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AWS Elemental MediaTailor
User Guide

AWS Documentation » AWS Elemental MediaTailor » User Guide » Ad Behavior in AWS Elemental MediaTailor » VOD Content Ad Behavior

VOD Content Ad Behavior

AWS Elemental MediaTailor inserts or replaces ads in VOD streams, based on how the origin server configured the CUE-OUT/CUE-IN (or SCTE-OUT/SCTE-IN) markers in the master manifest, or whether the ad decision server (ADS) sends VMAP responses.

For ad behavior by marker configuration, see the following sections.

No XX-OUT/XX-IN Markers

Although CUE-OUT/IN (or SCTE-OUT/IN) markers are the preferred way of signaling ad breaks in a live manifest, the markers are not required for VOD content. If the manifest doesn't contain ad markers, AWS Elemental MediaTailor makes a single call to the ad decision server (ADS) and creates ad breaks based on the response:

  • If the ADS sends a VAST response, then AWS Elemental MediaTailor inserts all ads from the response in an ad break at the start of the manifest. This is a pre-roll.

  • If the ADS sends a VMAP response, then AWS Elemental MediaTailor uses the ad break time offsets to create breaks and insert them throughout the manifest at the specified times (pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll). AWS Elemental MediaTailor uses all ads from each ad break in the VMAP response for each ad break in the manifest.

    Tip

    If you want to create mid-roll breaks but your ADS doesn't support VMAP, then ensure that there are CUE-OUT (or SCTE-OUT) markers in the manifest. AWS Elemental MediaTailor inserts ads at the markers, as described in the following sections.

XX-OUT/XX-IN Markers Are Present

CUE-OUT/IN (or SCTE-OUT/IN) markers allow AWS Elemental MediaTailor to insert ads throughout the manifest. If the manifest contains markers, and the CUE-IN marker immediately follows the CUE-OUT marker (there are no segments between them), this informs AWS Elemental MediaTailor that it is an ad insertion request.

The CUE-OUT markers should have no duration (or a duration of 0) specified, such as #EXT-X-CUE-OUT:0.

For post-rolls, CUE-OUT/IN markers must precede the last content segment. This is because the HLS spec requires tag decorators to be explicitly declared before a segment.

For example, for the following declaration: 

#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Videocontent.ts
#EXT-X-ENDLIST

AWS Elemental MediaTailor inserts a post-roll like the following:

#EXTINF:4.000,
Videocontent.ts
#EXT-X-DISCONTINUITY
#EXTINF:3.0,
Adsegment1.ts
#EXTINF:3.0,
Adsegment2.ts 
#EXTINF:1.0,
Adsegment3.ts
#EXT-X-ENDLIST

You cannot use multiple CUE-OUT/IN tags in succession to mimic ad pod behavior. This is because CUE-OUT/IN tags must be explicitly attached to a segment.

For example, the following declaration is invalid:

#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Videocontent.ts

The following declaration is valid:

#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Somecontent1.ts
#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Somecontent2.ts
#EXT-X-CUE-OUT: 0
#EXT-X-CUE-IN
#EXTINF:4.000,
Videocontent.ts

The above declaration results in an output like the following: 

Ad 1
Somecontent.ts
Ad 2
Somecontent2.ts
Videocontent.ts
Post-Roll Ad 3