Channel Howto

Getting Started

ScaleEngine Channels are live streams, created in our web-based playout management system.

Channel playlists contain either VOD assets found in your sestore account, or live streams, or both. An active scheduled list will start playing in order from the beginning, and will loop over and over, creating the continuous "fake live" streaming channel.

It is very important that your VOD files are consistently encoded. You can see the details of your files in the file browser after they have been indexed. Ensure your content has the same profile, bitrates (+/- 10%) and frame size dimensions.

Uploading your Files

The simplest way to get a small amount of content into the storage system is to upload your video clips using your web browser, from our control panel. You can select multiple files and they will all upload immediately into your storage. Note that your internet upload is the limiting factor for speed. Our network connections to the internet are 10 gigabit.

All content is immediately visible and usable in the control panel File Browser, for channel building, getting a shareable download link, or generating a player for a website or app. Metadata "Details" take a few minutes to process and integrate into the display.

If you have a lot of content you may prefer to use an FTP client. Check the control panel for your storage system name under "FTP Bulk Upload". ScaleEngine storage is always referred to as an "sestore". Login to the system with your ScaleEngine account name and password. Be sure that you upload to the "vod" directory, and make sure the content has completely uploaded before you play anything.

Creating a Playlist

To add a new channel, go to Streaming > Channel, and select "Add Channel". Fill out the playlist name, which is the name of the first playlist, and the channel name which is the stream name it will play out on,

Once your content has been added and indexed, you can start to build your channel by adding files. Use the"Add Source" button to add items to the playlist. Select either VOD or Live. For VOD, click browse to find your file, then double click it to add it to the list. For Live, select an existing stream from the dropdown. See "Going Live" for more information.

Save the list once it is complete. You will be taken to the channel manage page. Click "Reset Channel" to start it immediately.

Scheduling a Playlist

Schedule the playlist for "Now" if you want it to start playing immediately. If you set it to a date in the future, it will start playing at that specific time.

When a list starts playing, it will override any other lists that are playing on the stream. You can run several playlists on the same playout stream, and they will take over from each other at their scheduled times.

To have certain content go live at a specific time, just create a list with the content you want scheduled, and set it to start at that time. You can create any number of playlists, and set them with different start times, and as each time is reached, they will take over the channel. This is a commonly done for days of the week.

Going Live

Cutting in a live stream is simple. You just add the live source to the list. When that item comes up in the list, it will start playing the live stream until it ends. If there is no live stream, it will just skip to the next item.

For more hands on control of the switchover, you can use the "Reload at Offset" control to immediately skip to the live item.

You can also use a switchboard containing one live stream and the output stream of the channel to allow you to cut in more easily. The switchboard automatically cuts in live without user input.

Reloads, Resets, and Offsets

Reset Channel

Resetting your channel stops the stream, disconnecting any viewers, and restarts the stream. This will start your channel from scratch.

Reload Playlist

Reloading your channel causes the playlist to be loaded again, starting from the first item.

By entering an item number into the "Video Offset" field, and clicking "Reload at Offset" the list will be reloaded, starting at the specified item.

Close Channel

Closing the channel stops playout altogether.