Broadcast a Live Event

If the live event has been scheduled and configured to automatically start/stop, then no additional actions need to be taken.

Broadcast a Live Event

1. Navigate to the Live Events page. From the main menu, navigate to Events > Live Events.

2. Select the desired live event to open it.

3. Click Open Dashboard.

4. Verify Connection:
   Ensure a connection was established to the Live Slicer(s) associated with the live event configuration. A live event may be managed over the internet provided that a firewall does not prevent communication between the Live Events Dashboard and the Live Slicer. Otherwise, the operator should load the Live Events Dashboard from within the same network as the Live Slicer.

   Troubleshooting:
   If a connection to the Live Slicer cannot be established, verify that SSL support has been added to the Live Slicer. Alternatively, look for a warning icon in the browser's address bar. Click on that icon to accept the potential security risk of loading content via HTTP alongside HTTPS traffic. Eliminate this security risk by adding SSL support to the Live Slicer.

5. Test the live event via the Live Events Dashboard. This step may be skipped by removing the live event testing requirement from the Live Events page.

6. Start the Live Event: Monitor the live stream to identify the starting point of the live event and then start the live event from the Live Events Dashboard.

   Best Practices:

   • If you are monitoring multiple live events, consider the following steps to reduce CPU usage:
     • Launch the player in a separate window by clicking View in New Window.
     • Close the source and audience view by clearing the Slicer Live Preview and Audience View options from the View menu.
   • Optional: Publish your live event to one or more social media platforms.

7. Optional. Publish your live event to one or more social media platforms.

8. Manage Ad Breaks and Slate Content:

   Insert an Ad Break:

   • Ad Pods:
     Select the desired ad pod to queue it up. Select the same ad pod to start the break. The ad break's current duration will be indicated next to the ad pod. The ad pod will automatically end upon reaching the ad pod's duration.

     📘

     This method is only supported for ad pods defined within the Pod Format tab of the live event configuration.

   • Manually:
     Click Ad Break. The Switcher pane will indicate the total duration of the ad break. End the ad break by clicking the Slicer tile. The feed will switch over to the content generated by the Live Slicer selected under the Slicers pane.

   Insert Slate:

   • Start inserting slate by finding the desired asset from within the Mid Event Slate section and then either clicking on it or the Save to Replay option.

• Upon selecting the desired slate content, the Switcher pane will indicate the total duration of slate content. Click the Slicer tile to switch back to the content generated by the Live Slicer selected under the Slicers pane.

9. Monitor the live stream to identify the ending point of the live event and then stop the live event from the Live Events Dashboard. It is possible to resume a live event after it has been stopped.

Verify Live Slicer Connectivity

The Live Events Dashboard indicates a Live Slicer's status using the following indicators:

• Connected (Green): Indicates that the Live Events Dashboard can communicate with the Live Slicer.
• Slow Connection (Yellow): Indicates that the Live Events Dashboard is experiencing latency when communicating with the Live Slicer. If multiple Live Slicers have been associated with the live event configuration, consider switching to a "Connected" Live Slicer.
• Disconnected (Red): Indicates that the Live Events Dashboard cannot communicate with the Live Slicer. If multiple Live Slicers have been associated with the live event configuration, it is strongly recommended to switch to a different one.

Test a Live Event

The Live Events Dashboard contains a test mode that allows an operator to validate source content and replicate the viewing experience prior to the start of the live event.

Test a Live Event

1. Load the Live Event in the Live Events Dashboard.

2. Click Enter Event.

3. Click Start Test.

4. When prompted to confirm this action, click Start Testing.

5. Optional. Once testing is complete, click Complete Test twice to exit this mode and prepare for the start of the live event.

In this mode, you can perform the following tests:

1. Verify Audio/Video Sources:

   • Slicer:
     Click on the thumbnail under the Switcher pane to view the content being ingested by the Live Slicer selected under the Slicers pane. Selecting a different Live Slicer will automatically update this thumbnail to show the feed from the newly selected Live Slicer. This feature allows quick failover to a different Live Slicer if the current one experiences issues. It is strongly recommended to fail over only to a backup Live Slicer ingesting an identical audio/video feed, not for switching between alternate feeds.

   • Ad Break:
     This thumbnail displays the content being ingested from a third-party ad server.

   • Slate:
     The remaining thumbnails list the assets available for mid-event slate.

2. Replicate Viewer Experience:

   • Play back the stream via the sample media player provided in the Audience View pane. This player streams the source defined in the Switcher pane using a playback URL with the same query string parameters used by custom media players during the live event.

   • Customize the playback URL by defining parameters in the URL Params setting. Click Update to apply the new playback URL to the Audience View preview.

Slicer Live Preview & Audience View

The Slicer Live Preview pane provides a real-time preview of the source selected in the Switcher pane, while the Audience View pane provides an approximation of a viewer's experience.

Key information

• The Audience View preview lags behind the live audio/video feed. This delay replicates the viewing experience.

• The real-time preview provided by the Slicer Live Preview pane requires:

  • Live Slicer version 16062200
  • Live Slicer configuration settings: Update the Live Slicer configuration file (/etc/uplynk.conf) to include the following settings:

Start or Stop a Live Event

Broadcast a live event to viewers by starting it. This triggers the following actions:

• The live stream switches from pre-event slate to the source currently selected in the Switcher pane.
• The Live Slicer starts slicing to an asset in the CMS library.

Once the live event is over, it must be stopped. This triggers the following actions:

• The live stream switches from the currently selected source to post-event slate.
• An on-demand version of the asset will be added to the CMS library. The live event's configuration determines whether this asset will be available for immediate playback. Learn more about on-demand content.

Start and Stop a Live Event

1. Test the Live Event: Once testing has been completed, click Complete Test twice to exit testing mode and prepare for the live event.

2. Start the Live Event: When ready to start the live event, click Start Event. Confirm the action when prompted by clicking Start Event again.

3. Stop the Live Event: Once the live event is complete, click End Event twice to switch the stream over to post-event slate content.

4. Failover to a Different Live Slicer: If multiple Live Slicers are associated with the live event configuration, you can quickly fail over the stream by selecting the feed from a different Live Slicer in the Slicers pane.

View Live Event Details

The following live event information may be viewed at any time after entering the event by clicking the Event Details tab:

• Pre-event slate: A live event's pre-event slate may be changed from this tab prior to the start of the live event.

• Metadata associated with the live event configuration

• Audit log data that tracks major events (e.g., event creation, source switching, event started/ended, etc.). Audited events may be posted to your web server.

Resume a Live Event

A live event may be resumed for a short window (i.e., 1 to 5 minutes) after it has been stopped. This capability allows an operator to undo a premature stop event action.

Key Information

• The length of this window is determined by the Minutes option defined under the Resume Event Buffer section. You can find this option by navigating to the Buffers tab of the Live Events page.
• Ensure that the After Event Buffer option defined under the System Conflict Buffers section meets or exceeds the length of time defined in the Minutes option.
• If a resume event buffer has been defined, the Live Events Dashboard will count down the remaining time an operator has to resume the event upon stopping it.
• The maximum value for the Minutes option is 5 minutes.
• Post-processing (e.g., creating on-demand content from a live event) will not start until after this window expires.
• Additional content sliced after resuming a live event will be included in the CMS asset generated from the live event.

Conflicting Scheduled Events

The following warning indicators will be triggered when overlapping events on the same Live Slicer are detected:

• Yellow Highlighting: The Live Events page will apply yellow highlighting to each live event that has a scheduling conflict.
• Warning Icon: When viewing a live event configuration that has a scheduling conflict, the Slicers tab will display a warning icon and list all of the live events that conflict with it under the Conflicted Events column. Click on a live event to view and update its schedule.

Default Detection: By default, overlapping events are detected via a live event's expected start/stop time. However, a live event may potentially start early or extend beyond the scheduled stop time. Account for these factors by setting before and/or after event buffers to pad live events. Before and after event buffers are applied to all live events.

Manual Checks: The Live Events Dashboard will only check whether a scheduling conflict will occur for scheduled live events. Before manually starting a live event, verify that it does not conflict with scheduled live events. Additionally, verify that the Live Slicer has not been associated with a live channel.

Example Scenario

Assume the following conditions:

• A live event has the following schedule:
  • Expected Start Time: 11/11/2016 at 06:00 PM
  • Expected Stop Time: 11/11/2016 at 08:00 PM
• The before event buffer has been set to 15 minutes.
• The after event buffer has been set to 45 minutes.

In this scenario, a warning will be generated if another live event is scheduled on the same Live Slicer that meets either of the following conditions:

• Expected Start Time: 11/11/2016 before 09:00 PM
• Expected Stop Time: 11/11/2016 after 05:00 PM

Syndication Publishing

In addition to streaming content directly to your consumers, you may also simultaneously distribute it to multiple social media and content distribution platforms with minimal effort.

Set up Syndication Publishing:

1. Create a publishing target for each desired social media or content distribution platform.
2. Publish to the desired platform(s) by associating the desired publishing target(s) with your live event.