The RealServer must be configured for advertising play before any ads can be played. When the RealServer is configured for Ad Insertion, it inserts audio and video advertising clips into current audio and video broadcast streams.
There are four steps to configuring RealServer for Ad Insertion:
Detailed discussion and procedures for each of these steps are found in the following sections.
Edit the following parameters in the RealServer server.cfg file to configure your RealServer for Ad Insertion. After modifying any of these parameters, restart the server. These settings inform RealServer which directories contain content clips and advertisements, and when the ads are to be played-lead, end, in-line, or a combination.
For detailed procedures for setting or changing these parameters, see Configuring and Maintaining RealServer.
In each content directory that you configured for Ad Insertion, create a text file called ads.txt which lists ad location and order. All content clips in that directory are subject to the ads defined in this file.
Content directories can have at most one ads.txt file.
The ad list is not used when the RealServer is integrated with a third party database application.
If the RealServer is running on a UNIX computer, and you make changes to an ads.txt file while users are connected to the RealServer, you can force the changes to appear to new users if you issue the SIGHUP command.
To create an ad list:
In the example below, the game.rm ad is inserted first, followed by the wa.rm ad. Sport.rm is played next, followed by wa.rm again.
ads\56kbs\game.rm
ads\56kbs\wa.rm
ads\56kbs\sport.rm
ads\56kbs\wa.rm
If you use the RealServer ad list for in-line ads, create a companion ad cue file for each content clip. The ad cue file contains timestamp(s) which instruct the RealServer when to insert an ad into the content clip.
The content file and the ad cue file must be in the same directory. That directory must be configured to have Ad Insertion enabled, with the ad insert type set for in-line. For details, see AdCfgList options 3, 5, 6 or 7.
An ad cue file is a plain text file that has the same name as the content clip file (.rm), but with a .rad extension. Each record in the ad cue file specifies a timestamp and a pointer to an ad file. The pointer can be a relative path (relative to the directory specified in the BasePath setting) and file name for a specific ad, or an AdInsert event that prompts the RealServer to select the next ad from the ads.txt file.
Syntax
<timestamp > [<AdInsert> or <filename>]
where:
<timestamp> |
Point at which the ad will be inserted in the content clip (elapsed time). Syntax: where 't' is tenths of a second |
<AdInsert> |
Instructs the RealServer to read the next ad listed in the ads.txt file of the current directory. |
<filename> |
The path and file name, relative to the BasePath setting, of a specific ad clip to be inserted. |
00:00:03:00.0 logos\promo.rm
An ad cue file can list specific ads and it can also use the AdInsert variable. AdInsert points to the ads.txt file located in this directory or to the third party database application.
Ads are inserted just before a keyframe in the content clip. The timestamp you specify will be rounded up from 0 to 5 seconds, depending on where a particular keyframe exists in the content clip.
This ad cue file contains a pointer to a specific ad file, and uses the AdInsert pointer to direct the server to the ads.txt file located in this directory. If a third party database application is in use, AdInsert points to it.
00:00:00:30.0 logos\promo.rm
00:00:01:30.0 AdInsert
00:00:03:00.0 AdInsert
In this example, promo.rm is played 30 seconds into the content clip. At one minute and 30 seconds, the AdInsert variable directs RealServer to play the first ad listed in ads.txt file or the next file specified in the third party database application. Three minutes into content play, RealServer plays the second ad listed in ads.txt or third party software.
Audio and video ads must be compatible with featured content files to achieve in-stream continuity. The following file properties must be identical for content files and the ad files that are to be inserted. It is recommended that the same RealEncoder version or RealPublisher version be used to create both ads and content, to ensure consistency in these settings:
If the ad file properties do not exactly match the content clip, the RealServer will not insert the ad file and will continue to play the content clip until the next ad insertion point as specified by ads.txt or .ram file. This error will be logged in the pnad.log or pnad file.
For more details about authoring content and ad clips, refer to the RealAudio and RealVideo Content Creation Guide.