Client Start Streaming Operation (Video Only)

Last updated: 2025-03-19

1. Client Usage Instructions

This document provides functional instructions for the Polyv 4.x version of the live streaming client.

The Polyv live streaming client is widely compatible with various live streaming scenarios. In terms of viewing formats, it offers multiple options such as pure video, three-screen layout, and portrait/landscape modes. In terms of application scenarios, it supports marketing promotions, large conferences, professional training, online classrooms, and more.

Additionally, it boasts powerful features, including flexible layout of the live stream screen and support for multi-scene switching; the ability to add rich media such as multimedia, images, and documents; compatibility with external capture cards; and advanced features like AI keying, AI beautification, and 17-person video co-streaming, catering to the needs of different users in various situations.

2. Preparation Before Starting

1. Hardware/Environment Recommendations

Computer Hardware Configuration:

Optional Hardware:

• Shooting: External camera, DSLR + capture card;
• Audio: Lavalier microphone, headset microphone, professional microphone;
• Output: Headphones, external speakers;
• Studio: Green, red, blue screens;
• Network: Ethernet cable, 4G network aggregator.

2. Live Streaming Client Download

• Win (64-bit) client download link: https://soft.polyv.net/rc/PolyvLiveSetup64.exe
• Win (32-bit) client download link: https://soft.polyv.net/rc/PolyvLiveSetup.exe
• Mac client download link: https://soft.polyv.net/rc/PolyvLiveSetup.dmg
• Notes on using the client on Mac

3. Registration and Login

Register and log in to your Polyv account, then enter the Polyv management console.

4. Create a Channel

After entering the admin console, click "Start Now" for Cloud Live Streaming -> Create a new live stream, fill in the live room channel name, select the "Video Only" live streaming template, and click "Save and Create Live Stream" at the bottom to successfully create a live room channel with a video-only template.

5. Entering the Client

Method 1: Manually open the client, click the "Go Live" button in the upper right corner of the channel backend to view the channel ID and password, then manually copy the information into the client to log in.

Method 2: Click the "Go Live" button in the upper right corner of the channel backend, select "Go Live via Client", and in the pop-up webpage, click "Launch the New 4.0 Client". This method automatically invokes the client and enters the corresponding channel (the client should be closed first, otherwise it cannot be invoked).

Note:

• When logged in as a teacher via channel number, you can start/end a live broadcast;
• When logged into a channel as a sub-account and the co-streaming limit is 0 (co-streaming feature not in use), you can log into the client along with the backend cloud director;
• When logged into a channel as a sub-account and the co-streaming limit is ≥1 person, you cannot log into the client.

III. Main Interface Overview

The 4.x client supports two live streaming templates: Video Only and Three-Panel (Document + Video). The main differences are as follows:

Pure Video Template Client Interface Feature Introduction

4. Mode Switching

The client offers clear choices for different usage scenarios, with a maximum of options available.

Note: The live streaming + co-hosting mode will only appear after selecting the co-hosting XX when creating a live room.

V. How to Perform Device Debugging

Click the Device Debugging button at the top of the client, and a pop-up dialog box will appear.

Microphone

• During normal operation, modifying the microphone while speaking will display a horizontal level bar. If it does not appear, try switching devices or adjusting system settings.
• Adjusting the microphone volume can change the sound level heard by the viewing end.
• When external noise is high, you can increase the intensity, but this may make the sound sharper and quieter. Please adjust appropriately.
• When the input sound is low, you can increase the microphone gain, but this may cause popping sounds. Please adjust appropriately.

Spokesperson

• Speaker test: Click to play audio. If you hear sound locally, the speaker is working normally; otherwise, switch devices or adjust system settings.
• Live streaming only mode (Xiaomi mic connection count is 0): Adjusting the speaker volume affects the computer system sound heard by the audience. For example, turning it down will reduce the volume of system sounds like music that the audience hears.
• Live streaming + mic connection mode: Adjusting the speaker volume affects the local external playback volume but does not affect the sound heard by end users. To allow end users to hear computer system sounds, enable the [Capture system sound] feature in the settings.

VI. How to Use the Documentation

• After uploading, all PPTs undergo transcoding. A small number of PPTs may have partial content compatibility issues after transcoding. Please refer to the recommendations for uploading PPTs.
• Under the pure video template, documents do not support animated PPT transcoding.
• Documents can be uploaded first in the management backend. The client needs to re-upload them, and they can be applied directly.

1. Add Document: Click 【Add Material】 -> 【Cloud Document】 in the left function menu bar, or click 【Scene】 - "All" - Material 【+】 - 【Cloud Document】 in the right resource function menu. Both actions will open a document addition dialog. You can upload local document courseware to the server. After switching computers, log in to the same channel without needing to re-upload; the uploaded document courseware can be directly applied.

2. After successfully uploading the courseware document, click Apply to display the document and its properties in the live preview area. Click 【Switch Document】 to open a popup and replace the document:

   • Supports dragging the horizontal scroll bar for quick page turning, or turning pages one at a time.
   • Only one document material is supported per scene. After adding a document for the first time, it will automatically full-screen the vehicle into the image preview window.

3. Switch Whiteboard:

   • After adding a document, click the 【Whiteboard】 button next to the document name.
   • The system provides 50 whiteboards by default for use.

4. Pen Annotation:

   • After adding a document material, select the document and click the 【Pen】 button to expand the pen tool. You can draw lines and annotate on the document.
   • Annotation content will be recorded on each page of the document or whiteboard and will be live-streamed in real time.
   • After using the pen annotation function, the document material cannot be dragged or repositioned in the preview area. Click to collapse the pen function to re-enable dragging of the document material.

7. How to Share Your Screen

The client provides a horizontal screen sharing method.

• [Add Creative] — [Desktop Window]
• [Add Material] — [Software Window]
• [Screen Share]

Screen Sharing Toolbar

8. How to Insert Multimedia

Add Multimedia

• In the left-side navigation, you can find Add Material → Media Source to add, or in the right-side resource panel, go to Scene → "All" → Material → + → Media Source (only supported in pure video templates). Clicking will bring up a system dialog guiding you to select the multimedia file to add.
  
• Adding multimedia will automatically fill the preview window in full screen. Once added successfully, the multimedia property operation panel will appear.
• To replace multimedia, if a multimedia video has already been added, click Switch Multimedia to replace it with a different paid multimedia video.
  
• Multimedia looping options include: single loop, sequential play, loop play, and no loop (default).
• When playing multimedia locally, the sound will not be output to the streaming host and may cause echo. If you want the host to hear the multimedia sound locally, click the Local Mute button to disable local muting. Ensure local muting is turned off to avoid echo on the audience side.
• It is recommended that the bitrate of inserted multimedia files does not exceed 10 Mbps, resolution does not exceed 1920 x 1080, and frame rate does not exceed 30 fps. Before going live, use a video compression tool to process the file to prevent streaming abnormalities caused by low computer performance.

9. How to Connect with the Audience via Live Mic

When creating a live room, remember to enable and select "Connect with College Students" to support co-streaming.

Methods to Enable and Disable Co-streaming

• Start Co-hosting: After the live stream begins, click the Co-host button in the left function bar to open the co-host dialog. Click Start Co-hosting, the button turns red and displays End Co-hosting.
• Audience Request: The co-host request feature appears on the audience side. After a user submits a request, the Go on Stage button appears in the member management panel on the right.
• Co-host Operation: Click the Go on Stage button to initiate a voice/video call with the audience member.
• Co-host Continuation: Closing the co-host popup does not interrupt the co-host session. Only clicking End Co-hosting will terminate all calls.

Change the way of co-hosting

• Fixed co-hosting mode: Once co-hosting starts, the mode cannot be changed; it defaults to video co-hosting.
• Changing co-hosting mode: To switch to audio co-hosting, the current co-hosting must be ended first.
• Audio co-hosting applicable scenarios: Suitable for passengers without makeup or in poor network conditions.

Change Video Layout

• Local screen projection layout: To ensure offline viewers see equally sized co-hosting screens, switch the video layout to a tiled layout.
• No impact on front-line layout: This operation does not affect the screen layout for front-line viewers.
• Modify online layout: To adjust the screen layout for online viewers, go to [Settings] - [Other Settings] - [Mixed Stream Layout] to make changes.

10. How to Manage Members

• In live-only mode, members can be muted or kicked out.
• In live + co-stream mode, members can be muted, kicked out, have their microphone or camera toggled (for connected users), removed from the stage, granted or revoked presenter permissions, granted or revoked drawing permissions, set as the primary view, or globally muted.
• Special members, including instructors, teaching assistants, administrators, and panelists, are designated as special roles with distinct markers and cannot be muted or kicked out.
• Regular audience members can be managed by instructors, teaching assistants, administrators, and other audience members.
• To search for members, enter a keyword from the member's nickname and click the search button. This will match a list of members whose nicknames contain the keyword, allowing the host to further manage them.
• To obtain the audience sub-channel number and password, under the Document + Video channel, go to Management Backend -> Role Permissions, where you can add audience members and retrieve their sub-channel number and password.

• Presenter Permission: In live streaming + co-hosting mode, within a channel, the instructor always holds presenter permission. Listeners can be granted presenter permission by the instructor. Once granted, the user can operate documents, synchronize page turns with others, use the pen tool, share screens, play multimedia, and initiate interactive features. Upon being granted presenter permission, the pen tool permission is automatically obtained. The instructor can only authorize presenter permission to one person at most.

• Pen Tool Permission: In live streaming + co-hosting mode, within a channel, guests who have joined the stage can be individually granted pen tool permission. This allows the user to annotate on the current document or whiteboard, but they cannot turn pages. The instructor can authorize pen tool permission to multiple users, but the number cannot exceed the number of users on stage.

• Set as Primary View: In live streaming + co-hosting mode, when a user on stage is set as the primary view, their video feed is prominently displayed in the client and viewer interfaces, highlighting their importance.

• Member Operation Permission Table: In live streaming + co-hosting mode, see below.

• The pure video template does not support syncing document whiteboard page turns with others, nor does it allow multiple people to write or draw on a single document simultaneously.

11. Scenes and Materials (Pure Video Only)

• Scenes

  • Multiple scenes can be added during a live stream, each representing a specific visual content. During the live stream, you can switch between different scenes.
  • For example, before the official live stream begins, the audience can watch a warm-up video scene. Once the live stream officially starts, the scene can be switched to the live event at the filming location.
  • Each scene can have multiple materials added.

• Materials

  • The basic elements that make up the live stream's visual content, including camera feeds, screen sharing, multimedia, documents, images, text, etc. Multiple materials can be added to the same scene to compose the desired visual, such as in a teaching scenario where the instructor's document and camera feed are displayed simultaneously.
  • When a material is in a draggable and editable state, its border is red. When a material is selected but not draggable or editable, its border is blue.

12. How to Switch Between Multiple Scenes (Video Only)

Multi-scene switching functionality addresses scenarios where a live stream needs to present different visual content to the audience.

For example, before the official live stream begins, only a warm-up video is needed. After the stream starts, document content must be displayed. During the stream, an exciting lottery screen is required, and near the end, QR codes for event registration and follow-up attention are needed. To meet these requirements, four scenes can be created, with visual materials and layouts prepared in advance. During the live stream, simply focus on the switching sequence.

• Add Scene
  • In the right resource panel, go to Scenes → All and click + to add a new scene under the current scene.
  • A newly added scene contains no materials by default.
• Switch Scene
  • Click the target scene name to switch to it.
  • When switching to a scene, the content displayed in the preview window is what the audience will see in the live stream.
  • To edit the scene name, click on the "scene name".

13. How to Use Image and Text Materials (Video Only)

• Adding Images
  • In the right-side functional resource area, go to [Scene] -> "All" -> "Assets" [+] -> [Image] to add an image asset.
  • The added image will automatically fit the full screen of the preview window. It supports common image formats such as bmp, jpg, png, and gif.
  • After adding the image, you can adjust its opacity in the properties area.
  • For preview delay, hold down the Alt key while dragging to achieve the effect.
  • To pause, hold down the Shift key while dragging to freely stretch the image.
• Adding Text
  • In the right-side functional resource area, go to [Scene] -> "All" -> "Assets" [+] -> [Text] to add text.
  • After adding, a red selection box will appear in the upper left corner of the preview window.
  • Edit the text content and properties in the properties area, including font, font size, color, and whether the direction matches the scroll bar.

14. How to Edit the Content Layout of the Screen Preview Window (Pure Video Only)

During a live stream, the content displayed in the preview window is exactly what is broadcast to the audience. Therefore, editing the size and position of various materials within the preview window, as well as adjusting the layout of the content, directly impacts the viewing experience of the audience.

• Adjust the layout order of materials
  • If the live stream画面 is a PPT with a camera overlay, ensure there are two materials: the PPT layer and the camera layer, with the camera layer above the PPT layer to avoid being obscured.
  • Adjustment method: In the right-side [Scene] - "All" - "Materials", select the material to be adjusted and drag it up or down to change the layer order.

• Adjust the position of a material in the preview screen
  • Select the material you want to adjust. A red border will appear around the material, indicating it is editable and draggable. Drag it directly to the desired position in the preview screen.
  • If there are too many materials to select easily, first select the target material in the "Add Material" area of the resource menu, then drag and adjust it in the preview screen.
• Adjust the visibility of a material in the preview screen
  • Select the material you want to adjust. In the "Add Material" section of the resource function menu bar, click the eye icon to hide the material.
  • Click the eye icon again to unhide the material and restore its display on the screen.

15. Introduction to Chat, Questions, and Q&A

Chat, Q&A, and question-answering functions respond to the backend settings of this channel. In the admin backend, chat and question functions are enabled by default. If the client lacks the answer function menu, you need to go to the admin backend to enable it.

• Chat function: public chat room supporting text, emoji, and image messages, with the ability to deduct points, like, and tip messages, enable/disable global muting, and quote and reply to user messages.
• Question function: audience question messages are visible only to specific members who can reply, while other audience members cannot see them.
• Q&A function: audience Q&A messages are visible only to specific members who can reply; instructors, teaching assistants, and administrators can send private messages to individual audience members or broadcast messages to all audience members.

16. Introduction to Interactive Applications

Interactive features can enhance the interaction between the host/instructor and the audience, making the live stream more engaging and increasing audience participation. On the left-side function navigation, click "Interaction" to open a function pop-up. If the pop-up does not contain the interactive feature you need, please confirm with your business representative whether it has been enabled.

• Announcement: When an announcement is sent, a forced pop-up window will appear on the audience side, used for strong reminder scenarios.
• Check-in: Tracks audience attendance within a specified time period.
• Lucky Draw: Used to liven up the live stream atmosphere or increase viewer engagement. Supports setting prize details, claiming information, etc., to improve prize distribution efficiency.
• Quiz Card: Used for in-class quizzes to reinforce learning content. Supports sending questions with only options or questions with both a stem and options.
• Form: Used for exams in teaching or surveys in marketing. Supports setting multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions.
• Red Envelope: Sends cash or points red envelopes in the live stream to boost the atmosphere.

17. How to Use the Local Recording Feature to Save Live Stream Files (Video Only)

• The cloud recording feature automatically records during the live stream. After the live stream ends, the recorded content can be viewed and downloaded from the replay management page in the admin console. Additionally, a local recording save feature is provided to eliminate the need for downloading.
• Enable/Disable Local Recording
  • Go to Settings -> Local Recording to enable the local recording feature. You can modify the default save path for recording files and the recording video format.
  • When using local recording, ensure sufficient disk space on your computer for saving videos; otherwise, videos may not be saved properly.
  • Using local recording will consume your local computer's system CPU. If your computer configuration is insufficient, it may severely impact the live streaming process. Be sure to test this feature before use.

18. How to Set Required Encoding Parameters

Encoding parameters are critical to live streaming quality. Generally, default parameters are used, but adjusting them in specific scenarios can optimize the live streaming effect, such as:

• Screen Recording Teaching Livestreams

  • If the livestream primarily involves screen sharing or screen recording, to improve resolution, ensure the livestream resolution matches the screen sharing resolution. For example, if the monitor resolution is 1920x1080, adjust the resolution to 1920x1080 in the settings, and adjust the bitrate appropriately based on network conditions.

• Business Roadshows and Conference Livestreams

  • When the footage involves significant movement of people, such as walking or dance actions with large variations, maintain a resolution of 1280 x 720 while increasing the frame rate to 25–30 fps and raising the bitrate to over 1000 kbps.
  • If the livestream network is stable and upload bandwidth is guaranteed, you can opt for a fixed bitrate and increase the ratio (supported only in livestream scenarios). The actual effect should be observed by viewing the same content after on-site adjustments.

19. Channel Selection

• When using a hardware mixer, if the phone speaker produces clear sound but the headphones play distorted audio, it may be caused by incorrect left and right channel wiring on the mixer. Solution: Without changing the mixer's wiring, set the audio channel to mono.
• Under normal circumstances, keep the default settings.

20. Client-Related Issues

Common Issues with Client Broadcasting Qt WebEngine LGPLv2.1 License Notice