Splice enables you to seamlessly produce recordings from live streams by setting custom capture rules. These rules can be customized for a variety of streaming scenarios, such as scheduling Splice to act in advance or to capture a recording based on metadata triggers.

In this help article, we will provide guidance on:


Video walk-through


Preparation

To ensure seamless integration between Splice and Podcaster, you should start by creating a new Publisher and a Podcast show first, following the steps provided here. Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that you are logged into both Podcaster and Engine platforms before proceeding any further.


In the left side menu of the Engine interface, navigate to Ingests and create a new Ingest that will connect with your live streaming encoder. In order for Splice to function properly, an MP3 ingest is required, as AAC is currently not supported.


Note: When first establishing a Publisher for Splice purposes, you can focus on  the monetization aspects later on. after the Splice is recorded,  the audio is transferred to Podcaster, and you can then insert ad markers using the Audio Editor.



Step-by-step guide on creating and setting up a Splice

  1. Login to the Engine console.

  2. From the left-side navigation menu, click on Publishers.

  3. Select the publisher of your choice.

  4. Under the Publisher Resources page, in the top right corner, click on Create and then select the Splice option from the dropdown list.

  5. You will then be redirected to the Splice creation page. Complete each of the General Information fields.

    • Name: This will help you to easily identify the Splice later.

    • Source: Select the primary Source from the dropdown menu. All active Ingests from your account will be listed.

    • Source (backup): Select a backup Ingest that will be used as a fallback.

    • Activate on creation: This is checked by default. If this option is unchecked, the Splice will not be automatically activated.

      To proceed further in the Splice creation process, ensure that you have filled out all required fields marked with an “*” symbol.

  6. The Capture Rules represent any actions that can trigger Splice to start and stop recording a live stream. There are three types of capture rules:

    • Time-based Triggers (explicit start time and end time) - Setting the capturing rules of a Splice to Start/Stop on date/time will cause the recording to start and stop accordingly.


      The default time zone is the one set by your current location, but it can be updated based on your needs. Time-based triggers can be configured to repeatedly capture daily or on specific days of the week.


    • Metadata Triggers (start + stop) - By setting the capture rules of Splice to Start/Stop on metadata, Splice will start capturing as soon as the encoder sends specific metadata matching the configured rule. The live recording will then finish capturing when the specific “stop” metadata is received. Of course, matching and capturing only functions when the specific Splice is active.


      Splice will continue to capture recordings each time that the conditions for start/stop are met. You can limit this to just 1 capture and deactivate the recurring feature by checking the Deactivate after first capture option.

    • Metadata Triggers (start + fixed duration) - By setting the capture rules of a Splice to Start on metadata, stop after duration, our tool will start capturing after the encoder sends specific metadata matching the rule within Splice. Then, capturing will end after the selected duration time as set in minutes. Of course, matching and capturing only apply when the Splice is active.


  7. Destination is the last step that you need to configure before completing the Splice creation process. This sets the storage location of the resulting recording files. You can choose between AWS S3, Simplecast, or Podcaster.

    • Uploading into Simplecast requires a Simplecast Show ID in the Show identifier field. After the field is completed, click on the Save button.

      Simplecast authorization is required. Please click on the Authorize button, which will display below the Show identifier field. A new window will open, asking for Simplecast credentials and application authorization.


    • Uploading into AWS S3 requires all the required information about the bucket and the access keys. All of the starred fields must be correct in order to save the Splice.

    • You can also choose to export the recording as an episode directly to your Podcaster account. To do this, select Podcaster as a publishing destination. A drop-down list will display with all of your available podcasts to select from. Episodes are getting added to the Podcaster account unpublished unless we choose to publish them automatically by checking the Settings show box:


      Here are some good use cases for when you would want to check the “Automatically publish episodes uploaded by Splice” option:

      • When you don’t need to insert Mid-rolls
      • When you don’t need to insert any dynamic ads at all

      If you choose not to use the automatic publish option, the new episode from Splice will be saved as unpublished. You will need to manually add all the required information before publishing it.

      Besides the default episode description, you can add macros as the episode name template:

      • %%name%% will insert the current Show name

      • %%date%% will insert the current date in mm/dd/yy format

      • %%datelong%% will insert the current date in Weekday, Month Day, Year format

Note: The name will be given by the Timezone setup in Podcaster. To avoid confusion, we recommend set the same Timezone both in Podcaster and Splice.


Deactivate a Splice

A Splice cannot be deleted, but it can be deactivated in several ways:

  1. Edit the Splice that you would like to deactivate and then click on the Deactivate button in the top right section of the page.
  2. If you've set up a recurring splice that has already run at least once, you can edit it and check the Deactivate after first creation box to prevent it from making new recordings.

  3. If you've set up a recurring splice that has already run at least once, you can edit it and set the repeat option to Never.


If you have further questions, please contact our Support Operations team by submitting a ticket here or by emailing us: support@soundstack.com.