The Dolby.io Communications APIs platform allows recording all media shared during a conference, such as shared files, screens, and media captured by participants' cameras and microphones. The recording functionality is useful for distributing recordings among absent participants, broadcasting sessions to other platforms, archiving important meetings, or post-processing.

The platform uses the H.264 codec and 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution at 30fps to capture video. The selection of the preferred recording format and additional recording preferences are available in the dashboard. For more information, see the Setting Recording Preferences guide.

The Dolby.io Communications APIs platform allows downloading the recorded files, but it is not designed for distributing the files to end-users. To deliver recordings to end-users, customers need to download recordings to their own storage and distribute them from their platform.

Note: Recording data is stored for a maximum of 12 months. The Monitor API will only return recording data for recordings that are less than 12 months old. Recordings that are older than 12 months are no longer available.

Recording can be enabled and disabled a few times during a conference to create a multi-step recording. In this case, at the end of the conference all recordings are merged into one.

The Recording REST APIs enables the application to start and stop a recording, as well as specify a custom layout URL.

Recording types

Recordings can be divided into a few types that impact cost calculation:

• Raw recording: Recording that is always performed when any conference is recorded (audio or video), even if the liveRecording (Web, iOS, Android) parameter is set to false. The raw recording is not downloadable; it is only available via the replay method. To create a downloadable file out of raw recording, you have to use the Remix REST API.

• Audio mix recording: Recording audio in MP3 format for Dolby Voice conferences. The recorded MP3 file is available for download immediately after a conference.

• Audio call leg recording: Recording data that includes all users' recorded presence duration. This option is enabled when the Generate audio recordings for each participant option and MP3 or BOTH recording format are selected in the dashboard. This recording option is for advanced use cases where an individual participant’s audio track is important. An example use case is post-processing or analysis of an individual participant’s speech.

• Video mix recording: Recording data for conferences that have video, audio, screen-share, video presentation, and use of Mixer. The recorded MP4 file contains all the recorded data and is available for download immediately after a conference.

Recording mechanisms

The Dolby.io Communications APIs platform offers three recording mechanisms. The selection of the recording mechanism depends on the conference type and the liveRecording (Web, iOS, Android) parameter setting.

Recording audio in Dolby Voice conferences does not require using the liveRecording parameter. Audio recordings in MP3 files can be downloaded immediately after conferences.

Recording audio in non-Dolby Voice conferences and video in all conferences requires setting the liveRecording parameter. Depending on the liveRecording value, the platform can either record MP3 and MP4 files using a special Mixer participant or record raw video without Mixer. Mixer is not visible to any other conference participants and only records conferences.

When liveRecording is set to true and any conference participant who has the proper permission (Web, iOS, Android) calls the start (Web, iOS, Android) method, Mixer joins the conference and starts recording. The recording stops when Mixer leaves the conference, which occurs when any participant calls the stop (Web, iOS, Android) method or when the conference ends. After the conference, the recorded files are immediately available for download. The recordings are also available via the replay (Web, iOS, Android) method.

When liveRecording is set to false and any conference participant who has the proper permission (Web, iOS, Android) calls the start (Web, iOS, Android) method, the platform starts recording the conference. The recording stops when any participant calls the stop (Web, iOS, Android) method or when the conference ends. The recorded conference is available only via the replay (Web, iOS, Android) method.

To create MP3 or MP4 files out of raw recordings, the platform offers the Remix REST API. The Remix REST API allows Mixer to access the recorded conference using the replay method, record the replayed conference, and generate the files after the end of the replay.

If you wish to download the recording after a conference, we recommend either recording audio in a Dolby Voice conference or enabling liveRecording and using Mixer. The recording mechanism that uses the Remix REST API is more time-consuming because Mixer needs to replay the entire conference to create MP3 or MP4 files.

Recording layouts

Application users can record conferences using any layouts, even different from layouts used during conferences. The recording layout is only visible to Mixer; other conference participants cannot see the recording layout during a conference. Dolby.io Communications APIs offer a default recording layout, which depends on the shared media:

• When participants only use microphones during a conference and do not share any other media, the recording contains only a blank page with participants' avatars.
• When participants use cameras and microphones but do not share any additional media, the recording contains the participant's video tiles (full-screen, half-screen, or otherwise, depending on the number of participants).
• When participants use the screen-share function or share files during a conference, the recording contains the shared media in the full-screen mode. When a presenter additionally shares a video from a camera, the video is visible as a thumbnail in the corner of a screen.

If you prefer to use a different layout, you can create your own layout and use it for recording. For more information, see the Creating a Custom Mixer Layout Application guide.

Note: The layoutUrl REST API parameter can be used to override the layout URL configured in the dashboard, and is ignored when the liveRecording parameter is set to false, or if the recording is MP3 only. The layoutName REST API parameter allows you to set a custom layout name, which is useful in identifying the layout referenced in other API calls, error messages, and webhooks. These parameters provide flexibility when using a customer Mixer layout when running a mix task, regardless if it is recording, streaming, or remixing.