# Increase Quality of Livestream **URL:** \ **Category:** Wowza Streaming Engine\ **Created:** [October 22, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444 "2013-10-22T16:31:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amit\_Pednekar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@Amit\_Pednekar](https://community.wowza.com/u/Amit_Pednekar)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/1 "2013-10-22T16:31:14Z")
Hello , I am using a webcam to stream and The output can be seen on jw player. But the quality is too low and i would like to increase it. I am fairly new at this, Can someone please guide me as to how i can do this. Also i need to start streaming and recording at the same time, i tried using the LiveStreamRecordExampleModule\_3.5 but i could not get the stream started. Thanks & Regards Amit ---
**Author:** ![sal\_jefferson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sal\_jefferson](https://community.wowza.com/u/sal_jefferson)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:39am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/2 "2013-10-22T06:39:06Z")
The simplest way to record a live stream is to set the StreamType to “live-record” in your Application.xml file. This gives you very little control over the recording process. By default the recorded files will be .flv. To record to mp4, you add “mp4:” prefix to stream name in the encoder (or StreamManager in the case of MediaCaster streams), then Wowza records to mp4 container. Stream name “mp4:myStream” will record to myStream.mp4 Salvadore ---
**Author:** ![sal\_jefferson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sal\_jefferson](https://community.wowza.com/u/sal_jefferson)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:24am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/3 "2013-10-22T08:24:24Z")
I am guessing you are using a Flash app as the encoder/publisher? If so then .mp4 wont actually work unless you h264 and Speexs: [How to set up a Flash application to publish H.264 video and Speex audio to Wowza Transcoder AddOn](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-set-up-a-flash-application-to-publish-h-264-video-and-speex-audio-to-wowza-transcoder) Salvadore ---
**Author:** ![sal\_jefferson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sal\_jefferson](https://community.wowza.com/u/sal_jefferson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 10:06am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/4 "2013-10-23T10:06:02Z")
You can publish a stream from a Flash based application and play it back in a Flash based client with out using the Wowza Transcoder. The default video is Sorenson Spark and NellyMoser audio which are not supported in non-Flash clients. To make the video quality better you can follow this guide to set the video to H.264. And if you want to play back the stream in non-Flash based clients you will need to change the audio from Nellymoser to Speex in your Flash application, and use the Wowza Transcoder to transcode the audio from Speex to AAC audio. again, this article explains these steps: [How to set up a Flash application to publish H.264 video and Speex audio to Wowza Transcoder AddOn](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-set-up-a-flash-application-to-publish-h-264-video-and-speex-audio-to-wowza-transcoder) Salvadore ---
**Author:** ![sal\_jefferson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sal\_jefferson](https://community.wowza.com/u/sal_jefferson)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 8:21am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/5 "2013-10-24T08:21:13Z")
Are you testing playback locally? It could be a network issue. Try testing playback on your local machine using the example player that ships with Wowza to see if that makes any difference in quality. **[install-dir]/examples/LiveVideoStreaming/FlashRTMPPlayer/player.html** **What are your camera settings in your Flash application?** **You can try these settings:** **camera.setMode(320, 240, 15, false);** **camera.setQuality(0, 90);** **camera.setKeyFrameInterval(30);** **You want high-quality and low-bandwidth, which are competing goals, and with the built-in Flash encoder options are limited.** **Salvadore** ---
**Author:** ![Amit\_Pednekar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@Amit\_Pednekar](https://community.wowza.com/u/Amit_Pednekar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 10:38am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/6 "2013-10-23T10:38:39Z")
Thanks guys…will check and get back to you Regards Amit ---
**Author:** ![Amit\_Pednekar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@Amit\_Pednekar](https://community.wowza.com/u/Amit_Pednekar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/7 "2013-10-23T17:39:02Z")
> The simplest way to record a live stream is to set the StreamType to “live-record” in your Application.xml file. > > This gives you very little control over the recording process. > > By default the recorded files will be .flv. To record to mp4, you add “mp4:” prefix to stream name in the encoder (or StreamManager in the case of MediaCaster streams), then Wowza records to mp4 container. > > Stream name “mp4:myStream” will record to myStream.mp4 > > Salvadore I tried doing that…a mp4 file was created with the stream name in content folder. But the size of the file is 4KB. There is no video content in it . ---
**Author:** ![Amit\_Pednekar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@Amit\_Pednekar](https://community.wowza.com/u/Amit_Pednekar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 11:33am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/8 "2013-10-24T11:33:21Z")
> You can publish a stream from a Flash based application and play it back in a Flash based client with out using the Wowza Transcoder. > > The default video is Sorenson Spark and NellyMoser audio which are not supported in non-Flash clients. > > To make the video quality better you can follow this guide to set the video to H.264. > > And if you want to play back the stream in non-Flash based clients you will need to change the audio from Nellymoser to Speex in your Flash application, and use the Wowza Transcoder to transcode the audio from Speex to AAC audio. again, this article explains these steps: > > [How to set up a Flash application to publish H.264 video and Speex audio to Wowza Transcoder AddOn](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-set-up-a-flash-application-to-publish-h-264-video-and-speex-audio-to-wowza-transcoder) > > Salvadore Thanks Salvadore. The video did get a bit better, but i guess my webcam is also affecting the quality. Basically we want to conduct online lectures…can you suggest me a good cam that can be used for our requirement. Thanks & Regards Amit ---
**Author:** ![Amit\_Pednekar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@Amit\_Pednekar](https://community.wowza.com/u/Amit_Pednekar)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/increase-quality-of-livestream/41444/9 "2013-11-07T13:15:24Z")
Thanks and sorry for the late reply… will try the settings and get back. Thanks again