Streaming issues

Available in Classic and VPC

You might run into the following problems when using VOD Station. Find out causes and possible solutions.

URL creation call failure during VOD streaming

I received the error message: "URL creation call failed."

Cause

The file is missing from the Object Storage bucket, or there is a problem with the file.

Solution

Check the bucket list in Object Storage to make sure the file is in the correct location and running properly.

Video playback error

The video does not play or gets stuck in the middle.
Stuttering occurs during playback.

Cause

The VOD Station service dynamically packages the video at the segment duration interval you set for the channel. However, it does not insert keyframes and the GOP duration of the original video remains intact. If the maximum GOP duration (keyframe interval) of the original video is greater than the segment duration of the VOD Station channel, certain segment keyframes may not be included, resulting in playback errors.

Solution

Check playback in another player
Check playback in the Safari browser or on the hls.js demo web page. If you are unable to play, contact Customer support.

Set segment duration
Set the segment duration for the VOD Station channel to be greater than the GOP duration. It is recommended to set it as a multiple.

Set the keyframe interval of the source video
We recommend setting the keyframe interval of the source video to 5 seconds so that the source video itself is encoded with evenly spaced GOP duration values. If the maximum GOP duration of the source video is consistently 5 seconds or less, setting the channel's segment duration to 5 seconds will not cause any errors.

The ffmpeg commands to encode to have keyframes spaced 5 seconds apart are as follows:

• Insert a keyframe every 120 frames (based on a 24 fps video, to insert a keyframe every 5 seconds)

  $ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -x264-params keyint=120:scenecut=0 -f mp4 output.mp4
  

• Insert a keyframe every 150 frames (based on a 30 fps video, to insert a keyframe every 5 seconds)

  $ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -x264-params keyint=150:scenecut=0 -f mp4 output.mp4
  

Adjust segment file size
If your segment file (ts) is large, you may experience problems during the download process. To avoid file size issues, reduce the size of the original video and replay it.