How to Use Session Stream Source Transitions

Session stream source transitions are one of the most powerful, yet subtle, aspects of streaming content in PheedLoop. As you may already know from setting up a stream source when configuring a session in your dashboard, you can choose from things like Meet & Stream, Zoom, pre-recorded content, etc. 

What stream source transitions allow you to do is set up more than one streaming option within a session, most commonly used to go from something like a pre-recorded simulive presentation to a true live Q&A session over Meet & Stream or Zoom, for example.

1. Configure Your Session

As mentioned above, there are many different ways to have stream source transitions, for this example we will upload a pre-recorded video and enable Meet & Stream.

1. From the Event Dashboard, navigate Sessions > Sessions
2. Select a session you would like to configure from the list
3. In the session editor form, navigate to Virtual Settings
4. Toggle on the Enable Stream checkbox
5. Toggle on the Enable Backstage Meet & Stream checkbox
6. Under Pre-Recorded Video, select Choose File to upload a video file
7. Select Save Changes

2. Testing the Stream Source Switcher 

1. From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Event Portals > Virtual Event Portal
2. Navigate to Backstage in the left hand side navigation menu
   1. Access to the Backstage requires you to toggle on the Enable Backstage Section checkbox which can be found in the Event Dashboard > Experiences > Virtual > Settings.
3. Select the session you configured from the list
4. Navigate to Meet & Stream 
5. Under Stream Source, select the dropdown menu to choose which stream source you want to play in the session (in this case either Meet & Stream or the pre-recorded video)

Quick Tip - if an option can’t be selected, that means you have not actually configured it to your dashboard. 

Quick Tip - if you have more than one option configured (i.e. Meet & Stream and a pre-recorded video) you can select only one of these options at a time.

3. Common Use Cases

• Switching from a Pre-recorded Video to a Live Q&A hosted on Zoom or Meet and Stream

• Switching from a Pre-recorded Video to a Breakout Room Experience hosted on Zoom

4. Frequently Asked Questions

If I have multiple stream sources configured, which loads first? If you have not actually selected a stream source from the list itself in the Backstage, then the first available stream source in the order you see things in, in the list, will be the default stream source. The moment you set a stream source, that will be the stream source locked in place until you change it to something else, even if you come back to the session at a later time.

Can I add or modify a stream source to the session while it's live?
Although there's technically nothing preventing you from doing so, this isn't a good idea. Your attendees load the stream sources you have configured behind the scenes when they click into your session, so attendees already in the session will not be able to load your newly added or modified stream source unless they reload the session. We recommend configuring your stream sources ahead of time and during the session itself, limiting your actions to only switching sources but not modifying them.

Can I switch stream sources more than once while a session is live?
Absolutely, go nuts! Switch stream sources as often as you like. Try this out before your event to convince yourself of the behavior you're looking for.

Does Simulive still work if I switch stream sources and come back?
You bet. If you're counting on Simulive functionality with our free Upload & Stream system, then you can go from Simulive to some other stream source and back and the Simulive stream will not start from the beginning, it will continue playing from the place in the video it should be at relative to the start time of the session (not from the point when you switched the stream source).