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For a temporary live event, the basic AWS delivery path is source → AWS Elemental MediaLive → AWS Elemental MediaPackage → Amazon CloudFront → viewer. MediaLive ingests and transcodes the live feed, MediaPackage packages it for playback, and CloudFront delivers it to your website or player. For a first deployment, AWS’s MediaLive workflow wizard can provision a supported workflow; for more control, configure MediaPackage and CloudFront yourself.
Which AWS services do you need?
Each service has a distinct job in the channel:
- Source: Supplies the live video and audio. It may be an encoder or another supported input source.
- AWS Elemental MediaLive: Receives the source and transcodes it into the output configured for the channel.
- AWS Elemental MediaPackage: Receives encoder output and exposes packaged live content through endpoints.
- Amazon CloudFront: Uses MediaPackage as an origin and distributes the stream to viewers.
- Player or website: Presents the delivered stream to your audience. Choose formats your actual players and devices support.
AWS’s reference architecture packages HLS, DASH, and CMAF outputs for delivery through MediaPackage endpoints and CloudFront. These are format options, not a guarantee that one format is best for every audience; test playback with your intended player and device mix. AWS Live Streaming on AWS solution overview
Choose an input and deployment route
Start with the source you actually have and check that it is supported by the input path you plan to use. The MediaLive workflow wizard documents these input options:
- A MediaConnect flow
- AWS Elemental Link
- A mobile phone or webcam using RTMP
- An MP4 file on Amazon S3 or an HTTP server
The phone and webcam options are supported wizard inputs; that does not make them a universal production recommendation. Confirm that the source and connection meet the needs of your event before relying on them.
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Lower-touch route: MediaLive workflow wizard
Use the wizard when its supported input and output choices fit your event and you want AWS to create the workflow resources. Depending on the selected workflow, it can create a CloudFormation stack containing a MediaLive input and channel, plus other required resources. Review the selected workflow and the resources it will create before deployment. The wizard supports documented combinations rather than every possible source and delivery design. AWS Elemental MediaLive workflow wizard
Manual route: MediaPackage v2 and CloudFront
Choose a manual configuration when you need to control the MediaPackage v2 structure or how delivery is connected. The essential MediaPackage sequence is channel group, channel, then endpoint. The channel receives the encoder output; the endpoint exposes packaged content for a player or CDN. AWS Elemental MediaPackage user guide
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How to get a live stream from MediaLive to CloudFront
- Prepare the source. Identify the feed and confirm that it matches the selected MediaLive input route. If you use the workflow wizard, choose one of its documented source types.
- Create the MediaLive input and channel. Use the wizard for a supported managed workflow or configure the input and channel as part of your manual design. Set the output to feed the downstream packaging destination required by that design.
- Set up MediaPackage. For the manual v2 path, create a channel group, create a channel, and create an endpoint. Connect the MediaLive output to the appropriate MediaPackage channel so the encoder output can be packaged and served through the endpoint.
- Configure CloudFront with MediaPackage as the origin. Point the distribution at the MediaPackage endpoint and configure the viewer-facing delivery for the formats you intend to support. AWS’s reference solution protects requests from CloudFront to MediaPackage using a CDN identifier in a custom header. Follow the applicable AWS configuration rather than copying a real secret into code, a public page, or an example. AWS Live Streaming on AWS architecture overview
- Connect your player or website and test. Use the appropriate playback URL and test the stream on the devices and players your audience is likely to use. Verify that video and audio play and that the selected HLS, DASH, or CMAF delivery works for your target mix.
Plan resilience, access, and operations
Decide whether you need redundant feeds
AWS’s reference solution ingests two feeds, with a MediaLive processing each feed. Treat that as a more resilient reference pattern for an event where continuity matters, not as a mandatory setup for every pop-up channel. A simpler event may use a single feed, but it does not have the same two-feed arrangement. AWS Live Streaming on AWS architecture overview
Protect the origin path
If you use CloudFront in front of MediaPackage, configure authorization between them where your design requires it. In the AWS reference solution, CloudFront sends a CDN identifier in a custom header to authorize requests to MediaPackage. Treat credentials and identifiers used for access as configuration secrets; do not publish actual values in a tutorial, client-side code, or a public repository.
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Observe the event and clean up afterward
Decide who will monitor the channel and delivery path while the event is live. AWS’s reference architecture includes service logs and CloudTrail observability. After the program ends, review the deployed resources and delete the event stack when it is no longer needed, following the cleanup steps for the deployment you chose. Teardown is operational cleanup; it does not by itself establish a particular bill amount or savings.
Cost and scope
AWS service costs depend on the configuration and usage of the workflow. A temporary channel is not automatically inexpensive simply because it is temporary, and there is no single price for the architecture described here. Before deployment, use current AWS service pricing pages and the AWS Pricing Calculator for the regions, resource settings, and event duration you plan to use.
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When AWS is not the right fit for the job
This AWS workflow is for delivering a live event from a live source through cloud encoding, packaging, and CDN delivery. If your goal instead is to keep a prerecorded video looping as a 24/7 YouTube live stream, that is a different use case from the event pipeline above.
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