Videos: Adding Assets

In the Administrative Portal primary video assets and accompanying, supplemental assets may be added by navigating to VIDEOS from the CONTENT area of the left-hand sidebar.  As video assets are added they will be listed alphabetically down the page.  As the list grows there are several options to search, sort, or filter the view by using the Search bar field or by clicking on the Filters or Sort links in upper right.

1. Adding An Asset
2. Requesting The Video File From A Content Provider
3. Upload The Video File Directly
4. Upload Status' and Error Messages
5. Source File Information and Downloading Source Files

1. Adding An Asset

To start adding, click the "Create Video" button at upper right and a modal window will open for you to then type in the content title.  Click the "Create" button to save it.  Alternately, a csv file of titles and accompanying fields may be uploaded.

In the next window, the Video Request Page URL can be copied in order to send the link to a content provider for uploading of the video file.  This link can also be copied later if preferred.  Alternately, if the video file is already on hand it can be uploaded directly.  Let's look at both options in the sections below.

If adding the assets with the CSV import, please note that the optional columns for "Subtitle Language", "Spoken Language", and "Tags, should contain data that already exists in your account in order for it to be applied during the import.    For example if the tag is "2023 Festival", that tag must already have been added to your admin account in order for it to be applied to the assets that are being imported.

2. Requesting The Video File From A Content Provider

Copy the request URL from the video asset and provide that URL to the content provider.  If the URL wasn't copied didn't when created, it can be found by clicking on the asset title from the list, navigating to the  Video Assets sub-menu, and clicking the "Copy Request Link" button.  

When the content provider opens the URL link they will find fields to upload the video source file and related content directly into the asset that has been created for it.  In addition to uploading the video file, content providers can also upload a trailer, images, and submit asset details and meta data, all within the same link if those options are left available.  If the content provider has a CineSend Files account they can choose the import button rather than uploading.

To customize the request page, including what fields are offered, please see Customizing The Video Request Page.

3. Upload The Video File Directly

If the video file is already on hand, it can be directly uploaded to the administrative portal rather than sending out a request link to a content provider.  To do so, select the asset from the list, and on the  Video Assets sub-menu either drag and drop the video file or click the "Upload with Aspera" button.  If the latter, a prompt will appear to select the file from the local hard drive.  If IBM Aspera Connect is not already installed on the computer, a prompt will appear to download that first.   Aspera Connect is what the Administrative Portal uses to securely and swiftly upload files, and when uploading a file its upload status can be seen in the Aspera Connect window.   Once the file is uploaded it will immediately go through an encoding process.

Accompanying video assets may also be uploaded on this same sub-menu screen by scrolling down, including Timed Text Tracks, a Trailer, and pre-recorded Bonus Content.  For more information on configuring the various sub-menu's for a video asset, please see Videos: Configuring Options

4. Upload Status' and Error Messages

• Upload Status is used to indicate the status of the source file uploaded to the asset.   The options are:  Pending Upload, Uploaded, Queued, Encoding, Error, and Ready.   
• Ready indicates the file was successfully uploaded and completed its encoding process.
• Pending Upload indicates the asset is empty and nothing has been uploaded yet.
• Uploaded, Queued, Encoding indicate the file has been uploaded and is moving through the encoding process.  It should ultimately report as Ready.  If it remains in any of these three status' for over a few hours, it may be stuck or there may be an error.  Please reach out to support and provide the asset title and asset ID number for speedier assistance.
• Error indicates the source file may be corrupted or not the correct specs.    Error messages are visible if you scroll over the word ERROR in the video asset list.  The most common error is "Error initializing encoder for video target [7] [initialization failed: Invalid level specified for the selected framerate or resolution.]". This particular error means the frames per second are too high.  Recommendation is to request a new source file be uploaded (reset this asset first) with a frame rate of 30fps or less.   All source file specs can be found and shared here:  Source File Requirements

5. Source File Information and Downloading Source Files

• Information about the source file's specs can be viewed by navigating to the Video Asset sub-menu and clicking the icon above the video preview box.   Select "View Source File Details" to bring up a modal window with the details.
• If the content provider authorized download of the source file (an optional field on the Video Request Page), then the same drop down icon used to view the source file details will also contain the option for downloading the source file.  Please note source files will be available to download for 28 days at which time they are deleted from storage as part of CineSend's security measures.