How to Live Stream with Pre-Recorded Video
In this tutorial, we’ll look at how to live stream with pre-recorded video as a part of your broadcast.
Pre-recorded live streams are excellent for people who get nervous in front of a live audience or when you have hours-long live streams and need to give your speakers some rest in between.
1. Wirecast
Here’s how you can add pre-recorded video(s) to your live stream in Wirecast
- Go to the “+” icon
- Click on “shots” and “new playlist shot”
By default, a video in Wirecast will play as soon as it goes live and will remember your position if you switch to a different source. The video will also continue playing until it finishes.
2. Xsplit
To add a video source in Xsplit, click on:
- “Add Source”
- Then “General widgets”
- Then “Video playlist”
- Now click on the “Add” button at the bottom.
- Then choose the video file(s) you want to add
You’ll need to have a “video playlist” plugin installed for that. Here’s a guide on how to do that.
By default, a video in Xsplit will play when the scene loads and will remember your playback position. You can change this in the video options.
3. vMix
To add a video as a source in vMix, click:
- “Add Input” in the bottom left corner
- Then “Video,” which is at the top left corner of the screen that pops up
- Select the video you want to use from your local storage.
To change these settings, go to the video source in the bottom left, and click on the ‘Cogs’ icon to open up the settings. In this menu, you can stop a video from playing as soon as it goes live, and you can also tell vMix not to remember your position in the video.
4. Restream Studio
- Log into your account
- Click on “enter live studio”
- Click on the “+” sign, which is located in the lower middle portion of your screen
- Click on “Add to the stream”
- Select “local video”
- Browse to the file where your video is and click on it.
Now, the video will appear on the left-hand side of your screen. You can play it live by clicking on the toggle button. Feel free to adjust the layout using the options next to the “+” sign underneath your live broadcast window.
5. Prism Live Studio
- Log into your account
- Go to “My Studio”
- You’ll see an option to add “media” to your studio. Click on that and add a video from your local storage.
- Your video will become a part of “My Studio Assets,” and you can play them during your live stream
You can edit your video in “Studio Mode,” but only after logging in from a desktop device.
6. Splitcam
This is a live-streaming software that offers the feature to live-stream pre-recorded videos.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Open the Splitcam dashboard on your computer
- Click on the “+” sign next to the words “Media Layer” on the left side of your screen
- Click on “video” from the drop-down menu that opens up
- Browse through the folders in your local storage and click on the pre-recorded video you want to broadcast live
You can click on the three dots to change the settings, such as flipping it, changing its location and size, and placing it on top of another layer.
7. OBS
- Log into your account and open the dashboard
- Go to the sources section at the bottom
- Click on the “+” button
- Select “media source” from the menu that opens up and select “VLC video source”
If you want to switch between your webcam and a pre-recorded video while streaming, then you can set that up in the “scenes” tab. Add your webcam as the first scene and then the video, if that’s the order you want to broadcast in.
8. Zoom
You can access the “screen share” option in the meeting controls. It is located in the bottom taskbar. To show the pre-recorded video, click on “screen share” and choose the window where the video is playing.
Some people report issues with audio when they use this approach. That’s why we recommend using the second approach to play a recorded video in Zoom:
- Start a Zoom meeting with your desktop client
- Click on “Share Screen” and then “Advanced” options
- Browse to select the video you want to include in your live stream
- Click on “Open,” and it will begin playing in the Zoom software
In Summary
If you’re adding high-definition videos, ensure you have the bandwidth to support them. If you have any questions or suggestions for future tutorials, feel free to leave them in the comments below!
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