Rewrite the streaming documentation; we no longer recommend VLC.

diff --git a/streaming.rst b/streaming.rst
index 6f5ee5903e3dbad73a9ac2e5e57669eee428b102..52d3664b07096d7b61dc383498b1b1fa9e9b1d1c 100644 (file)
--- a/streaming.rst
+++ b/streaming.rst
@@ -37,41 +37,34 @@ then also want to change the audio codec to using “--http-audio-codec”
 and “--http-audio-bitrate” to something your mux can transport
 (see below for more information about audio transcoding).
 
 and “--http-audio-bitrate” to something your mux can transport
 (see below for more information about audio transcoding).
 

-The stream be transcoded by a number of programs, most notably
-`VLC <http://www.videolan.org/>`_. Here's an example line
-transcoding to 1.5 Mbit/sec H.264 suitable for streaming to
-most browsers in the \<video\> tag::
-
-  while :; do
-    vlc -I dummy -v --network-caching 3000 \
-      http://yourserver.example.org:9095/stream.nut vlc://quit \
-      --sout '#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=1500,acodec=mp4a,aenc=fdkaac,ab=128}:std{mux=ffmpeg{mux=mp4},access=http{mime=video/mp4},dst=:1994}' \
-      --sout-avformat-options '{movflags=empty_moov+frag_keyframe+default_base_moof}' \
-      --sout-x264-vbv-maxrate 1500 --sout-x264-vbv-bufsize 1500 \
-      --sout-x264-keyint 50 --sout-x264-tune film --sout-x264-preset slow \
-      --sout-mux-caching 3000
-    sleep 1
-  done
-
-(The for loop is to restart VLC if Nageru should be restarted.
-You can make similar loops around the other example scripts,
-or you can e.g. make systemd units for transcoding if you wish.)
-
-Of course, you may need to adjust the bitrate (and then also
-the VBV settings) and preset for your content and CPU usage.
+The stream can be transcoded by a number of programs, such as
+`VLC <http://www.videolan.org/>`_, but Nageru also has its own
+transcoder called **Kaeru**, named after the
+Japanese verb *kaeru* (換える), meaning roughly to replace or exchange.
+Kaeru is a command-line tool that is designed to transcode Nageru's streams.
+Since it reuses Nageru's decoding and encoding code, it can do almost everything you can do
+with :ref:`direct encoding <direct-encoding>`, including x264 speed control
+and Metacube output (see the section on :ref:`Cubemap integration <cubemap>` below).
+
+Using Kaeru is similar to launching Nageru, e.g. to rescale a stream to 848x480
+and output it to a 1.5 Mbit/sec H.264 stream suitable for most browsers in a \<video\> tag::
+
+  ./kaeru -w 848 -h 480 --http-mux mp4 --http-audio-codec aac --http-audio-bitrate 128 \
+    --x264-bitrate 1500 http://yourserver.example.org:9095/stream.nut
+

 1.5 Mbit/sec is in the lower end of the spectrum for good
 720p60 conference video (most TV channels use 12-15 Mbit/sec
 for the same format).
 
 Another variation popular today is to stream using segmented HTTP;
 you can use e.g. the ffmpeg command-line tool to segment the HLS
 1.5 Mbit/sec is in the lower end of the spectrum for good
 720p60 conference video (most TV channels use 12-15 Mbit/sec
 for the same format).
 
 Another variation popular today is to stream using segmented HTTP;
 you can use e.g. the ffmpeg command-line tool to segment the HLS

-created by VLC into a stream that will be accepted by most smartphones::
+created by Kaeru into a stream that will be accepted by most smartphones::

 
   ffmpeg -i http://127.0.0.1:1994/ -codec copy -f hls \
     -hls_time 2 -hls_wrap 100 -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb \
     -hls_segment_filename $NAME-hls-%03d.ts stream.m3u8
 
 
   ffmpeg -i http://127.0.0.1:1994/ -codec copy -f hls \
     -hls_time 2 -hls_wrap 100 -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb \
     -hls_segment_filename $NAME-hls-%03d.ts stream.m3u8
 

-See also the section on :ref:`Kaeru <kaeru>`, below.
+Or, of course, you can use FFmpeg to do the transcoding if you wish.

 
 
 .. _direct-encoding:
 
 
 .. _direct-encoding:


@@ -89,7 +82,7 @@ and also has much better bitrate control. Even if you use x264,
 the stream stored to disk is still the full-quality QSV stream.
 
 Using Nageru's built-in x264 support is strongly preferable to
 the stream stored to disk is still the full-quality QSV stream.
 
 Using Nageru's built-in x264 support is strongly preferable to

-running VLC on the same machine, since it saves one H.264 decoding
+running an external transcoder on the same machine, since it saves one H.264 decoding

 step, and also uses *speed control*. Speed control automatically
 turns x264's quality setting up and down to use up all remaining
 CPU power after Nageru itself has taken what it needs (but no more);
 step, and also uses *speed control*. Speed control automatically
 turns x264's quality setting up and down to use up all remaining
 CPU power after Nageru itself has taken what it needs (but no more);


@@ -106,19 +99,9 @@ The built-in x264 encoder is activated using the “--http-x264-video”
 flag; e.g.::
 
   ./nageru --http-x264-video --x264-preset veryfast --x264-tune film \
 flag; e.g.::
 
   ./nageru --http-x264-video --x264-preset veryfast --x264-tune film \

-    --http-mux mp4 --http-audio-codec libfdk_aac --http-audio-bitrate 128
-
-Note the use here of the MP4 mux and AAC audio. “libfdk_aac” signals
-the use of Franhofer's `FDK-AAC <https://github.com/mstorsjo/fdk-aac>`_ encoder
-from Android; it yields significantly better sound quality than e.g. FAAC,
-and it is open source, but under a somewhat cumbersome license. For this
-reason, most distributions do not compile FFmpeg with the FDK-AAC codec,
-so you will need to compile FFmpeg yourself, or use a worse codec.
-FFmpeg `recommends <https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/HighQualityAudio>`_
-their own native AAC encoder (simply called “aac”) in the absence of any
-external libraries.
+    --http-mux mp4 --http-audio-codec aac --http-audio-bitrate 128

 
 

-For speed control, you can use::
+Note the use here of the MP4 mux and AAC audio. For speed control, you can use::

 
   ./nageru --x264-speedcontrol --x264-tune film \
     --http-mux mp4 --http-audio-codec libfdk_aac --http-audio-bitrate 128
 
   ./nageru --x264-speedcontrol --x264-tune film \
     --http-mux mp4 --http-audio-codec libfdk_aac --http-audio-bitrate 128


@@ -129,46 +112,6 @@ are usually fine at the default, though. Note that you can change the
 x264 bitrate on-the-fly from the video menu; this is primarily useful
 if your network conditions change abruptly.
 
 x264 bitrate on-the-fly from the video menu; this is primarily useful
 if your network conditions change abruptly.
 

-A particular note about the MP4 mux: If you plan to stream for long periods
-continuously (more than about 12–24 hours), the 32-bit timestamps may wrap
-around with the default timebase Nageru is using. If so, please add the
-“--http-coarse-timebase” flag.
-
-
-.. _kaeru:
-
-Transcoding with Kaeru
-----------------------
-
-There is a third option that combines elements from the two previous
-approaches: Nageru includes **Kaeru**, named after the
-Japanese verb *kaeru* (換える), meaning roughly to replace or exchange.
-Kaeru is a command-line tool that is designed to transcode Nageru's streams.
-In that aspect, it is similar to using VLC as described in the section on
-:ref:`transcoded streaming <transcoded-streaming>`. However, since it reuses
-Nageru's decoding and encoding code, it can do almost everything you can do
-with :ref:`direct encoding <direct-encoding>`, including x264 speed control
-and Metacube output (see the section on :ref:`Cubemap integration <cubemap>` below).
-
-Using Kaeru is similar to launching Nageru, e.g. to rescale a stream to 848x480::
-
-  ./kaeru -w 848 -h 480 --http-mux mp4 --http-audio-codec libfdk_aac --http-audio-bitrate 128 \
-    http://yourserver.example.org:9095/stream.nut
-
-Unlike the VLC option, Kaeru will automatically reconnect if the source goes
-away, so you do not need a while loop. Note that if you want to keep the audio
-unchanged (usually audio is more important than video, so it's not uncommon to
-want to transcode video but not audio), you can do so with the flag
-*--no-transcode-audio* flag.
-
-There are some things you should keep in mind about Kaeru:
-
-  - Kaeru does not use the GPU; it uses FFmpeg's code for scaling and colorspace
-    conversion. This yields somewhat lower scaling quality and uses more CPU power,
-    but means you can run it on a headless server.
-  - There is no support for encoding using Quick Sync Video, since this depends on the GPU.
-  - 10-bit output is currently not supported.
-

 
 .. _cubemap:
 
 
 .. _cubemap:
 


@@ -191,20 +134,6 @@ spikes of 2x the nominal bitrate, but only on a one-second basis) and
 TCP retransmits. See the Cubemap documentation for more information about
 how to set up pacing.
 
 TCP retransmits. See the Cubemap documentation for more information about
 how to set up pacing.
 

-For transcoded Cubemap output from VLC you can take exactly the same line as
-earlier, just adding “metacube” to the HTTP options::
-
-  while :; do
-    vlc -I dummy -v --network-caching 3000 \
-      http://http://yourserver.example.org:9095/stream.nut vlc://quit \
-      --sout '#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=1500,acodec=mp4a,aenc=fdkaac,ab=128}:std{mux=ffmpeg{mux=mp4},access=http{mime=video/mp4,metacube},dst=:1994}' \
-      --sout-avformat-options '{movflags=empty_moov+frag_keyframe+default_base_moof}' \
-      --sout-x264-vbv-maxrate 1500 --sout-x264-vbv-bufsize 1500 \
-      --sout-x264-keyint 50 --sout-x264-tune film --sout-x264-preset slow \
-      --sout-mux-caching 3000
-    sleep 1
-  done
-

 
 Single-camera stream
 --------------------
 
 Single-camera stream
 --------------------