Advanced Use Cases

Here we present some advanced use cases. Start with the basic setup above and continue here.

Create a Broadcast Configuration

Here we create a custom configuration with two mixer slots that allow us to bind two video sources to the mixer. One (custom) is full screen and laid out behind the other (camera), which is smaller and in the bottom-right corner. Note that for the custom slot we do not set a position, size, or aspect mode. Because we do not set these parameters, the slot will use the video settings for size and position.

BroadcastConfiguration config = BroadcastConfiguration.with($ -> {
    $.audio.setBitrate(128_000);
    $.video.setMaxBitrate(3_500_000);
    $.video.setMinBitrate(500_000);
    $.video.setInitialBitrate(1_500_000);
    $.video.setSize(1280, 720);
    $.mixer.slots = new BroadcastConfiguration.Mixer.Slot[] {
            BroadcastConfiguration.Mixer.Slot.with(slot -> {
                // Do not automatically bind to a source
                slot.setPreferredAudioInput(
                           Device.Descriptor.DeviceType.UNKNOWN);
                // Bind to user image if unbound
                slot.setPreferredVideoInput(
                           Device.Descriptor.DeviceType.USER_IMAGE);
                slot.setName("custom");
                return slot;
            }),
            BroadcastConfiguration.Mixer.Slot.with(slot -> {
                slot.setzIndex(1);
                slot.setAspect(BroadcastConfiguration.AspectMode.FILL);
                slot.setSize(300, 300);
                slot.setPosition($.video.getSize().x - 350,
                        $.video.getSize().y - 350);
                slot.setName("camera");
                return slot;
            })
    };
    return $;
});

Create the Broadcast Session (Advanced Version)

Create a BroadcastSession as you did in the basic example, but provide your custom configuration here. Also provide null for the device array, as we will add those manually.

// Create a broadcast-session instance and sign up to receive broadcast
// events and errors.
Context ctx = getApplicationContext();
broadcastSession = new BroadcastSession(ctx,
                       broadcastListener,
                       config, // The configuration we created above
                       null); // We’ll manually attach devices after

Iterate and Attach a Camera Device

Here we iterate through input devices that the SDK has detected. On Android 7 (Nougat) this will only return default microphone devices, because the Amazon IVS Broadcast SDK does not support selecting non-default devices on this version of Android.

Once we find a device that we want to use, we call attachDevice to attach it. A lambda function is called on the main thread when attaching the input device has completed. In case of failure, you will receive an error in the Listener.

for(Device.Descriptor desc: BroadcastSession.listAvailableDevices(getApplicationContext())) {
    if(desc.type == Device.Descriptor.DeviceType.CAMERA &&
            desc.position == Device.Descriptor.Position.FRONT) {
        session.attachDevice(desc, device -> {
            LinearLayout previewHolder = findViewById(R.id.previewHolder);
            ImagePreviewView preview = ((ImageDevice)device).getPreviewView();
            preview.setLayoutParams(new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
                    LinearLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
                    LinearLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT));
            previewHolder.addView(preview);
            // Bind the camera to the mixer slot we created above.
            session.getMixer().bind(device, "camera");
        });
        break;
    }
}

Swap Cameras

// This assumes you’ve kept a reference called "currentCamera" that points to
// a front facing camera
for(Device device: BroadcastSession.listAvailableDevices()) {
   if(device.type == Device.Descriptor.DeviceType.CAMERA &&
          Device.position != currentCamera.position) {
        // Remove the preview view for the old device.
        // setImagePreviewTextureView is an example function 
        // that handles your view hierarchy.
        setImagePreviewView(null);
        session.exchangeDevices(currentCamera, device, camera -> {
             // Set the preview view for the new device.
             setImagePreviewView(camera.getPreviewView());
             currentCamera = camera;
        });
        break;
   }
}

Create an Input Surface

To input sound or image data that your app generates, use createImageInputSource or createAudioInputSource. Both these methods create and attach virtual devices that can be bound to the mixer like any other device.

The SurfaceSource returned by createImageInputSource has a getInputSurface method, which will give you a Surface that you can use with the Camera2 API, OpenGL, or Vulkan, or anything else that can write to a Surface.

The AudioDevice returned by createAudioInputSource can receive Linear PCM data generated by AudioRecorder or other means.

SurfaceSource source = session.createImageInputSource();
Surface surface = source.getInputSurface();
session.getMixer().bind(source, “custom”);

Detach a Device

If you want to detach and not replace a device, detach it with Device or Device.Descriptor.

session.detachDevice(currentCamera);

Screen and System Audio Capture

The Amazon IVS Broadcast SDK for Android includes some helpers that simplify capturing the device’s screen (Android 5 and higher) and system audio (Android 10 and higher). If you want to manage these manually, you can create a custom image-input source and a custom audio-input source.

To create a screen and system audio-capture session, you must first create a permission-request intent:

public void startScreenCapture() {
    MediaProjectionManager manager =
                         (MediaProjectionManager) getApplicationContext()
                         .getSystemService(Context.MEDIA_PROJECTION_SERVICE);
    if(manager != null) {
        Intent intent = manager.createScreenCaptureIntent();
        startActivityIfNeeded(intent, SCREEN_CAPTURE_REQUEST_ID);
    }
}

To use this feature, you must provide a class that extends com.amazonaws.ivs.broadcast.SystemCaptureService. You do not have to override any of its methods, but the class needs to be there to avoid any potential collisions between services.

You also must add a couple of elements to your Android manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE" />
<application ...>
    <service android:name=".ExampleSystemCaptureService"
         android:foregroundServiceType="mediaProjection" 
         android:isolatedProcess="false" />
</application>
...

Your class that extends SystemCaptureService must be named in the <service> element. On Android 9 and later, the foregroundServiceType must be mediaProjection.

Once the permissions intent has returned, you may proceed with creating the screen and system audio-capture session. On Android 8 and later, you must provide a notification to be displayed in your user’s Notification Panel. The Amazon IVS Broadcast SDK for Android provides the convenience method createServiceNotificationBuilder. Alternately, you may provide your own notification.

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if(requestCode != SCREEN_CAPTURE_REQUEST_ID
       || Activity.RESULT_OK != resultCode) {
        return;
    }
    Notification notification = null;
    if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 26) {
        Intent intent = new Intent(getApplicationContext(),
                                   NotificationActivity.class);
        notification = session
                         .createServiceNotificationBuilder("example",
                                            "example channel", intent)
                         .build();
    }
    session.createSystemCaptureSources(data,
                  ExampleSystemCaptureService.class,
                  Notification,
                  devices -> {
        // This step is optional if the mixer slots have been given preferred
        // input device types SCREEN and SYSTEM_AUDIO
        for (Device device : devices) {
            session.getMixer().bind(device, "game");
        }
    });
}

Get Recommended Broadcast Settings

To evaluate your user’s connection before starting a broadcast, use the recommendedVideoSettings method to run a brief test. As the test runs, you will receive several recommendations, ordered from most to least recommended. In this version of the SDK, it is not possible to reconfigure the current BroadcastSession, so you will need to release() it and then create a new one with the recommended settings. You will continue to receive BroadcastSessionTest.Results until the Result.status is SUCCESS or ERROR. You can check progress with Result.progress.

Amazon IVS supports a maximum bitrate of 8.5 Mbps (for channels whose type is STANDARD or ADVANCED), so the maximumBitrate returned by this method never exceeds 8.5 Mbps. To account for small fluctuations in network performance, the recommended initialBitrate returned by this method is slightly less than the true bitrate measured in the test. (Using 100% of the available bandwidth usually is inadvisable.)

void runBroadcastTest() {
    this.test = session.recommendedVideoSettings(RTMPS_ENDPOINT, RTMPS_STREAMKEY,
        result -> {
            if (result.status == BroadcastSessionTest.Status.SUCCESS) {
                this.recommendation = result.recommendations[0];
            }
        });
}

Using Bluetooth Microphones

To broadcast using Bluetooth microphone devices, you must start a Bluetooth SCO connection:

Bluetooth.startBluetoothSco(context);
// Now bluetooth microphones can be used
…
// Must also stop bluetooth SCO
Bluetooth.stopBluetoothSco(context);