Manifest options

This guide describes the supported manifest options feature of the Video Stitcher API. This allows you to customize the stitched video manifest. The manifest options are configured in the session creation request. For more information, see Create a live session and Create a VOD session.

Before you begin

Make sure you are familiar with the introductory concepts and terminology in the Video Stitcher API. For more information, see the technical overview.

Introduction

By default, the stitched video manifest will contain the same media renditions as the source video manifest. The source manifest may contain several media renditions that not all players can play. For example, an encoded video may contain both H.264 and H.265 video codecs, but a player on one device may only be able to play H.264.

By specifying which codecs or bitrates to include in the video manifest, you can specify which video renditions to output in the stitched video manifest.

Manifest options

The ManifestOptions object provides you with some options to customize the stitched video manifest.

HLS

You can customize the following for stitched HLS video manifests:

  • Filter by codecs
  • Include only certain bitrates
  • Order the video renditions

For the next sections, assume the following source video manifest:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=440000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/fhd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=150000,RESOLUTION=640x360,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/sd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=240000,RESOLUTION=1280x720,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/hd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=400000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080,CODECS="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0,mp4a.40.2"
h264/fhd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=100000,RESOLUTION=640x360,CODECS="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0,mp4a.40.2"
h264/sd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=200000,RESOLUTION=1280x720,CODECS="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0,mp4a.40.2"
h264/hd/index.m3u8

Filter by codecs

To filter video rendition by codecs, set the codecs in the optional manifestOptions field when creating a session. For example, to only display H.264 in the stitched manifest, set the codec in the includeRenditions array:

{
  "manifestOptions": {
    "includeRenditions": [
      {
        "codecs": "avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2",
      },
    ],
  },
}

The following will be displayed in the stitched manifest:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=440000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=150000,RESOLUTION=640x360,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=240000,RESOLUTION=1280x720,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/index.m3u8

Include only certain bitrates

To filter video rendition by bitrates, set the bitrates in the optional manifestOptions field when creating a session. For example, to only display two bitrates in the stitched manifest, set the bitrates in the includeRenditions array:

{
  "manifestOptions": {
    "includeRenditions": [
      {
        "bitrateBps": 150000,
      },
      {
        "bitrateBps": 440000,
      },
    ],
  },
}

The following will be displayed in the stitched manifest:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=440000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=150000,RESOLUTION=640x360,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/index.m3u8

Order by bitrate

Some players may be sensitive to the ordering of the video renditions. You can set the order of the video renditions to ascending or descending, as in the following:

{
  "manifestOptions": {
    "bitrateOrder": "ascending",
  },
}

The following will be displayed in the stitched manifest:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=100000,RESOLUTION=640x360,CODECS="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0,mp4a.40.2"
h264/sd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=150000,RESOLUTION=640x360,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/sd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=200000,RESOLUTION=1280x720,CODECS="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0,mp4a.40.2"
h264/hd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=240000,RESOLUTION=1280x720,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/hd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=400000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080,CODECS="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0,mp4a.40.2"
h264/fhd/index.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=440000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
h264/fhd/index.m3u8

DASH

You can customize the following for stitched DASH video manifests:

  • Filter by codecs
  • Include only certain bitrates
  • Order the video renditions

For the next sections, assume the following source video manifest:

<Period id="0" start="PT33160.000S">
  <AdaptationSet segmentAlignment="true" maxWidth="1280" maxHeight="720">
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="640x360-h264" codecs="avc1.64001E" width="640" height="360" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="150000">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="1280x720-h264" codecs="avc1.64001E" width="1280" height="720" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="240000">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="640x360-h265" codecs="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0" width="640" height="360" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="100000">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="1280x720-h265" codecs="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0" width="1280" height="720" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="200000">
      ...
    </Representation>
  </AdaptationSet>
  <AdaptationSet segmentAlignment="true">
    <Representation mimeType="audio/mp4" id="640x360-audio" codecs="mp4a.40.2" audioSamplingRate="44100" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="48472">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="audio/mp4" id="1280x720-audio" codecs="mp4a.40.2" audioSamplingRate="44100" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="48472">
      ...
    </Representation>
  </AdaptationSet>
</Period>

Filter by codecs

To filter video rendition by codecs, set the codecs in the optional manifestOptions field when creating a session. For example, to only display H.264 in the stitched manifest, set the codec in the includeRenditions array:

{
  "manifestOptions": {
    "includeRenditions": [
      {
        "codecs": "hvc1.1.4.L126.B0",
      },
    ],
  },
}

The following will be displayed in the stitched manifest:

<Period id="0" start="PT33160.000S">
  <AdaptationSet segmentAlignment="true" maxWidth="1280" maxHeight="720">
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="640x360-h265" codecs="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0" width="640" height="360" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="100000">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="1280x720-h265" codecs="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0" width="1280" height="720" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="200000">
      ...
    </Representation>
  </AdaptationSet>
  <AdaptationSet segmentAlignment="true">
    <Representation mimeType="audio/mp4" id="640x360-audio" codecs="mp4a.40.2" audioSamplingRate="44100" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="48472">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="audio/mp4" id="1280x720-audio" codecs="mp4a.40.2" audioSamplingRate="44100" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="48472">
      ...
    </Representation>
  </AdaptationSet>
</Period>

Include certain bitrates

To filter video rendition by bitrates, set the bitrates in the optional manifestOptions field when creating a session. For example, to only display two bitrates in the stitched manifest, set the bitrates in the includeRenditions array:

{
  "manifestOptions": {
    "includeRenditions": [
      {
        "bitrateBps": 150000,
      },
      {
        "bitrateBps": 240000,
      },
    ],
  },
}

The following will be displayed in the stitched manifest:

<Period id="0" start="PT33160.000S">
  <AdaptationSet segmentAlignment="true" maxWidth="1280" maxHeight="720">
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="640x360-h264" codecs="avc1.64001E" width="640" height="360" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="150000">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="1280x720-h264" codecs="avc1.64001E" width="1280" height="720" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="240000">
      ...
    </Representation>
  </AdaptationSet>
  <AdaptationSet segmentAlignment="true">
    <Representation mimeType="audio/mp4" id="640x360-audio" codecs="mp4a.40.2" audioSamplingRate="44100" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="48472">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="audio/mp4" id="1280x720-audio" codecs="mp4a.40.2" audioSamplingRate="44100" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="48472">
      ...
    </Representation>
  </AdaptationSet>
</Period>

Order by bitrate

Some players may be sensitive to the ordering of the video renditions. You can set the order of the video renditions to ascending or descending, as in the following:

{
  "manifestOptions": {
    "bitrateOrder": "descending",
  },
}

The following will be displayed in the stitched manifest:

<Period id="0" start="PT33160.000S">
  <AdaptationSet segmentAlignment="true" maxWidth="1280" maxHeight="720">
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="1280x720-h264" codecs="avc1.64001E" width="1280" height="720" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="240000">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="1280x720-h265" codecs="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0" width="1280" height="720" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="200000">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="640x360-h264" codecs="avc1.64001E" width="640" height="360" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="150000">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="video/mp4" id="640x360-h265" codecs="hvc1.1.4.L126.B0" width="640" height="360" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="100000">
      ...
    </Representation>
  </AdaptationSet>
  <AdaptationSet segmentAlignment="true">
    <Representation mimeType="audio/mp4" id="640x360-audio" codecs="mp4a.40.2" audioSamplingRate="44100" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="48472">
      ...
    </Representation>
    <Representation mimeType="audio/mp4" id="1280x720-audio" codecs="mp4a.40.2" audioSamplingRate="44100" startWithSAP="1" bandwidth="48472">
      ...
    </Representation>
  </AdaptationSet>
</Period>