Multiple Layout Mixes

The multiple layout mixes feature gives you the ability to record and stream conferences using multiple layouts at the same time.

Benefits

The feature offers the following benefits:

• Increased flexibility: You can experiment with different layout configurations, helping you strike the right balance between visual appeal and functionality. This flexibility ensures that your virtual events are engaging and user-friendly for all participants using all devices. For example, you can create a layout that is tailored for mobile devices to optimize the end-user experience.

• Customized experiences: You can create tailored visual experiences for different groups of participants, such as presenters and audience members. This ensures that each participant can enjoy a more focused and relevant virtual event experience.

• Improved recording and streaming options: With the capability to record and stream multiple parts of a conference at the same time, you can create a more comprehensive archive of your event. This allows participants to review specific segments and helps those who missed the event catch up on important moments.

• Easier post-production: The feature streamlines the editing process, allowing you to combine and rearrange various recorded segments more efficiently. This can save you time and resources while improving the quality of your recorded content.

• Better audience engagement: Offering separate layouts for presenters and audience members can foster more interaction between participants. For example, you can design a dedicated Q&A layout that allows audience members to ask questions and engage in discussions without interrupting the main presentation.

How to use

Recording a conference using multiple layout mixes is supported only when the liveRecording parameter is enabled. The Recording, RTMP streaming, and Real-time Streaming REST APIs allow you to specify the following optional parameters when starting recording or streaming:

• mixId: A unique identifier for the mixed recording or streaming, for example, "landscape-stage" or "portrait-audience" that can indicate the purpose of the mix. For each mixId, only one recording or streaming may be generated concurrently. Additional requests for the same mixId while one is already in progress are rejected.
• width: The frame width.
• height: The frame height.
• layoutUrl: The URL of the mixed recording or streaming layout. The default mix layout application provided by Dolby.io is capable of supporting 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 3:4, and 4:3 aspect ratios. The maximum resolution of the video mix cannot exceed 1920x1920 pixels.

The above parameters are included in webhook notifications and Monitor API responses helping you to retrieve the recording files. For more information, refer to the REST API reference documentation.

Automatic merge

During a conference, you can initiate and stop recording multiple times and generate individual mixed recording files with each mixer layout. Upon conference termination, the individual mixed recording files of each mix layout are merged into one. For advanced post-processing of the recording files, use Transcode API.

Billing

Additional mixes factor into the Video Mix SKU calculations. For example, recording or streaming a 1-minute conference with two mixes is counted as 2 minutes.