SCTE-35 decoder and encoder with MPEGTS and HLS and XML support.


Keywords
adbreak, adrianofdoom, adtech, hls-live-streaming, hls-scte35, mpegts, python3, scte, scte-214, scte-35, scte-35-hls, scte35, spliceinfosection, threefive, threefive3
License
Sleepycat
Install
pip install threefive==3.0.47

Documentation

I've spent the last five years doing nothing but SCTE-35, a lot of people consider me a subject matter expert, other people describe me with adjectives. ~Adrian

threefive3 is SCTE-35.

The Most Advanced SCTE-35 Parser on the Planet.

If you're working with SCTE-35, this is the tool you want.

Install |SCTE-35 Cli | SCTE-35 HLS | Cue Class | Stream Class | Online SCTE-35 Parser | Encode SCTE-35 | SCTE-35 Examples | SCTE-35 XML updated 05/01/2025 | threefive3 runs Four Times Faster on pypy3

✅ SCTE-35 Parser
✅ SCTE-35 Decoder
✅ SCTE-35 Encoder
✅ SCTE-35 HLS ( All SCTE-35 HLS tag formats)
✅ SCTE-35 DASH ( All SCTE-35 Xml formats)
✅ SCTE-35 XML
✅ SCTE-35 Cli
✅ SCTE-35 library

  • Parses SCTE-35 from MPEGTS, HLS, XML, MPD, XML+Binary, Base64, Bytes, Hex, Integers, or JSON.
  • Encode SCTE-35 to Base64, Bytes, Hex, Int, JSON,XML, or Xml+binary.
  • All HLS SCTE-35 Tags are Supported.
  • Automatic AES decryption for HLS.
  • Built-in Multicast Sender and Receiver hell yes!
  • The SuperKabuki SCTE-35 MPEGTS Packet Injection Engine was added to threefive3 v3.0.39

Q. What is SCTE-35?

A. SCTE-35 is just encoded binary data, that decodes into about 100 different vars. This blob of data is used to signal when to splice in Ad Breaks with commercials and such. The variables are used to facillitate this action and to help determine the type and length of commercials. As with most things related to streaming video, it's way more complicated than it needs to be, and there are way too many options.


Heads up, v3.0.45 is ready to roll.

  • I'm trying to break anything that will break tonight, so I can fix it later today.
  • if you have an issue, post it.
  • I spent last night tricking out the Node class.

The new xml stuff is really sweet, you can even pass an DASH MPD directly to a Cue instance, and it will parse the first EVent with SCTE-35 it finds. Let me show you.

a@fu:~/threefive3$ pypy3

Python 3.9.16 (7.3.11+dfsg-2+deb12u3, Dec 30 2024, 22:36:23)
[PyPy 7.3.11 with GCC 12.2.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>> 
>>>> from threefive3 import Cue,reader
>>>> data = reader('https://demo.unified-streaming.com/k8s/live/stable/scte35-n\
o-splicing.isml/.mpd').read().strip().decode()    # use reader to pull the mpd over a network.
>>>> cue=Cue(data)     # pass in to a Cue instance
>>>> cue.show()
{
    "info_section": {
        "table_id": "0xfc",
        "section_syntax_indicator": false,
        "private": false,
        "sap_type": "0x03",
        "sap_details": "No Sap Type",
        "section_length": 32,
        "protocol_version": 0,
        "encrypted_packet": false,
        "encryption_algorithm": 0,
        "pts_adjustment": 0.0,
        "cw_index": "0x00",
        "tier": "0x0fff",
        "splice_command_length": 15,
        "splice_command_type": 5,
        "descriptor_loop_length": 0,
        "crc": "0xe4612424"
    },
    "command": {
        "command_length": 15,
        "command_type": 5,
        "name": "Splice Insert",
        "break_auto_return": true,
        "break_duration": 38.4,
        "splice_event_id": 14432855,
        "splice_event_cancel_indicator": false,
        "out_of_network_indicator": true,
        "program_splice_flag": true,
        "duration_flag": true,
        "splice_immediate_flag": true,
        "event_id_compliance_flag": true,
        "unique_program_id": 49152,
        "avail_num": 0,
        "avails_expected": 0
    },
    "descriptors": []
}

Latest release is v3.0.45

  • cyclomatic complexity 2.01 ,That's a kickass score.

  • pylint score is 9.65/10, this needs a liitle work.

Stay up to date, only the latest release is supported.

MPEGTS streams can be parsed for SCTE-35 with three lines of code.

a@fu:~/build5/scte35/scte35$ pypy3

>>>> from threefive3 import Stream
>>>> strm=Stream('https://futzu.com/xaa.ts')
>>>> strm.decode()

Q. Come on man, python is a damn scripting language, how fast can it be parsing MPEGTS?

A. 3.7GB in 2.7 Seconds runnng on pypy3, it's almost as fast as tsduck written in C++

Here's a test of tsduck, the old threefive, threefive3, and SuperKarate DeathCar.

image

Checkout the Super Cool SCTE-35 Examples


  • Xml is back and better than ever. The new Ultra Xml Parser Supreme replaces the Super Xml Parser.

Documentation

Install

Examples

XML

  • XML New! updated 05/01/2025

Cli

  • SCTE-35 Cli Super Tool Encodes, Decodes, and Recodes. This is pretty cool, it does SCTE-35 seven different ways.
    • The cli tool comes with builtin documentation just type threefive3 help

HLS

Classes

  • The python built in help is always the most up to date docs for the library.
a@fu:~/build7/threefive3$ pypy3

>>>> from threefive import Stream
>>>> help(Stream)

| more


Install

  • python3 via pip
python3 -mpip install threefive3
  • pypy3
pypy3 -mpip install threefive3
  • from the git repo
git clone https://github.com/superkabuki/scte35.git
cd threefive3
make install

Using the library

  • Let me show you how easy threefive3 is to use.
  • well start off reading SCTE-35 xml from a file
a@fu:~/threefive3$ pypy3
Python 3.9.16 (7.3.11+dfsg-2+deb12u3, Dec 30 2024, 22:36:23)
[PyPy 7.3.11 with GCC 12.2.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>> from threefive3 import reader
>>>> from threefive3 import Cue
>>>> data =reader('/home/a/xml.xml').read()
* load it into a threefive3.Cue instance
```py3
>>>> cue = Cue(data)
  • Show the data as JSON
>>>> cue.show()
{
    "info_section": {
        "table_id": "0xfc",
        "section_syntax_indicator": false,
        "private": false,
        "sap_type": "0x03",
        "sap_details": "No Sap Type",
        "section_length": 92,
        "protocol_version": 0,
        "encrypted_packet": false,
        "encryption_algorithm": 0,
        "pts_adjustment": 0.0,
        "cw_index": "0x00",
        "tier": "0x0fff",
        "splice_command_length": 15,
        "splice_command_type": 5,
        "descriptor_loop_length": 60,
        "crc": "0x7632935"
    },
    "command": {
        "command_length": 15,
        "command_type": 5,
        "name": "Splice Insert",
        "break_auto_return": false,
        "break_duration": 180.0,
        "splice_event_id": 1073743095,
        "splice_event_cancel_indicator": false,
        "out_of_network_indicator": true,
        "program_splice_flag": false,
        "duration_flag": true,
        "splice_immediate_flag": false,
        "event_id_compliance_flag": true,
        "unique_program_id": 1,
        "avail_num": 12,
        "avails_expected": 5
    },
    "descriptors": [
        {
            "tag": 0,
            "identifier": "CUEI",
            "name": "Avail Descriptor",
            "provider_avail_id": 12,
            "descriptor_length": 8
        },
        {
            "tag": 0,
            "identifier": "CUEI",
            "name": "Avail Descriptor",
            "provider_avail_id": 13,
            "descriptor_length": 8
        },
        {
            "tag": 0,
            "identifier": "CUEI",
            "name": "Avail Descriptor",
            "provider_avail_id": 14,
            "descriptor_length": 8
        },
        {
            "tag": 0,
            "identifier": "CUEI",
            "name": "Avail Descriptor",
            "provider_avail_id": 15,
            "descriptor_length": 8
        },
        {
            "tag": 0,
            "identifier": "CUEI",
            "name": "Avail Descriptor",
            "provider_avail_id": 16,
            "descriptor_length": 8
        },
        {
            "tag": 0,
            "identifier": "CUEI",
            "name": "Avail Descriptor",
            "provider_avail_id": 17,
            "descriptor_length": 8
        }
    ]
}
  • convert the data back to xml
>>>> print(cue.xml())
<scte35:SpliceInfoSection xmlns:scte35="https://scte.org/schemas/35"  ptsAdjustment="0" protocolVersion="0" sapType="3" tier="4095">
   <scte35:SpliceInsert spliceEventId="1073743095" spliceEventCancelIndicator="false" spliceImmediateFlag="false" eventIdComplianceFlag="true" availNum="12" availsExpected="5" outOfNetworkIndicator="true" uniqueProgramId="1">
      <scte35:BreakDuration autoReturn="false" duration="16200000"/>
   </scte35:SpliceInsert>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="12"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="13"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="14"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="15"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="16"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="17"/>
</scte35:SpliceInfoSection>
  • convert to xml+binary
>>>> print(cue.xmlbin())
<scte35:Signal xmlns:scte35="https://scte.org/schemas/35">
    <scte35:Binary>/DBcAAAAAAAAAP/wDwVAAAT3f69+APcxQAABDAUAPAAIQ1VFSQAAAAwACENVRUkAAAANAAhDVUVJAAAADgAIQ1VFSQAAAA8ACENVRUkAAAAQAAhDVUVJAAAAEQdjKTU=</scte35:Binary>
</scte35:Signal>
  • convert to base64
>>>> print(cue.base64())
/DBcAAAAAAAAAP/wDwVAAAT3f69+APcxQAABDAUAPAAIQ1VFSQAAAAwACENVRUkAAAANAAhDVUVJAAAADgAIQ1VFSQAAAA8ACENVRUkAAAAQAAhDVUVJAAAAEQdjKTU=
  • convert to hex
>>>> print(cue.hex())
0xfc305c00000000000000fff00f05400004f77faf7e00f7314000010c05003c0008435545490000000c0008435545490000000d0008435545490000000e0008435545490000000f000843554549000000100008435545490000001107632935
  • show just the splice command
>>>> cue.command.show()
{
    "command_length": 15,
    "command_type": 5,
    "name": "Splice Insert",
    "break_auto_return": false,
    "break_duration": 180.0,
    "splice_event_id": 1073743095,
    "splice_event_cancel_indicator": false,
    "out_of_network_indicator": true,
    "program_splice_flag": false,
    "duration_flag": true,
    "splice_immediate_flag": false,
    "event_id_compliance_flag": true,
    "unique_program_id": 1,
    "avail_num": 12,
    "avails_expected": 5
}
  • edit the break duration
>>>> cue.command.break_duration=30
>>>> cue.command.show()
{
    "command_length": 15,
    "command_type": 5,
    "name": "Splice Insert",
    "break_auto_return": false,
    "break_duration": 30,
    "splice_event_id": 1073743095,
    "splice_event_cancel_indicator": false,
    "out_of_network_indicator": true,
    "program_splice_flag": false,
    "duration_flag": true,
    "splice_immediate_flag": false,
    "event_id_compliance_flag": true,
    "unique_program_id": 1,
    "avail_num": 12,
    "avails_expected": 5
}
  • re-encode to base64 with the new duration
>>>> cue.base64()
'/DBcAAAAAAAAAP/wDwVAAAT3f69+ACky4AABDAUAPAAIQ1VFSQAAAAwACENVRUkAAAANAAhDVUVJAAAADgAIQ1VFSQAAAA8ACENVRUkAAAAQAAhDVUVJAAAAEe1FB6g='
  • re-encode to xml with the new duration
>>>> print(cue.xml())
<scte35:SpliceInfoSection xmlns:scte35="https://scte.org/schemas/35"  ptsAdjustment="0" protocolVersion="0" sapType="3" tier="4095">
   <scte35:SpliceInsert spliceEventId="1073743095" spliceEventCancelIndicator="false" spliceImmediateFlag="false" eventIdComplianceFlag="true" availNum="12" availsExpected="5" outOfNetworkIndicator="true" uniqueProgramId="1">
      <scte35:BreakDuration autoReturn="false" duration="2700000"/>
   </scte35:SpliceInsert>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="12"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="13"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="14"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="15"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="16"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="17"/>
</scte35:SpliceInfoSection>
  • show just the descriptors
>>>> _ = [d.show() for d in cue.descriptors]
{
    "tag": 0,
    "identifier": "CUEI",
    "name": "Avail Descriptor",
    "provider_avail_id": 12,
    "descriptor_length": 8
}
{
    "tag": 0,
    "identifier": "CUEI",
    "name": "Avail Descriptor",
    "provider_avail_id": 13,
    "descriptor_length": 8
}
{
    "tag": 0,
    "identifier": "CUEI",
    "name": "Avail Descriptor",
    "provider_avail_id": 14,
    "descriptor_length": 8
}
{
    "tag": 0,
    "identifier": "CUEI",
    "name": "Avail Descriptor",
    "provider_avail_id": 15,
    "descriptor_length": 8
}
{
    "tag": 0,
    "identifier": "CUEI",
    "name": "Avail Descriptor",
    "provider_avail_id": 16,
    "descriptor_length": 8
}
{
    "tag": 0,
    "identifier": "CUEI",
    "name": "Avail Descriptor",
    "provider_avail_id": 17,
    "descriptor_length": 8
}
  • pop off the last descriptor and re-encode to xml
>>>> cue.descriptors.pop()
{'tag': 0, 'identifier': 'CUEI', 'name': 'Avail Descriptor', 'private_data': None, 'provider_avail_id': 17, 'descriptor_length': 8}
>>>> print(cue.xml())
<scte35:SpliceInfoSection xmlns:scte35="https://scte.org/schemas/35"  ptsAdjustment="0" protocolVersion="0" sapType="3" tier="4095">
   <scte35:SpliceInsert spliceEventId="1073743095" spliceEventCancelIndicator="false" spliceImmediateFlag="false" eventIdComplianceFlag="true" availNum="12" availsExpected="5" outOfNetworkIndicator="true" uniqueProgramId="1">
      <scte35:BreakDuration autoReturn="false" duration="2700000"/>
   </scte35:SpliceInsert>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="12"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="13"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="14"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="15"/>
   <scte35:AvailDescriptor providerAvailId="16"/>
</scte35:SpliceInfoSection>

The Cli tool

The cli tool installs automatically with pip or the Makefile.

Inputs

  • Most inputs are auto-detected.
  • stdin is auto selected and auto detected.
  • SCTE-35 data is printed to stderr
  • stdout is used when piping video
  • mpegts can be specified by file name or URI.
threefive3 udp://@235.2.5.35:3535
  • If a file comtains a SCTE-35 cue as a string( base64,hex,int,json,or xml+bin), redirect the file contents.
  threefive3 < json.json  
  • quoted strings(( base64,hex,int,json or xml+bin), can be passed directly on the command line as well.
threefive3 '/DAWAAAAAAAAAP/wBQb+ztd7owAAdIbbmw=='
Input Type Cli Example
Base64 threefive3 '/DAsAAAAAyiYAP/wCgUAAAABf1+ZmQEBABECD0NVRUkAAAAAf4ABADUAAC2XQZU='
Hex threefive3 0xfc301600000000000000fff00506fed605225b0000b0b65f3b
HLS threefive3 hls https://example.com/master.m3u8
JSON threefive3 < json.json
Xmlbin js threefive3 < xmlbin.xml

Streams

Protocol Cli Example
File threefive3 video.ts
Http(s) threefive3 https://example.com/video.ts
Stdin threefive3 < video.ts
UDP Multicast threefive3 udp://@235.35.3.5:9999
UDP Unicast threefive3 udp://10.0.0.7:5555
HLS threefive3 hls https://example.com/master.m3u8

Outputs

  • output type is determined by the key words base64, bytes, hex, int, json, and xmlbin.
  • json is the default.
  • Any input (except HLS,) can be returned as any output
    • examples Base64 to Hex etc...)
Output Type Cli Example
Base 64 threefive3 0xfc301600000000000000fff00506fed605225b0000b0b65f3b base64
Bytes threefive3 0xfc301600000000000000fff00506fed605225b0000b0b65f3b bytes
Hex threefive3 '/DAsAAAAAyiYAP/wCgUAAAABf1+ZmQEBABECD0NVRUkAAAAAf4ABADUAAC2XQZU=' hex
Integer threefive3 '/DAsAAAAAyiYAP/wCgUAAAABf1+ZmQEBABECD0NVRUkAAAAAf4ABADUAAC2XQZU=' int
JSON threefive3 0xfc301600000000000000fff00506fed605225b0000b0b65f3b json
Xml+bin threefive3 0xfc301600000000000000fff00506fed605225b0000b0b65f3b xmlbin

hls

  • parse hls manifests and segments for SCTE-35
threefive3 hls https://example.com/master.m3u8

Iframes

  • Show iframes PTS in an MPEGTS video
threefive3 iframes https://example.com/video.ts

packets

  • Print raw SCTE-35 packets from multicast mpegts video
threefive3 packets udp://@235.35.3.5:3535

proxy

  • Parse a https stream and write raw video to stdout
threefive3 proxy video.ts

pts

  • Print PTS from mpegts video
threefive3 pts video.ts

sidecar

  • Parse a stream, write pts,write SCTE-35 Cues to sidecar.txt
threefive3 sidecar video.ts

sixfix

  • Fix SCTE-35 data mangled by ffmpeg
threefive3 sixfix video.ts

show

  • Probe mpegts video ( kind of like ffprobe )
 threefive3 show video.ts

version

  • Show version
 threefive3 version

help

  • Help
 threefive3 help

Stream Multicast with the threefive cli, it's easy.

  • The threefive3 cli has long been a Multicast Receiver( client )
  • The cli now comes with a builtin Multicast Sender( server).
  • It's optimized for MPEGTS (1316 byte Datagrams) but you can send any video or file.
  • The defaults will work in most situations, you don't even have to set the address.
  • threefive3 cli also supports UDP Unicast Streaming.

image

a@fu:~$ threefive3 mcast help
usage: threefive3 mcast [-h] [-i INPUT] [-a ADDR] [-b BIND_ADDR] [-t TTL]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -i INPUT, --input INPUT
                        like "/home/a/vid.ts" or "udp://@235.35.3.5:3535" or
                        "https://futzu.com/xaa.ts"
                        [default:sys.stdin.buffer]
  -a ADDR, --addr ADDR  Destination IP:Port [default:235.35.3.5:3535]
  -b BIND_ADDR, --bind_addr BIND_ADDR
                        Local IP to bind [default:0.0.0.0]
  -t TTL, --ttl TTL     Multicast TTL (1 - 255) [default:32]
a@fu:~$ 

Install |SCTE-35 Cli | SCTE-35 HLS | Cue Class | Stream Class | Online SCTE-35 Parser | Encode SCTE-35 | SCTE-35 Examples | SCTE-35 XML updated 04/24/2025 | threefive3 runs Four Times Faster on pypy3