Adding On-Demand Content

HDR10

Adds the audio from the specified file as an alternate audio track for the specified beamA single piece of content prepared for streaming. A beam is composed of one or more rays..

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Requires Slicer version 17111500 or higher

Sets the secret API key through which the Slicer authenticates to the CMS.

Bypass this requirement by setting the SLICER_USER and the SLICER_APIKEY environment variables.

This API key should correspond to the user defined by the -u command line parameter.

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.

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Sets the source audio to the specified audio track.

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Replaces the Dolby 5.1 subtrack with the Dolby Digital Plus Atmos track from the asset being sliced.

This switch requires both a Dolby Digital Plus Atmos track in the source asset and the dolby switch.

Example:

Defines a description for the audio track. Typically, this description indicates the track's language.

This option is unnecessary when the -addtrack option has already been defined.

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Sets the asset's retention period. The asset will be automatically deleted after the specified time expires.

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Inserts an ad break for each specified time range.

Key information:

• Start and stop times are specified in seconds. Use a decimal value to define fractions of a second (e.g., 10.5 for 10 and a half seconds).
• Specify multiple ad breaks by using a comma to delimit time ranges.
• The original content corresponding to each ad break will be removed.
• Ad breaks may be used to insert ads during live or on-demand playback.

Single Ad Break Syntax:

Multiple Ad Breaks Syntax:

Multiple Ad Break Example:

Overlays an image on the video at the specified start time for the given duration.

Key information:

• Specify a RGBA PNG image.
• The image overlay effect respects the transparency defined in the PNG image.

• In order to match positioning information, it is strongly recommended that the specified PNG image match the resolution of the source video.

  If the resolution does not match, the image will be scaled to fit within the video's width or height. It will then be centered across the other axis.

• If multiple images overlap, then Z-order is determined by the order in which they are listed.
• The start time and the duration of the image overlay effect is specified in milliseconds.

• Use a negative number to specify start time from the end of the asset.

  For example, a start time of -5000 will start the image overlay effect 5 seconds prior to the end of the asset.

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Advanced

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

You may associate up to four closed captioning channels with a VOD asset. Use this option to assign a description to each of those channels (i.e., cc1_desc, cc2_desc, cc3_desc, and cc4_desc). The Slicer ignores information for a closed captioning channel that does not exist.

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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).

You may associate up to four closed captioning channels with a VOD asset. Use this option to assign a language to each of those channels (i.e., cc1_lang, cc2_lang, cc3_lang, and cc4_lang). The Slicer ignores information for a closed captioning channel that does not exist.

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Example:

DASH Only

Generates unencrypted DASH slices when slicing an asset.

Use this parameter when ingesting slate. We also recommend that you set the drm_mode parameter to "none" to avoid unnecessary processing.

Regardless of this parameter, HLS slices are always encrypted.

Learn more.

Example:

Assigns a name to the asset generated from the source media.

By default, assets are named after the source media's file name.

Example:

Adds a Dolby 5.1 subtrack to the audio track. An AAC subtrack is automatically included regardless of whether this switch is passed.

Example:

Requires Slicer version 18052400 or higher

Determines the level of security that will be applied to a CMS asset generated by the 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:

Flags the current audio track as a DVS track.

Example:

Forces the Slicer to wait until encoding is completed before allowing it to quit.

Example:

Assigns an external ID to the asset generated from the source media.

By default, the same external ID may be assigned to multiple assets. Override this behavior by adding the "_replace:" prefix to the desired external ID. This will cause the new asset to replace existing assets with the same external ID.

Example:

Replace Assets Example:

Fades audio and/or video in from the specified start time.

Key information:

• This fade effect may be applied to audio and/or video. Valid values for the MediaType parameter are:

  • audio: Fades audio in from silence.
  • video: Fades video in from black.
  • both: Fades in both audio and video.
• The start time and the duration of the fade effect is specified in milliseconds.

• Use a negative number to specify start time from the end of the asset.

  For example, a start time of -5000 will start the fade effect 5 seconds prior to the end of the asset.

Syntax:

Example:

Fades audio and/or video out from the specified start time.

Key information:

• This fade effect may be applied to audio and/or video. Valid values for the MediaType parameter are:

  • audio: Fades audio out to silence.
  • video: Fades video out to black.
  • both: Fades out both audio and video.
• The start time and the duration of the fade effect is specified in milliseconds.

• Use a negative number to specify start time from the end of the asset.

  For example, a start time of -5000 will start the fade effect 5 seconds prior to the end of the asset.

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Forces the output to use the specified aspect ratio (in pixels).

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Overrides the calculated gain/attenuation with the specified value.

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Writes the asset's GUID to the specified path.

Example:

Sets the audio track's language using the codes defined in RFC 5646.

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Sets the audio layout for downmixed audio channels.

Valid values are:

• dolby

  Audio Channel Layout:

  C L R RL RR LFECenter | Left | Right | Rear Left | Rear Right | Low Frequency Effects

• ansi

  Audio Channel Layout:

  L R C LFE RL RRLeft | Right | Center | Low Frequency Effects | Rear Left | Rear Right

Example:

Adds an asset to one or more shared libraries.

Key information:

• A library may be specified either by name or GUID.
• Library names must be an exact match and are case-sensitive.
• Add an asset to multiple libraries by using a comma to delimit each one.

Add to Library by Name Syntax:

Add to Library by GUID Syntax:

Add to Multiple Libraries Syntax:

Add to Library by Name Example:

Adds metadata to the asset.

Key information:

• Assign multiple metadata fields to an asset by specifying this option multiple times.
• Field names must be unique and are case-insensitive.
• Enclose values containing spaces with quotes.

Syntax:

Example:

Adds the metadata fields defined in a JSON file to the asset.

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Adds metadata containing an integer value to the asset.

Key information:

• Assign multiple metadata fields to an asset by specifying this option multiple times.
• Field names must be unique and are case-insensitive.
• Non-integer values will be set to 0.

Syntax:

Example:

Requires Slicer version 20061701 or higher

Customizes how an audio subtrack is mixed. Assign a channel layout and mix each channel by assigning a source track, a source channel, and its level.

This switch is incompatible with the mixatracks switch. Do not pass both of these switches.

Key information:

• You may mix additional subtracks for the current audio track by passing an additional mix switch. Pass the nexttrack switch to close the mix definition for the current audio track. You may mix additional subtracks for the next audio track by passing another mix switch.

• Define a custom subtrack mix for AAC and Dolby 5.1 by specifying this switch multiple times for the same source track.

• Specify the desired audio codec using one of the following values:

  bothApplies the same mix to both the AAC and the Dolby subtracks. | aac | dolby

• Specify the desired channel layout using one of the following values:

  mono | stereo | 5.1 | CEA | 7.1

• Specify the desired channel using one of the following values:

  • X: Mono
  • L: Left
  • R: Right
  • C: Center
  • RL: Rear Left
  • RR: Rear Right
  • LFE: Low Frequency Effects
• Use a comma to delimit each specified channel.
• An audio track is a zero-based number where 0 represents the first audio track in the source file.

• You may mix a channel to:

  • One or more source tracks.
  • One or more channels within a source track.

  Additionally, you may define the level at which the source track or a source track's channel will be mixed. Define a level by appending @ followed by the desired value. Use the following formula to calculate level:

  Volume % * 10

  For example, the following configuration sets Left to channel 0 of track 0 at 70.7% and channel 2 of track 0 at 80%, while Right is set to channel 4 of track 0 at 20.2%.

  ...L=0:0@707&0:2@800,R=0:4@202

Syntax:

AAC Example:

Mixes the AAC subtrack to stereo where Left is set to 100% of track 0 of channel 0, while Right is set to 100% of channel 1 of track 0:

Dolby Example:

Mixes the Dolby 5.1 subtrack to 5.1 where all of the channels, except for Center, are mapped to channels within track 0. It also sets Center to 50% of channel 0 of track 2 and 65% of channel 3 of track 2:

Mixes multiple audio tracks together into a single track.

This switch is incompatible with the mix switch. Do not pass both of these switches.

A sample use case is when the source audio has separate left and right audio tracks instead of a single stereo audio track.

Key information:

• An audio track is a zero-based number where 0 represents the first audio track in the source file.

• Specify the desired channel using one of the following values:

  • L: Left
  • R: Right
  • C: Center
  • RL: Rear Left
  • RR: Rear Right
  • SL: Surround Left
  • SR: Surround Right
  • LFE: Low Frequency Effects
• Use a comma to delimit each specified audio track.

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Example:

Closes the mix definition for the current audio track. Upon passing this switch, you may mix the subtracks for the next audio track.

Example:

Mixes 2 subtracks for the current audio track and 1 subtrack for the next audio track:

Enables scanning for Nielsen audio watermarks.

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Sets the Nielsen Breakout Code.

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DASH Only

Outputs a fragmented TTML.

This option requires the -ttml option. Additionally, you must set show_dash_subtitles=imsc within the playback URL's query string.

This option and the SLICER_PASS environment variable have been deprecated and should not be used. Please use the apikey option or the SLICER_APIKEY environment variable instead.
Learn more.

Defines the password that corresponds to the user defined by the -u command line option.

Example:

Generates a poster image from the video frame corresponding to the specified time.

This parameter is ignored when poster_file has been defined.

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Sets the asset's poster image to the specified file.

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Example:

Sets the size of the poster image.

Key information:

• This parameter is ignored when poster_file has been defined.
• If both the poster and poster_file parameters have not been defined, then the poster image will be a thumbnail of your on-demand content.
• Specifying a resolution higher than the source image will not result in upscaling. The poster image will remain the same resolution as the source image.

• Poster images are scaled down to preserve aspect ratio.

  View sample scenarios.

  The following sample scenarios assume that the poster image is being generated from a 1280x720 video.

  poster_size	Actual Poster Image Size
  1000x500	888x500
  1500x1500	1280x720

Syntax:

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Determines how progress will be displayed. This option affects the line indicated in blue font below.

Output format:

Valid values are:

• 0: Default format. Progress will be reported on a single line using the following syntax:

  slicing ProgressRepresents the Slicer's progress as a percentage value.% |

• 1: Progress will be reported on multiple lines using the following syntax:

  YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss | StageRepresents the current Slicer state (e.g., slicing). | ProgressRepresents the Slicer's progress as a percentage value.% | FilePathRepresents the path to the file being processed by the Slicer.

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 DASH and Slicer version 20062300 or higher

Convert one or more DVB teletext pages to fragmented TTML (IMSC1) for DASH playback. Use this parameter to assign a language track to the audio stream identified by a packet identifier (PID). Use a comma to delimit multiple configurations.

This option requires that you set show_dash_subtitles=imsc within the playback URL's query string.

Syntax:

Example:

Converts English DVB teletext from PID 385, Italian DVB teletext from PID 483, and Russian DVB teletext from PID 299:

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.

Defines the location to a Scenarist Closed Captions (SCC) file that contains closed captioning information.

Key information:

• By default, the Slicer will generate CEA-608 data from this SCC file. The Slicer will also generate WebVTT when the render_608 parameter has been enabled.

• If both the scc and ttml parameters are defined, then:

  • WebVTT will be generated from the TTML file. If the render_608 parameter has been enabled, then an additional track will be generated for the SCC file.
  • CEA-608 data will be generated from the SCC file.

Example:

This parameter has been deprecated in favor of the drm_mode parameter.

Playback does not require a signed playback URL.

This configuration is useful for ads that require playback independent from a playback session.

Example:

Adds a thumbnail.

Key information:

• A default thumbnail will be created regardless of whether this option is passed.
• The file name for this thumbnail will be assigned the specified prefix.
• 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 resolutions:

  • Your source video's resolution.
  • Your encoding profile's maximum resolution.
  • 1280x720 or 720x1280
• Add multiple thumbnails by specifying this parameter multiple times.
• Generating additional thumbnails may incur additional encoding and storage costs. Additionally, it may impact processing speed.

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Adds timed metadata at the specified time.

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Trims the content from the source media that occurs prior to the specified start time. Optionally, duration may be specified to trim content that exceeds the specified time period.

Specify StartTime and Duration in milliseconds.

The source media's file type may affect video frame accuracy by a few milliseconds.

Trim Content Prior to Start Time Syntax:

Trim Content by Start Time and Duration Syntax:

The sample configuration, shown to the right, will exclude the first 3 seconds of the source media and truncate it so that the asset's total duration is 52.5 seconds.

Trim Content by Start Time and Duration Example:

Defines the location to a TTML file that contains closed captioning information. The Slicer will generate CEA-608 and WebVTT from this TTML file.

Closed captioning information for multiple languages may be associated with your VOD content by adding an instance of this option for each desired language.

Only TTML files that specify time using the hh:mm:ss.sss format are supported.

Syntax:

Language Code is optional and it overrides the language specified by xml:lang within that TTML file. Replace this variable with the ISO 639-1 code (e.g., es for Spanish) for the desired language.

Single TTML Example:

Multiple TTMLs with Language Overrides Example:

Defines the user name corresponding to the account to which the asset will be uploaded.

Bypass this requirement by setting the SLICER_USER and the SLICER_APIKEY environment variables.

Example:

Requires Slicer version 21070801 or higher

By default, our service passes through the source video feed. Pass this option 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 option.

Example: