How do I Stream from a Phone or Browser?

You can send a live feed from a phone or computer camera without an encoder, using either:

• the browser feeder: a web page for any phone or computer with a camera
• the Cecula Feeder app: a phone app that can also stream videos stored on the phone

Both send their feed into the channel's feeder pool. A feed goes on air when someone selects it on Feeders, or automatically when Auto Feed is on. See How do I Switch Between Feeds?.

Stream from a Browser

What You Need

• The channel's feeder link. Anyone who can open Feeders can copy it with Copy Invite Link. It looks like https://stream.cecula.com/channel/your-slug/feeder.
• A phone or computer with a camera, and a browser that allows camera and microphone access.
• A steady internet connection, with upload speed above the quality you choose.

You don't need a Cecula account.

Register the Device

1. Open the feeder link. Add Camera Feeder appears.
2. In Feeder / Camera Name, enter the name this feed should have in the pool, such as Entrance Cam. The device remembers it.
3. Click Register Device.
4. When the browser asks, allow access to your camera and microphone. A preview appears.

If Error accessing camera/microphone. Please verify permissions. appears, allow camera and microphone access for the site in your browser's settings, then reload the page.

Choose Your Settings

Click Configure Feed Settings. Your choices are remembered on the device.

Setting	Options
Camera Source	The cameras on the device
Microphone Source	The microphones on the device
Video Resolution & Bitrate	Auto, Data Saver (360p, 400 Kbps), SD / Mobile (480p, 800 Kbps), qHD / Standard (540p, 1.1 Mbps), HD / Balanced (720p, 1.5 Mbps), Full HD / High (1080p, 2.5 Mbps) and Broadcast / Pro (1080p, 4.0 Mbps)
Target Framerate (FPS)	60 FPS (Ultra Smooth), 30 FPS (Standard), 24 FPS (Cinematic / Low Light) and 15 FPS (Low Bandwidth)
Audio Encoding Quality	Low (64 Kbps), Medium (128 Kbps) and High (192 Kbps)
Ingest Buffer Size (Latency Threshold)	How many seconds of sending delay are tolerated before a warning appears or Auto lowers the quality. The default is 3.5 seconds. Higher values ride out short network spikes; lower values recover from delay sooner
Broadcast Audio	Whether to send the device's microphone audio. Switch it off to send video only

A new device starts on HD / Balanced (720p, 1.5 Mbps), 30 FPS and Medium audio.

With Auto, the quality starts at 720p and follows your connection:

• It drops one step after about 5 seconds of congestion: Network congested. Auto-adjusting quality to …
• It rises one step after 20 seconds of stable connection: Network stable. Auto-upgrading quality to …

Each change restarts the feed for a moment, and there are at least 10 seconds between changes.

Start and Stop Streaming

1. Click Broadcast Feed. Cecula Stream confirms Broadcasting stream started successfully!, and a BROADCASTING timer starts.
2. Tell the person running Feeders your feed name, so they can put it on air.
3. To stop, click Stop Broadcast.

A few things to know:

• Changing the name: Rename or Exit takes you back to the name screen. It isn't available while you're broadcasting.
• Rotating the device: rotating it while broadcasting restarts the feed in the new orientation.
• Keeping the feed running: leave the page open and the screen on. Switching apps or locking the device can stop the camera.

Watch the Diagnostics

While you're broadcasting, STREAM DIAGNOSTICS shows:

Item	What it means
Connection Quality	Poor, Fair, Good or Excellent
TOTAL INGESTED FRAMES	Frames sent so far
DROPPED FRAMES (LOSS)	Frames lost, with the percentage
LAGGED / DUPLICATES	Frames repeated to cover gaps, with the percentage

If ⚠️ Slow connection. Live stream latency is increasing. appears, your connection isn't keeping up and the feed is falling behind. Click Reset Latency, or choose a lower Video Resolution & Bitrate.

If the Browser Feed Disconnects

The browser feeder doesn't reconnect on its own. The feed stops, the reason is shown, and you start again with Broadcast Feed.

Message	What to do
Connection lost abnormally. Please check your network connection.	Check your connection, then start again
Failed to connect to the stream server. Please try again.	Check your connection, then start again
WebSocket connection error occurred.	Start again. If it keeps happening, try another network
Authentication failed: Invalid or expired stream token.	Start again. If it keeps happening, check that the channel's subscription is active
Server database error. Please contact admin.	Contact [email protected]

Stream with the Cecula Feeder App

The Cecula Feeder app turns a phone into a camera for your channel. It streams live from the phone's camera, or plays videos stored on the phone into the feeder pool.

Set Up the App

You need the channel's RTMP server URL and a feeder stream key made with this phone's name. Build the key on Feeders. See Build a Feeder Stream Key.

1. Open Cecula Feeder. After the splash screen, Set Up This Feeder appears.
2. Under or enter manually, fill in:
   • the RTMP server URL
   • the stream key: paste the feeder stream key
   • the name of this device, such as Phone Cam
   • the channel name, if you like. It's only a label in the app
3. Tap START BROADCASTING. The setup is saved and the app's main screen opens.

SCAN PAIRING QR CODE is for pairing with a Cecula venue switcher. For Cecula Stream, enter the details manually.

The app has three tabs at the bottom: Live, Playlist and Settings.

Go Live from the Camera

1. Tap Live. The camera starts.
2. Tap the broadcast button to start streaming. A timer shows how long you've been live.
3. Tap the broadcast button again to stop.

While live, you can switch between the front and rear cameras, turn on the flashlight, zoom, mute the microphone, add background blur (depth of field) and open the stream diagnostics.

Stream Videos from the Phone

1. Tap Playlist.
2. Tap Add Video Files to Playlist or Browse Device Media, and choose MP4, MOV or AVI videos.
3. Arrange the queue with Move Up in Queue and Move Down in Queue. Remove videos with Remove from Queue, or all of them with Clear Queue.
4. To restart from the first video when the queue ends, turn on Loop Playlist Continuously.
5. Start the stream. The video on air plays in the player at the top. Tap Stop Stream to stop.

Dropped Connections and Weak Signal

• The app reconnects by itself. If the connection drops, it shows STREAM DISCONNECTED (AUTO-RETRYING) with the reason, and keeps trying. Tap Retry Now to try straight away.
• You choose what happens on a weak connection. Set this in Settings:

Option	What happens when the connection is too weak
Always Ask	The app asks whether to keep streaming or switch to recording on the phone
Auto-Switch to Record	The app switches to recording on the phone. Tap the shutter to record
Keep Streaming	The app carries on streaming

A recording made on the phone is added to the Playlist queue (Recording Saved!), so you can stream it when your connection recovers.

App Settings

Setting	What it controls
Stream Target	The RTMP server URL and stream key. Tap Reconfigure to change them. They can't be changed while you're broadcasting
Camera Sensor Source	The main or front camera, or another lens if the phone has one
Microphone Input Device	The built-in microphone, a noise-cancelling microphone or an external or Bluetooth microphone
Video Encoding Bitrate (RTMP H.264)	Presets from 400 Kbps (SD) to 8.0 Mbps (Pro 1080p60), or Custom
Target Framerate (FPS)	15, 24, 30 or 60 frames per second
Audio Bitrate (AAC)	64 to 256 Kbps
Mirror Live Preview	Flips your on-screen preview only. Viewers see the normal picture
Cinema Depth of Field (Bokeh Blur)	Background blur and its strength
Max Network Buffer Threshold and Frame Queue Size	Advanced controls for how much delay the app tolerates

For most phones, 2.5 Mbps (720p HD) at 30 FPS (Standard Broadcast) is a good starting point. Choose a lower bitrate if your connection struggles.