Overview

As of V8.3, all LiveEdge® STREAMING subscribers received the graphic overlay feature. This feature allows users to now create custom in-feed graphic overlays using PNG files of their choice. This user guide will take you step-by-step through configuring graphic overlays at the point of video's origination for your live video production.

NOTE: This feature supports the insertion of static graphic overlays (i.e. PNG files). In order to facilitate a use case for dynamically updated overlays, it is recommended to use the REST API commands in conjunction with LiveEdge® COMPUTE functionality. If you are interested in using LiveEdge® COMPUTE, contact a Videon representative.

Additions to the Videon Web UI

There are a number of new fields added to the Input Settings section of Encoder Control under the title of Graphic Overlay. They are as follows:

1. On/Off switch - This is the control used to turn graphic overlay insertion on or off
2. Status - This indicates the current status of graphic overlay insertion
3. Image Preview - This is where PNG images are indicated and uploaded for insertion over the video feed.
   • This field is indicated by the following image when no image is uploaded:
     
     And when an image is uploaded, a preview will be displayed here:
     
   • The Add Image button allows the uploading of the PNG file
     • Transparency and alpha channel are supported
     • Animated images are not supported
     • Update frequency is limited and may affect other resources such as outputs and AV Input preview. Image update frequency (static PNG submission) has been recorded as follows, according to video feed resolution:
       • 480p: 5 fps
       • 720p: 4 fps
       • 1080p: 1fps
   • The pencil in the top right corner when an image is displayed will allow you to change the image:
     
   • The X in the top right corner when an image is displayed will allow you to remove the image:
     
4. Overlay Position - This dropdown is the control for how the image will be positioned over the video feed.
   • The default is Manual, which uses the Position (X,Y) fields described below.
   • Full Screen sets the image to cover the entire video feed. This may result in distortion of the image.
   • Lower 1/3 positions the image at 100% width along the bottom of the video feed. This may result in distortion of the image.
   • The remaining dropdown options will modify the position of the image, accounting for the user-configured width and height, in order to reflect the following diagram as closely as possible:
     
5. Position (X,Y) - This sets the position of the top left pixel of the uploaded PNG image, after scaling.
   • Position is determined by percentage originating from the top left of the video frame.
     • For example, 20% X, 20% Y results in the following position:
       
     • 80% X, 80% Y results in the following position:
       
6. Scaling - This section sets the Width and Height of the uploaded PNG image. The values represented in these fields are the percentage of the width and height of the video feed, NOT the percentage of the width and height of the original PNG image.
   • Lock Aspect Ratio can be used to ensure that the aspect ratio of the uploaded PNG image is maintained, avoiding distortion of the image.
     • The default is No Lock, which allows both width and height settings to be changed. 
     • Lock to Width or Lock to Height can be used to allow width or height, respectively, to be used as the sole scaling factor, changing the other value automatically to maintain original image aspect ratio.

Note: If changes are made to position or scaling settings the output stream will be restarted

How to use LiveEdge® STREAMING's Graphic Overlay Feature

In this usage example, we will be doing a simple logo overlay to brand a video feed and help protect it from unauthorized use. Below are the prerequisites:

• Successfully connect to your Videon hardware
• Have a valid video source recognized by the Videon hardware
• Have a PNG logo file

The below steps are an example of how to insert a logo style PNG into your live video feed using Videon products:

1. Navigate to Encoder Control -> Input Settings
   
2. Scroll down to the section titled Graphic Overlay
3. Turn the Graphic Overlay switch ON
4. Click the Add Image button and choose the overlay image you wish to use
   
5. You will see a preview pop-up of the image with the options to Upload or Cancel
   
6. Select the desired Overlay Position. For this example, we will put the logo in the top right corner, but do so manually to demonstrate all settings. To easily put the logo in the top right corner, we would usually select Top Right Corner.
   
7. Since we are showing this example using Manual positioning, we want to position this logo in the top right corner, but not touching the edges of the frame. This means we need to do some quick arithmetic:
   • We do not want the logo to take up too much space, so we will later set the width to be 15% of our video frame
   • In order to make sure that the logo does not touch the edges, we will need to set the X position to 84% (100% - 15% image width - 1% to stay away from the edge)
   • The Y position simply will be set to 1% to take the logo slightly off the top edge
     
8. For the Scaling section, because we want the uploaded image's aspect ratio to remain unchanged and we set the width, we will set the Lock Aspect Ratio to Lock to Width. We will set our width the 15% as mentioned earlier.
   
9. To see a preview of the graphic overlay on the video feed, we simply turn on AV Input Preview, then click Save at the bottom of the page, and all new settings will be applied.
   
10. Based on the settings in this example, it appears our logo shows up nicely! finding the right position for your overlay image may require some fine tuning based on your needs.
    
11. If you ever need help, always feel free to reach out to Videon's support team and they will help get your live production up and running!