Configuring a Helios Engine (Backup Switcher)

The Helios Engine allows you to do two things on Core:

• Configure a backup switcher for redundant streaming 
• Ingest 3rd party encoders via RTMP, SRT, or MPEG-TS

In this tutorial, we will show you how to configure a Helios Engine as a backup switcher. 

Not sure if you need a Helios Engine? See our FAQ for more information.

Select Engines from the side menu and then Helios Engines at the top of the page. Give your specific Engine a name and select a region (ingest point). If you are unsure which region to select, the best practice is to select one closest to the location of the encoders you will be using. 

In this example, we are configuring a backup stream for an MPEG-TS feed. Select up to 5 inputs for your backup; you will be able to rearrange their order later on. We highly recommend adding inputs with the same protocol.

The backup switcher will only work if each input has identical video properties: codec, resolution, pixel format, codec profile, and level. Only AAC audio is supported at this time. H.264 feeds with B-frames are not supported.

Once your Engine is fired up, go back to the Dashboard and select an encoder you would like to use with it. Under the Encoder Details page, select Add under the Helios Engine heading to associate your encoder with a designated input of the backup switcher.

Follow the same process described above to associate a second encoder with Input 2 of your Helios Engine backup switcher. Notice that you can have several Helios Engines running, allowing you to create very complex workflows or manage several different streams with independent backups.

Once your inputs have been associated with your Helios Engine backup switcher, select it from the Engines menu or from the Dashboard. Use the Engine Details page to start or stop your broadcast. You can also manually switch between each input if desired, but we do not recommend treating the feature as a true video switcher (like vMix, Tricaster, etc...) since this is not what it was built to do. 

Input 1 is the main feed going live to your destinations. Input 2 is the backup, which is typically a "We'll be right back" slate or another camera angle of an event. If Input 1 disconnects, Input 2 will automatically replace the feed, allowing your stream to go on uninterrupted. Once Input 1 is live again, you must manually switch back to it from the Helios Engine details page.

**Backup Switcher is in beta so please be aware there may be bugs that can affect your live stream**