Dj2live testing worklog

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Dj2live what is it?
https://www.qnap.com/solution/dj2live/en/

System requirements:
-Supported NAS: TS-x51, TS-x51A, TS-x51+, TBS-x53A, TS-x53A, TS-x53B, TS-x53 Pro, TS-x70, TS-x71, and TVS-x82 series tower and rackmount NAS
-QTS 4.3 (or later)
-Minimum 2GB RAM

Note: DJ2 Live must be used with a streaming app (such as XSplit, OBS, or CameraFi Live). Please visit the websites of these app providers for streaming service system requirements.

At first i thought this was for mobile applications like a smart cam to transform that into a live streaming capable device. But then i saw this video that shows also gaming live stream is possible as well.
[youtube=]pIOLYJxl0Hw[/youtube]


So my question is, where does the transcoding/encoding take place. On the qnap or from the source device ? how does it work? does it mean transcoding/encoding performance is dependent on the QNAP CPU?

How DJ2 Live Works

DJ2 Live receives signals digitized by a video or audio encoder (OBS/XSplit) from the source media (a video camera with screen capture box or an audio interface), then publishes live streams through QNAP NAS. In addition to live streaming within a secure Intranet, you can simultaneously stream videos through multiple online platforms that support RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol) such as Facebook or YouTube to reach a wider audience.

guides

How to stream videos from my computer to DJ2 Live?
https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial ... o-dj2-live

How to manage my live channel and watch live programs on DJ2 Live?
https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial ... n-dj2-live

How do I stream DJ2 content to other live streaming platforms?
https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial ... -platforms

How can I enable CDN services on DJ2 Live？
https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial ... n-dj2-live


So now i'm testing it myself to find out

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Firmware 4.3.3.0238 Build 20170703

DJ2 Console 1.0.0
( 2017/04/28 )
[New Feature]
- First beta version release.

step 1:

install


pre-requisite was having to install container station first before it allows you to install d2jlive. Which by the way in app center is called Dj2 console.

during installation it got stuck for some reason at 80% i restart qts login, but i got this error


ended up rebooting qnap. reinstall container station, then dj2live. Now it works.

Not sure what cause error whether it was me installing portainer testing an early qpkg, or stopping mid way installing dj2live, or what. anyway it works now so problem solved regardless.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Made a quick video intro for Dj2 Live

[youtube=]qiI9llc5m7Y[/youtube]


quite straight forward. Configuration is done in Dj2 Live, as well as off screen on either a OBS or xsplit. I prefer obs cause it's free.



Once i end my live stream, the recording is saved onto dj2 live as so. You can then share the stream link, or download... or even play it to watch from there


Here is the downloaded video from d2j live stream saved to the qnap, which i then subsequently uploaded youtube. a round about way ofdoing it. If i had set it up, qnap would have automatically streamed to youtube, then in youtube settings it can probably archive live streams to your channel without needing manually uploading the video later yourself.
[youtube=]HmwQy4Yw7Ok[/youtube]


If you port forward the d2j live app web page, you could then allow people to access this via 1 of the 3 options. Either guest, registered NAS user, or a google account.







things found out about d2j live

Integrated with CDN binding service, DJ2 Live provides the mechanism of reverse proxy server to help NAS administrators save network bandwidth and enhance the viewing experience of the audience. CDN services also protect the NAS from unauthenticated access and secure your connection.

CDN, so does that mean you don't need to rely on youtube or twitch at all? because from my testing i did not even bind d2j live to youtube. I merely connected direct to the QNAP and that was it. It recorded to the qnap as well as saved a transcode.


As i suspected you get a live stream platform similar to youtube live. refer to screenshot.








Basically dj2 live lets you host your own content rather than on youtube, if you want to configure it that way. Or it lets you stream onto youtube as you are normally use to, then your videos get saved there as well as on your qnap.



bugs

1.When i tried to download from dj2 live the stream video i saved, i get this error token.... settings for the video is privaye requiring google account invite. i thought i already set that up right but hm...

Code: Select all

{"apiVersion":"v2","error":{"code":4010000,"message":"token invalid"}}

My guess is this ought to have been shown as "incorrect token validation" warning message. instead you get a line of code that shouldn't be shown on the front end to user like this


*update

it log out then log in as google account user. browsing now i see a hidden video. also playing video and download now works. Default admin login don't work, why though you would think they'd immediately have access.

*update

Maybe i forgot to press the refresh button icon when i was admin? or i forgot to close the OBS stream (it doesn't get listed till you end the stream).



2. A UI error not letting you backspace delete name when trying to edit rename category. However selecting the whole word then typing over works... hm



3. spaces aren't allowed in category names... yet why is science and technology allowed spaces?

4. unclear if this portion of setting is working correctly. Initially i create a category, made it private. But later decided to try switching it to public. Tried an over write the setting from private to public, but those changes don't commit. Looks like a bug to me. I wanted to test public to see how sharing works, but i can't at the moment.....




5. you can't delete the saved videos from dj2 live. So i made some test streams i want to delete, but i can't ....

*update

actually now i can delete. had to switch to the NAS login admin account, probably then i had permission for delete. But under google account it didn't let me.


6. cannot select multiple items to perform the same action e.g. delete. If the stream archive is more than a few videos, thats a rather serious issue :X user want to mass select, and skip select files. Should allow that for mass deletion.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

For the test i used these apps and the following settings

- obs *if your using own domain name, change accordingly. You get the ip and key from within d2j live under settings, just copy it over to obs, really easy


- mpc hc





in this particular test, i'm merely demonstrating live streaming from MPC a videoplayback (avoid doing this for copyrighted stuff especially when live streaming to twitch or youtube, or your account could get flagged).

It's possible for other configurations, like gameplay live stream e.g. overwatch etc..... Just do the necessary changes in OBS to set that up. Quite simple really, your pretty much just changing the feed type.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

What i liked the most is how you can set private mode and have either nas account or google account users to manage who gets access.






suggestions to improve dj2 live besides fixing bugs

1. allow for sub categories under main categories.
- some of us streamers may want to create sub categories under main category. For example... Gaming... then under that would hearthstone..... diablo 3....etc.... otherwise all my game recordings from different games and maybe genres like rts, fps, mmorpg, etc all get mixed together under 1 single category. Think of it like a folder... it's not really neat if you can't sort it under sub categories imho


2. permission rights for users whether able to delete, modify etc? couldn't find this setting for google account users.



here is the full image gallery for the dj2 live testing i did. bit of a pain to link 1 by 1

http://imgur.com/a/XJQUm




How i would rate DJ2 Live 1 out of 10, 10 being the best score.

Potential usefulness of this app: 7.5
* would i as a streamer use this? yes because it compliments my youtube live streaming. So even if i don't intend to skip youtube altogether, i can still use this app to compliment what i'm already doing. It doesn't merely store my videos onto qnap, but it also offers management of my archived streams saved. If encoding/transcoding is being done from qnap that would be even better especially if you have a unit with a powerful cpu, but i don't know know whether d2j live does that or not.

I feel that the people that would get the most benefit out of this app would be those wanting to live stream to a small private group of people, with limited access. Can't quite do that with youtube can you? everythings public on youtube. But with DJ2 live you can make a private stream. Participants invited to the stream aren't able to use the share link option as it does a prompt warning that sharing is disabled for private stream session.

stability of app in current form: 5
*it work's but i felt it has enough bugs and much needed improvements to annoy me enough to deter from the experience unfortunately. If you want to use it, from my preliminary test it will work. But i feel it needs some more polish.

graphics user interface: 6
* it's alright but i feel it could be better.

video player playback 7
* pretty okay. At times when it was stopped, it was probably waiting on the transcoding/encoding taking place. Functionally pause/play fast forward/backward, volume up/down, maximize screen/minimalist screen, etc all work as i expected.






Anyway that concludes my test If anyone else want to follow up with their own test feel free to do so.

[ensignvorik]

Nice review, will never use it, but informative none the less.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

thx

[ncoredump]

HI can you fix the numerous problems in the software please

I know its beta so save that lecture for some one else.

1) The live broadcast services are extremely buggy

2) The broadcast schedule is stupid and it also does not work but beside that why cant the scheduled time be with a much smaller time frame... seriously +30 minutes in the future?

3) There is no error reporting for the live broadcast service or indicators to show the facebook rtmp stream is working.. absolutely essential... NEVER don't use error messages in beta software..

honestly what the hell is it with devs these day?

4) A manual start broadcasting button is essential

5) The QNAP facebook application does not work and would also obviously conflict with a manual profile as qnap fb app is probably changing the KEY.

6) The sharing links do nothing / broken

7) there is no public preview page for the qnap to offer in its own right with out the manky login as guest nonsense ... and it would be nice to be able to brand that page should you make one

and yeah I did tag my live broadcast profiles
please publish the new release soon ... such a good idea let down by silly and trivial issues and in the most important area the the delivery side

please respond timely so you can bring every one up to speed ?

[ncoredump]

also why cant the qnap DJ2live facebook app generate and hold the keys for main feed and pages / groups.

Also just to clarify you cant have a Radio station manager clicking around after the keys in facebook every time he needs to broadcast and then having to click around in DJ2Live to keep putting them in that is where the problems basically revolve around.

Isn't there supposed to be a mobile app for all this as well ?

[ncoredump]

also you cant be restarting what ever is driving the RMTP stream .. imagine if it was a camera lol.. in my case its OBS but yeah even having to click start/stop streaming in that would be diabolical.. just to trigger the broadcast .. hence I mentioned the essential need for the Broadcast Now option.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

HI can you fix the numerous problems in the software please

you'll have to create a support ticket for this, only technical support are able to accept request and bug reports to pass long to development team to make any changes.

also why cant the qnap DJ2live facebook app generate and hold the keys for main feed and pages / groups.

Also just to clarify you cant have a Radio station manager clicking around after the keys in facebook every time he needs to broadcast and then having to click around in DJ2Live to keep putting them in that is where the problems basically revolve around.

Isn't there supposed to be a mobile app for all this as well ?

feel free to ask her as well just in case like you are now. However you may need to forward your question to helpdesk if you truly expect a more immediate reply as not many people are using dj2live yet.

Yes in OBS your able to use shortcut keys to start/stop streams/recordings without pressing a UI button. If DJ2 live has start/stop for broadcasting, then maybe shortcut key is required, especially for feeds that capture entire desktop window. Most of my streams are usually within the specific apps, not the overall desktop, so for in my case i didn't need to use shortcuts, as i could just toggle UI to switch in those scenarios.

my faq link has a mini guide for how to create a support ticket


Was recently testing OBS recording settings using this guide
[youtube=]dpgRWhFaoys[/youtube]


came up with this recording on my channel
[youtube=]BpfD3AKYWuI[/youtube]

[onehans]

i cant login to it in any way given

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

i cant login to it in any way given

eh really?

what qnap model, firmware build, dj2live version are you using for starters?

[onehans]

i cant login to it in any way given

eh really?

what qnap model, firmware build, dj2live version are you using for starters?

ts-253 pro 16GB latest 4.3.3
browser station did not let me create browser, claiming that i have to have at least 600MB

https://imgur.com/Fp43MUB

i think there might be a problem with container station

thats a piece of log from "BrowserStationReport_20171013_224337.tar\var\log\container-station\" :

Code: Select all

 
time="2017-10-13T21:53:05.567646065+01:00" level=error msg="Handler for GET /v1.23/images/aostanin/deluge:latest/json returned error: No such image: aostanin/deluge:latest" 
time="2017-10-13T21:53:05.573111708+01:00" level=error msg="Handler for GET /v1.23/images/chrisabrams/docker-minecraft-with-bukkit:latest/json returned error: No such image: chrisabrams/docker-minecraft-with-bukkit:latest" 
time="2017-10-13T21:53:05.579081339+01:00" level=error msg="Handler for GET /v1.23/images/colinhuang/ubuntu-libreoffice:1.0/json returned error: No such image: colinhuang/ubuntu-libreoffice:1.0" 
time="2017-10-13T21:53:05.585734537+01:00" level=error msg="Handler for GET /v1.23/images/jenkins:2.19.1/json returned error: No such image: jenkins:2.19.1" 
time="2017-10-13T21:53:05.591459872+01:00" level=error msg="Handler for GET /v1.23/images/armhf/ubuntu:xenial/json returned error: No such image: armhf/ubuntu:xenial" 
time="2017-10-13T21:53:05.597510323+01:00" level=error msg="Handler for GET /v1.23/images/armhf/ruby:2.3/json returned error: No such image: armhf/ruby:2.3" 
time="2017-10-13T21:53:05.607265935+01:00" level=error msg="Handler for GET /v1.23/images/armhf/busybox:latest/json returned error: No such image: armhf/busybox:latest" 
time="2017-10-13T21:53:05.612243564+01:00

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

hm.... could you try login to your QTS using regular http. not the https (you have to untick the secure login)

then in the app center for djlive, click on the open app for the prompt to the djlive web page.

see if that works.


*update

wait so your issue is with browser station? and container station?

You'll have to create a separate thread for that then

I probably tested those apps the least. The only tests i ran on container station was plex and transmission torrent client, both worked.