, the default user name is 'admin' and the default password is ‘1234’.

To log in to Zixi Broadcaster:

  1. In your web browser, navigate to http://localhost:4444.
    A user authentication window opens.

  2. In the User Name field, enter your user name.

  3. In the Password field, enter your password.

  4. Click OK.
    The Broadcaster UI opens on the Status page.     

Step 2 - Create a New Transcoding Profile

Create a transcoding profile that will be used to convert the Zixi stream to Raw video that can be used for an NDI output.

To create a new Transcoding Profile:

  1. In the main navigation, click Transcoder.

  2. Click + New Profile.


    The Add New Profile window is displayed.

  3. In the Codec Type field, select Raw Video.

  4. In the Profile Configuration section, in the resolution field, enter 1920 x 1080.

  5. Fill in additional parameters as necessary, for more information about configuring  Transcoding Profiles, see Creating New Transcoding Profiles.

  6. Click Apply.

Step 3 - Create a New Audio Encoding Profile

Create an audio encoding profile that will be used to convert the Zixi stream to Raw audio that can be used for an NDI output.

To create a new Audio Encoding Profile:

  1. In the main navigation, click Transcoder.

  2. Click + New Profile.


    The Add New Profile window is displayed.

  3. In the Codec type field, select Raw Audio.

  4. In the Profile configuration section, in the Sampling Rate field, select Copy from source from the drop-down list.

  5. Click Apply.

Step 4 - Create a New Zixi Pull Input

Create a Zixi Pull Input to bring the stream from the sending Broadcaster to the receiving Broadcaster.

To create a Zixi Pull Input:

  1. In the main navigation, click Inputs.

  2. Click + New Input.
    The Add new input stream window is displayed.

     

  3. In the Stream ID field, enter a unique identifier for this stream in the receiving Broadcaster, e.g. ReceivedNDIInput.

  4. Select the Pull radio button for the stream type.

  5. In the Stream Parameters section, in the Host field, enter the hostname or IP address of the sending Broadcaster (from which the stream is being pulled).

  6. In the Stream field, enter the precise stream ID (case sensitive) that you assigned to this stream on the sending Broadcaster in the previous section, e.g. NDI_Input.

  7. Fill in additional parameters as necessary, for more information about configuring pull inputs, see Adding Pull Steams.

  8. Click Ok.

Step 5 - Create a New NDI Transcoded Output

Create an NDI Transcoded Output to publish the stream as NDI.

To create an NDI Transcoded Output:

  1. In the main navigation, select Inputs.

  2. Click on the Settings icon to the right of the Input you created in step 4 above.

  3. Select Transcode from the drop-down list.
    The Edit input stream window is displayed.

  4. In the Stream ID field, enter a unique name to identify this Output on your Zixi Broadcaster, e.g. NDI_Output.

  5. In the Video Profile field, select from the drop-down list the raw video profile you created in Step 2 above.

  6. In the Audio Profile field, select from the drop-down list the raw audio profile you created in Step 3 above.

  7. In the Output Type field, select NDI from the drop-down list.

  8. Fill in additional parameters as necessary. For more information about configuring NDI Outputs, see Creating an NDI Output.

  9. Click Ok.
    The NDI stream will be published on the network.

Step 6 - Monitor the Stream

You can monitor the stream using the NewTek Studio Monitor program included in the tools package from NewTek. This program can be used to verify that the Zixi Broadcaster is successfully publishing the NDI stream on the network.