[web site]

The following manual describes the process of estimating the performance of a platform that will be used for the installation of Elecard CodecWorks software encoder.

1. Download the Elecard CodecWorks Demo version from our web site, unzip and install the application.
2. Download the test video footage here and copy them to the Stream folder on Drive C (C:\stream).
3. Run the CodecWorks Manager application.
4. In the console context menu choose Change schema and click Create New in the pop-up menu. The encoding schema configuration will start.
5. In the first tab, locate the Input field and choose one template from the Templates group (e.g. BenchHD_AVC).
6. If you saved the test video files in the C:\stream folder, no additional actions are required. Choose the Input tab, then switch to the Output tab and click Save. Assign a name to the new schema. In the Change schema window click OK and the new schema will be loaded into the selected console.
7. Click Start in the console context menu.
8. Check the CPU load and stop the encoding.
9. Repeat steps 4-8 for the rest of the templates.

Note:
Bench HD_AVC_QS and Bench_AVC_QS_hls templates take advantage of Elecard AVC Video Encoder MediaSDK with the Intel Quick Sync Video hardware acceleration support. That is why it  is only reasonable to use these templates if the platform meets these requirements.

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Следующая инструкция описывает процесс оценки производительности платформы, предполагаемой для установки программного кодера Elecard CodecWorks.

1. Загрузить демо-версию Elecard CodecWorks заполнив небольшую регистрационную форму, распаковать и инсталлировать приложение
2. Загрузить тестовые видео файлы по ссылке и скопировать их в папку stream на диск C (C:\stream)
3. Запустить программу CodecWorks Manager
4. В контекстном меню консоли выбрать команду Выбор схемы, в открывшемся окне нажать кнопку Новая — будет запущен конфигуратор кодирующих схем
5. На первой вкладке, в поле со списком Источник выбрать один из шаблонов группы Templates (например Bench HD_AVC)
6. Если тестовые видео файлы находятся в папке C:\stream, никаких дополнительных настроек не требуется. Переключитесь на вкладку Вход, затем Выход и нажмите кнопку Сохранить. Дайте название новой схеме. В окне Выбор схемы нажмите ОК — новая схема будет загружена в выбранную консоль.
7. В контекстном меню консоли выбрать команду Начать кодирование
8. Снять показания загрузки процессора. Остановить кодирование
9. Повторить п.п. 4-8 для других шаблонов.

Примечание:
Схемы Bench HD_AVC_QS и Bench_AVC_QS_hls используют Elecard AVC Video Encoder MediaSDK с поддержкой аппаратного ускорения по технологии Intel Quick Sync Video. Поэтому их использование имеет смысл только на платформах, отвечающих требованиям, описанным здесь.

[Sandy Bridge]

Elecard CodecWorks support Quick Sync Video hardware acceleration implemented in Intel Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPU architectures.

To take full advantage of it, you will need to install  Intel HD2000, HD3000 or HD4000 driver, depending on the CPU generation.

The Quick Sync support is implemented in motherboards with the embedded Intel graphics. That means that server systems that have external graphics cards do not support hardware acceleration by default. However, the embedded graphics can be activated with the Virtu application from LucidLogix.

In Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 to turn on the hardware acceleration mode you will have to run CodecWorks in the console mode, because the service cannot access the graphical drivers.

There is no native support for HD Graphics in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (x64). To set up the Windows 7 driver you will need to click Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on and off and enable the following features:

• .NET Framework 3.5.1
• Desktop Experience

You can make sure that the hardware acceleration is enabled by checking the CPU load or by checking the value of the Implementation mode parameter in the Statistics window.

Platforms with Quick Sync Video support:
Low Budget Configuration Example
Supermicro SuperServer 5017P-TLN4F Rack Unit (1U)

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Elecard CodecWorks поддерживает аппаратное ускорение Quick Sync Video, реализованное в процессорах Intel Sandy Bridge и Ivy Bridge.

Для этого требуется установка драйвера Intel HD2000, HD3000 или HD4000 (в зависимости от поколения процессора).

Возможность использования Quick Sync доступна в материнских платах с интегрированной графикой Intel. Т.е. в системах, использующих внешнюю графическую карту, аппаратное кодирование по-умолчанию не поддерживается. Тем не менее есть возможность включить интегрированную графику с помощью стороннего приложения Virtu от компании LucidLogix.

В операционных системах Windows Vista, Windows 7 и Windows Server 2008 для включения аппаратного режима кодирования, CodecWorks нужно запускать в режиме консоли, т.к. сервис не имеет доступа к графическим драйверам.

Для ОС Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (x64) не существует "родного" драйвера HD Graphics. Для того, чтобы установить на нее драйвер от Windows 7, требуется открыть Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on and off и включить

• .NET Framework 3.5.1
• Desktop Experience

Убедиться в том, что аппаратное ускорение работает, можно либо по загрузке процессора кодирующей консолью, либо по значению параметра Implementation mode в окне Статистика.

Платформы с поддержкой Quick Sync Video:
Пример бюджетной конфигурации
Supermicro SuperServer 5017P-TLN4F - стоечный вариант (1U)

[1. Install Elecard CodecWorks]

1. Install Elecard CodecWorks

2. Install  WOWZA Media Server

3. Elecard CodecWorks initial setup

• Run Elecard CodecWorks Manager
• Open the context menu within the application window empty space and select the Local server → Settings command. Set the network interface IP address
• Open the context menu again and select the Local server → Activate (service) option. Information on CodecWorks server and the list of consoles should appear within the manager window

4. Launch of encoding process in Elecard CodecWorks

• For the selected console open the context menu and click the Change schema item
• In the pop up window click the Create new button – the encoding schema configurator window will open. Build an encoding schema based on one of the available templates. If you need to perform multibitrate adaptive streaming, utilize the corresponding template
• Select the saved schema in he list and click OK
• Run the encoding process (Start item in the console context menu)

5. WOWZA Media Server setup
Setting up an application for live streaming and configuring Application.xml

• Create an application folder [install-dir]/applications/live
• Create a configuration folder [install-dir]/conf/live and copy [install-dir]/conf/Application.xml into the new folder
• Edit the newly copied Application.xml file and make the following changes (some of these settings may already be present):

Code:

<Streams>
    <StreamType>live</StreamType>
    ...
    <LiveStreamPacketizers>cupertinostreamingpacketizer, smoothstreamingpacketizer, sanjosestreamingpacketizer</LiveStreamPacketizers>
    ...
</Streams>
...
<HTTPStreamers>cupertinostreaming,smoothstreaming,sanjosestreaming</HTTPStreamers>
<RTP>
    <Authentication>
        ...
        <PlayMethod>none</PlayMethod>
        ...
    </Authentication>
</RTP>

Download Application.xml

• Using a text editor, edit the file [install-dir]/conf/admin.password and add a username and password that will be used to start and stop the stream publishing(below is an example of the file with the username myuser and password mypassword):

Code:

# Admin password file (format [username][space][password])
# username password
myuser mypassword

6. Publish your live stream to Wowza Server

• Download the sdpgen utility following the link
• Run the file sdpgen.exe – a list of *.sdp files with details on available sessions of streaming data will appear in the same folder
• Select the file detailing the stream coming from Elecard CodecWorks Encoder. Give it the name myStream.sdp and copy it to the [install-dir]/content folder
• Open a web browser and enter the url: http://[wowza-address]:8086/streammanager
• Enter your admin username and password from above
• Click the [start-receiving-stream] link just below the live application folder
• Select the MediaCaster Type: rtp
• Enter myStream.sdp into the Stream Name field
• Click OK

7. Playback
Using Adobe Flash player (RTMP)
Open [install-dir]/examples/LiveVideoStreaming/client/live.html, enter the information below and click the Play button

Code:

Server: rtmp://[wowza-address]/live
Stream: myStream.sdp

Note: If your application only streams to Flash RTMP clients, see Flash RTMP Clients Only.

Using Adobe Flash player (Flash HTTP)
Open [install-dir]/examples/SimpleVideoStreaming/clientOSMF/bin-release/SimpleOSMFPlayer.html, enter the information below and click the Play button.

Code:

Stream: http://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/live/myStream.sdp/manifest.f4m

Note: The HTTP link above will not play directly in a browser. The stream can only be played in an OSMF based Flash player that is embedded in an HTML page. To play the stream from a remote system, copy the contents of the clientOSMF/bin-release folder to a web server.

Using Apple iOS device (Apple HTTP Live Streaming)
Enter the following URL into the Safari web browser:

Code:

http://[wowza-address]:1935/live/myStream.sdp/playlist.m3u8

Note: This stream can also be played using the Safari Browser or QuickTime 10.x on a computer running OSX version 10.6 or greater (Snow Leopard).
Note: The iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices require video encoded using AVC (H.264) format, Main profile (or lower), and AAC or MP3 stereo audio.

8. Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
To perform Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) live streaming you need to build a schema in Elecard CodecWorks which encodes the input stream into several key-frame aligned streams with various bitrates. Use the corresponding template to do this. Next you need to create a SMIL (synchronized multimedia integration language) file that links the streams together for playback.
For example, we have three live streams encoded at three different bitrates myStream_500.sdp (500kbps total bitrate), myStream_1000.sdp (1000kbps total bitrate) and myStream_1500.sdp (1500kbps total bitrate). Using a text editor create a SMIL file in the [install-dir]/content folder with the name myStream.smil with the following content:

Code:

<smil>
    <head>
    </head>
    <body>
        <switch>
            <video src="myStream_500.sdp" system-bitrate="500000"/>
            <video src="myStream_1000.sdp" system-bitrate="1000000"/>
            <video src="myStream_1500.sdp" system-bitrate="1500000"/>
        </switch>
    </body>
</smil>

You can see that there is a <video> entry in the <switch> container for each rendition of the stream. The system-bitrate value is set to the total bitrate in bits-per-second for that stream.

Play using Adobe Flash player (Flash HTTP)
Open [install-dir]/examples/SimpleVideoStreaming/clientOSMF/bin-release/SimpleOSMFPlayer.html, enter the information below and click the Play button.

Code:

Stream: http://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/live/smil:myStream.smil/manifest.f4m

Play using an Apple iOS device (Apple HTTP Live Streaming)
Enter the following URL into the Safari web browser on the device:

Code:

http://[wowza-address]:1935/live/smil:myStream.smil/playlist.m3u8

Play using Microsoft Silverlight (Smooth Streaming)
Open [install-dir]/examples/SimpleVideoStreaming/clientSilverlight/Default.html, enter the URL below and click the Play button.

Code:

http://[wowza-address]:1935/live/smil:myStream.smil/Manifest

[Intel Quick Sync Video]

The following configuration supports using Intel Quick Sync Video hardware acceleration technology.

Part name	Part specification	Part price, $	# of parts	Part cost, $
Processor	Intel Core i7-3770 Processor (8M Cache, up to 3.90 GHz)	350	1	350
Motherboard chipset	H67 / H77 / Q77 / Z68 / Z77	200	1	200
Memory module	2GB, ECC, DDR3-1333	25	2	50
HDD	S-ATA 500GB 7200RPM 3.5"	100	1	100
Network interface	1 GB/s	0	2	0
Extention slot	PCI-Express x4	0	4	0
Operation system	Windows 7 Professional	140	1	140
Platform	Desktop case with 400-600W	165	1	165
Total cost				1 005

Number of simultaneous streams encoded by given system in IP-to-IP mode:
SD: 23 channels
in: MPEG-2 SD, 720x576@25, 3mbps
out: 720x576, AVC Main profile, 1mbps, optimal quality

HD: 6 channels
in: MPEG-2 HD, 1920x1080@25, 8mbps
out: 1920x1080, AVC Main profile, 4mbps, optimal quality

HLS: 7 channels
in: MPEG-2 HD, 1280x720@25, 3mbps
out1: 1280x720, AVC Main profile, 1.5mbps, optimal quality
out2: 640x360, AVC Main profile, 0.5mbps, optimal quality
out3: 432x240, AVC Main profile, 0.2mbps, optimal quality

If one needs to get input signal in any other format than IP-Ethernet please use the following table to make the proper choice for your task.

Max # of input channels	Card model	Card price, $		Computer interface, PCI-ex	Max # of cards for given configuration	Price per channel incl. system cost, $
	HD / SD SDI
1	Forward FD 422	1 300		x1	4	1 551,25
1	HD Access 2	750		x4	4	1 001,25
1	DeckLink Studio	695		x1	4	946,25
1	DeckLink SDI	295		x1	4	546,25
2	DeckLink Duo	495		x4	2	498,75
4	DeckLink Quad	995		x4	1	500,00
4	StreamLabs MH4L	906		x4	1	477,75
	SD SDI
2	Forward FD 422	1 300		x1	4	775,63
2	StreamLabs MS2	389		x1	4	320,13
2	StreamLabs MS2+	453		x1	4	352,13
4	StreamLabs MS4	603		x1	4	213,56
4	StreamLabs MS4+	641		x1	4	223,06
	Composite
1	DeckLink Studio	695		x1	4	946,25
2	StreamLabs MS2	389		x1	4	320,13
2	StreamLabs MS2+	453		x1	4	352,13
4	StreamLabs MS4	603		x1	4	213,56
4	StreamLabs MS4+	641		x1	4	223,06
4	StreamLabs MH4L	906		x4	4	289,31
16	StreamLabs FX416	535		x4	2	64,84
9	Forward FD 322	1 300		x1	2	200,28
	HDMI / Component
1	Intensity Pro	199		x1	4	450,25
1	DeckLink Studio	695		x1	4	946,25

Сервер кодирования Elecard CodecWorks Encoder - как это работает...

Elecard CodecWorks Encoder. How it works...

Elecard CodecWorks and Wowza Media Server

Hi Henrik,

Thank you for the report.
We have already fixed this issue. This fix will be available in the next release.
As a registered user, you will be provided with free update.

If you tell us the video card model you have experienced the mentioned problem with it would be very helpful for us to doublecheck it on our side.

Lance,
To all appearances you are interested in MPEG-2 Video Decoder. It doesn't have such an issue.
Let me assure you that when we have a bug reported we are doing our best to fix it ASAP.

JohnO,
Thank you for the report. We are investigating the issue.
We would appreciate more detailed info:
What filters are used in the graph? As far as I see it might be Elecard MPEG-4 Video Decoder. Does Elecard Audio Decoder exist in the graph as well?

As for the issue with saving changes - our components automatically save the settings in a registry separately for every application that uses them.

Please uninstall the software using MlDmxCleaner program (download available here). You should unzip, install the program and start the MlDmxCleaner.bat.

To get the new (fixed) Demultiplexer version you should download the Elecard MPEG-2 Decoder&Streaming Pack.

There is no need to purchase and activate this pack if you need only fixed Demultiplexer version! The Demultiplexer filter hasn't any activation mechanism! But if you are going to use the Elecard MPEG-2 Video Decoder I recommend you to purchase and activate the package.

Duke,

The fact is that the operation system tracks the use of shared components. If some component has been installed by several programs, then uninstalling of one program doesn't entail the component deletion. It will be deleted when you have all the programs which share this file uninstalled.

Duke,

About uninstall issue. Could you please describe it in more detail? What Elecard's programs have you installed on your system? Do you mean that the program uninstallation doesn't entail uninstallation of the MPEG-4 decoder from the system?

Dear Glenn,

We greatly appreciate your assistance.
We will contact you via email with the login info on our ftp.

Hi,

We are sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Please download the updated version from our site.

Serial numbers for 3.0 are not valid for 4.0.
Please make an official request for upgrade to our customer support (sales@elecard.net.ru).

The only difference of v.3.0.1 alpha (as compared to 3.0) is ability to play back the QuickTime 7 files (per se MP4 with AVC&AAC inside).
It would be helpful if you send us a short example of a stream.
Please write to our technical support (tsup@elecard.net.ru) for explanations.