ViewCast Niagara Pro II User manual

© 2012 ViewCast Corporation. All rights reserved.
ViewCast, GoStream, ViewCast logo, SimulStream, Niagara, SchedulStream, Niagara logo, Osprey, and Niagara SCX
are trademarks or registered trademarks of ViewCast Corporation or its subsidiaries.
Microsoft, Windows 7, Windows, and Windows Media are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
QuickTime, iPhone, iPod, and iPad are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Adobe and Flash are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc.
Disclaimer
The information in this publication remains the property of ViewCast Corporation. Users may not use, reproduce,
or disclose this information without the implied consent and written approval of the company.
ViewCast Corporation makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents or use of this manual
and specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.
Further, ViewCast Corporation reserves the right to revise this publication to make enhancements in the products
described in this manual, at any time, without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or
changes. In no event will ViewCast Corporation be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential
damages arising out of the use or inability to use the product or documentation, even if advised of the possibility
of such damages.
ViewCast Corporation is not responsible for any third-party license fees that may occur with the use of our
products by an end user including but not limited to creating or distributing content. The user is responsible for
any fees the Multimedia Patent Trust may apply for creating and distributing MPEG content.
Warranties
For complete warranty details, refer to the specific warranty included with each product. General warranty
information includes the following:
Limited Warranty: ViewCast warrants its hardware products against defects in material and workmanship under
normal use for the period of one year (12 months) from date of sale. Where specific warranties exist that provide
coverage that is more substantial, notwithstanding the warranty provisions herein, such product warranties
control and preempt or supercede the warranty provisions herein.
Reseller Pass Through of Standard Limited Warranties: Resellers pass the ViewCast standard limited warranties
for the products through to the customer without modification. Any modification of a product voids the ViewCast
warranties or any other existing or available warranty.
Corporate Contact Information
ViewCast collaborates and partners with various clients to integrate products into their individual environments.
Niagara Technical Support: Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone] or submit the technical support online
request from the ViewCast website.
ViewCast 3701 West Plano Parkway, Suite 300, Plano, TX 75075-7840 USA
Toll Free (U.S. only): 800.250.6622 website: www.viewcast.com

Niagara Pro II User Guide
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Contents
Before You Begin................................................................................................................1
Product description.......................................................................................................................... 1
Audience .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Conventions for this guide............................................................................................................... 2
Rack mount safety instructions ....................................................................................................... 3
FCC notice ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Environmental notices ..................................................................................................................... 5
Warnings.......................................................................................................................................... 6
Installing additional software .......................................................................................................... 8
Connecting to the Internet .............................................................................................................. 8
Overview..............................................................................................................................9
Media system functions................................................................................................................... 9
Install overview.............................................................................................................................. 10
Prerequisites .................................................................................................................................. 10
Package contents ........................................................................................................................... 10
System requirements..................................................................................................................... 11
Specifications .........................................................................................................................................11
Niagara Pro II front panel............................................................................................................... 12
Niagara Pro II back panel ............................................................................................................... 14
Connecting the system .................................................................................................................. 15
System menu ................................................................................................................................. 16
Home page..................................................................................................................................... 17
Menu bar commands..................................................................................................................... 17
Niagara Pro II browser windows flow............................................................................................ 19
Easy Setup.........................................................................................................................21
Web interface ................................................................................................................................ 22
Easy first time set up...................................................................................................................... 23
Connecting to an electrical power source..............................................................................................23
Performing the initial startup.................................................................................................................24
Connecting to an IP network..................................................................................................................25
Changing the network settings ..............................................................................................................26

Contents
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Basic Operations...............................................................................................................29
Starting up...................................................................................................................................... 29
Shutting down................................................................................................................................ 30
Starting an encoder........................................................................................................................ 31
Checking CPU usage ...............................................................................................................................33
Stopping an encoder...................................................................................................................... 34
Connecting an external storage device.......................................................................................... 34
Exporting captured video files ....................................................................................................... 35
Advanced Operations .......................................................................................................37
Logging in....................................................................................................................................... 37
Viewing all encoders ...................................................................................................................... 39
Creating an encoder....................................................................................................................... 40
Starting an encoder........................................................................................................................ 41
Stopping an encoder...................................................................................................................... 42
Editing an Adaptive Apple HTTP encoder ...................................................................................... 43
Video tab ................................................................................................................................................44
Audio tab................................................................................................................................................49
Output tab..............................................................................................................................................50
Editing an Adaptive Adobe Flash Dynamic streaming encoder..................................................... 52
Video tab ................................................................................................................................................53
Audio tab................................................................................................................................................59
Output tab..............................................................................................................................................60
Editing an Microsoft Adaptive Smooth Streaming encoder .......................................................... 62
Video tab ................................................................................................................................................63
Adaptive encoder video stream table ....................................................................................................66
Audio tab................................................................................................................................................68
Output tab..............................................................................................................................................69
Editing an AVI Encoder................................................................................................................... 71
Video tab ................................................................................................................................................72
Audio tab................................................................................................................................................75
Output tab..............................................................................................................................................77
Editing an Adobe Flash H.264 encoder.......................................................................................... 79
Video tab ................................................................................................................................................80
Audio tab................................................................................................................................................83
Output tab..............................................................................................................................................85
H.264 Presets tab ...................................................................................................................................87
Editing an MPEG-4 Encoder........................................................................................................... 88
Video tab ................................................................................................................................................89
Audio tab................................................................................................................................................93
Output tab..............................................................................................................................................95
H.264 Presets tab ...................................................................................................................................97
MPEG-4 Presets tab ...............................................................................................................................98
Editing a Microsoft®Windows Media encoder.............................................................................. 99
Video tab ..............................................................................................................................................100
Audio tab..............................................................................................................................................103

Niagara Pro II User Guide
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Output tab............................................................................................................................................104
DRM tab ...............................................................................................................................................107
Viewing encoder groups .............................................................................................................. 108
Creating encoder groups.............................................................................................................. 109
Starting an encoder group ........................................................................................................... 110
Stopping an encoder group ......................................................................................................... 110
Editing encoder groups................................................................................................................ 111
Configuring the Preset ABC buttons ............................................................................................ 112
Using Preset ABC buttons to start an encoder group.................................................................. 114
Viewing all encoders .................................................................................................................... 115
Editing preset encoders ............................................................................................................... 115
Configuring machine properties .................................................................................................. 116
Changing computer name ....................................................................................................................117
Changing the login password from the factory default .......................................................................118
Restoring the login password to the factory default ...........................................................................118
Configuring alerts......................................................................................................................... 119
Configuring network properties .................................................................................................. 120
Configuring network card(s).................................................................................................................120
Configuring IP address..........................................................................................................................121
Configuring advanced network settings...............................................................................................121
System configuration settings...................................................................................................... 122
Setting current system configuration...................................................................................................123
Configuring email/SMTP settings.........................................................................................................124
Configuring idle screen information ............................................................................................ 125
Configuring default directory setting ...................................................................................................126
Setting CPU thresholds.........................................................................................................................127
Setting SimulStream filters...................................................................................................................127
Restore factory defaults.......................................................................................................................128
Viewing the activity log................................................................................................................ 129
Viewing alerts............................................................................................................................... 131
Connecting an external storage device........................................................................................ 132
Using the Niagara SCX web interface........................................................................................... 132
Appendix A: DRM for Windows Media...........................................................................133
Importing a DRM profile .............................................................................................................. 133
Appendix B: H.264 Advanced Settings..........................................................................139
H.264 Presets ............................................................................................................................... 139
Settings ........................................................................................................................................ 140
MPEG-4 Presets ........................................................................................................................... 143
Settings ........................................................................................................................................ 144
Appendix C: Mapped Network Drive Setup...................................................................147

Contents
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Appendix D: System Menu (LCD Display).....................................................................155
Encoder menu.............................................................................................................................. 156
Encoder start........................................................................................................................................156
Encoder stop ........................................................................................................................................156
Encoder status......................................................................................................................................156
Access health menu ..................................................................................................................... 157
CPU status ............................................................................................................................................157
Memory available.................................................................................................................................157
Setup system menu ..................................................................................................................... 158
Network link status ..............................................................................................................................158
Network MAC address .........................................................................................................................158
View network settings..........................................................................................................................159
Enable DHCP.........................................................................................................................................159
Set static IP addresses ..........................................................................................................................160
Set gateway address ............................................................................................................................161
Set date and time.................................................................................................................................162
Set video standard ...............................................................................................................................162
Factory restore.....................................................................................................................................163
Export files menu......................................................................................................................... 164
Export to USB drive ..............................................................................................................................164
Shutdown Niagara Pro II ......................................................................................................................164
Index ................................................................................................................................165

Niagara Pro II User Guide
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Before You Begin
Thank you for purchasing the ViewCast Niagara Pro II streaming media system. This user guide
provides step-by-step instructions for installing and using your new streaming media system. For the
latest ViewCast product information and news, visit our website at www.viewcast.com.
Product description
The Niagara Pro II is an easy-to-use streaming device. You simply connect your audio and video
source to the system, select your target playback format, enter your streaming server information,
and press the Stream button. The Niagara Pro II supports live Adaptive streaming to Adobe® and
Apple® (iPhones® and iPads®), Adobe Flash® H.264, AVI, MPEG-4, H.264, and H.263, and Windows
Media (Silverlight®) standard definition, Microsoft Live IIS Smooth Streaming, as well as container
support for 3GPP and 3GPP2.
You can configure and use the Niagara Pro II right out of the box for most streaming uses. For more
advanced settings or to control your Niagara Pro II from another computer on the same network,
use the client interface for the Niagara SCX remote management software. The web interface in
Niagara SCX allows you to set many other system parameters for your Niagara Pro II device. In
addition, you can customize the front panel of your Niagara Pro II streaming media system using the
Niagara Pro II configuration web browser interface.
Figure 1. ViewCast Niagara Pro II
Audience
The audience for this publication includes anyone who uses or administers the Niagara Pro II. They
should have a basic technical understanding of streaming media. This user guide provides
information on the Niagara Pro II only.

Before You Begin
2 ViewCast
Conventions for this guide
This guide uses the following document conventions to help you identify different types of
information.
Convention
Description
Example
Bold text
Characters to enter when
referenced in a procedure. The
name of fields or keys to press.
In the example, enter DTMF as
the group type.
Press Enter to save your changes.
Note:
Provides supplemental
information.
Note: The prompt may
not display if …
IMPORTANT!
Provides important data that
affects how the system or
software responds.
IMPORTANT! You must
install Niagara SCX
prior to configuring SCX
options…
CAUTION!
Provides information to help
avoid possible damage to
hardware or a system crash
(without data loss).
CAUTION! Use case
sensitive commands to
keep from destroying…
WARNING!
Provides information to ensure
you avoid potential injury,
death, or permanent system
damage.
WARNING! Do not touch
exposed wires.

Niagara Pro II User Guide
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Rack mount safety instructions
Operating Temperature
The operating ambient temperature of a rack environment may
be greater than room ambient if installed in a closed or multi-unit
rack assembly. Therefore, you should install the equipment in an
environment compatible with the maximum ambient
temperature of 40° C.
Reduced Air Flow
You must not compromise the airflow required for safe
equipment operation when you install the equipment in a rack.
Mechanical Loading
Mounting of the equipment in the rack should be such that you
do not cause a hazard due to uneven mechanical loading.
Circuit Overloading
Consider the connection of the equipment to the supply circuit
and the effect that the overloading of the circuits might have on
current protection and supply wiring. You must also consider and
use the equipment nameplate ratings when you address this
concern.
Reliable Grounding
You must maintain reliable earth grounding of rack-mounted
equipment. Pay particular attention to supply connections other
than direct connections to the branch circuit (such as using power
strips).

Before You Begin
4 ViewCast
FCC notice
WARNING! You must connect this device and peripherals using shielded cables to comply
with FCC radio emission limits.
WARNING! Modifications to this device not approved by ViewCast Corporation could void
the FCC-granted authority for you to operate the device.
WARNING! The Niagara Pro II complies with the limits for a Class A digital device pursuant
to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference when you operate the equipment in a commercial environment. This
equipment generates, uses, and may radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed
and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to
radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area will likely cause
harmful interference. In this case, you must correct the interference at your own expense.
To CATV Installer: Pay special attention to Section 820-40 of the NEC that provides
guidelines for proper grounding. It particularly specifies that you must connect the cable
ground to the grounding system of the building as close to the point of cable entry as
practical.
WARNING! Equipment installation must comply with local and national electrical codes.