Input switch not behaving as expected

Question

I wonder if anyone can please help.  
  
I have a MediaLive channel with two file inputs: a 2-minute Countdown video and a 40-minute Main video.  Upon start, I want the channel to play the Countdown video first, followed by the Main video.  My schedule is as follows (set up from scratch with each test):  
  
	- 1. Start type: Immediate; Action: Input Switch; Input attachment: "Countdown" input  
	- 2. Start type: Follow "Countdown" input switch; Follow point: END; Action: Input Switch; File: "Main video"  
  
My problem is that the channel goes directly to the Main video and does not play the Countdown.    
  
I am viewing the output the moment it becomes available - well within 2 minutes of the channel starting - and I see the opening frames of the Main video each time \[I did try swapping schedule around, so it should start with Main and follow with Countdown - again, it started with Main].  Both videos are identical format (mp4/1080/8Mbps/25fps).  For the record, the Countdown input is the first input attachment listed is channel settings.  Output is to MediaStore/CloudFront (new URL with each channel start, so not cached).  
  
Any ideas where I might be going wrong here?  How I can make it play Countdown first?  Very much appreciate anyone's expert assistance!  
  
Many thanks.

Accepted Answer

Hi Silverink,  
  
If I understand correctly it sounds like you are looking to start the channel but not have the first input run for some time after the channel starts.  If this is correct then when the channel starts it will use the first input or the action that is scheduled to run at the time of the channel start and the channel will not switch to the next input without a scheduled action.  So when you start your channel it will always start with the first input.  You could set a black slate as your first input, then use the scheduled action to move to the Countdown at the specified time and follow it with the followed scheduled action to play the main video once the countodwn ends.  Or you could start the channel with a scheduled action to start paused set for immediate, then create another scheduled action to unpause at the time you want the countdown to start, then create another scheduled Fixed action to start the main video at a specified time, or two minutes after the unpause which would be the time the Countdown should end.  
  
Zach

Answer

Hi Zach, thank you so much for your response.  
  
You have answered my questions entirely: I now understand better how scheduling works in MediaLive.    
  
5 Stars!  
  
Gavin

Answer

So just as an experiment, I tried using a Fixed input switch schedule for the Countdown video (instead of Immediate), with a Follow switch to the Main video.  It was 11:11 UTC here, so I scheduled the Fixed input switch to begin at 13:00 UTC:  
  
	- 1. Start type: Fixed : today, 13:00:00; Action: Input Switch; Input attachment: "Countdown" input  
	- 2. Start type: Follow "Countdown" input switch; Follow point: END; Action: Input Switch; File: "Main video"  
  
And now when I start the channel, the Countdown video plays **immediately** - not in the future!  And Main video does not play at all!  I have tried this with several times with different Fixed future times - including tomorrow afternoon.  Always with the same result: Countdown plays immediately, Main video does not Follow.  
  
Where am I going wrong with MediaLive channel Schedule actions!?  
  
Thanks for your help.

Answer

Hi Zach,  
  
Thank you for this.  Both videos are in S3 and play fine locally; I PM'd you the Channel ARN.  
  
I did try a different Main MP4 file and this has fixed the Immediate Switch problem below!  The channel now starts with Countdown and Follows with the Main video, as planned.  There must indeed have been some anomaly with the Main video, as you suggested.  It does seems strange that MediaLive fails the play the _good_ file - and instead goes direct to the file it _doesn't like_!  But I'm happy it's working as planned, so thank you for that.  
  
The second issue remains however: I have set the Fixed Input Switch to 2am June 16 (2 days in the future).  But once started, the channel plays Countdown video _immediately_.  And the Main video does not Follow the Countdown video.    
  
Could you please let me know where I'm going wrong here?  
  
Thank you Zach.

Answer

Hi Silverink,  
  
Thank you for asking this question on the AWS Elemental MediaLive forums, I pulled the logs for your channel and reviewed them and I am seeing we are failing to probe and do the HTTP transfer for the main video, can you verify that the video is in the S3 bucket.  Also can you PM me with the specific channel ARN you are using along with the dates and times of the tests just so I can verify that I am looking at the correct channel ARN logs and the correct times.  This is showing in the logs I have around 2021-06-09 15:56:35 UTC.  
  
Zach

Input switch not behaving as expected

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