RELEASE NOTES

May 2021

New Features

  • Ceeblue Live encoder. Supported ingest formats are RTMP, UDP, SRT.
  • VoD2Live / Simulated live using our Live Compose feature.
  • Media Excel overlay / logo insertion support.
  • Media Excel video router control support.
  • Clipping player has been overhauled.

Fixes and improvements

This release contains a number of fixes and improvements:

  • Fix: Various Event state termination issues.
  • Fix: Event termination not allowed when event is instant vod.
  • Fix: Webhooks fire when an event thumbnail is updated.
  • Fix: Set an empty output when stopping a Media Excel encoder.
  • Fix: Asset storage checks and asset extension filtering.
  • Fix: Category custom properties update correct as opposed to duplicate.
  • Fix: Event publish time used for instant vod is only set on the first publish.
  • Improvement: Specify audio mappings for Media Excel channel input. Support for mono and dual mono setups on events.
  • Improvement: Event searching expanded on other fields such as External ID.
  • Improvement: Variable thumbnail intervals for a live2vod asset.
  • Improvement: Channel custom property binding.
  • Improvement: Social Media ingest SRT support.
  • Improvement: Output URL code optimised.
  • Improvement: Multiple event types can be specified on Get Event API call.
  • Improvement: Add Stream defaults can be set in configuration.
  • Improvement: UI system clock has been optimised.
  • Improvement: Various permission improvements.

February 2021

New Features

  • Player drastically upgraded. The VCH player now uses a Shaka player with a Vualto component / skin. Stats overlay and ability to switch audio, subtitles and bitrates.

Fixes and improvements

This release contains a number of fixes and improvements:

  • Fix: EOS when set in the channel configuration didn’t set USP stream to stopped. This has been solved.
  • Fix: Live2VOD retries solved.
  • Fix: Thumbnail uploads via API now work as they should.
  • Fix: Soft deletes and hard deletes handle cleanup better.
  • Fix: Toggling Publish/Unpublish on an event only alters the Instant VOD start time the first time.
  • Fix: Logging and date filtering works correctly.
  • Fix: Various UI fixes and permission fixes.
  • Improvement: Health checks return the list of failed Live2Vod jobs.
  • Improvement: Thumbnail uploads via API now work as they should.
  • Improvement: VOD Download limiting rules.
  • Improvement: Search API can be filtered on reference id and improvements made to the response.
  • Improvement: Allow multiple categories to be specified on Get Event API.
  • Improvement: C# SDK supports arrays for patching/updates.
  • Improvement: MP4 ‘Failed’ state added.
  • Improvement: Allow DRM switching for Clipped VOD Events.
  • Improvement: Return VIS and Admin version API endpoints. See VIS API Health documentation.
  • Improvement: Chapterpoint API optimisations.
  • Improvement: Custom properties and form template improvements. Support for array default values, multi select and hidden fields etc.
  • Improvement: Support for CMAF outputs on Media Excel Hero encoders.
  • Improvement: Support for Media Excel Hero video router matrix. Allows the input and output map to be specified in the channel JSON. This can be populated with a property binding.
  • Improvement: Support for audio channel input/output mapping using the CMS to specify on the audio selection. This is useful for dual mono or mono audio mapping.
  • Improvement: Channel JSON Schema supports the SDI input type.
  • Improvement: Support for setting multiple language outputs on Media Excel Hero V5 encoders. V4 backwards compatible.
  • Improvement: Display Start and Display End calculations factor in all event states and possible date combinations. More accurate date used in API and CMS.
  • Improvement: The User interface for adding events/streams and been made easier for an operator to use.
  • Improvement: Search filter in the CMS allow you to search with an Event ID, External ID or a Provision State.
  • Improvement: Dashboard columns configurable and DRM column added.
  • Improvement: Live2Vod improvements around the player and selecting times.
  • Improvement: Various minor UI enhancements.

November 2020

New Features

  • Enhanced the user interface for navigation and when adding events/streams. Allows for easier navigation and event creation.
  • Support for Varnish Cache Server deployment for Infrastructure Scaling. Support includes USP Origin Servers, Media Excel Hero Encoders and Varnish Caches that can be created per event to drive costs even lower.
  • Support for SCTE Marker Insertion using Media Excel Hero encoders. Can be bulk imported or inserted on the fly.
  • Support for GIF thumbnails on events.

Fixes and improvements

This release contains a number of fixes and improvements:

  • Fix: Media Syndication various fixes around Twitter rate limiting and publication date comparisons.
  • Fix: Missing display attributes effecting text formatting on the Infrastructure Profile page.
  • Improvement: Infrastructure Scaling resource tags can be specified as a dictionary and will be attached to AWS/Azure resources automatically.
  • Improvement: Zabbix automation improvements and instances can be auto deleted when older than x days.
  • Improvement: Automated Live2Vod Jobs can be given a priority for Task Engine processing.
  • Improvement: Increased the priority maximum to be 100 for VOD downloads.
  • Improvement: Task Engine UI status job links to the event (if an event exists).
  • Improvement: Users can be marked as deleted from a central configuration. Next time the config is reloaded the user(s) will be removed.

October 2020

Fixes and improvements

This release contains a number of fixes and improvements:

  • Fix: Add provision bindings to playout profiles.
  • Fix: VTS timeout issues - only query the publishing point information when the provisioned resources exist.
  • Fix: Media Excel HMS bug workaround. Solves an issue where the HMS returned all devices when none could be found.
  • Fix: Json Serialisation on parts of the VIS.
  • Fix: User permission caching.
  • Improvement: Live2VOD additional workflow properties. For example, you can set a thumbnail time or generate the MP4 duration the live2vod conversion.
  • Improvement: Support for the Task Engine NPVR workflow callback so assets appear as VOD.
  • Improvement: Support for new and old Task Engine callback format of build thumbnails.
  • Improvement: HMS High Availability mode error checking.
  • Improvement: C# SDK contains Get Event by Reference ID.
  • Improvement: Automatically generate an API key when adding new users.
  • Improvement: Preview thumbnails are no longer default for VOD ingests and Live2VoD.
  • Improvement: Query the CMS version number. {admin_url}/home/version.
  • Improvement: Support for Failed Rate Limit Publication State.
  • Improvement: Zabbix automation for provisioned infrastructure.
  • Improvement: Support for provisioning cache servers with dynamic infrastructure.
  • Improvement: Media syndication contains retriable states.
  • Improvement: Media syndication uploader handles Youtube rate limit errors.

September 2020

New Features

  • Support for native Thumbnail Assets using the API.
  • Support for Playout Profiles when viewing the preview player or the multi monitoring page.
  • Support for CDN Geo restrictions. EBU and CloudFront currently.
  • Support for adding custom headers to Webhooks.
  • Support for adding custom slates on a live source. Media Excel encoders currently.
  • Support for AWS load balancers using forward-for-x headers when SSL is switched on.
  • Support for synchronising live and vod content to JW Platform.
  • Support for dynamic infrastructure. Specifying infrastructure can launch them on demand when the event is running.
  • Support for customising user management emails with templates.
  • Overhaul of the CMS User Interface, navigation, and some sizing improvements.
  • New User Interface for the Task Engine management.

Fixes and improvements

This release contains a number of fixes and improvements:

  • Fix: Solved an issue where a failed VOD Capture did not convert to VOD_ERROR.
  • Fix: Solved an issue where event scaling got stuck in a state that should be terminated.
  • Fix: Log when emails cannot be sent in the automation checks.
  • Fix: Added states for webhooks when hard deleting an event.
  • Fix: DateTime Now local time used for VOD completion date.
  • Fix: Provisioning dates to use ISO8601 standard.
  • Fix: Invalid parameters for chapter points will result in a Bad Request.
  • Fix: Fix a starting issue with the HMS when using a dynamic Hero instance.
  • Fix: Live2vod Trans DRM issue solved.
  • Fix: Formatting URL when in and out parameter specified no longer formats the DVR parameter.
  • Fix: Bug solved with Fine Uploader.
  • Fix: Added retry DRM code when it fails.
  • Improvement: Live2VOD convertors allows MP4s to be created at the same time. This also improves performance and correctly delays the Instant VOD switch until both the stream asset and MP4 are available.
  • Improvement: Playout Profiles are cached for better performance.
  • Improvement: Playout Profiles allows for publishing points to be targeted rather than every publishing point on the channel.
  • Improvement/fix: Custom properties code has been refactored.
  • Improvement: Live2VOD auto restart code has been refactored to solve some issues and it allows for creating the VOD asset without moving the live event to a VOD state.
  • Improvement: Caching added to infrastructure profiles to improve performance.
  • Improvement: VTS AWS Elemental Plugin supports the ability to update inputs and outputs with encompassing the concept of multiple rather than just a primary and secondary.
  • Improvement: Webhooks have been refactored to reduce lookup requests and improve performance.
  • Improvement: Code optimised to improve VOD download priority by analysing recent requests.
  • Improvement: ‘Date modified’ on the event is updated when child objects are created/updated or deleted.
  • Improvement: USP API can be run with a user for file read/writing.
  • Improvement: Content ID can be overridden from default event ID in the DRM config.
  • Improvement: Ignore SSL route added for overriding SSL. e.g. admin-ignoressl.*
  • Improvement: Paging code refactored and optimised.
  • Improvement: Removed environment references as no longer required and allows for easier VCH setup.
  • Improvement: Code optimised for encoder locks.
  • Improvement: Download queue management optimised.
  • Improvement: Documents layout page improved.
  • Improvement: User account improvements for permissions, verification, emails and general permission structure.
  • Improvement: ‘Infrastructure profile to channel matching’. User Interface will warn if profile is not optimised or incompatible for channel.
  • Improvement: Stream URLs are now links.