Cisco IP/TV 3400 Series Servers User Guide, Version 3.0
Chapter 5: Defining Programs
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Chapter 5: Defining ProgramsChapter 5: Defining Programs
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Table Of Contents

Defining Programs

Defining an On-demand Program

Defining a Scheduled Program

Defining a Live-capture Program

Overview

High Bit-rate Capture Settings

Medium Bit-rate Capture Settings

Low Bit-rate Capture Settings

Connecting the Broadcast Server Capture Cards


Defining Programs

This chapter describes how to define programs in the IP/TV Control Server and connecting capture cards, and includes the following sections:

•Defining an On-demand Program

•Defining a Scheduled Program

•Defining a Live-capture Program

If you have configured the servers correctly, after defining a sample scheduled or on-demand program, you will be able to watch the program in IP/TV Viewer (see
"").

Note   Both the Archive and Broadcast Servers can serve scheduled and on-demand programs. However, the Broadcast Server can only serve on-demand programs to a minimum number of viewers.

Defining an On-demand Program

To define an on-demand program, the IP/TV Control Server must communicate with the IP/TV 3400 Series Server, which will serve the on-demand file and and find all media files in the server's media root directory.

To verify communication between the IP/TV Control Server and the IP/TV 3400 Series Server that will serve the on-demand file, follow these steps:

Step 1 From your browser, access the IP/TV Control Server by entering the following URL:

http://controlserver/

where controlserver is the name of the Control Server on which the IP/TV Control Server is installed.

Step 2 On the IP/TV Control Server main page, click ServerWatch.

Step 3 Select a cluster and click Go.

Step 4 Confirm that the IP/TV 3400 Series Server you defined is listed and is in a managed state.

Note   It takes a few seconds for the IP/TV Control Server to connect with the servers. If the server is not listed, check to make sure you have correctly set up your Archive Server to be controlled by the IP/TV Control Server (see "").

To create a sample on-demand program, complete the following steps:

Step 1 From your browser, access the IP/TV Control Server by entering the following URL:

http://controlserver/

where controlserver is the name of the Control Server on which the IP/TV Control Server is installed.

Step 2 From the IP/TV Control Server main page, click OnDemand Programs.

The OnDemand Programs page appears.

Step 3 Click New Program on the task bar.

The New OnDemand Program page appears.

Step 4 Enter the following on-demand program information:

(a) In the Program Name field, enter the name Sample Program.

(b) Under Multimedia Information, click Select media file and select the media file sample.avi.

(c) At the bottom of the page, enter your contact information.

(d) Click Add OnDemand Program.

See "Managing OnDemand Programs" in Chapter 2, "Installing IP/TV Server"of the IP/TV Content Manager User Guide for detailed information.

Defining a Scheduled Program

To create a scheduled program, complete the following steps:

Step 1 From your browser, access the IP/TV Control Server by entering the following URL:

http://controlserver/

where controlserver is the name of the Control Server on which the IP/TV Control Server is installed.

Step 2 On the IP/TV Control Server main page, click Scheduled Programs.

The Scheduled Programs page appears.

Step 3 Click New Program on the task bar.

The New Scheduled Program page appears.

Step 4 Leave the Channel set to None.

Step 5 Select Basic Media File Program and click Create Program.

Step 6 Enter the following scheduled program information:

(a) In the Program Name field, enter Sample Program.

(b) In the Description field, enter Sample.

(c) Under Schedule, select Play Program Continuously.

(d) Under Multimedia Source Information, click Select Media File, and enter the full path to the media file: e:\avi\sample.avi.

Step 7 Select the IP/TV 3400 Series Server from which you want to serve.

Step 8 At the bottom of the page, enter your contact information.

Step 9 Click Create Program.

See "Managing Scheduled Programs" in Chapter 2, "Installing IP/TV Server"of the IP/TV Content Manager User Guide for detailed information.

Defining a Live-capture Program

This section contains information on defining a live-capture program, and discusses the following topics:

•Overview

•High Bit-rate Capture Settings

•Medium Bit-rate Capture Settings

•Low Bit-rate Capture Settings

•Connecting the Broadcast Server Capture Cards

Overview

When you define a live-capture program, you must set the video format, audio format, data rate, and frame rate parameters to values appropriate to the video capture card and codec (compression/decompression) used by the Broadcast Server that will multicast the program. After defining a live-capture program, connect your audio and video outputs to the appropriate capture card inputs.

See "Live-capture Program Settings" in Chapter 2, "Installing IP/TV Server" of the IP/TV Content Manager User Guide for detailed information.

Note   A high bit-rate codec produces higher quality video. The level of quality you choose is determined by network capacity. Cisco recommends using the highest quality possible within the constraints of your network.

High Bit-rate Capture Settings

The IP/TV 3423 Server supports Full D1 MPEG2, and Half D1 MPEG2 encoding. The IP/TV 3415 Server supports Half D1 MPEG2 encoding. These systems are capable of high bit-rate encoding.

If you are setting up a live-capture program for high bit rate, follow these steps:

Step 1 From your browser, access the IP/TV Control Server by entering the following URL:

http://controlserver/

where controlserver is the name of the Control Server.

Step 2 From the IP/TV Control Server main page, click Scheduled Programs.

The Scheduled Programs page appears.

Step 3 Click New Program on the task bar.

Step 4 Select Basic Live Capture Program and click Create Program.

The New Scheduled Programs page appears.

Step 5 Under Schedule, select either Play Program Continuously or Play Program once on.

If you select Play Program once on, then set the date, time, and duration. Optionally, you can choose to never repeat the program or to repeat it at various intervals.

Step 6 If you are scheduling an IP/TV 3423 Server, select either MPEG2 Full D1 or MPEG2 Half D1 in the Preferred Video Format field.

If you are scheduling an IP/TV 3415 Server, select MPEG2 Half D1 in the Preferred Video Format field.

Step 7 In the Preferred Audio Format field, select MPEG.

Step 8 In the Bandwidth field, enter 5000 (Kbps) for MPEG2 Full D1 or 2500 for MPEG2 Half D1.

Step 9 In the Maximum Video Frame Rate field, enter 30 (frames/sec).

Step 10 Under Audio/Video Server, select a server from the drop-down list.

Step 11 At the bottom of the page, enter your contact information.

Step 12 Click Create Program.

Medium Bit-rate Capture Settings

If you are setting up a live-capture program for medium bit rate, follow these steps:

Step 1 From your browser, access the IP/TV Control Server by entering the following URL:

http://controlserver/

where controlserver is the name of the Control Server.

Step 2 From the IP/TV Control Server main page, click Scheduled Programs.

The Scheduled Programs page appears.

Step 3 Click New Program on the task bar.

Step 4 Select Basic Live Capture Program and click Create Program.

The New Scheduled Program page appears.

Step 5 Under Schedule, select either Play Program Continuously or Play Program once on.

If you select Play Program once on, then set the date, time, and duration. Optionally, you can choose to never repeat the program or to repeat it at various intervals.

Step 6 In the Preferred Video Format field, select MPEG.

Step 7 In the Preferred Audio Format field, select MPEG.

Step 8 In the Bandwidth field, enter 1150 (Kbps).

Step 9 In the Maximum Video Frame Rate field, enter 30 (frames/sec).

Step 10 Under Audio/Video Server, select a server from the drop-down list.

Step 11 At the bottom of the page, enter your contact information.

Step 12 Click Create Program.

Step 13 Connect the video source to the MPEG capture card illustrated in .

Low Bit-rate Capture Settings

If you are setting up a live-capture program for low bit rate, follow these steps:

Step 1 From your browser, access the IP/TV Control Server by entering the following URL:

http://controlserver/

where controlserver is the name of the Control Server.

Step 2 On the IP/TV Control Server main page, click Scheduled Programs.

The Scheduled Programs page appears.

Step 3 Click New Program on the task bar.

Step 4 Select Basic Live Capture Program and click Create Program.

The New Scheduled Programs page appears.

Step 5 Under Schedule, select either Play Program Continuously or Play Program once on.

If you select Play Program once on, then set the date, time, and duration. Optionally, you can choose to never repeat the program or to repeat it at various intervals.

Step 6 In the Preferred Video Format field, select MPEG4.

Step 7 In the Preferred Audio Format field, select GSM.

Step 8 In the Bandwidth field, enter 128 (Kbps).

Step 9 In the Maximum Video Frame Rate field, enter 15 (frames/sec).

Step 10 Under Audio/Video Server, select a server from the drop-down list.

Step 11 At the bottom of the page, enter your contact information.

Step 12 Click Create Program.

Note   To define a low bit-rate program after you have changed the capture card resolution to medium bit rate, follow the steps in the "Medium Bit-rate Capture Settings" section, but change the capture dimensions back to the default of 160 x 120.

Step 13 Connect the video source to the MPEG4/H.261 capture card illustrated in .

Step 14 Start IP/TV Server on the Broadcast Server.

Step 15 On the Program Listings window, double-click the medium bit rate program.

Step 16 On the Capture Program Details window, click the red Stop button.

Step 17 Click Configure.

Step 18 In the Flashware Capture Device Configuration window, select Video Format in the Type drop-down list.

Step 19 Click Configure.

Step 20 In the Video Capture Format Settings window, select 320 x 240 in the Standard drop-down list.

Step 21 Click OK.

Step 22 Click Close.

Step 23 In the Capture Program Details window, click the green Play button.

The live capture session begins, at a resolution of 320 x 240.

Connecting the Broadcast Server Capture Cards

After you define a live-capture program for high, medium, or low bit rate, connect the audio and video outputs of your device to the inputs of the appropriate capture card (see ).

•If you have defined a high bit rate (MPEG2, MPEG2 Half D1, or MPEG1) program, connect your video source to the MPEG1/MPEG2 capture card. This capture card provides the highest video quality and consumes 500 kbps to 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.

•If you have defined any other type of program, connect your video source to the MPEG4/H.261 capture card. This capture card can be configured for either medium or low bit rate, and consumes 56 kbps to 768 kbps of bandwidth.

shows the audio and video inputs for the MPEG1/MPEG2 and MPEG4/H.261 capture cards.

Figure 5-1 Capture Card Audio and Video Inputs

To connect a capture card, complete the following steps:

Step 1 Connect your audio output to the audio input.

Step 2 Connect your video output to the video input appropriate for your device.

Step 3 Set the capture card settings for high, medium, or low bit rate.

See "Capture Device Configuration Options" in Chapter 6, "Administering IP/TV Server" of the IP/TV Administration and Configuration Guide for detailed information.