Home>Live Streaming>Live Encoder / Encoder Settings> Does Lightcast require or recommend specific Live Encoders for the use with its CDN?
From the top right, click Go Live to open Live Control Room. Click the Stream tab. If this is your first live stream: Edit your stream and click Create stream. If you’ve live streamed before: Your. 1.1 Convert MXF to MP4. 1.2 Convert Music to MP4. 1.3 Convert MVI to MP4. Producer Go live from your computer An easy, yet powerful, live streaming encoder for Windows and Mac. Adobe Media Encoder for Mac provides different video export formats depending on the Adobe applications it is installed with. When installed with only Adobe Flash CS4, This product provides export formats for Adobe FLV, F4V and H.264 video. When installed with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Adobe After Effects, additional export formats are available. Your go-to macOS application for all media proces.
Recommend - yes. Require - no. You are free to use any live-encoder that works for you. That said: there are technical requirements your live-encoder has to meet. Those requirements are specified in detail in the Live Encoder Guide and Tutorials - linked in the Help Box of your Control Center as well as neatly organized in the Support Center.
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But we do recommend selected Live Encoders and partner with selected manufacturers.
Here are 3 recommendations:
1. Hardware Encoders
Lightcast’s recommendation are epiphan encoders, specifically Pearl and Pearl 2. If you are looking for a reliable, robust encoder which will not let you down when it counts - this is our recommendation. Starting at around $/€4500 the Pearl and Pearl 2 have the best price/value ratio in the market currently. A solid hardware encoder like the Pearl or Pearl 2 is the most robust and recommended solution. Read more about the epiphan Pearl in our Newsletter Issue about Live Encoders. Please inquire with [email protected] if you are interested in a professional hardware encoder and make sure to ask for our exclusive Client-Discounts on all epiphan encoders.
![Encoder Encoder](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126460071/983986701.jpg)
2. Software Encoders
Encoder For Live Streaming
Lightcast’s recommendation is Wirecast 7 or higher. It's easy to configure as it allows you to connect directly to your Lightcast account inside the software and automatically enters a lot of our recommended settings into the encoder for you. Make sure to get the latest version of Wirecast and run it on a dedicated machine - ideally a high-performance iMac with plenty of CPU power (latest gen quad cores and up) and Memory. Be careful with external A/V interfaces or capture devices. While blackmagic is certainly a good choice for an A/V interface, only use one if you have an expert on staff who knows the complexity and wide range of configurations of pro-grade A/V interfaces. Even the smallest oversight in the configuration of a high-end A/V interface or converter can kill your best software encoder setup and destroy your live-stream experience. If in doubt, use your PC's or Mac’s HDMI input, or a very simple SDI converter if needed. Using the latest gen Wirecast software encoder on a powerful and dedicated machine is our recommendation if you have someone on staff who is proficient in computer software, hardware, your network infrastructure and A/V interface between your A/V sources (cameras, audio mixer, video switcher) and your PC or Mac.
And here is how you can get Wirecast easily:
Many who start out with their first steps towards live-streaming often look for a “free encoder solution”, often because they don’t know if live-streaming is something they want to continue and it is often just for testing purposes. That is absolutely legitimate. While we would not recommend to keep on streaming with a free live encoder running on a PC or Mac long-term if you are serious about your live-streams and viewerships, downloading a free software is a quick and easy fix for testing and learning purposes. After many years of Adobe’s most favorite Flash Media Encoder, the world has turned its back on Flash and with it Adobe stopped development the software since 2010. If you still have AFME in use it is highly recommended to look for an alternative immediately as the number of devices which still support Flash is diminishing rapidly. We stick to our two recommendations above - epiphan Pearl and Wirecast - but if you really need a free encoder software, our recommendation would be OBS Studio (by Open Broadcaster Software). https://obsproject.com
Youtube Live Encoders For Mac
Please note that this is an open source software. Please don’t expect the same professional quality level, reliability and features as Wirecast, but you can run it on a dedicated PC or Mac and we recommend a high-performance CPU and plenty of Memory.
Other recommendations for Software Encoders are vMix and Wirecast.