The Skylark VOD service allows creating a VoD (Video on Demand) Internet portal that implements the system of individual delivery of TV programs and movies from the Skylark media-server to the subscriber in different formats.

Launching the VOD server is implemented by the VODD Server icon. As VODD interacts with the database, SL NEO Media Server with a configured database service must be launched beforehand.

Launched VODD Server places its icon near the clock.

• VOD Service (vodd.exe) – creating a web-portal available via the 8000 port.
• Database service (stored.exe) – storing materials published in the VOD portal, WebProxy access.
• Media Connect client application (maconnect.exe) – manual import, managing and describing clips placed in VOD.
• Transfer Manager server application (transfermgr.exe) – automated transfer and processing materials in the VOD server database.

The picture displays one of variants of implementing VOD on the SL NEO Platform.

The portal can be flexibly customized for certain client tasks, integrated with social media, an existing subscriber base and payment systems.

The list of movies.

An example of a movie page available after login.

All settings implemented in the control panel are saved to the file: C:\Program Files (x86)\SL NEO Media Platform\run\vodd_config.xml.

Login to the Administrator Control Panel is implemented by the vodd service icon.

A widget is a functional element of the page, responsible for data input and output and able to interact with other widgets.

A page is the portal element that unites a group of widgets and has a design template.

The list of pages created in the portal.

Parameters

Widgets

Parameter	Value
Add	Selecting a widget for adding to the page
Delete	Removing the selected widget.
Edit	The editing dialogue for replacing the selected widget.
Up	Moves the selected widget up.
Down	Moves the selected widget down.

Configuring the portal main menu.

Edit menu Item

No name input field – specifying the text showed when displaying VideoAsset and NewsItem widgets, to be able to return to VideoSearchList and NewsList respectively. For example: “Return to the list”.

The “main_menu_item_current” css class is added for main menu elements in case, if the menu item becomes current.

The Live Streams tab allows configuring capture of multi-bitrate IPTS-streams for their rebroadcasting to HLS streams.

The window for adding a new stream.

Parameter	Value
Stream name	The stream name, which is simultaneously the name of the HLS playlist file, and is used for access to the stream from widgets and via URL. If access to the stream will be implemented via URL from a browser, it is recommended to specify an *.m3u8 extension.
Stream EnabledThe option activates rebroadcasting streams in the HLS format.
Encrypt	Activating AES128 data encryption of the HLS stream. Viewing such a stream requires the encryption key file. The link to the encryption key is automatically added to the m3u8 playlist file. Added in version 2.2.4.
Edit access keys…	Managing the storage of access keys to the AES encryption key – Access keys. The storage allows creating keys that are random “Key + Key value” pairs used for access to the encrypted HLS stream without actual login to the VOD portal. The option Require cookie authorization activates the client authorization check through Cookie before sending him an AES encryption key. To successfully pass the check, the user must send: The session cookie, automatically generated and sent through the portal in case of an encrypted stream request. The mechanism works transparently for all portal users and does not require any additional actions. Cookie Name and Cookie Value, specified in the Capture service settings. These values must be previously saved in the Access Keys storage. This option is used, for instance, for regional commercial inserts, when the encrypted HLS stream is requested directly, not using the portal. If the Require cookie authorization option is inactive, the AES key file and viewing the encrypted HLS stream are available to all clients. Added in 2.2.4 version.
Publish Globally	The option grants access to the Live HLS stream via a direct URL address, with no necessity of access through the web-interface. The stream is published by the address: http://IP_ADDR:8000/live/NAME, where NAME is the Live HLS name specified in the configuration. The option can be used for regional commercial inserts, to capture a stream via IP Capture in the WebCast mode.
Capture IP	The IP address to be used for capturing IP streams. For example: 225.1.110.1.
Multicast Interface	The IP address of the interface to be used for capturing IP streams.
Variants	The option allows specifying port numbers for the set IP address, which provide stream versions with different bitrate. This allows creating a playlist that supports adaptive bitrate.

SCTE35 markers from the input IPTS stream are sent to the output HLS stream (to the TS, but not exported to the m3u8 playlist yet).

The Parameter Propagation tab.

The setting allows sending values to the landing page variables. Variables are available to all page widgets.

When displaying portal pages and updating page parameters, values of parameters are displayed in the System Log of the control panel.

The element to output a piece of news.

The widget that allows to output an arbitrary HTML code.

The widget displaying the entry field of the search request for VideoSearchList.

Displaying a preliminarily configured list of search requests, connected with certain XMP-fields.

Edit categories.

The feature displays the list of video-clips according to the received parameters. It receives search parameters from VideoSearch and VideoBrowse widgets. The General tab.

The Parameters tab.

Parameter	Value
Loading Text XHTML
Sort by Title Text
Sort by Date Text
Empty Search Text
Prev Page Text	The text displayed at the button for moving to the previous search result page.
Next Page Text	The text displayed at the button for moving to the next search result page.
Items Per Page	The number of found elements displayed at one page.

The Parameter Propagation tab.

The setting allows sending values to the landing page variables. Variables are available to all page widgets.

When displaying portal pages and updating page parameters, values of parameters are displayed in the System Log of the control panel.

The widget implements playback of VOD content by playlists. Added in 2.2.5 version.

   <message id="vodd.user.root-container">
       ...html tags and built-in variables...
   </message>

If the Use Template option is selected in page settings, the vodd.user.page-NAME'’ template (where NAME is the page name) will be used for displaying the page. If the option is not used, or a template is not found, consecutive widget output is used by default. <code> <message id=“vodd.user.page-NAME”> …html tags and built-in variables… </message> </code> ==== Widget Templates ==== The vodd.user.NAME'’ template (where NAME is the widget identifier) is used for displaying widgets.

   <message id="vodd.user.NAME">
       ...html tags and built-in variables...
   </message>

The table of available widget identifiers.

Variable	Description
${user-name}
${password}

The following template variables that can be parametrized by simple strings (and can be used, for example, as “src” for the “img” tag) has been added:

vodd.user.news-item: news_item_picture_url vodd.user.news-list-item: news_list_item_icon_url vodd.user.video-search-list-item: video_search_item_icon_url

JavaScript can be used in templates in the following way:

<script type="text/javascript">
      // <![CDATA[

      ... javascript code ...

      // ]]>
    </script>

The default template example: ''C:\Program Files (x86)\SL NEO Media Platform\docroot\vodd\user-default.xml'’.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<messages xmlns:if="Wt.WTemplate.conditions">
 
  <message id="vodd.user.login">
    <label class="form-horizontal">${user-name}</label>
    <label class="form-horizontal">${password}</label>
    ${remember-me} Remember me
    ${login class="btn-primary"}
    ${lost-password class="btn-link"} ${sep} ${register class="btn-link"} 
    ${<if:oauth>}, or use ${icons}${</if:oauth>}
  </message>
 
  <message id="vodd.user.logged-in">
    <b>${user-name}</b> ${logout}
  </message>
 
  <message id="vodd.user.root-container">
    ${back_button}
    ${menu_bar}
    ${login_widget}
    ${page_container}
  </message>
 
  <message id="vodd.user.page-not-found">
    ${label}
  </message>
 
  <message id="vodd.user.video-search">
    ${request_edit} ${search_btn}
  </message>
 
  <message id="vodd.user.video-search-list-item">
    ${video_search_item_icon}
    ${video_search_item_title}
    ${video_search_item_duration}
    ${video_search_item_summary}
    ${video_search_item_date}
  </message>
 
  <message id="vodd.user.video-asset">
    <video poster="${video_asset_poster_url}" 
           controls="true"
           preload="none"
           class="video-js vjs-default-skin">
      <source src="${video_asset_url}"
              type="${video_asset_media_type}"/>
    </video>
 
    ${video_asset_title}
    ${video_asset_summary}
    ${video_asset_text}
    ${video_asset_duration}
    ${video_asset_datetime}
 
    <script type="text/javascript">
      // <![CDATA[
 
      var video = this_widget.getElementsByTagName('video')[0];
      videojs(video, {}, function() {});
 
      // ]]>
    </script>
  </message>
 
  <message id="vodd.user.news-list-item">
    ${news_list_item_icon}
    ${news_list_item_title}
    ${news_list_item_summary}
    ${news_list_item_datetime}
  </message>
 
  <message id="vodd.user.news-item">
    ${news_item_picture}
    ${news_item_title}
    ${news_item_summary}
    ${news_item_text}
    ${news_item_datetime}
  </message>
 
</messages>