Add Additional Camera Angles or Sources to Your Live Sale

Want to include a close-up of a product or highlight an additional angle during a live sale? With Multi-Source, now you can! Multi Multi-host multihost

With CommentSold’s Multi-Source live sale option, you can add an additional camera view to your broadcast to help highlight product details and/or angles. 

For example, if your host has on a necklace or a pair of earrings, rather than getting up close and personal with their camera, you can add an additional camera feed that shows a close-up of the item on a necklace stand or flat surface. Or, maybe you want to add a second view of a model wearing a different product size or color.

Multi-source gives you full control over when and how the additional camera feed appears to your shoppers. You can turn it on when you’re ready to showcase products needing that additional view and turn it off when featuring products where it’s not necessary.

Below, we walk through the process of inviting a guest host to your live sale and how to manage the guest host feed once you’re live.

What’s Different About Going Live With Multi-Source

• Two feeds in one. Your two feeds will appear in the same frame, and you can control how they look. Options include fullscreen, split screen, and picture-in-picture. 
• No CS Broadcast app needed. You’ll use links from your Multi-Host Live Sale Overview to launch a browser-based camera on the device(s) you’ll use to broadcast.
• Add a second source after you go live. You don’t need to add that second feed in order to go live—you can add it while on-air via your Multi-Source Live Sale Overview.

Go Live with a Second Camera or Source

Step 1: Choose Multisource Live Sale Option

1. Select Live in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
2. Select Multisource Live from the options listed at the top of the page.

Step 2: Start Your Host Feed

Your first step is to start your host feed. At this stage, you’re simply transmitting your audio and video feeds to the Live Sale Overview for a preview–these feeds are not live yet.

There are three ways to start the feed: by scanning a QR code, copying and sending a link, or using the device where you or a team member are managing the sale.

1. Scan QR Code. Scan the QR code using the camera on the device the host will use to transmit the audio and visual feeds. The host will be prompted to log in using their CommentSold credentials.
2. Copy Link. Select this option to copy the browser-based broadcast link to your device. You can then text or email it to the main host’s device. This is a great option if your main host is in a different location than the team member managing the live sale. A main host will be prompted to log in using their CommentSold credentials.
3. Go Live on This Device. If the host plans to use the device where they’re viewing this page to broadcast their feeds, they can select this button or select the QR code to launch the browser-based broadcast window in a new tab.

Step 3: Start Your Second Source Feed

Once you have the host’s stream preview visible on your Live Overview, you can launch the broadcast browser window on your second source device. You won’t be asked to log in on this device.

1. Select Invite Guest at the bottom of the Live Stream Setup section.
2. On the Live Link Invitation pop-up, you have two options:
   • Scan the QR Code. Scan the QR code using your device’s camera and choose the option to Share the link. This will allow you to send the link to the second source device via email, text, or other options available on your device.
   • Copy Live Link. Copy the live link to your desktop clipboard, then paste it in a message or email to the second source device.

On the second source device, tap the link. This launches a broadcast camera window on the device’s browser.  If this is the first time using this device, you’ll need to allow the broadcast app to use the device’s camera and microphone.  You can then tap the red record button to share the feed to your Multi-Source Live Sale Overview. If your second source is in the same room as the host, we recommend muting the feed at this stage to remove background noise and echo.

Steps 4 & 5: Product Selection and Where to Go Live

Similar to the standard Go Live process, you can proceed with choosing the products you plan to feature during the live sale. You can choose a product selection or add products on the fly.

Once you select your products, you’ll indicate where you wish to go live (e.g., website, mobile app, Instagram, etc.). Once live, the team member managing the live sale will be able to add the guest host to the live sale.

Add the Second Source to Your Live Sale Broadcast

Once you start a live sale, the second source feed moves to a “backstage” or “waiting room” area. You will need to add this source to your live sale broadcast.

1. Locate the guest host feed to the right of the main feed and select Add to Live.
2. In the Add Guest to Live pop-up, choose how you wish the guest feed to appear:
   • Full screen. The solid blue option on the left will show the host or the second source as the primary feed. You can select the rotate icon on the right side of the pop-up to reverse which feed appears full screen.
   • Split screen. Divide the screen equally between the host and the second source. Feeds stack on top of each other and selecting the rotate icon on the right side of the pop-up changes which feed appears at the top.
   • Picture-in-picture. Have the second source feed appear in the bottom-right corner of the host’s feed. Select the rotate icon on the right side of the pop-up to swap the feed locations.
3. Once you choose your desired appearance, select Add to Live.

When your second source is live, you will see a red recording icon in the top-left corner of the feed. Your main preview will also reflect the view you just chose. 

Manage How Multiple Feeds Appear

Beneath the main feed, you’ll see three options that control how the host and second source feeds appear. These options are identical to those offered when you added the second source to the live.

• Full screen. The solid blue option on the left will show either the host or second source as the primary feed. 
• Split screen. Divide the screen equally between the host and second source. Feeds stack on top of each other.
• Picture-in-picture. Have the second source feed appear in the bottom-right corner of the host’s feed. 

With each option, you can select the rotate icon to the right of the options to switch perspectives (i.e., feature the guest host feed as primary with the host feed as the picture-in-picture image).

Remove the Second Source Feed from Your Live Sale

You have two options when removing the second source feed from your live sale: send the feed back into a “waiting room” or “off-air” state or end the second source feed completely.

1. Select the red X in the top-right corner of the second source feed.
2. On the Remove Guest Host from Live pop-up, select your desired option:
   • Send to waiting room. This option sends the feed to the “backstage” or “off-air” area where it can be added back later. To add it back in, simply select Add to Live to add them back.
   • Remove and deactivate invite link. This option removes the second source feed from the live and ends the device’s connection to the live sale. If you need to add the feed back, you’ll need to re-invite the device.
3. Select Remove Guest Host.