External studio streaming, or RTMP ingest, allows you to control a Wistia webinar event through other advanced streaming tools (e.g., OBS) and have more flexibility over your stream.
Note
External studio streaming differs from simulcasting, which lets you stream your webinar to other platforms.
Use external studio to control a Wistia webinar from your own broadcasting software over RTMP. Use simulcasting to push your Wistia webinar to platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
Connect external studio
On the webinar overview page, click "Edit" next to Settings in the Webinar info panel. This will open the Edit webinar modal. Under the Webinar type, choose "External studio." You can change the Webinar type any time before your webinar goes live.
Note
External studio is for live broadcasts from your own software, so it can't be combined with the Pre-recorded event type. To include pre-recorded video in an external studio webinar, play it through your broadcasting software (for example, as a media source in OBS).
Wistia will display an RTMP URL and a Stream Key, which you'll copy and paste into your broadcasting software (e.g., OBS). The RTMP URL is the same for every Wistia customer and doesn't change between streams; your Stream Key is unique to you. Treat your Stream Key like a password—anyone with it can broadcast to your event, so don't share it.
If you’re unsure where to paste this information, contact your broadcasting software's support team for assistance. Once connected, you can go live and end your stream from the other platform.
If needed, you can disable the external studio in the same modal before going live in Wistia.
External studio stream settings and limits
Recommended encoder settings
Use these settings in your broadcasting software (e.g., OBS or vMix) for the best balance of quality and stability.
Resolution: 1920×1080
Bitrate: 2,000–8,000 kbps
Frame rate: 30 or 60 fps (25 or 29.97 fps is common in Europe and also works)
How Wistia delivers your stream
Wistia re-encodes your stream into several quality levels, so each viewer automatically gets the best quality their connection can handle. The highest quality level viewers see is about 4.7 Mbps, so sending more than the recommended bitrate won't improve what your audience sees. It just puts more strain on your upload connection.
Tip
A wired internet connection is more reliable than Wi-Fi for streaming. Before you go live, make sure your upload speed is comfortably above the bitrate you've set.
Ingest URL
Each event has one RTMP URL and one Stream Key. Wistia doesn't provide a backup or secondary ingest URL, so leave any backup server field in your broadcasting software empty.
Reconnect if your stream drops
If your broadcasting software disconnects during the event, you have up to 30 minutes to reconnect. While you're disconnected, viewers see a black screen.
Restart the stream in your broadcasting software, using the same RTMP URL and Stream Key.
Wistia picks the stream back up for your audience.
Note
If you don't reconnect within 30 minutes, the stream ends.
External studio event room
When streaming via RTMP Ingest, the event room will look a bit different than a typical webinar in Wistia.
When streaming via RTMP Ingest, hosts can:
Activate and moderate Chat.
Activate and moderate Q&A.
When streaming via RTMP Ingest, hosts cannot:
Bring questions on stage.
Manage other streams through the Event room (i.e., screen-sharing, managing panelists, and presenting media).
Activate and moderate Polls.
Display mid-event CTAs.
Tip
Viewers of an external studio webinar watch a stream that runs about 8–15 seconds behind your broadcasting software. Keep this in mind when you answer questions in chat or Q&A.
End an external studio event
When you're ready to end your event, click "End event" in the Wistia event room while you're still streaming in your broadcasting software. This will ensure that your stream will not be disrupted in Wistia. End the stream in your broadcasting software, then take a look at your event stats.
External studio troubleshooting and FAQ
My stream disconnected mid-webinar.
Your webinar stays live for up to 30 minutes while you reconnect. Restart streaming in your broadcasting software with the same RTMP URL and Stream Key.
I'm trying to stream my webinar to LinkedIn, YouTube, or X.
That's simulcasting, not external studio. You'll enter the other platform's RTMP URL and Stream Key in Wistia's simulcasting settings instead. See Webinar Simulcasting.
Is there a backup RTMP URL or Stream Key?
No. Each webinar has one RTMP URL and one Stream Key, with no automatic failover. If you need redundancy, keep a backup encoder ready to take over using the same Stream Key.
Where are the ingest servers?
The RTMP URL routes your stream to the nearest ingest region automatically, so there's nothing to choose.
Still stuck?
Running into trouble or have more questions? Let us know at [email protected]!