Video Inputs

This reference explains the video formats and settings Arc XP Video Center accepts for on-demand video, along with the contribution feed requirements for live video.

For what Video Center produces from your source, see Video Outputs.

Related guides — this page covers what is supported. For how to do it:

• Getting Started with Video Center — uploading and managing video
• How to Set Up Live Streams — creating a live stream and pointing your encoder at it
• How to Upload Graphics for Live Streams — overlays and slates
• Clipping a Live Stream Video

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On-demand video

Recommended source specification

Deliver your source (mezzanine) as close to this specification as you can. These are the settings we support and routinely validate.

Property	Supported
Container	MP4 or MOV (preferred); M4V, MPG, MPG2 and MXF also accepted
Video codec	H.264 / AVC
Chroma & bit depth	4:2:0, 8-bit
Resolution	Up to 1920 × 1080
Frame rate	Up to 30 fps, progressive
Color	BT.709
Audio codec	AAC-LC
Audio channels	One stereo track
Audio sample rate	48 kHz or 44.1 kHz

Deliver the best resolution and bitrate you have, a mezzanine comfortably above the top rung of your rendition ladder gives the encoder the most to work with.

Other source settings

Video Center may accept files outside the specification above, but those settings are not validated and may fail to encode or may not produce high-quality results.

File types and size limits

Accepted extensions, case-insensitively:

.mp4 · .m4v · .mov · .mpg · .mpg2 · .mxf

Delivery route	Maximum file size
Upload in Video Center (browser)	3.5 GB
Upload via the API	Use this route for files larger than 3.5 GB

Note

To upload a file through the API, supply a reachable HTTPS URL that Video Center can fetch the file from. This can be a pre-signed URL from your own storage. The URL must return the file directly.

For endpoints and request formats, see the Arc XP developer documentation for Video Center APIs.

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Live video

Choosing a configuration

A live stream is built from three capabilities: distribution (getting your feed to viewers), encoding (producing the rendition ladder), and recording (DVR).

Configuration	Distribution	Encoding	Recording	You send
Server-side encoding	✅	✅	❌	A single high-bitrate feed
Server-side encoding + DVR	✅	✅	✅	A single high-bitrate feed
Client-side encoding	✅	❌	❌	Your own complete HLS ladder
Client-side encoding + DVR	✅	❌	✅	Your own complete HLS ladder
DVR only	❌	❌	✅	Your own complete HLS ladder

• Server-side encoding: you send one good-quality feed; Arc XP produces every rendition. Choose this if you do not want to operate a multi-rendition encoder.
• Client-side encoding: your encoder produces every rendition and Arc XP delivers them unchanged. Choose this if you already run a broadcast encoding chain.
• DVR: adds recording, which is what enables clipping and event archiving.
• DVR only: records without publishing a live stream to viewers, used when you distribute live elsewhere but want Arc XP as the clipping and archive source.

To create a stream and get its input URL, see How to Set Up Live Streams.

Contribution feed specification

Applies to every configuration using server-side encoding.

Property	Supported
Video codec	H.264 / AVC
Resolution class	HD
Maximum bitrate	20 Mbps
Protocols	RTMP push, or HLS
Audio codec	AAC
Audio channels	One stereo track
Embedded captions	CEA-608, channel 1, English

The quality of the contribution feed sets the ceiling for every rendition produced from it, so push a high-bitrate stream.

RTMP requirements

An IP allowlist is required. You must supply the CIDR range your encoder sends from; the RTMP input rejects connections from anywhere else. Keep it updated if your encoding infrastructure moves.

Your stream ingest URL includes dedicated primary and secondary mount paths configured per channel.

HLS requirements

Where you deliver HLS, Arc XP provisions the destination and issues credentials for it; you write your playlist and segments there. Credentials can be rotated without interrupting the stream.

Client-side encoding

Your ladder is what your viewers get. Video Center does not add, remove or re-encode renditions.

• Send a complete, valid HLS ladder: master playlist plus all variant playlists and segments.
• Since client-side encoded streams pass through without server-side validation or re-encoding, ensure your source HLS manifest adheres strictly to Apple HLS specifications prior to broadcasting.
• Client-side encoding requires HLS, it does not accept RTMP.

DVR

Property	Value
Recording window	14 days of time-shifted playback
Minimum clip length	15 seconds
Ingest endpoints	Two, each with credentials you can rotate

Streams without DVR do not appear in the clipping tool.

Encoder compatibility

Video Center takes a standard RTMP or HLS feed, so most professional encoders work, including OBS, Zoom, AWS Elemental Live, LiveU, Teradek and Harmonic. If your encoder can push RTMP to a URL with a stream key, or write HLS to cloud storage with supplied credentials, it will work.

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Creating video from live

Clips and archives become ordinary on-demand videos and go through the rendition ladders in Video Outputs. For the clipping workflow, see Clipping a Live Stream Video.