--- title: Adding Transcoded Channels slug: zen-master/adding-transcoded-channels docTags: createdAt: 2024-12-27T17:59:05.623Z --- Transcoded channels transcode a single source into multiple bitrates for output to an HTTP or S3 target. :::hint{type="info"} For a comparison of transcoders - codecs and color support - see [Comparison of Transcoders: Video Codec and Color Support](docId:0kUGUMogtknAKZY-UG6Qs). ::: Supported Video and Audio formats include: - **Video Decoding** – MPEG2, H.264/AVC , H.265/HEVC - **Video Encoding** – MPEG2, H.264/AVC , H.265/HEVC - **Audio Decoding** – AAC, MPEG-1 Audio Layer I / II / III, MPEG-2 Audio Layer I / II / III, AC-3 (Dolby Digital) :::hint{type="info"} For AC-3, which can contain up to six discrete channels of sound, the transcoder only supports the left and right channels and will ignore the other channels. ::: - **Audio Encoding** – AAC, AAC-HE (High Efficiency) and AAC-HEv2; Pass through (no encoding) – any audio codec (MPEG1/2 / AAC / AC-3, E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus). :::hint{type="info"} AAC-HE and AAC-HEv2 are only supported for Zixi Broadcasters, v13 and up. ::: The following procedure describes how to add a Transcoded Channel in ZEN Master. In addition, an explanation of each of the configuration parameters is given in the table below. ## To add a Transcoded Channel: :::::WorkflowBlock :::WorkflowBlockItem In the main navigation, click** Channels**. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Click **+ Add**. The **Create New Channel** selection menu is displayed. ::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/mzxtTQEvCNIdUNgF2kuwJ/9qvMY-FsApjKFyZ_GIVGQ_image.png" size="90" width="1060" height="542" position="center" alt="Create New Channel selection menu" darkWidth="1060" darkHeight="542" showCaption="false"} ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Click on **Transcoded**. The **Create Transcoded Channel** window is displayed. ::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/mzxtTQEvCNIdUNgF2kuwJ/dFNJEtQZ2x9Lik5VZvv9i-20260209-191854.png" size="70" width="1190" height="3475" position="center" alt="New Transcoded Channel" darkWidth="1190" darkHeight="3475" showCaption="false"} ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Info** section, in the** Name** field, enter a logical name for the Channel. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Tags **field, select one or more of the predefined Tags from the drop-down list. Tags are used for access control. By selecting an Tag, you are relating this Channel to that Tag. Tags are associated with certain roles (through the Users & Roles screen), and roles, in turn, are associated with users and user groups. If you would like to create a new Tag, see [Creating a Tag](docId\:YpM9tw81ap6nq8sTKv4Rd). ::: ::::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Events Configuration Profile** field, select from the dropdown list the profile that you would like to apply to this Channel. By default, the *Default* profile is applied. :::hint{type="info"} *Events Profiles* consist of a series of rules that determine precisely how various types of Events are logged and what results they trigger. ::: :::: ::::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Configuration** section, in the **Processing Cluster** field, select from the drop-down list one of the Channel Processing clusters that has been configured in ZEN Master. The selected cluster will be used to process this Channel. :::hint{type="info"} - For heavy transcoding processes, use a Processing Cluster with a GPU. ZEN Master supports use of AWS, GCP and Azure instances that include Nvidia GPU. - If the Source does not exist in the cluster, then the cluster will pull the Source automatically. - If you are assigning the Transcoded Channel to a specific Broadcaster, make sure that the Broadcaster has sufficient available resources (CPU, GPU etc.) to handle the additional load. ::: :::: ::::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Target Broadcaster/s** field, select your broadcaster preference. Either select a specific broadcaster to be used OR specify your preference for using primary vs. backup broadcasters. Options are: *Prefer Primary Broadcasters, Primary Broadcasters only, Backup Broadcasters only* or *Prefer Backup Broadcasters*. :::hint{type="info"} For managed clusters, it is not recommended to select a specific broadcaster, as the broadcaster's availability may not remain stable. ::: :::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Source** field, select from the drop-down list the desired Source. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you want to configure an alternative path for disaster recovery, in the **Alternative Channel (Disaster Recovery)** field, select the Channel that will be used as the alternative path. For more details, see [Disaster Recovery (Alternative Path)](docId\:poo4ZS1-ZjRa1snDylqE0). ::: ::::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to enable the channel to be delivered to [TAMS](docId\:Xb6n9zuNCcGOdDaBrvsba), check **TAMS Enabled** - note that to deliver to TAMS, you must be using a v19 Broadcaster (or later). When you check the box, a new set of fields is revealed under **Include Source:** ::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/mzxtTQEvCNIdUNgF2kuwJ/8Egtxjnd-9BH5ers1OQzb-20260209-193449.png" size="50" width="966" height="356" position="center" alt="TAMS source fields" darkWidth="966" darkHeight="356" showCaption="false"} The Bitrate field is optional (but see the notes in the Parameters Table below). For sources that will be delivered to TAMS, the IDs for the video and audio streams are required, and in the form of UUIDs. :::hint{type="warning"} Note: the **Support MultiAudio** option in the **Advanced** settings **must be selected **for channels that will be delivered to TAMS. ::: :::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to pass the original **Source **through, then do the following: - Select the **Include Source** checkbox. - Enter the desired Bitrate for this Source. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Slate Source** field, select a source (typically a File source), which will be streamed as a technical fallback slate. This option is available when transcoding to a multi-bitrate ladder and not passing through the original source. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to log the HLS Ad Markers for this Channel, select the **Log HLS Ad Markers** checkbox. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to preserve closed captions for this Channel, verify that the **Preserve closed captions **checkbox is selected (default). ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to crop the input stream, select the **Crop** checkbox and set the cropping parameters as follows: ::Image[]{src="https://app.archbee.com/api/optimize/yloo8L9Y5DmjuuW_iCtAX-thAwdz-cboU08BaixNxg0-20250727-115948.png" size="82" width="900" height="269" position="center" alt="Crop Settings" darkWidth="900" darkHeight="269" showCaption="false"} 1. In the **Units** section, select the type of units used to define the crop. Options are: *Pixels* or *Percentages*. 2. Enter the crop position for each of the parameters *Left*, *Top*, *Width* and *Height* in the appropriate fields. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Renditions** section add one or more Transcoding Profiles to the Channel and configure the bitrate for each profile. This is done as follows: 1. Find the Transcoding Profile that you would like to add either by scrolling through the list of available profiles or by entering a search word into the **Filter** text-box. If the Transcoding Profile that you would like to add is not yet configured in ZEN Master see [Adding Transcoding Profiles](docId:3L1DNIo6v_15jzCFdhRKN) . 2. Add a Transcoding Profile by clicking the **+** button next to the profile. 3. Click on the Bitrate textbox for the profile and enter the expected bitrate. Default: the estimated bitrate based on the transcoding profile. **Note: **The value should be the sum of the video and audio bitrates plus a small amount to account for streaming overhead. By default, a value is assigned based on the transcoding profile. For Sources in which either the video, audio or both are not transcoded, the user must manually input the value based on the actual bitrates of the Source. It is important to enter an accurate value since it will be included in the HLS/DASH manifest. 4. If you would like to assign the transcoding process to a multi GPU broadcaster, select the **Multi GPU** checkbox, and then select from the drop-down list the desired GPU instance. Options are: 0 (default), 1, 2 and 3. **Note:** This feature is useful if you are running several heavy transcoding activities, as it enables you to distribute the load among several different GPUs. 5. Repeat the above procedure for each Transcoding Profile that you would like to add to the Channel. **Note:** If you would like to remove a Transcoding Profile from the Channel, click on the **-** button next to the Source. ::: ::::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to assign the transcoding process to a multi GPU Broadcaster, select the **Multi GPU** checkbox. :::hint{type="info"} This feature is useful if you are running several heavy transcoding activities, as it enables you to distribute the load among several different GPUs. ::: :::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Select the **Ignore Transcode Thresholds** checkbox if you would like to override the Transcode thresholds on your Ingest Cluster (i.e. to allow use of full CPU/GPU and memory capacity). ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Initial State** section, select the **Disabled** checkbox if you would like to disable this Channel upon initial configuration. ::: ::::WorkflowBlockItem Select the **Muted** checkbox if you would like to disable error/recovery notifications for this Channel upon initial configuration. :::hint{type="info"} You can Enable/Unmute the Channel at any time. ::: :::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to configure the Billing Code and/or customize the HLS/CMAF (DASH + fMP4 HLS) configuration, click **Advanced** (for Broadcasters running v12+). The **Advanced** settings are displayed. ![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/mzxtTQEvCNIdUNgF2kuwJ/zWr8yTA-bL1aPXVT9HJiy_segmentation-timecode.png) ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to track usage for this Channel, enter your **Billing Code **details. See [Billing Codes](docId\:lalXJ_N928TeGCPDpBirJ) . ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Under **HLS**, set the values for the ***Segments*** and ***Segment Duration***, or if you would like to disable HLS, deselect the checkbox. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to enable **CMAF (DASH + fMP4 HLS)**, select the checkbox and set the values for the ***Segments*** and ***Segment Duration.*** ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem If you would like to convert the captions format from CEA-708 to WebVTT, then select the **Convert CEA-708 to WebVTT **checkbox. ::: ::::WorkflowBlockItem If you check the **Convert CEA-708 to WebVTT **checkbox, a set of options for positioning the WebVTT captions will appear: ::Image[]{src="https://app.archbee.com/api/optimize/mzxtTQEvCNIdUNgF2kuwJ/cb0A07nEA76HF7ArFIuw1-20251022-192424.png" size="80" width="1194" height="454" position="center" alt="Options for Positioning Captions" darkWidth="1194" darkHeight="454" showCaption="false"} :::hint{type="info"} **Note: Positioning captions requires Broadcaster v18.8 or later.** ::: :::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Under **Timecode (EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME) Source**, select your preference for inserting a timecode. Options are: *None*, *System time* (default), *SEI Timecode, or Segmentation Time.* ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Select the **Disable Renditions Synchronization** checkbox if you would like to disable synchronization between the Sources. (Supported for Broadcasters v14.8+) ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Select the **Drop Unaligned Segments** checkbox, if you want to drop segments of a multi-bitrate adaptive group that are not aligned. These segments will not be included in the playlist. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Select **Force I-Frames on SCTE-35 markers **if a SCTE35 marker is detected and it contains a specific video timestamp (PTS), the encoder will generate an IDR-frame on the video frame with the closest or equal timestamp. If there is no timestamp in the SCTE35 marker, the transcoder will generate an IDR frame as soon as it can. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Select **Segment on SCTE-35 **if you want to use the SCTE-35 markers found in the source input to segment the stream and the #EXT-X-CUE-IN/#EXT-X-CUE-OUT tags will be added to the manifest. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Select **Don't add** **EXT-X-CUE-IN **to remove the EXT-X-CUE-IN tag, which indicates where to return back to the program, from the playlist. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the field **SCTE-35 tag **field, select the ad marker tag that will be used to segment the stream: - EXT-X-CUE – cue-in and cue-out ad markers. - EXT-X-DATERANGE - With EXT-X-DATERANGE ad marker tags, you use SCTE35-OUT attributes to specify the timing of the ad avail. - EXT-X-CUE and EXT-X-DATERANGE – Zixi will use both ad marker tags to segment. - EXT-X-CUE & EXT-OATCLS-SCTE35 - the EXT-OATCLS-SCTE35 marker tag includes the Base-64 encoded SCTE payload. Zixi will use both ad marker tags to segment. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the field **Segments between EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME tags **field, בonfigure the the frequency in which the EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME tags will appear in the manifest by specifying the number of segments between each EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME tag. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Select **Drop first segment **to drop the first segment in the manifest. For HLS workflows, this can help ensure smoother playback by eliminating non-keyframe segments that might cause decoding issues. ::: ::::WorkflowBlockItem If the input stream includes multiple audio channels, select the **Support MultiAudio** option to enable multiple separate audio channels. :::hint{type="warning"} Note: this option **must** be selected for channels that will be sent to **TAMS**. ::: :::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Select **Ascending Playlist Order** to order the master playlist in ascending order by bitrate. ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem In the **Encoder** field, if you would like to specify a specific encoder to use for transcoding (decode and reencode processes), select the desired option from the drop down menu. By default, if there is an Nvidia GPU available, it would auto detect and use that, however you can override this behavior by selecting a different option from the list. ![Encoder Options](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/mzxtTQEvCNIdUNgF2kuwJ/b77Z4neULK5pXHp9QPlwx-20260401-221155.png) ::: :::WorkflowBlockItem Click **Save**. ::: ::::: ## Transcoded Channel Configuration Parameters Table | **Parameter** | **Description** | | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ***Info*** | | | Name | Specify a name for the Transcoded Channel in ZEN Master. | | Tags | Select one or more of the predefined Tags from the drop-down list.
Tags are used for access control. By selecting an Tag, you are relating this Channel to that Tag. Tags are associated with certain roles (through the Users & Roles screen), and roles, in turn, are associated with users and user groups. If you would like to create a new Tag, see [Creating a Tag](docId\:YpM9tw81ap6nq8sTKv4Rd). | | Events Configuration Profile | Select from the dropdown list the profile that you would like to apply to this Channel. By default, the *Default* profile is applied.
Note: *Events Profiles* consist of a series of rules that determine precisely how various types of Events are logged and what results they trigger. | | ***Configuration*** | | | Processing Cluster | Select from the drop-down list one of the Channel Processing clusters that has been configured in ZEN Master. The selected cluster will be used to process this Channel.
Note: For heavy transcoding processes, use a Processing Cluster with a GPU. ZEN Master supports use of AWS, GCP and Azure instances that include Nvidia GPU.
Note: If the Source does not exist in the cluster, then the cluster will pull the Source automatically.
Note: If you are assigning the Transcoded Channel to a specific broadcaster, make sure that the broadcaster has sufficient available resources (CPU, GPU etc.) to handle the additional load. | | Target Broadcaster/s | Select your broadcaster preference. Either select a specific broadcaster to be used OR specify your preference for using primary vs. backup broadcasters, options are: *Prefer Primary Broadcasters*, *Primary Broadcasters only*, *Backup Broadcasters only *or* Prefer Backup Broadcasters*.
Note: For managed clusters, it is not recommended to select a specific broadcaster, as the broadcaster’s availability may not remain stable. | | Source | Select from the drop-down list the desired Source. | | Alternative Channel (Disaster Recovery) | Enables reverting an entire path after the Source (i.e., Channel/Broadcaster to the Target) to go through an alternative path, which is usually hosted on an alternative cloud/region. The redirection to the alternative path is manual. So, in case of a fault, if there is no time to troubleshoot a problem, this mechanism allows the user to select the feed that has an issue, click a button and revert the stream to go through a pre-configured alternative path.
For example, if you have a Channel and a Broadcaster on GCP and a secondary Channel and Broadcaster on Azure. If something goes wrong with the GCP path, you can click the Go to Alternative button and failover everything to Azure. | | TAMS Enabled | Enables sending the channel to TAMS target repository. Requires that **Support MultiAudio **also be checked. | | Include Source | If you would like to pass the original Source through, select this checkbox and enter the desired Bitrate for the Source. | | Slate Source | Select a source (typically a File source), which will be streamed as a technical fallback slate. This option is available when transcoding to a multi-bitrate ladder and not passing through the original source. | | Log HLS Ad Markers | If you would like to log the HLS Ad Markers for this Channel, select this checkbox. | | Preserve closed captions | If you would like to preserve closed captions for this Channel, verify that this checkbox is selected (default). | | Crop | If you would like to crop the input stream, select this checkbox, select the type of units used to define the crop (options are: Pixels or Percentages), and specify the crop position for each of the parameters (*Left, Top, Width *and *Height*) in the appropriate fields. | | Renditions | In the **Renditions** section add one or more Transcoding Profiles to the Channel and configure the bitrate for each profile. | | Transcoding Profiles | Add one or more Transcoding Profiles to the Channel by clicking the button next to the profile, and configure the expected bitrate for each profile. The default bitrate is the estimated bitrate based on the transcoding profile.
Note: The value should be the sum of the video and audio bitrates plus a small amount to account for streaming overhead. By default, a value is assigned based on the transcoding profile. For Sources in which either the video, audio or both are not transcoded, the user must manually input the value based on the actual bitrates of the Source. It is important to enter an accurate value since it will be included in the HLS/DASH manifest.
To assign the transcoding process to a multi GPU Broadcaster, select the **Multi GPU** checkbox, and then select from the drop-down list the desired GPU instance. Options are: *0* (default), *1*, *2* and *3*.
Note: This feature is useful if you are running several heavy transcoding activities, as it enables you to distribute the load among several different GPUs.
Note: If you would like to remove a Transcoding Profile from the Channel, click on the button next to the Source. | | Multi GPU | If you would like to assign the transcoding process to a multi GPU Broadcaster, select the **Multi GPU** checkbox. This feature is useful if you are running several heavy transcoding activities, as it enables you to distribute the load among several different GPUs. | | Ignore Transcode Thresholds | Select this checkbox if you would like to override the Transcode thresholds for you Ingest Cluster (i.e. to allow use of full CPU/GPU and memory capacity). | | ***Initial State*** | | | Disabled | Select this checkbox if you would like to disable this Channel upon initial configuration. | | Muted | Select this checkbox if you would like to disable error/recovery notifications for this Channel upon initial configuration. | | ***Advanced*** | | | Billing Code | If you would like to track usage for this Channel, enter your Billing Code details, see [Billing Codes](docId\:lalXJ_N928TeGCPDpBirJ) . | | Billing Channel ID | An optional arbitrary string - you can enter anything you want to for your record-keeping. This is **not** related to ZEN Master Channels. | | Billing Password | Enter the password that corresponds to this billing code. | | HLS | Specify the values for **Segments** and **Segment Duration**. If you would like to disable HLS, deselect the checkbox. | | CMAF (DASH + fMP4 HLS) | If you would like to enable CMAF (DASH + fMP4 HLS), select this checkbox and specify the values for **Segments** and **Segment Duration**. | | Convert CEA- 08 to WebVTT | If you would like to convert the captions format from CEA-708 to WebVTT, then select this checkbox. | | Custom WebVTT Positioning | Check to change the position of captions in the video frame.
**Note that positioning captions requires Broadcaster v18.8 or later.** | | Vertical Position (%) | - **Definition:** Specifies the **vertical position** of the cue box. - **Range:** 0–100 (as a percentage of the video height) - **Meaning:** - 0% positions the cue at the **top** of the video frame. - 100% positions the cue at the **bottom** of the frame. - If omitted, the cue defaults to near the bottom (depending on browser defaults). | | Horizontal Position (%) | * **Definition:** Specifies the **horizontal position** of the cue box’s **anchor point**. * **Range:** 0–100 (as a percentage of the video width) * **Meaning:** - 0% aligns the cue box with the **left edge** of the video. - 100% aligns it with the **right edge**. - Intermediate values shift the cue horizontally across the video. | | Text Alignment | - **Definition:** Defines the **text alignment** or **anchor point** within the cue box. - **Accepted values:** - **Left** – The cue box’s left edge is anchored to the specified position. - **Middle** – The cue box’s center is anchored to the specified position. - **Right** – The cue box’s right edge is anchored to the specified position. - **Meaning:** Controls how the text block aligns relative to the position value. | | Timecode (EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME) Source | Select your preference for inserting a timecode. Options are: None, System time (default) or SEI Timecode. | | Disable Renditions Synchronization | Select this checkbox if you would like to disable synchronization between the Sources. (Supported for Broadcasters v14.8+) | | Drop Unaligned Segments | Select this checkbox if you want to drop segments of a multi-bitrate adaptive group that are not aligned. These segments will not be included in the playlist. | | Force I-Frames on SCTE-35 markers | Selecting this option will do the following:
- If a SCTE35 marker is detected and it contains a specific video timestamp (PTS), the encoder will generate an IDR-frame on the video frame with the closest or equal timestamp. - If there is no timestamp in the SCTE35 marker, the transcoder will generate an IDR frame as soon as it can. | | Segment on SCTE-35 | If enabled, SCTE-35 markers found in the source input will be used to segment the stream and the #EXT-X-CUE-IN/#EXT-X-CUE-OUT tags will be added to the manifest. | | Don't add EXT-X-CUE-IN | Select this option to remove the** EXT-X-CUE-IN** tag, which indicates where to return back to the program, from the playlist. | | SCTE-35 tag | Select the ad marker tag that will be used to segment the stream:
- EXT-X-CUE – cue-in and cue-out ad markers. - EXT-X-DATERANGE - With EXT-X-DATERANGE ad marker tags, you use SCTE35-OUT attributes to specify the timing of the ad avail. - EXT-X-CUE and EXT-X-DATERANGE – Zixi will use both ad marker tags to segment. - EXT-X-CUE & EXT-OATCLS-SCTE35 - the EXT-OATCLS-SCTE35 marker tag includes the Base-64 encoded SCTE payload. Zixi will use both ad marker tags to segment.
| | Segments between EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME tags | Configure the the frequency in which the EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME tags will appear in the manifest by specifying the number of segments between each EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME tag. | | Drop first segment | Enabling this option will drop the first segment in the manifest. For HLS workflows, this can help ensure smoother playback by eliminating non-keyframe segments that might cause decoding issues. | | Support MultiAudio | If the input stream includes multiple audio channels, select this option to enable multiple separate audio channels. This option **must** be checked if the channel is **TAMS enabled**. | | Ascending Playlist Order | Select this option to order the master playlist in ascending order by bitrate. | | Encoder | If you would like to specify a specific encoder to use for transcoding (decode and reencode processes), select the desired option from the drop down menu. By default, if there is an Nvidia GPU available, it would auto detect and use that, however you can override this behavior by selecting a different option from the list. |