This article provides details about ClearCaster Manager updates and describes known issues with the online interface. See Wowza ClearCaster release notes for information about Wowza ClearCaster™ software updates.
New features and functionality
June 9, 2022
- Removed the system status icon from the top of Wowza Video UI pages. To see the system status now, click System Status in the footer of any page. From the system status page, you can subscribe to system status notifications through:
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
- Discord
- Webhooks
- Feeds
January 19, 2022
- When you sign in to clearcaster.wowza.com, you'll be signed in using your most recent organization. If you need to change your organization after signing in, use the Switch Organization option in the user menu.
Sept 23, 2021
-
Removed Facebook Manager from ClearCaster. Upgrade to Wowza ClearCaster encoder release 2.3.9.00 to use Facebook Paired Templates to stream directly to Facebook live. See Create Wowza ClearCaster broadcasts to learn more about the Facebook Paired destination.
July 15, 2021
- Moved the Primary ingest stream checkbox from the Broadcast Setup page to the Create Broadcast dialog. Only the user that creates the stream can choose if the stream is a primary or backup ingest. Broadcasts marked as a backup ingest stream only show the option Attach to an Active Broadcast on the Broadcast Setup page.
-
Added an End Facebook broadcast checkbox that appears once a primary ingest stream is live.
If the End Facebook broadcast box is checked and you click the Stop Streaming button, all secondary ingest streams associated with the broadcast will end.
If the End Facebook broadcast box is not checked and you click the Stop Streaming button, only the primary ingest stream will end. You will need to stop each secondary ingest stream individually from the associated Broadcast setup page to end the stream entirely.
June 30, 2021
- Added a new Facebook Paired broadcast destination. Facebook paired broadcasts are associated with one Facebook account, have a unique interface for management, and do not need a stream key. Unlike with other destinations, you have to use the Share option to create a broadcast URL that you can share with anyone with or without a Wowza account. With the broadcast URL, anyone can then pair the broadcast with their Facebook account or use a Facebook account that's already paired to publish to their page, group, or feed, and start, stop, and monitor the broadcast from the Facebook Paired broadcast interface. See Create Wowza ClearCaster broadcasts for more information.
Wowza ClearCaster Encoder build 2.3.9.00 or later is required to use Facebook Paired functionality. Please ensure the encoder(s) you are using are upgraded to at least 2.3.9.00 to stream from this page. See Update Wowza ClearCaster™ software for instructions on how to update the software on your Wowza ClearCaster appliance.
April 5, 2021
- Added text to the ClearCaster Pro activation dialog for subscriptions that have no available channels. ClearCaster Pro users can only broadcast to a single destination at 1080p with an expired subscription. See our FAQs for more information.
- Added text to the ClearCaster Micro and ClearCaster Enterprise activation dialogs for subscriptions that have no available channels. ClearCaster Micro and ClearCaster Enterprise users can't activate a device without enough open channels.
January 21, 2021
- Fixed an issue where Slate #2 was incorrectly labeled as Slate #1 on the Graphics tab.
- Share broadcast functionality – Create a shared broadcast to enable users without a Wowza account to publish, edit, and monitor a ClearCaster broadcast in Wowza ClearCaster Universal Manager. For more information, see Create a shared Wowza ClearCaster broadcast in universal mode.
Earlier updates
Wowza ClearCaster 2020 updates
November 3, 2020
- Changed the field name for 'Select a Broadcast Region' to 'Broadcast Region' for LinkedIn Live broadcasts.
- Fixed an issue with inconsistent user interface labels for 'LinkedIn Live'. All references to 'LinkedIn' have now been changed to 'LinkedIn Live'.
- Modified the 'LinkedIn Live' destination option on the Create Broadcast dialog to appear grayed out when the LinkedIn Live integration isn't configured.
October 29, 2020
- Added a systems status widget to the menu bar in ClearCaster Manager.
- Improved error messaging.
- Added a concept of template sets to the Templates tab on the Manage page and the Create Broadcast dialog.
- Added new pre-defined templates, including a Twitter 1080p30 template.
- Added encoder model information to the Broadcast, Encoder, and Template pages.
- Fixed an issue with stream destinations that don't have credentials.
- Improved the template editor.
- Added the capture card temperature data to the Monitoring tab for active and archived broadcasts as well as to the appliance status icon.
- Updated the activation dialog to remove mention of the LCD screen on the Wowza ClearCaster appliance.
- Updated the description in the encoder restart dialog.
- Added the ability to deactivate encoders, which effectively deletes them from your Wowza account.
June 19, 2020
- Updated the default values for the pre-tuned Twitter encoding template in Wowza ClearCaster Universal Manager to align with their recommended settings.
- Added the ClearCaster appliance name and serial number to the broadcast summaries on the Archived Broadcasts page.
- Removed outdated phone number from the Support page in Wowza ClearCaster Universal Manager.
- Improved file naming for recording downloads in Wowza ClearCaster Universal Manager.
- Removed Vidpresso as a graphics overlay option for broadcasts managed in Wowza ClearCaster Facebook Manager.
April 7, 2020
- Removed the continuous live option from the Create Broadcast dialog in Wowza ClearCaster Facebook Manager because Facebook has deprecated that option. Broadcasts to Facebook Live are now limited to a maximum duration of eight hours.
- Added the declaration of open source libraries used in Wowza ClearCaster to the Support tab in Wowza ClearCaster Universal Manager.
- Re-enabled the encoder rename functionality in Wowza ClearCaster Universal Manager.
- Fixed an issue with the network status in Engineering View.
- Modified the mechanism by which you can switch between the Wowza ClearCaster Universal Manager and the Wowza ClearCaster Facebook Manager.
February 13, 2020
- Updated the Send logs dialog so that it closes when finished sending logs.
- Updated the Recordings page so that the Download button isn't visible before the file has been uploaded.
- Fixed an issue that resulted in assets set via ClearCaster Manager to not have vendor or name values.
- Modified the QuickSync target usage value on several templates to reduce GPU usage.
- Updated the ClearCaster appliance Activation field to clear the activation code upon successful activation.
- Fixed an issue with the Create broadcast and Edit broadcast dialogs that caused RTMP authentication to be triggered even when the destination Username and Password fields were empty strings. Now, when these fields are empty strings, they're set to null.
- Fixed an issue with monitoring destinations when round trip time was equal to or greater than 100 milliseconds.
- Deprecated Simulcast functionality from Facebook mode.
- Updated the base-2160p30-h265 template to change the QuickSync target usage value from 4 to 6 to reduce GPU usage.
- Improved the Manage Recordings functionality.
- Added the GraphiQL URL to the Integrations dialog for the Wowza ClearCaster API.
- Deprecated the activation dialog in Facebook mode.
- Updated the live monitoring page to show a more accurate dropped frame count.
January 28, 2020
- Improved dropped frame monitoring for live and archived broadcasts.
- Removed appliance activation functionality from Facebook mode.
- Added a GraphiQL URL when generating a new ClearCaster API key on the Integrations tab.
- Deprecated the simulcast feature in Facebook mode.
- DNS update so that clearcaster.wowza.com points to universal mode. Facebook mode is now accessible using fb.clearcaster.wowza.com.
- Updated graphics look and feel in universal mode.
- Added a settings drop-down menu to encoders that include options to restart the appliance and send logs to support.
- Moved the Support page to universal mode.
- Moved appliance activation functionality to universal mode.
- SRT streams can now be monitored on the Monitoring page.
- Updated the color scheme for Facebook mode.
- Removed the donate live option and changed 'Custom Monitor View' to 'Engineering View' for Facebook mode broadcasts.
- Added user role management to view and control which contacts can configure broadcast options and remotely access a ClearCaster appliance.
- Added a countdown clock option for slates used during a broadcast.
- Added a device input dialog to Facebook mode to enable the setting of a MediaCaster source for a Facebook broadcast.
- Added support for ClearCaster appliance activation in universal mode.
Wowza ClearCaster 2019 updates
October 8, 2019
- Added the ability to include native graphics during a broadcast.
- Added new built-in destinations and encoding templates.
- Added the ability to create, manage, and use custom destination and encoding templates.
- Added a library of template widgets and encoding configuration templates to help create custom broadcast configurations.
- Added the ability to record broadcasts, then access recording assets that are automatically uploaded and hosted.
- Fixed an issue with accessing the Edit Broadcast functionality once a broadcast had gone live.
- Updated the HDMI monitor output to more accurately reflect frame rate, GOP size, and connection attempts.
- Enabled audio muting from the Broadcast tab.
- Enabled graphics control from the Broadcast tab.
- Updated the styling of Facebook mode to more clearly differentiate it from universal mode.
- Other minor changes and bug fixes.
May 21, 2019
- Fixed high-motion and Facebook path optimization settings so that they return the results faster.
- Added support for the user interface to use GraphQL queries.
- Updated the optimize Facebook path help text.
- Added universal mode to the user interface.
- Updated engineering view on the HDMI-connected monitor to support universal mode.
- Updated to use Wowza JWT for authentication.
- Added predefined encoding templates for universal mode.
- Added more encoding templates.
- Added a toggle in the ClearCaster Manager header to switch between Facebook mode and universal mode.
- Added a check to determine the encoder software version to properly enable or disable switching to universal mode.
- Improved the encoding template settings.
- Improved the design and usability of the universal mode user interface.
- Modified the stop broadcast behavior so that it immediately ends the broadcast. There isn't a confirmation dialog associated with stopping the broadcast anymore.
- Added the ability for Wowza to display notification banners in universal mode.
March 7, 2019
- Improved custom monitoring view to include units for bitrates and ping time.
- Improved monitoring so that if the ping time isn't available, the Manager displayed N/A.
- Fixed a problem with monitoring.
- Fixed an issue with custom monitoring views that dropped frames and caused problems with the way other fields are displayed.
- Improved ability to identify which redundant encoder is active.
- Added support for a new URL structure.
- Added an indicator for the encoder path optimization.
- Added animated ellipses to the indicator for path optimization.
- Added a setting to enable Facebook path optimization.
- Fixed an issue with some settings updating to incorrect values sometimes.
January 29, 2019
- Fixed and improved the Engineering View.
- Added an option to set default titling and graphics for all broadcasts associated with a ClearCaster appliance.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the FPS from being reported in the Wowza ClearCaster Manager.
- Added an option to create a custom broadcast monitoring view over HDMI.
- Added ability to configure default and per-broadcast audio channel mappings.
- Fixed an issue with pairing a ClearCaster appliance with Facebook for the first time.
- Fixed an issue that caused both ClearCaster appliances to be labeled as active in some redundancy use cases.
Wowza ClearCaster 2018 updates
November 12, 2018
- Fixed an issue that caused cross-posted broadcasts to appear incorrectly in the list of broadcasts.
- Removed beta tags from the high-motion video (60fps) and titling and graphics features.
- Enhanced the stream health monitoring bitrate statistics.
- Enacted limited editing of broadcasts created from facebook.com/live/create to prevent any breaking changes to these broadcasts.
- Miscellaneous other bug fixes.
- Enabled previews of streams attached to the redundant ClearCaster devices associated with broadcasts.
- Updated broadcast monitoring to include stream health metrics from Facebook.
- Other minor changes and bug fixes.
- Updated the device information and options displayed on the ClearCasters page, including removing the option to Go Live and End Broadcasts from here. Instead, if a ClearCaster is associated with a broadcast, a link to the broadcast is provided.
- Added several new options to the Facebook Live broadcast workflow: redundancy, aspect ratios, tags, donate, and overlays/Vidpresso integration.
- Added support for using a ClearCaster to broadcast to Workplace by Facebook.
- Added an option to enable simulcast targets to start simulcasting to Wowza Video while the Facebook Live broadcast is still in preview.
June 12, 2018
- Updated the Wowza ClearCaster Manager header to have page tabs: ClearCasters, Broadcasts, and Simulcast.
- Added a Broadcasts page for adding, monitoring, and managing broadcasts.
- Modified the Go Live dialog Create Broadcast and aligned with new broadcast functionality.
- Added a Simulcast page for adding and managing Wowza Video live streams for simultaneous broadcasting.
- Added the option to enable simulcasting to a configured Wowza Video live stream for broadcasts.
- Updated privacy settings and added a tooltip.
- Fixed an issue that caused the live stream broadcast preview to freeze when published (go live).
- Re-enabled broadcasting to Facebook Groups.
- Fixed an issue that allowed the creation of broadcasts without titles.
