Streaming User Guide

Initial Setup

These setup/configuration steps need to be performed on both the Server and Viewer prior to any connection attempts. Currently the server only runs on Windows. The Linux version has been mothballed.

Server:

Determine Server IP Address

Some of the steps below require the server’s IP address. This depends on the network configuration of the server and client:

  • If the server and client are running on the same machine, then use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost.

  • If both machines are running on the same LAN, then the server’s LAN IP address can be used (probably starting with 192.).

  • If the client will be accessing the server from another network, then the server’s public IP, or external IP, address will be used.

OpenSpace Software

  • Checkout the feature/streaming branch of OpenSpace (Clone with --recurse-submodules). In addition, verify that the sgct submodule within OpenSpace (apps/OpenSpace/ext/sgct) is using the thesis/2022/streaming branch (or at the correct commit to match).

  • Configure and generate the OpenSpace project in CMake with the SGCT_GSTREAMER_SUPPORT checkbox enabled

  • Build OpenSpace (Preferably using RelWithDebInfo configuration).

  • Edit openspace.cfg

    • Add the viewer(s) IP-address(es) to ModuleConfigurations > Server > AllowAddresses.

    • Make sure that ModuleConfiguration > Server > Interfaces > Type = “WebSocket” > DefaultAccess is set to Allow.

  • Enable developer mode for the front-end GUI

    • Go to data/assets/customization/gui.asset and change the webguiDevelopmentMode flag to true.

    • (Optional) Go to data/assets/util/webgui.asset to see how the ports and routes are setup.

OpenSpace-WebGuiFrontend Software

  • Install Node.js and npm if necessary.

  • Checkout the feature/streaming-2024 branch of OpenSpace-WebGuiFrontend.

  • In src/api/Environment.js, set wsAddress to the server IP address discussed above.

  • In environment.js, also set wsAddress to the server IP address.

  • In WebRTCStreaming.jsx set the signalingServer to the server IP address.

  • Verify that the GStreamer pipeline (pipelineDescription) in gstreamerWebRTC.h looks good for your use case.

  • Setup the developer frontend GUI

    • Open a terminal, go to OpenSpace-WebGuiFrontend

    • Run npm install when running first time, ensure that there are no errors. You can add the --legacy-peer-deps option if there are dependency problems.

  • Setup the signaling server

    • Open another terminal, go to OpenSpace-WebGuiFrontend/src/signalingserver

    • Run npm install when running first time.

Viewer:

  • Use a Chromium based browser (e.g. Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge)

  • The Chrome browser won’t trust the source of the video streaming if it comes from a non-secure server (plain http rather than https). If the server does not have an SSL certificate, go to chrome://flags and add the server’s IP-address and port under the “Insecure origins treated as secure”-section. An address entered here should look like http://192.168.1.39:4690. Note that this step is not necessary if running both the Server and Viewer on the same machine using 127.0.0.1.

Starting a Remote Viewing Session

Do all of the following steps in one sequence, starting with the Server.

Server:

  1. Start the developer frontend GUI in a terminal at OpenSpace-WebGuiFrontend - Run npm start to start frontend GUI (no need to restart if already running)

  2. Start the signaling server in a terminal at OpenSpace-WebGuiFrontend/src/signalingserver - Run node signalingserver to start the server

  3. Start OpenSpace - Run OpenSpace.exe, and select the remote_gstreamer_output config option in the Window Options popup menu - If desired, you can use a direct command to bypass the launcher: bin\RelWithDebInfo\OpenSpace.exe -c config\remote_gstreamer_output.json -b

Viewer:

  1. In a browser, open the URL for the frontend GUI, which should look like: 192.168.x.xx:4690/frontend/#/streaming (bookmark this for convenience)

  2. In the GUI, open the streaming menu (icon of a computer with an arrow on it), and click “Join session”

  3. After a few seconds, the video feed should appear in the GUI, and you should be able to control the camera view with the mouse in the browser window.

  4. If there is a problem, refresh the browser and Join the session again. It won’t be necessary to restart the other components.