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Cloud Production: Live Switching Made Simple

Create flows, mix livestreams, videos, and images, and switch angles in one click.

Khandoker Zishan avatar
Written by Khandoker Zishan
Updated over 2 weeks ago

  1. What is Cloud Production

  2. How to create a Cloud Production

    1. Key Components of Cloud Production

    2. Cloud Production Workflow

  3. Use Cases

  4. Important Information

What is Cloud Production?

Cloud Production is a live video switcher in your browser. It lets you combine multiple input sources—livestreams, videos, images, and URLs—into separate Flows and switch between them instantly.

Typical uses include showing a “Be Right Back” image during breaks or running a multi-camera event (e.g., switching between Camera 1 and Camera 2) and selecting the best angle for your final stream.

How to create a Cloud Production?

Navigate to the Cloud Production menu in your Castr dashboard sidebar and click "Create Cloud Production" to get started.

Key Components of Cloud Production

Here are some components of a Cloud Production:

  1. Preview Player:

    Preview player shows the medias present in the current Flow. This helps to set the screen properly before transitioning it to the final production for all viewers to view.

  2. Production Player:

    Production player shows the final stream that is being sent to the destination and eventually viewed by all viewers.

  3. Transition:

    Transition moves the stream from Preview to Production. The transition duration and style can be set from here.

  4. Flow:

    Each Flow is a container for one or more media sources (e.g., your primary livestream or “Camera 1”).

    Key points about Flows:

    • You can create multiple Flows.

    • Only one Flow can be active at a time.

    • The active Flow is highlighted and shown on the Preview Player.

    • When the stream is live (after clicking "Start Production"), the active Flow appears in the Preview Player.

  5. Add media to a Flow:

    Each Flow can contain different types of media:

    • Livestreams: a stream you've already set up in your Castr dashboard

    • Videos: pre-uploaded content from your Video Hosting library.

    • Images: static graphics (e.g., “Be Right Back”)

    • URLs: external web source if supported

    Once your've added media to a Flow, you can see all media here and you can:

    • Drag to reorder items

    • Toggle to show/hide

    • Scale medias contents

    • Reposition media contents

    • Edit details or swap for different content

    • Adjust audio level for Livestream and Video contents

    • Sync audio for Livestream and Video contents

    • Remove items you no longer need

  6. Destination:

    Choose where the final program output goes. You can create/select a Castr Livestream as the output destination.

  7. Resolution:

    Select between 720p and 1080p resolution for the outgoing stream. Currently only 720p is allowed for all accounts, if you need 1080p, contact sales.

  8. Start Production

    This is your "go live" switch. When clicked, the feed from the active Flow appears in the Preview Player and is sent to your Destination.

Cloud Production Workflow

Example Workflow: Two camera basketball game.

  1. Create two Flows: Camera 1 and Camera 2.

  2. In Camera 1, add the livestream that carries the Camera 1 feed.

  3. In Camera 2, add the livestream that carries the Camera 2 feed.

  4. Select your Destination (a Castr Livestream) and click "Start stream".

  5. Switch between Camera 1 and Camera 2 Flows as the action moves on court.

Use Cases

  1. Show a “Be Right Back” or sponsor slate during breaks

  2. Play a video segment between live segments

  3. Run multi-camera productions (sports, conferences, performances)

  4. Build thematic Flows (e.g., “Host Cam”, “Stage Cam”, “Highlights”, “Intermission”)

  5. Use URLs as overlays (e.g. overlay graphics or widgets from services like StreamElements or Singular.Live). These external‐web sources can be added as URLs in a Flow, and will display on top of your stream. This is especially useful for chat widgets, alerts, lower thirds, ticker banners, etc.

and many more...

Important Information

  1. Cloud Production is currently in beta and available on all plans.

  2. Each streaming session stays active for 30 minutes. After this period, you'll need to start a new session to continue broadcasting.

  3. You must have a Castr Livestream created and configured to use as your output destination.

  4. The standard player has a latency of about 35 seconds, while the Low Latency player reduces it to around 7 seconds. Choose the player that best fits your event needs.


​Getting Started: Ready to create professional live productions? We're excited to see what you'll build with CLoud Production!

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