CSS Remuxing Feature

CSS remuxing refers to the process where the original stream pushed out of the live streaming site (generally to the cloud over the RTMP protocol) is converted to different container formats in the cloud before being pushed to viewers. In addition, it supports pure audio or pure video output and a variety of DRM schemes to meet the needs of digital copyrights protection.

Supported output container formats

• RTMP
• FLV
• HLS
• DASH
• HDS
• TS stream

Support for specifying media for output

• Pure audio output: deletes the video media and outputs only the audio media. The container formats are as described above.
• Pure video output: deletes the audio media and outputs only the video media. The container formats are as described above.

Supported media encryption schemes

• FairPlay
  HLS supports the Apple FairPlay DRM solution.
• Widevine
  DASH supports the Google Widevine DRM solution.
• Universal AES-128 encryption for HLS
  HLS supports the universal AES-128 encryption scheme.

CSS Transcoding Feature

CSS transcoding (including both video transcoding and audio transcoding) refers to the process where the original stream pushed out of the live streaming site is transcoded to streams of different codecs, resolutions, and bitrates in the cloud before being pushed to viewers. This helps meet the playback needs in different network environments on different devices.

Typical use cases

• An original video stream can be transcoded to streams of different definitions. Viewers can select video streams of different bitrates according to their network conditions to ensure smooth playback.
• A custom watermark can be added to an original video stream for copyright marking and marketing purposes.
• A video stream can be transcoded to a video codec with a higher compression ratio; for example, you can convert an H.264 video stream to H.265 that features a higher compression ratio to reduce the required bandwidth and costs when there is a high number of viewers.
• An original video stream can be transcoded to different codecs to suit the playback needs of special devices. For example, if an H.264 video stream cannot be played back in real time due to performance problems, it is necessary to transcode it to the .mpeg format for real-time playback.

Video transcoding parameters

Audio transcoding parameter description

Common preset templates for video transcoding

Top Speed Codec Transcoding Feature

Based on the technologies such as audio/video encoding, intelligent scenario recognition, dynamic encoding, and three-level (CTU/line/frame) precise bitrate control model accumulated by Tencent Video Cloud over the years, the top speed codec transcoding feature enables video businesses such as CSS and VOD to provide higher-definition streaming services at lower bitrates (reduced by over 30% on average).

Use cases

If the CSS push bitrate is high and the image is complex, you can use the intelligent dynamic encoding technology and precise bitrate control model to keep a high definition at a low bitrate, ensuring that the quality of the video image watched by the viewer is the same as the original quality.

Feature advantages

As users of various video platforms have an ever-increasing requirement for high video source definition and smooth watch experience, in the current live streaming industry, 1080p resolution and 3–10 Mbps bitrate have gradually become the mainstream configuration, and the bandwidth costs are taking a large part in the total video platform costs. In this case, the reduction of the video bitrate can effectively reduce the bandwidth costs.
Example:
In CSS, a standard live stream encoded in H.264 is pushed to 200 users at 3 Mbps bitrate and 1080p resolution for 4 hours. If top speed codec transcoding is not used, the incurred bandwidth fees as calculated by the CSS price calculator will be 372 CNY.

• If top speed codec transcoding is used to reduce the bitrate, the incurred bandwidth fees will be around 372 * (100% - 30%) = 260.4 CNY.
• Fees incurred by the use of top speed codec transcoding: 0.2511 × 240 = 60.264 CNY (published price without any discount applied).
• Total fees: 260.4 + 60.264 = 320.664 CNY.

Therefore, top speed codec transcoding can effectively reduce the platform bandwidth costs while delivering a better watch experience.

Key parameters

The parameters of top speed codec transcoding are configured basically in the same way as standard CSS transcoding parameters. For more information, please see Video transcoding parameters.

CSS Watermark Feature Overview

CSS watermark refers to adding a preset logo image to an original video stream for copyright marking and marketing purposes.

Watermark parameters

The main parameters of a watermark include watermark location and watermark size, which are determined by the XPosition, YPosition, Width and Height parameters as detailed below:

• XPosition: X-axis offset, which indicates the percentage distance from the left edge of the watermark to the left edge of the video.
• YPosition: Y-axis offset, which indicates the percentage distance from the top edge of the watermark to the top edge of the video.
• Width: watermark width or its percentage of the live streaming video width.
• Height: watermark height or its percentage of the live streaming video height.

Note：

If you enable multi-bitrate transcoding for a stream (i.e., one source stream is transcoded into streams of different resolutions) and want to add a watermark, you can set its percentage position on the X and Y axes in the CSS Console or through the corresponding API, and the watermark position will be automatically determined by the system.

Sample watermark parameters

The output video is 1920x1080, the watermark size is 320x240, the percentage calculation method is used, XPosition = 5, YPosition = 5, and Width = 10.
The absolute position and size of the watermark are calculated based on the resolution of the output video as shown below:

XPosition_pixel = 1920 * 5% = 96
YPosition_pixel = 1080 * 5% = 54
Width_pixel = 1920 * 10% = 192
Height_pixel = 192 * 240 / 320 = 144

Therefore, the watermark position is at 96 pixels away from the left edge of the output video and 54 pixels away from the top edge of the output video, and the watermark size is 192 * 144 pixels.

Usage overview

You can add a watermark in the CSS Console or through a server API based on your business needs.

CSS Console

1. Go to Feature Template > Watermark Configuration to add a watermark configuration template, set the watermark parameters, and generate the corresponding watermark template ID. For detailed directions, please see Watermark Template Configuration.
2. In Domain Management, select the target push domain name and click Manage > Template Configuration to associate it with the watermark template. For detailed directions, please see Watermark Configuration.

API call

1. Call the AddLiveWatermark API to add a watermark by setting the watermark name and other parameters.
2. Call CreateLiveWatermarkRule to create a watermark rule. Set the push domain name (DomainName) and WatermarkId (returned in step 1). Use the same AppName as the AppName in push and playback addresses, which is live by default.

Note：

Using the watermark feature will incur standard transcoding fees.

Transcoding Parameter Settings

Usage overview

You can set transcoding parameters in the CSS Console or through server APIs. No matter which method is used, the settings mainly involve watermark templates, transcoding templates, and transcoding rules.

CSS Console

1. Go to Feature Template > Transcoding Configuration to add a transcoding configuration template. You can add a general transcoding or top speed codec transcoding template.
2. Create the corresponding transcoding type and set transcoding parameters as needed. You can use the system's default parameters, and a corresponding transcoding template ID will be generated.
3. In Domain Management, find the target pull domain name and click Manage > Template Configuration to associate it with the transcoding template. For detailed directions, please see Transcoding Configuration.

API call

1. Call the CreateLiveTranscodeTemplate API to create a transcoding template by setting the transcoding type and parameters.

2. Call CreateLiveTranscodeRule to create a transcoding rule. Set the pull domain name (DomainName) and TemplateId (returned in step 1) parameters. Enter an empty string in AppName and StreamName to indicate all streams pulled under the domain name. You can associate the transcoding template with different stream names so as to enable transcoding for specified live streams.

3. Each transcoding template has a unique transcoding template name which is used as the unique ID for playing back the output stream. You can place the transcoding template name after the stream ID in the playback address to pull the output stream corresponding to the transcoding template.

Note：

The operations related to transcoding rule are mainly used to control the enablement of a specified transcoding template for a specified domain name or stream. A playback domain name can pull a transcoding template only after the corresponding transcoding rule is created. If no transcoding rule has been created, the pull address directly spliced by using the transcoding template name will be invalid.

Samples

Playback address = playback domain name + playback path + stream ID_transcoding template name + authentication string

For a push with stream ID 1234_test, streams of different bitrates can be played back at the following three addresses:

• Original stream:http://liveplay.tcloud.com/live/1234_test.flv?authentication string
• SD output stream (with watermark):http://liveplay.tcloud.com/live/1234_test_sd.flv?authentication string
• HD output stream (with watermark):http://liveplay.tcloud.com/live/1234_test_hd.flv?authentication string

Note：

To play back a watermarked stream, you need to bind the corresponding push domain name to the created watermark template.

Using API

1. Manage transcoding templates in the console:
   You can query, add, modify, and delete transcoding templates in the console.
2. Manage transcoding templates through server APIs:

   Feature Module	API
   CSS transcoding	CreateLiveTranscodeTemplate
   	ModifyLiveTranscodeTemplate
   	DescribeLiveTranscodeTemplate
   	DescribeLiveTranscodeTemplates
   	DeleteLiveTranscodeTemplate
   	CreateLiveTranscodeRule
   	DescribeLiveTranscodeRules
   	DeleteLiveTranscodeRule
   CSS watermark	AddLiveWatermark
   	UpdateLiveWatermark
   	DeleteLiveWatermark
   	DescribeLiveWatermarks