Create a Live Object

Introduction

A live object is a livestream event (or a third-party HLS feed) that viewers watch in real time. You create the live object in ViewLift Tools, complete metadata and images, start the stream when it is time to go on air (for ViewLift-managed lives), then place it on site pages in Template Builder.

This article explains how to add a new live, complete the object, publish it, start the stream, and place it on the site.

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to help you:

• Create a new live object in ViewLift Tools
• Choose Viewlift Live Stream Service or Third Party Live Stream (HLS)
• Fill in the metadata and images required to publish
• Start and stop a ViewLift-managed stream
• Know how to place the live on trays and which Template Page renders it

Scope

This article covers:

• Creating a live in ViewLift Tools → Content Management → Live
• Completing the live object (metadata, images, monetization, availability)
• Using the Live Stream tab (ingest URLs, start/stop, monitoring)
• Publishing the live, then starting the channel
• The required Template Builder points for trays and the Video Template Page

It does not cover full Template Builder how-to (that is a separate documentation set), Linear Channel programming, or VOD ingest. For on-demand files, see Create a VOD Object.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Access to ViewLift Tools with permission to create and publish live content
• Access to Template Builder
• Encoder or feed details for your path:
  • Viewlift Live Stream Service — provider (AWS or Harmonic), region, and ingest protocol
  • Third Party Live Stream (HLS) — a ready HLS URL, or DRM license and stream URLs if the feed is protected
• A 16:9 thumbnail image (recommended 1920 × 1080 px), already cut to size — Tools does not crop images for you
• Your metadata ready before you start: title, description, tags, and categories

Example used in this article
Throughout the steps below we use one running example — a livestream called Championship Final — Live. Replace the sample values with your own.

Step 1: Open Live in ViewLift Tools

1. Log into ViewLift Tools.
2. From the main menu, open Content Management.
3. In the content type selector at the top of the list, choose Live.

Figure 1. ViewLift Tools → Content Management → Live. Use the content-type dropdown to select Live, then click + Add New Live.

The Live list shows existing live objects. You can search by title, tag, or category.

Step 2: Create a Live Object

1. On the Live list, select + Add New Live in the header. The button is labelled with the content type you selected, so it reads Add New Live while Live is active.
2. The Add New Live dialog opens, with the subtitle Create a new live stream or use a third-party live stream.

Choose one of the two tabs.

Figure 2. Add New Live dialog. Choose Viewlift Live Stream Service or Third Party Live Stream (HLS).

Option A: Viewlift Live Stream Service

Use this when ViewLift provisions and runs the channel (AWS or Harmonic). You do not enter a title in this dialog. Set Title and Permalink on the live detail page after create.

1. Stay on Viewlift Live Stream Service.
2. Complete Partner, Region & Protocol (required):
   • Provider — AWS or Harmonic
   • Region — closest to your primary audience
   • Protocol — ingest protocol for your encoder
   • On AWS only: Do you require low latency stream? if your event needs it
3. Open the remaining accordions as needed for your event:
   • Ingest Setup — identifier, backup endpoint, existing Harmonic input/source, and protocol-specific fields
   • Redundancy & Failover — backup / secondary configuration
   • Playback, Ads & Security — SSAI, DRM, captions, preview
   • Recording & Catch-Up (DVR) — Enable DVR, Start-Over Time (seconds), and Enable Live to VOD
   • Macros — macros if your player or ads setup needs them
   • Schedule — Start Date and Time and optional End Date and Time
4. Select Create Live Stream.

On Harmonic, Use for Linear Channel appears under Ingest Setup. If it is on, Tools creates linear-channel content instead of a regular live event. Leave it off unless you are building a linear channel.

Tools creates the live as a draft and opens the live editor. Provisioning can take a short time. Wait until ingest URLs appear on Live Stream before pointing your encoder.

Figure 3. Viewlift Live Stream Service. Set Provider, Region, and Protocol, then select Create Live Stream.

Option B: Third Party Live Stream (HLS)

Use this when the stream already exists elsewhere and you only need to register the HLS (or DRM) playback URLs in Tools. There is no ViewLift start/stop control plane for this path.

1. Select Third Party Live Stream (HLS).
2. Under Basic Details, enter Live Event Title (required). Example: Championship Final — Live.
3. Choose playback:
   • Leave Enable DRM off and enter Live Stream URL (HLS), for example https://cdn.example.com/championship-final/live.m3u8, or
   • Turn Enable DRM on, choose a DRM Provider (AXINOM or EZDRM), and fill the DRM Assets URLs for FairPlay, PlayReady, and Widevine
4. Optionally, under DVR, turn on Enable DVR and set Start Over Window (seconds).
5. Optionally, under Scheduling, set Start Date Time, End Date Time, and Timezone. Timezone is required.
6. Select Create Live Stream.

Tools creates the live as a draft and opens the live editor. Title is already set; still editorialize Permalink and upload the 16:9 image before you publish.

Figure 4. Third Party Live Stream (HLS). Enter Live Event Title and an HLS URL (or DRM URLs), then select Create Live Stream.

Step 3: Complete Content Metadata

Open the live. The detail page sidebar includes Content Metadata, Manage Images, Monetization, Live Stream, Geo-Restrictions, Availability & Scheduling, Embed, Rendition and Mezz, Audio Assets, Trailers, Cast & Crew, Metadata & Macros, and Version History.

Start with Content Metadata.

Figure 5. Live detail page, Content Metadata. Required fields are Title and Permalink.

Live objects do not have Teams, Players, or Parental Rating on the detail page.

Permalink guidelines

Use the same rules as other content types:

• Start with a slash (/)

• Lower-case letters only

• No spaces or special characters except dash (-) or underscore (_); dashes are preferred

• No leading or trailing whitespace

• Keep it SEO-friendly (about 59 characters)

• Remove auto-generated numeric identifiers when you editorialize the path

• Good: /championship-final-live

• Avoid: /Championship Final LIVE_2024

You can change the permalink later if you need a better URL. To see who changed it and when, open the Version History tab.

Quick settings

Step 4: Manage Images

Open Manage Images.

The 16:9 Landscape image is required to publish. Recommended size: 1920 × 1080 px. Upload images already cropped to the correct aspect ratio. Tools does not crop for you.

Figure 6. Manage Images. 16:9 Landscape is marked Required. Expand a ratio row to upload a thumbnail already cropped to that ratio. Tools does not crop images.

After you publish the live and curate it onto a tray, these images appear on that tray and in search.

Step 5: Live Stream

Open Live Stream. This is the step that is unique to live. The tab has Stream and Monitoring.

Viewlift Live Stream Service

1. Confirm Channel Status. While the channel is coming up you may see states such as Starting, Preparing, or Live.
2. On Stream, copy the ingest URLs and point your encoder at them. Wait until the URLs are available after provisioning. You may also see CloudFront deployment in progress. while playback distribution is still settling.
3. Publish the live first (Step 7). If you try to start before publish, Tools shows: Live stream cannot be started until content is published.
4. Select Start Live Stream.
5. Select Stop Live Stream when the event ends.
6. Open Monitoring to watch health while the event is on air.

If you enabled Enable Live to VOD at create, you can convert an archive to a VOD object from this tab after the event. Conversion creates a new video as a draft; you still complete that video using Create a VOD Object.

Figure 7. Live Stream. Copy ingest URLs, publish the object, then select Start Live Stream. Use Monitoring while the event is on air.

Third Party Live Stream (HLS)

The control plane is not available. Tools shows External Live Stream: The live stream control plane is not available since this is an external live stream. Playback uses the HLS or DRM URLs you entered at create. There is no Start Live Stream button.

Step 6: Configure Additional Live Settings

These sections are optional for many sites. Complete the ones your service uses before you publish.

Monetization

Attach the subscription model, plans, or plan groups that should unlock this live. If no model is attached, playback follows your site’s default entitlement rules.

1. Select Add Model and choose the monetization model, for example SVOD.
2. Under Monetization Plans, select the plans or plan groups that unlock the live, for example Premium Monthly.
3. Save your selection.

Geo-Restrictions

Use this section when the live may only be watched in certain places.

• Licenses — apply a territorial rights license. Move a license from Available Licenses to Applied Licenses, then select Apply License Changes.
• Zipcode Groups — restrict the live to specific postal or ZIP code groups, which is common for regional sports blackouts.

Licenses and zipcode groups must be created once in Tools before you can attach them.

Availability & Scheduling

Set when users can access the live object. This is separate from Harmonic Schedule on create.

Setting a start date does not publish the live or start the channel. You still publish in Step 7, then start a ViewLift-managed stream on Live Stream.

Embed, renditions, audio, trailers

• Embed — a read-only embed code for this live, if your site allows embedding
• Rendition and Mezz — playback assets after the channel is provisioned
• Audio Assets — an alternate HLS audio track. Select Add New and enter an Asset URL
• Trailers — promo videos that already exist as video objects
• Cast & Crew — Cast and Director
• Metadata & Macros — extra key/value pairs. Select Add Metadata to add a row

Version History

Open Version History to see who changed the live and when.

Step 7: Publish the Live

Required before publish:

• Title
• Permalink
• 16:9 Landscape image

Then:

1. Select Publish to go live in the CMS now, or Schedule for a later date and time.
2. For a ViewLift-managed stream, open Live Stream and select Start Live Stream.
3. After publish, use Update for metadata changes, Unpublish to take it down, or Archive to retire it.

You can Duplicate a live object when you need a similar title with new metadata. Duplicating does not copy a running channel. Configure ingest and start again as needed.

Figure 8. Live detail header. Use Publish (or Schedule) to go live in the CMS. Then start a ViewLift-managed channel on Live Stream.

The live is now in the CMS library. It does not appear on the website until you curate it onto a page or a user opens its permalink (which uses the Video Template Page).

Step 8: Curate the Live on a Template Builder Page

To show the live on Home (or any Modular Page):

1. Open AppCMS → Edit Template Builder.
2. Open Modular Pages and find the page (for example, Home).
3. Add or select a tray module. Typical trays:
   • VL HighlightTray
   • VL LandscapeTray
   • VL Vertical Tray
   • VL Live Preview Tray (for featured / autoplay previews)
4. Open module settings and set a tray title, for example Live Now.
5. Choose Content Selection:
   • Manually Curate — search for the live. It appears as Live. Stack items in the order you want.
   • Programmatically Generate — fill the tray from tags or categories. For example, generate from the tag live.
6. Set Content Type to Live (or Any) if the tray filters by type.
7. In Thumbnail Type, choose the ratio that matches the images you uploaded. Template Builder writes these with an asterisk — 16*9, 3*4, 32*9, 9*16, 1*1, 4*3.
8. Publish the Template Builder page.

Changes can take about 5–10 minutes to appear on the website because of caching. To verify sooner, use a private window, another browser, or clear cookies and cache.

Clicking the live thumbnail takes the user to the live detail page. That layout is the Video Template Page (the same template type used for VOD). Keep one default Video Template Page unless this live is assigned a custom template.

Troubleshooting

Best Practices

• Write titles for viewers. Championship Final — Live works far better than live_final_v3.
• Publish, then start. A ViewLift-managed channel cannot start until the object is published.
• Do not point the encoder until ingest URLs exist. Provisioning is not instant.
• Leave Use for Linear Channel off unless you intend to create a linear channel.
• Tag consistently. Programmatic trays are built from tags and categories.
• Stop the stream when the event ends so the channel does not stay live.

FAQs

Q. Why is there no title field on Viewlift Live Stream Service?
Title is set after create, on Content Metadata. Third-party create requires Live Event Title in the dialog.

Q. Can I start the stream before I publish?
No. Publish first, then select Start Live Stream. Tools shows Live stream cannot be started until content is published.

Q. Why is there no Start Live Stream button?
That live was created as Third Party Live Stream (HLS). Playback uses the URLs you entered; ViewLift does not start or stop that encoder.

Q. Can I publish without a 16:9 image?
No. Title, permalink, and a 16:9 Landscape image are required to publish.

Q. What is Use for Linear Channel?
On Harmonic create, that switch makes linear-channel content instead of a regular live event. Leave it off for a standard live.

Q. Can I duplicate a live?
Yes. Duplicate is available for live. The copy is a new object. It does not copy a running channel, so you still configure ingest and start again.

Q. Can I edit a live after publishing?
Yes. Open the live, change what you need, and select Update. You do not have to unpublish first. Stopping the channel is separate, on Live Stream.

Q. I published the live but I do not see it on Home.
Publishing adds it to the library. You still need to curate it onto a tray and publish that Template Builder page. Allow a few minutes for cache.

Q. How do I hide a live from trays and search without unpublishing it?
Enable Hide Content (Search & Trays) in Quick Settings on the live object.

Q. Which Template Page does a live use?
The Video Template Page, the same type used for VOD. There is no separate Live Template Page.

Important Information

• Create the live object in Tools. Template Builder only places that object on pages and defines the detail layout.
• ViewLift-managed lives: copy ingest URLs, publish, then start the channel. Point the encoder only after URLs are available.
• Third-party lives: no start/stop in Tools; keep the external HLS (or DRM) URLs valid.
• Upload images at the correct aspect ratio. Tools will not crop them.
• Use the same permalink style as other content: /lowercase-path-with-dashes.
• Cache can delay frontend updates by 5–10 minutes.

Glossary

Contact Support

If you need help beyond this article, contact the ViewLift support team.

• Email: techsupport@viewlift.com
• Phone (US): +1-800-859-0420
• Phone (UK): +44-203-014-8921

Support hours: B2C requests are handled Monday to Friday. B2B support is available 24/7.

After the live is published in Tools (and started, if it is ViewLift-managed), users can watch it on the site by permalink, or from a tray after you curate it in Template Builder. The detail layout is the Video Template Page.