Live Slicer

Set it to a description that will be assigned to new assets.

Set it to the email address associated with your account.

If missing, add a line for the apikey setting. Set it to your secret API key.

Leverage our API to generate an API key that only authorizes slicer-related actions by creating a sub-owner that has only been granted the slice permission.
Learn more.

Where can I find my API key(s)?

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.

Example:

HDR10

upstart:

systemd:

upstart:

systemd:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Defines the ancillary lines that will be scanned. You may only specify ancillary lines numbered from 0 to 31.

This setting is ignored when the ancillary_scan setting is set to on or the input setting is set to UDP or RTMP.

Syntax:

Example:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Determines whether all ancillary lines will be scanned.

Valid values are:

• on: All ancillary lines will be scanned.
• off: Only the ancillary lines defined by the ancillary_lines setting will be scanned.

Syntax:

Example:

API

Defines the port on which the Live Slicer will listen for API calls.

Omit the IP address to allow the port to bind to any adapter.

A default Live Slicer configuration file sets it to 127.0.0.1:65009. This binds port 65009 to your local host adapter.

Syntax:

Syntax (bind to any adapter):

Example:

Requires Live Slicer version 17111500 or higher

Defines the secret API key through which the Live Slicer will authenticate to your account.

This API key should correspond to the account associated with the user defined by the username setting.

Where can I find my API key(s)?

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.

Syntax:

Example:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Defines a custom audio channel layout for the audio track identified by the Track variable. This custom audio channel layout allows audio to be downmixed to mono or stereo.

This configuration setting is incompatible with audio_layout. Please remove audio_layout from the Live Slicer configuration file prior to including this setting.

This parameter does not apply to AC-3 audio or audio transmitted via UDP or RTMP.

Although we support up to 31 audio tracks, your SDI capture card can only detect up to 16 audio tracks.

Learn more.

Syntax (downmix audio to mono):

Syntax (downmix audio to stereo):

Syntax (downmix audio to 5.1):

Example:

Assigns a description to an audio track. Identify the source audio track by specifying its SDI channel or PIDA packet identfier identifies a table or an elementary stream in a transport stream. The Live Slicer uses PIDs to identify audio/video tracks. within this setting's name.

By default, audio tracks are assigned a description of unspecified.

Syntax:

Example:

Set to 1 to encode audio as Dolby Digital Plus (DD+). Identify the source audio track by specifying its SDI channel or PIDA packet identfier identifies a table or an elementary stream in a transport stream. The Live Slicer uses PIDs to identify audio/video tracks. within this setting's name.

Syntax:

Example:

UDP and RTMP Only

Assigns a language to the audio track corresponding to the PIDA packet identfier identifies a table or an elementary stream in a transport stream. The Live Slicer uses PIDs to identify audio/video tracks. defined within this setting's name.

Syntax:

Example:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Defines a standard audio channel layout.

Valid values are:

• stereo #Replace this variable with a value from 1 to 8 (e.g., stereo 3).
• 5.1
• CEA
• 7.1

This parameter does not apply to AC-3 audio or audio transmitted via UDP.

Alternatively, each audio track may be assigned a custom audio layout. Use a custom audio layout to downmix audio to mono or stereo.

Learn more.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

Exposes the authenticated API on a specific port.

Syntax (IP address and port):

Syntax (port only):

Example:

Determines how long assets will be retained.

Valid values are:

• 0: Indicates that assets should not be deleted.
• #Represents a positive integer (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.).: Indicates the number of hours that assets will be retained before being deleted.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

Determines whether the Live Slicer will store content on an alternate cloud storage.

Valid values are:

• true: The Live Slicer will upload content to an alternate path on an alternate origin storage.

• false: The Live Slicer will upload content to the default origin storage.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced - UDP and RTMP Only

Defines the length of the delay, in samples, before blank video is inserted.

This setting should be modified with care. Setting it too low will add unnecessary blank audio/video frames to your stream, while setting it too high will impact time-behind-live performance and slice creation.

Valid values are:

• 48000: Sets the delay to 1 second.
• 96000: Sets the delay to 2 seconds. This is the recommended value.

Default value:

Syntax:

Example:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Identifies the DIDThe Data Identifier word, along with the Secondary Data Identifier (SDID), identifies the type of data corresponding to a packet. that corresponds to closed captions.

Syntax:

Example:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Identifies the SDIDThe Secondary Data Identifier word, along with the Data Identifier (DID), identifies the type of data corresponding to a packet. that corresponds to closed captions.

Syntax:

Example:

Determines the length of the delay, in seconds, that will be added to facilitate timecode matching.

Syntax:

Example:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Determines the capture mode for the Blackmagic DeckLink SDI card.

Run the following command to view valid values for this setting:

The recommended value for this setting is auto. This configuration allows the Live Slicer to autodetect the video mode for BlackMagic cards that support signal detection.

Syntax:

Example:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Identifies the card number(s) corresponding to Blackmagic DeckLink SDI card(s).

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

Defines a description for the closed captioning channel defined by this setting's name.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

Identifies the language associated with the closed captioning channel defined by this setting's name. Specify a language by its code (e.g., en).

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

Determines whether closed captions will be filtered.

Valid values are:

• on: Disables filtering CEA-608/708 captions on all channels with the exception of channel 1.
• off: Filters CEA-608/708 captions on all channels.

An issue with iOS versions prior to 7.1 will cause devices to improperly render all caption channels when channels in addition to channel 1 are present.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

This setting should not be used for production traffic.

Set it to 1 to overlay debug information (e.g., current rayA stream with a specific quality configuration based on set bit rate and resolution targets. Each ray is divided into slices.) onto the video.

The type of debug information to be overlaid onto the video may vary by Live Slicer version.

Example:

Defines a description to be assigned to new assets.

Syntax:

Example:

Requires Slicer version 22083100 or higher

Determines whether your Live Slicer will be allowed to automatically upload your configuration file to our service.

The Live Slicer excludes sensitive data when uploading your configuration file. Specifically, the uploaded configuration file will exclude the username and apikey settings.

Valid values are:

• yes: The Live Slicer will not upload your configuration file.

• no: Allows the Live Slicer to automatically upload your configuration file to our service.

  Live Slicer version 22083100 cannot upload your configuration file regardless of this setting. This capability will be introduced with an upcoming version of the Live Slicer.

Example:

Default value: 

Requires Slicer version 18052400 or higher

Determines the level of security that will be applied to a CMS asset generated by the Live Slicer.

Once Studio DRM is activated on your account, Studio DRM encryption is automatically applied to all new assets. This setting does not alter this behavior. It determines whether Studio DRM will be enforced and whether playback URLs must be signed.

Syntax:

Valid values are:

Example:

Determines how a Live Slicer will handle expired API requests. Valid values are:

• on: The Live Slicer will ignore expired API requests.
• off: The Live Slicer will perform the action defined within an API request once it has been retained for the duration defined within the future_break_expiration_minutes setting. This occurs regardless of whether the specified timecode has elapsed.

Default value: 

Example:

Requires Slicer version 21071400 or higher

Set it to 1 to allow the Live Slicer to report health status according to the criteria defined within a failover group.

This setting may override settings that precede it in the configuration file. It is strongly recommended to define this setting after the failover_id setting.

Valid values are:

Example:

RTMP Only

Requires Slicer version 22083100 or higher

Determines whether the Live Slicer can pull the RTMP feed from the URL defined within the rtmp_url setting. Valid values are:

• yes: Allows the Live Slicer to pull the RTMP feed.
• no: The Live Slicer will not pull RTMP feeds. Your encoder must push the RTMP feed to the Live Slicer.

Example:

Requires Slicer version 20081700 or higher

Assigns a failover group to the Live Slicer. Identify the desired failover group by its system-defined ID.

Live Slicer failover also requires that you add this Live Slicer to the failover group identified by this setting.

Example:

Determines the number of minutes that the Live Slicer will retain an API request for a scheduled break before flagging it as eligible for expiration.

The drop_expired_breaks setting determines how the Live Slicer handles expired API requests.

Learn more.

Syntax:

Example:

Determines whether the Live Slicer may resolve timecodes, which may be defined within an API request, up to 12 hours in the future. Valid values are:

• on: Allows timecodes up to 12 hours in the future.
• off: Requires the Live Slicer to resolve timecodes within the capture delay buffer.

Default value: 

Example:

Adjusts the amount of gain, in decibels, that will be applied to the audio.

• Positive Values: Increase gain.
• Negative Values: Decrease gain.

Syntax:

Example:

Determines the signal's input source.

Valid values are:

• blackmagic: Indicates that the source is a Blackmagic DeckLink SDI card.

• rtmp: Indicates that the source is the RTMP stream identified by the rtmp_url parameter.

  The RTMP source is incompatible with SCTE, ad breaks, or Action Message Format (AMF).

• srt: Indicates that the source is a SRT MPEG2 transport stream. This stream must originate from the IP address defined within the input_addr setting.
• tcp: Indicates that the source is a TCP MPEG2 transport stream. This stream must originate from the IP address defined within the input_addr setting.
• udp: Indicates that the source is a UDP unicast or multicast MPEG2 transport stream.

Syntax:

Example:

SRT and TCP

Defines the IP address from which your feed will be pushed. The Live Slicer will only ingest feeds served from this IP address.

Example:

Determines the maximum number of simultaneous viewers for a Live Events Dashboard's Slicer Live Preview.

Each instance of a live preview consumes resources on the computer hosting the Live Slicer. This setting is designed to prevent performance issues by capping the number of simultaneous connections.

Default value: 

Requires Slicer version 22083100 or higher

Enables audio for the Live Events Dashboard's Slicer Live Preview.

The Slicer Live Preview pane displays audio levels regardless of whether this setting is enabled.

Valid values are:

Defines metadata that will be assigned to assets generated by the Live Slicer.

Add this setting for each desired metadata field. Each instance of this setting should be specified on a separate line.

Syntax:

Example:

UDP Only

This setting must be defined when the signal's input source is a UDP multicast MPEG2 transport stream.

Defines the IP address of the computer generating the UDP multicast stream.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

Set it to 1 to allow the Live Slicer to scan for Nielsen audio watermarks.

DASH Streaming Only: Please also set the nielsen customization parameter within the playback URL.

Example:

Advanced

Defines the Nielsen breakout code.

Default value:

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

Defines the Nielsen distributor for use with Nielsen audio watermarks and ID3 tags assigned to assets generated by the Live Slicer.

Default value:

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced - UDP and RTMP Only

Identifies an image by its filename and displays it when both of the following conditions are true:

• The signal is lost.
• A solid black video is being streamed.

The no_signal_pad setting determines whether black or green video is streamed when the signal is lost.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced - UDP Only

By default, a solid green video will be streamed when the signal is lost.

Determines the length of time, in seconds, that a solid black video will be streamed when the signal is lost. Once this time period has elapsed, a solid green video will be shown.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced - UDP Only

Determines the length of time, in seconds, before the Live Slicer will be shut down after the signal is lost.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced

By default, the Live Slicer leverages a stream's Extended Data Services (XDS) data, when present, to update the current asset's title and rating information. Disable this functionality by configuring this setting to no.

Example:

This setting was discontinued on 3/26/2019. You must use the apikey setting instead to authenticate your Live Slicer.

Defines the password associated with the user defined by the username setting.

Syntax:

Example:

UDP and RTMP Only

Identifies the set of audio/video tracks that will be consumed by the Live Slicer.

Configure this setting to a comma-separated list of PIDA packet identfier identifies a table or an elementary stream in a transport stream. The Live Slicer uses PIDs to identify audio/video tracks.s that correspond to the desired audio/video tracks. All other audio/video tracks will be ignored by the Live Slicer.

By default, the Live Slicer will consume the first audio/video track when a progID and PIDs have not been specified.

Syntax:

Example:

UDP Only

Identifies the port on which the Live Slicer will listen for the UDP stream.

Syntax:

Example:

Determines whether the Live Events Dashboard's Slicer Live Preview will display a video preview.

If the livepreview_with_audio setting is not enabled, then this preview will only consist of video.

Valid values are:

UDP Only

Identifies the program in a multi-program transport stream that will be consumed by the Live Slicer.

Configure this setting to the ID of the desired program. If the pids setting has not been defined, then all audio tracks in the program will be consumed.

By default, the Live Slicer will consume the first audio/video track when a progID and PIDs have not been specified.

Syntax:

Example:

If you are using Live Slicer version 21071400 or higher, then you should use the enable_remote_config setting instead. If you are using an older version of the Live Slicer, then you should continue to use the remote setting.

Allows the Live Slicer to report health status according to the criteria defined within a failover group.

This setting may override settings that precede it in the configuration file. It is strongly recommended to define this setting after the failover_id setting.

This setting does not accept a value. The presence of this setting determines whether the Live Slicer will leverage a failover group's health criteria.

Example:

Requires Slicer version 19022000 or higher

Converts each specified CEA-608/708A CEA-708 channel includes CEA-608 captions for the purpose of backwards-compatibility. Enabling this option will only convert those CEA-608 captions to WebVTT when a CEA-708 channel is present. channel to WebVTT (Web Video Text Tracks).

Example:

Requires Slicer version 19022000 or higher

Determines the maximum buffer duration, in seconds, for rending captions to video.

Raw video frames will be buffered for the specified duration and therefore is memory intensive. Although memory usage will vary according to resolution and frames per seconds, we strongly discourage a buffer size greater than 5 seconds.

This buffer is only relevant for pop-on captions. Roll-up and paint-on captions are rendered immediately and therefore do not require a buffer.

Syntax:

Example:

Requires Slicer version 20031300 or higher

Convert one or more DVB teletext pages to WebVTT. Use this parameter to assign a language track to a DVB teletext page number. Use a comma to delimit multiple DVB teletext configurations.

Syntax:

Example:

Converts English DVB teletext from page 888, Italian DVB teletext from page 887, and Russian DVB teletext from page 886:

Learn more.

Requires Slicer version 20092800 or higher

Customize color representation conversion by assigning a lookup table (LUT) to the desired color space conversion.

Syntax (Simple):

Syntax (Extended):

View sample extended syntax.

The extended syntax for hlg is:

colorspace:bt2020nc,primaries:bt2020,trc:arib-std-b67,range:tv

The extended syntax for hdr10 is:

colorspace:bt2020nc,primaries:bt2020,trc:smpte2084

The extended syntax for sdr is:

colorspace:bt709,primaries:bt709,trc:bt709

Example:

Learn more.

RTMP Only

Identifies the URL for the RTMP stream that the Live Slicer will ingest.

The enable_rtmp_pull setting determines whether the Live Slicer may pull the RTMP stream instead of monitoring this URL for a stream pushed by your encoder.

Example:

Learn more.

RTP Only

Determines the number of seconds for which packet history will be preserved. Setting this to a larger value helps reduce the number of dropped packets due to high CPU usage, but it will also cap the bandwidth for stream ingestion.

Syntax:

Recommended Configuration:

Determines whether RTP will be used when streaming over UDP.

Valid values are:

• 0: Indicates that RTP will not be used when streaming over UDP.
• 1: Enables RTP when streaming over UDP.

Example:

RTP Only

Determines the number of seconds that the Live Slicer will wait before uploading content to the cloud.

Balance stream latency with tolerance to disordered packets and forward error correction (FEC) latency when configuring this setting.

Set it higher than the average value reported by the skew_sec statistic reported by the Status endpoint of the Live Slicer API.

Syntax:

Default Configuration:

RTP Only

Identifies the URL to a backup SMPTE 2022-compliantST 2022-1:2007 RTP feed through which the original stream will be reconstructed. Packets missing from one feed will be taken from the other feed.

A redundant RTP feed requires the source computer to have two network routes (e.g., 2-port network card).

Syntax:

Example:

Identifies the SCTE plugin that will process your SCTE 35/104 signal.

This parameter requires scte_type to be set to python.

Valid values are:

• scte_baseline: Indicates that the Baseline SCTE plugin will process your SCTE 35/104 signal.

  Learn more.

• Python File: Identify a custom Python file that will process your SCTE 35/104 signal.

  Syntax (default path):

  scte_module: File Name without Extension

  You may omit the absolute path to the desired Python file and its file name extension when it resides in the "plugins" subfolder of your Live Slicer's installation directory.

  Example:

  scte_module: my_scte_plugin

  Syntax (custom path):

  scte_module: /Absolute Path/File Name

  Example:

  /Users/joe/plugins/my_scte_plugin.py

  Learn more.

Requires Slicer version 20031300 or higher

Determines which version of Python will be used. Valid values are:

Default configuration: 

Determines how a SCTE 35/104 signal will be processed. Valid values are:

• none: Disables SCTE 35/104 signal processing.
• python: Allows SCTE 35/104 signal processing. The scte_module parameter determines the SCTE plugin that will process your SCTE 35/104 signal.

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Defines the DIDThe Data Identifier word, along with the Secondary Data Identifier (SDID), identifies the type of data corresponding to a packet. that corresponds to SCTE104 triggers.

Syntax:

Example:

SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Defines the SDIDThe Secondary Data Identifier word, along with the Data Identifier (DID), identifies the type of data corresponding to a packet. that corresponds to SCTE104 triggers.

Syntax:

Example:

Assigns a unique alphanumeric ID to a Live Slicer.

Use this ID to identify this Live Slicer when setting up a live channel or a live event.

Syntax:

Example:

Exposes the authenticated API on a specific port over SSL/TLS.

Use this parameter to allow the Live Slicer to communicate with the Live Events Dashboard without causing mixed content blocking.
Learn more.

Syntax (IP address and port):

Syntax (port only):

Example:

Advanced

Determines whether the Live Slicer will start in blackout mode.

Valid values are:

• yes: Indicates that the Live Slicer will start in blackout mode.

• sticky: Indicates that the Live Slicer will resume its previous mode upon being started.

  For example, if a Live Slicer was stopped in blackout mode, then it will resume blackout mode the next time that it is started.

Syntax:

Example:

Adds a thumbnail.

Key information:

• A default thumbnail will be created regardless of whether this option is passed.
• The upper-bound for a thumbnail's dimensions is determined by the specified width and height. The thumbnail will fit within the specified dimensions, while maintaining the source video's aspect ratio.

• A thumbnail's maximum size cannot exceed any of the following dimensions:

  • Your source video's resolution.
  • Your encoding profile's maximum resolution.
  • 1280x720 or 720x1280
• Add this setting for each desired thumbnail size. Each instance of this setting should be specified on a separate line.
• Generating additional thumbnails may incur additional storage costs.

Syntax:

Example:

Advanced - SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Determines whether the Live Slicer will load a dynamic library (i.e., libuplynk_timecode.so) that facilitates the integration of an external timecode generator.

Enable this capability by configuring this setting to true.

Example:

Advanced

Adds an ID3 tag that defines the time for the pic_timing data in the SEI NAL unit.

Syntax:

Example:

UDP Only

This setting must be defined when the signal's input source is a UDP unicast MPEG2 transport stream.

Defines the IP address of the computer generating the UDP unicast stream.

Syntax:

Example:

Requires Slicer version 21070801 or higher

By default, our service passes through the source video feed. Set it to yes to upscale the source video feed to the highest quality rayA stream with a specific quality configuration based on set bit rate and resolution targets. Each ray is divided into slices. in your encoding profile.

Your content's frame rate is independent of resolution. Therefore, upscaling your video feed will not affect its frame rate.

Ads are always upscaled regardless of this setting.

Example:

Defines the user name through which the Live Slicer will authenticate to your account.

Typically, your user name is the email address associated with your account.

Syntax:

Example:

UDP (including RTP) and RTMP

Set to 1 to enable support for the start_timecode parameter within the Live Slicer API.

Sets the log data verbosity level.

Valid values are:

• 1: Default level. Logs error conditions and informational messages.
• 3: Logs error conditions, informational messages, and debug messages.

Example:

Advanced - SDI (Blackmagic) Only

Sets the length of time, in milliseconds, of an audio/video sync offset.

• Positive Values: The video will be forced ahead of the audio by the specified amount of time.
• Negative Values: The video will be forced behind the audio.

Syntax:

Example: