Inserting Ads with VCMS

Step 1: Find your ad media.

If you have multiple ads that you want to run, you will need to perform this step for each.

1. In VCMS sidebar, select Media (1). 
2. From the Media listings (2), click the media object that you want to use as your advertisement.  
3. Click the History (3) panel to the right of the listings to expand it and retrieve its Media Public URL (4).
4. Paste the Public URL into a text editor and modify it as follows:

• Change the first part of the URL, or protocol, from:  http://  to   http{ssl:s:}://

• Append to the end of the URL: ?format=smil&formats=m3u,mpeg4&auto=true&bitrate=750000~1500000&mbr=false

The resulting URL is your ad URL.  It should look something like this:

http{ssl:s:}://link.theplatform.com/s/IfSiAC/media/FolgersAd?format=smil&formats=m3u,mpeg4&auto=true&bitrate=750000~1500000&mbr=false

Step 2: Create your ad policy.

If you have multiple ads that you want to run, you will need to perform this step for each.

1. In the VCMS sidebar, click Policies and select Ad Policies (5) from the popup menu. 
2. Click the Create Ad Policy (6) button in the top-right of the screen.
3. Enter a Title (7) for the new ad policy and click Create (8).
   
   
4. Choose the ad policy that you want to use from the options of the available panels:

   • Bumpers: play before pre-rolls.

   • Pre-roll: plays before content.

   • Mid-roll: requires VOD content with chapter points.  Plays at each chapter point.

   • Post-roll: plays after content.
     
     

5. In the chosen Ad Policy panel, locate the Ad Server URL field (9) and paste the ad URL that you created in Step 1 (copy it from the text editor and paste it to this Ad Server URL field).
6. Click the Ad Server Format dropdown menu (10) and select the SMIL option.
7. [Optional] To permit the ad to be skipped, scroll down to the Allow Skipping (Bumpers/Pre-Rolls/Mid-Rolls/Post-Rolls) drop-down menu and select Yes. NOTE: Player must include the skip control for this to work.
8. Click Save Changes.

Step 3: Configure the player to recognize ads.

1. Next, add the Haivision SMIL plug-in to the player.   

   Note

   Scheduler players are not supported.

2. Click Players (12), choose All Players (13), and select your player (14) from the listing.
3. Click the Plug-ins blade (15) to get to the plug-ins list.
4. Click Add (16) to add a new plug-in, and select Haivision SMIL Ads from the list.
5. Click Save (17).

Step 4: Apply your ad policy to your player or content.

Finally, apply the ad policy to either the player or to the media. Applying the ad policy to the: 

• Player causes an ad to run all content on that player.
  
  To apply to the player:
  1. Open your VCMS account and hover over the Navigation sidebar to expand the Main menu.
  2. In the Main menu, select the Players > All Players option.
  3. From the available listings, click your player.
  4. When the Player Details view opens, click the Policies tab.
     
     
     
     
  5. Click the Ad Policy field and select your ad policy from the dropdown menu.
  6. Click the Ad Policy when Embedded field and select your a policy from the dropdown menu.
  7. Click Save Changes.
     
     
• Media causes an ad to run on any player. Note: The player must have the SMIL plug-in on it or else the ads will not work on all browsers.
  
  To apply to the media:
  1. Open your VCMS account and hover over the Navigation sidebar to expand the Main menu.
  2. In the Main menu, select the Media option.
  3. From the available listings, click the checkbox for the media listing on which you want to run an ad.
  4. When the Media Details Panel opens, scroll down and click Policies.
     
     
     
     
  5. In Policies section, scroll down and click the Ad Policy field dropdown menu to set your ad policy.
  6. Click Save Changes.