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Setting Up SimLive

Sardius SimLive allows you to play a pre-recorded Asset to your viewers as if it is a scheduled live event. When the SimLive event begins, the Asset will play back to all viewers at the same time. As the SimLive Event plays out, Viewers will be able to rewind, but they will not be able to skip ahead.

SimLive events can be set to repeat on your calendar, either using the same asset, or using the same feed which can be updated dynamically and automatically.

 

Should I Use an Asset or a Feed?

An Asset is a single video that already exists in your Sardius Control Panel. In order to be playable through SimLive, the Asset must be published using HLS. Using a single Asset for SimLive is ideal for one-off events.
 
A Feed is a collection of Assets strung together using Metadata categories. Using a Feed, you are able to automate SimLive Events that repeat over an extended range of time. A Sardius SimLive Event will only play the most recent approved Asset in the Feed. Many clients use a Feed to rebroadcast their Sunday morning service automatically the same evening.

 

Prepare Your Feed

Feeds are most often used by clients who wish to automate recurring or scheduled SimLive Events. To prepare a Feed for use in SimLive, determine the following:

 

  • Determine a category name that will you will attach to your SimLive Assets.
  • Determine a name for the feed that all assets tagged with the category will be attached to.

Note: Using both feeds and categories is essential to automating the creation and execution of your SimLive events. 

 After creating your feed, take a moment to review your Feed’s restrictions. These are viewable by clicking on the Feed’s Restrictions tab.

 

 

Assets, by default, are not generated with an Available Date. If you are not setting Availability Dates for your assets, especially in the auto-archiving process, be sure to uncheck “Restrict Assets by Availability Dates.”

 

Prepare Your Asset

SimLive only works with an Asset that is in an HLS format.

 

If you are streaming an Asset that was recorded from a live stream within the Control Panel, your file is already formatted for HLS.  If you are wanting to stream SimLive with an Asset or video that you have uploaded into the Control Panel, chances are you will need to republish the file into an HLS format. You can learn how to do that here.

 

SimLive Assets must also be approved for playback. To do this, navigate to the "Asset" area of your Sardius Control Panel. Select that Asset that you wish to use. In the Asset's Overview tab, locate the toggle switch for “Approved” at the bottom left. If this toggle is unchecked, click on the toggle to approve the asset. Click “Update” to complete the process.

 

 

If you wish to attach an Asset to a Feed that you created, click on the Metadata tab.
 
Scroll down to the Categorization menu. Click on the Categories dropdown and select the Category that your feed is pulling from. Click “Update” to apply the changes.

 

 

If recording a live service to restream later, you can add the Metadata and Auto-Approve the file from the Calendar event. You can learn how to do that here.

 

Set Up Your Event

To create a SimLive Event, you must first create a new calendar event using your channel’s default stream settings. If you have not yet created a calendar event before, please review the tutorial called “Adding a Calendar Event.”

Note: The following way is only used for clients streaming with the Sardius Stream protocol. For clients that have not enabled Default Stream Settings, please follow the walkthrough here

1. Now that you've created your event, locate the event you just created. Click on the event and click the Edit button.

 

 

2. Select the Streaming tab. Then click on the Override event default button.

 

 

3. A modal will appear. Select Simulated Live from the list. 

 

 

4. Select Asset or Feed, depending on how you wish the SimLive event to be run. Depending on your selection, you will need to select the specific Asset or Feed for this event.

 

 

 

Note: If you are looking to use SimLive to stream to social media accounts, you will need to enable the “Advanced SimLive” feature on your account. This is not offered to everyone. To inquire about it, please reach out to your account manager. If you are already setup for Advanced SimLive, please click here to set that up.

5. Take a moment to review your settings. Once you are satisfied, click “Finish” on the modal. Then click “Save” in the lower right corner of the screen. 
 
Your SimLive Event is set up and ready to go.

 

Helpful Tip: If the duration of your Asset is shorter or longer than the scheduled SimLive event, the event’s duration will not be automatically adjusted to match the Asset’s actual duration. You will have to manually update this per each event.