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Recording and Playback

Record, play back, and control media from the Dashboard.

The Dashboard​

The home page lists every enabled channel. Use the layout control above the list to switch between expanded and compact views. The choice is saved for your account.

Click anywhere on a channel card to select it. The selected card has a highlighted border. Keyboard shortcuts apply to the selected channel.

System statistics​

The chart icon in the header opens a panel with recent CPU, memory, GPU, disk, and network activity. Use it to see whether the machine is close to its limits while several channels are running.

Connection lost​

If the browser cannot reach the server, a full-screen notice appears. Check the network and refresh the page when the service is back.

Confirm before stopping​

Warn before stopping a channel is on by default. When it is on, Record, Eject, and Load ask for confirmation when they would interrupt the current item. Turn it off in your profile. See Sign In and Profile.

Recording a Channel​

A recording channel can be:

  • Baseband / capture card — Blackmagic DeckLink input
  • Network receive — SRT or RIST
  • Download — HLS

RTMP is an outgoing stream, not a recording source. See Channels for templates.

Where the recording is stored​

A new recording is created as a package in the library folder that is currently open. Open the destination folder in the library before you press Record, unless a naming template includes folder segments.

Start​

  1. Select the channel and confirm it is active.
  2. Check that video is visible in the preview.
  3. Check audio meters on the right of the card. Click a meter to hear that stereo pair in the browser; click again to mute.
  4. Press Record.
  5. Watch the recording indicator, disk space, and any notifications.

Stop​

Press Record again (or stop from the transport controls). Confirm the package appears in the library and that the duration looks right.

Download channels (HLS)​

HLS channels pull segments from a playlist instead of capturing a live SDI or stream input.

danger

HLS download is still in testing. Known issues:

  • Playlists with a long history can stall if the current playlist is not refreshed quickly enough.
  • Playback sometimes cannot start on every load.
  • Playback sometimes starts at the live edge on load.
  1. Put the master playlist URL on the channel (HLS Master Playlist URL).
  2. Start the download.
  3. Watch progress on the channel card. Work continues in the background.
  4. When it finishes, the package is in the library.

Network speed affects how long a download takes. Live HLS is stored as new segments appear. Video-on-demand HLS downloads the complete presentation.

Time-Slip Playback​

You can play a recording that is still being written.

  1. Select a channel that is recording.
  2. Scrub or use keyboard controls to go back.
  3. Return to the live edge, or let playback catch up.

You can only play material that is already on disk. There is a short buffer behind the live edge. You can change the time-slip buffer (0–60 seconds) on Configuration → System. Values that are too small can stall playback.

Playing a Library Package​

Playback channels (for example the Video Playback template) output a file to DeckLink.

  • Click a package in the library to load it on the selected playback channel.
  • Or drag the package onto the channel card.

Eject unloads the current package.

Transport Controls​

What appears on the control bar depends on the channel:

  • Record on capture, stream-out, and some download channels
  • Play, pause, jog on playback channels
  • Eject on record, play, stream, and on-demand download channels
  • HLS download-only channels show a download status instead of Record

Click the timecode on a playback channel to switch between elapsed time and time remaining.

Channel status​

  • Starting — The pipeline is coming up
  • Recording — Capturing, downloading, or waiting for a source
  • Stopped — Playback is stopped or paused
  • Playing — Playback is running
  • Shutting down — The pipeline is tearing down (this can take several seconds)
  • Idle — No special state

Lock the channel​

Press X to lock or unlock the selected channel. While locked, transport controls and shortcuts do nothing. Use this when you do not want an accidental stop or seek.

Keyboard shortcuts​

Press H on a selected channel to see this list in the product.

  • Space — Play / Pause
  • J / K / L — Jog backward / Stop / Jog forward
  • Left / Right — Step about 0.3 seconds
  • Shift + Left / Right — 5 seconds
  • Shift + Option/Alt + Left / Right — 15 seconds
  • Shift + Ctrl + Left / Right — 30 seconds
  • Home / End — Beginning / end
  • D — Debug overlay (pipeline and, for streams, network stats)
  • X — Lock / unlock
  • H — Shortcut help

Most compressed video cannot be stepped a true frame at a time.

Cues on the Channel Card​

When a package is loaded, the channel card can show its cue list. Add a cue at the playhead, seek to a cue, or edit names and tags. Details are in Cues and Tags.

Audio Monitoring​

Meters sit on the right of each channel card and update about four times a second.

  • Green is a safe level, yellow is elevated, red is peak.
  • Each bar is numbered. Hover to see the level in dB.
  • Click a bar to hear that stereo pair in the browser. The selected pair has a ring. Click it again to mute.

Meters follow the channel’s mix matrix, not the raw source. See Channels.

Timeline​

The timeline shows duration, playhead, and (while recording) how far capture has progressed. Click or drag to seek.