Adding a Source - File

Create a Source from a .ts file. The file needs to already exist in the Root folder on the input Broadcaster (Local File option) or at the remote location (URL option).

To add a File Source:

1. In the main navigation, click Sources.
2. Click + Add.
   The Create New Source selection window is displayed.
   
3. Click on File.
   The Create New File window opens.
   
4. In the Info section, in the Name field, type a logical name for the Zixi Source.
5. In the Tags field, select one or more of the predefined Tags from the drop-down list.
   Tags are used for access control. By selecting a Tag, you are relating this Source to that Tag. Tags are associated with certain roles (through the Users & Roles screen), and roles, in turn, are associated with users and user groups. If you would like to create a new Tag, see Creating a Tag.

6. In the Events Configuration Profile field, select from the dropdown list the profile that you would like to apply to this Source. By default, the Default profile is applied.

   Events Profiles consist of a series of rules that determine precisely how various types of Events are logged and what results they trigger.

7. The Source’s location is used to represent it in the proper position in the Map display (see Maps). By default, the location is determined automatically based on the Source’s IP. If you would like to manually set the location of the Source (Optional), use the following procedure:
   1. Click on the Edit icon next to the Location
      A search box is shown below the Location field.
   2. Enter identifying info for the location (e.g. street address, zip code, coordinates).
      Search results are displayed below the search box as you type.
   3. Click on the desired location.
      The selected location populates the Location
8. In the Input section, in the Broadcaster field, select from the drop-down list the Broadcaster on which the File is located.
9. If you would like to stream a file from a local drive, skip to step 10. To stream a file using a URL, use the following procedure:
   1. In the Source section, verify that URL is selected (default).
   2. In the URL field, enter the URL for the .ts file you would like to stream (e.g. https://example.com/source.ts).
10. To upload a file from a local drive, use the following procedure:
    1. In the Source section, select Local Drive.

    2. In the File field, select from the list the desired .ts file you would like to stream. The selected file will be highlighted and displayed under the list.

       You can sort the files in the list by clicking on the column headings.

11. In the Configuration section, in the Public Output field, if you would like to allow access to the stream directly through a supported player, select the Allow
12. If you selected the Allow checkbox, then enter a password in the Password field to authenticate access to the stream.

13. If you would like to enable Content Analysis (CQA), verify that the Enable Content Analysis checkbox is selected (default).

    It is generally recommended to enable Content Analysis unless it is causing technical problems. If Content Analysis is disabled, the system won't detect errors in the video and audio content of the stream and won't generate warnings for such events. Even when Content Analysis is disabled the system will still detect TR101 errors in the stream.

14. If you would like to monitor CEA-608/CEA-708 closed captions, select the Monitor CEA-608/CEA-708 checkbox.

    Monitoring CEA-608/CEA-708 Closed Captions requires using a version 14.4 or newer Broadcaster.

15. If you would like to disable auto-pull, select the Disable Auto-Pull checkbox.

    Disabling Auto-Pull will lock Channels using this Source to the Source’s Ingest Cluster and Targets to the Source’s current active Broadcaster. This setting only applies to Pass-Through Channels.

16. If Auto-Pull is enabled, in the Auto-Pull Latency [ms] field, specify the desired latency for auto-pull actions. (Default: 1000 ms)

17. In the WebRTC Playback section, select the desired playback method.

    WebRTC enables you to monitor the stream via web browsers and mobile applications with real-time communication (RTC). WebRTC needs to be activated independently for each Source in ZEN Master (by default it is disabled).

    Select one of the following options:

    • Disabled – users will not be able to view this Source using WebRTC (default)
    • Pass-Through – passes the stream through to WebRTC without transcoding. This option can only be used if the input stream is already in a WebRTC compliant format (video - H.264 codec with Baseline or Main profile and no B frames, Audio – Opus codec).

    • Auto - ZEN Master automatically transcodes the stream using the optimal profile for each specific user. In this option Zixi Broadcaster will decode the video, transforming it into RAW frames, which will be passed to the WebRTC library, where it will be re-encoded for each individual user.
      

      Best quality. However, if monitored by multiple users this can consume extensive resources.

    • 1080p/720p/480p/360p – ZEN Master transcodes the stream to a WebRTC compliant profile with the specified resolution. The transcoding is done by Zixi Broadcaster's transcoder.

      This method requires a Zixi Broadcaster with X264 or Nvidia for transcoding. This method allows many users to monitor the stream without encoding separately for each individual user, which saves CPU capacity. Since there is only one stream version, it is recommended to encode to a low resolution and low bitrate so that the stream will be viewable by all users monitoring the stream.

    
    
18. In the Initial State section, select the Disabled checkbox if you would like to disable this Source upon initial configuration.

19. Select the Muted checkbox if you would like to disable error/recovery notifications for this Source upon initial configuration.

    You can Enable/Unmute the Source at any time.

20. If you would like to adjust the advanced settings, click Advanced.
    The Advanced settings fields are displayed:
    
21. If you would like to track usage for this Source, enter your Billing Code details. See Billing Codes.
22. In the Auto Pull MTU field, specify the maximum transmission unit (largest data packet that a network-connected device will accept) in bytes for the Auto Pull.
23. To set the detection of frozen video, in the Frozen Video Minimal Duration field, specify the default minimal duration in seconds of frozen video after which the Broadcaster will trigger a Frozen video alert. Default: 10 seconds. This setting is supported for Broadcaster version 16.3 and higher. 
24. To set the detection of blank video, in the Blank Video Minimal Duration field, specify the default minimal duration in seconds of blank video after which the Broadcaster will trigger a Blank video alert. Default: 10 seconds. This setting is supported for Broadcaster version 16.3 and higher. 
25. Click Save.

File Source Configuration Parameters Table