User Guides

Add VOD Content

Upload on-demand content through the CMS VOD Uploader, the Slicer application, or the command line.

On-demand content may be added to your library through the CMS, Slicer, or Slicebot. Slicebot, an automation tool, establishes a workflow through which content may be added to your library as it is generated.

Quick Start

Add on-demand content to your library through any of the following methods:

  • CMS: Use the VOD Uploader to upload individual files or bulk upload media from an entire folder.

  • Slicer Application: Drag and drop media onto the Slicer application. View tutorial.

  • Command Line: Pass options through the command line to define Slicer credentials and how content will be ingested into your library.

VOD Uploader

VOD Uploader allows you to:

  • Bulk upload a folder's content from your local machine or an Amazon S3 bucket.
  • Upload the desired file(s) from your local machine by either dragging and dropping them into the CMS or by browsing and selecting the desired files.
  • Upload a single media file at a time from a public HTTP/HTTPS URL.

Key Information

  • The maximum file size is 90 GB.

  • Subfolders are unsupported when uploading content by folder.

  • For content uploaded from your local machine, VOD Uploader applies Slicebot configuration settings in the following order:

    • VOD Uploader Template: A template containing a predefined set of Slicebot configuration settings allows you to apply a base configuration to uploaded content.

    • File-Specific Customization: Define an external ID, ad breaks, metadata fields, or timed metadata for one or more file(s) in your upload queue.

    • Slicebot Configuration File: A Slicebot configuration file determines how files uploaded to our service will be processed.

    Note: A Slicebot configuration file takes precedence over a VOD Uploader template or file-specific settings defined when uploading a file.

  • VOD Uploader automatically detects sidecar TTML files and Slicebot configuration files when uploading content by URL or folder. It checks for files that adhere to the following file naming convention:

    {Filename}.ttml

{Filename}.cfg
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    VOD Uploader will not autodetect sidecar TTML files or Slicebot configuration files when you upload content by dragging and dropping it.

    Example

    If you are uploading a media file whose filename is basketball.mp4, then VOD Uploader will automatically check for the following files:

    basketball.mp4.ttml

basketball.mp4.cfg

  • Amazon S3 bucket: You may upload content from a:

  • Public bucket.

  • Private Bucket: This requires a S3 URI. You will also need to provide your access key ID and your secret access key from within the Key and Secret options, respectively.

  • Attempting to upload content from private URLs will typically generate a 403 Forbidden error.

  • If you are uploading content from Dropbox, change the query string from ?dl=0 to ?dl=1 to prevent Dropbox from attempting playback.

Add Content through VOD Uploader

VOD Uploader

  1. Navigate to theVOD Uploader Page by navigating to Content > VOD Uploader.

  2. Add Media from Your Local Machine

    • Verify that Local Files is selected.
    • Perform one of the following steps:
      • Drag and Drop: Drag and drop media anywhere on the page.
      • Browse Files: Select Browse files, choose the desired media files, and then select Open.
      • Browse Folders: Select Browse folders, choose a folder that contains the desired media, and then select Upload. When prompted, select Upload to confirm that all media files from that folder will be added to your CMS library.
    • Optional: Select a VOD Uploader template to apply to all local files in your upload queue.
    • Optional: Define an external ID, ad breaks, metadata fields, or timed metadata for one or more file(s) in your upload queue:
      • Select Customize next to the desired file.
      • Define the desired settings.
      • Select Save.

  3. Add Media from a Public HTTP/HTTPS URL or a Private S3 Bucket

    • Select Remote URL and then:

      • Type a URL that points to either the desired media file or a folder that contains the set of media files that will be uploaded.

      • Dropbox: If uploading media from Dropbox, change the query string from ?dl=0 to ?dl=1.

      • Amazon S3:

        • For a public S3 bucket, proceed to the next step.
        • For a private S3 bucket using a S3 URI, provide your access key ID and secret access key in the Key and Secret fields, respectively.

    • Optional: If your previous attempt to upload this content failed, clear the Overwrite existing files option to prevent previously uploaded files from being uploaded again.

  4. Start the Upload

    • Select Start Upload. The VOD Uploader will upload and then encode your content. Track the progress in the Active & Recent Uploads section.
    • Once you start a job, you may safely navigate to another page while VOD Uploader processes your content.

VOD Uploader Template

Apply a base set of Slicebot configuration settings to uploaded content by assigning a VOD Uploader template. A VOD Uploader template contains the following Slicebot configuration settings:

Add to Libraries | Auto Expire Hours | Auto Replace | Forced Aspect Ratio | Mix Audio Tracks | Poster Size | Poster Offset | Skip Playback Token | Supress Closed Captions

Create a VOD Uploader Template

  1. Navigate to the VOD Uploader Templates Page by navigating to Settings > VOD Uploader Templates.

  2. Add a New Template

    • Select + Add Template.
    • In the Template Name field, assign a name to this VOD Uploader template.
    • Define the desired settings.
    • Select Save.

Modify a VOD Uploader Template

  1. Navigate to the VOD Uploader Templates Page by navigating to Settings > VOD Uploader Templates.

  2. Edit the Template

    • Select the desired template.
    • Modify the desired settings.
    • Select Save.

Delete a VOD Uploader Template

  1. Navigate to the VOD Uploader Templates Page by navigating to Settings > VOD Uploader Templates.

  2. Delete the Template

    • Select the desired template.
    • Select Delete.

Format

VOD Uploader, the Slicer, and Slicebot are compatible with standard audio/video file formats (e.g., mov, mpeg/mpg, avi, m4v, and mkv).

Do not reprocess content solely to prepare it for slicing. Let the VOD Uploader, Slicer, or Slicebot process it in its current format. Incompatible file formats will generate an error message.

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Unflattened reference files are unsupported.

Recommended codecs/container

  • Video Codec: H.264 or H.265
  • Audio Codec: AAC
  • Container: MP4

Generate high quality output by using a high quality source. However, the source's bit rate should not exceed 25 Mbps, since this will slow down processing without a noticeable improvement in output quality.

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All assets are encoded at approximately the same level of loudness. This is achieved by applying gain or attenuation to the source audio as needed.

Encoding Profiles

By default, audio/video is encoded using the HD 720p25/30 encoding profile. This encoding profile has a maximum resolution of 1280x720. Contact your account manager to upgrade to a different encoding profile.

Learn more about Encoding Profiles.

Color Space

By default, an asset's color standard is converted to either HDR10 or SDR according to whether your encoding profile supports HDR.

Encoding ProfileColor Standard (Source)Color Standard (Output)
HDRHybrid Log-Gamma (HLG), HDR, or SDRHDR10
SDRHLG, HDR, or SDRSDR

Custom Color Representation

Customize color representation conversion by assigning a lookup table (LUT) to the desired color space conversion. Define this mapping through the rgb_lut setting.

Key Information

  • Verify that your LUT adheres to Adobe's Cube LUT Specification 1.0.

  • You may define multiple RGB LUTs to adjust for different input assets. The output asset's color standard (i.e., HDR10 or SDR) determines the configuration that will be used. If multiple LUTs have been defined for that color standard, the configuration that best matches the input asset's color space and range will be used.

  • By default, the output asset's color space uses a narrow (i.e., limited) range (16 - 235). You may define the desired range when configuring the rgb_lut setting.

    Slicer Example

    The following configuration uses a custom LUT to generate an HDR 10 asset with a full range when the input asset is HLG:

    -rgb_lut hlg hdr10,full /path/mylut.cube

  • Alternatively, you may explicitly define a color space, a color primary, the transformation characteristics, and the range.

    Slicer Example

    The following configuration is equivalent to the above sample configuration:

    -rgb_lut colorspace:bt2020nc,primaries:bt2020,trc:arib-std-b67,range:tv colorspace:bt2020nc,primaries:bt2020,trc:smpte2084,range:pc /path/mylut.cube

View Slicer syntax information.

Audio Codec

By default, your media's audio is encoded using the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) audio codec. However, you may configure it to encode an audio track into Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) and AAC subtracks by passing the dolby switch.

Default Channel Layout for Dolby

C L R RL RR LFE

If the source audio track is stereo, then the subtrack will contain 4 muted channels (i.e., C RL RR LFE). If the source audio track contains more than 6 channels, then it will be automatically downmixed to Dolby 5.1.

Use the mix and nexttrack switches to apply a custom mix to your audio subtracks. For example, if your source audio track contains 8 channels, you may use the mix switch to map the first 6 channels to 5.1 and the last two channels to stereo.

Slicer Examples

This first example generates an audio track that contains AAC and Dolby 5.1 subtracks:

./slicer ... -audiodesc english -dolby -atrack 0

This second example generates these audio tracks:

  • Track 1: AAC and Dolby 5.1 subtracks
  • Track 2: AAC subtrack

./slicer ... -audiodesc english -dolby -atrack 0 -audiodesc sap -atrack 1

This third example generates AAC and Dolby 5.1 subtracks for both audio tracks:

./slicer ... -audiodesc english -dolby -atrack 0 -audiodesc sap -dolby -atrack 1

Add Multiple Audio Tracks

Use the following Slicer syntax to associate multiple audio tracks with a video:

... -audiodesc "Value 1" -lang Value 1 -atrack Value 1 -audiodesc "Value 2" -lang Value 2 -atrack Value 2 -audiodesc "Value 3" -lang Value 3 -atrack Value 3 ...

Example

./slicer -u joe -apikey abcDEFghiJKLmnoPQRtuvWXYz123ABCdefGHIJKL ..\Videos\marketing.mp4 -audiodesc "First Track" -lang en -atrack 0 -audiodesc "Second Track" -lang sp -atrack 1 -audiodesc "Third Track" -lang fr -atrack 2

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A single video may be associated with up to 31 audio tracks.

Slicer Command Line

VOD Uploader provides an easy way to add content to the library. An alternative method that allows more flexibility when adding content is the command line mode.

The Slicer requires authorization to add content. Authorization credentials may be specified via the -u and -apikey options or by defining the SLICER_USER and SLICER_APIKEY environment variables.

Add Content through the Command Line

  1. Open the command prompt.
  2. Navigate to the directory where the Slicer was installed.
  3. Launch the Slicer by passing your credentials and the path to the desired on-demand content.

Syntax

./slicer -u UserName -apikey APIKey MediaFile(RelativePath) AdditionalOptions

The progress of this job will be reported in both the command line and the CMS.

Locate API Keys

  1. Navigate to the Integration Keys page by clicking the Settings tab and then clicking Integration Keys from the side navigation tab.
  2. Your API key(s) are listed under the API Keys section.

See Slicer CLI Arguments for more details.

Updated 7 days ago

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