HowTo Add a Video

This short guide will teach you the basics of adding a video to the website.

Step 1 is to make your way to the Watch Admin section of the website by first logging in, and selecting 'Watch' from the horizontal menu that appears. Once there choose the Video Boxes option.

At this point you can add a new Video Box for your show if it's not already there. Make sure that you add it under the correct heading ("Regular Shows" usually -- Speak to the Webmaster for help with this).

Select the video box for your show, and optionally any sub boxes. For this example I have chosen the "Round up" box.

Round Up Video Box List

Next, click the 'Add Video' link at the bottom right of the video list table, which will take you to a page like this:

Video Details Entry Page

Enter in the required details and press next. Note that URL Name is required and can only contain letters, numbers and spaces.

After that, you will get the following screen where you can choose the video file to add:

Select a video

Here you get two options depending on what you did with your final video.

Option 1: This applies when you export your video and dump it into the to_encode folder on the encode pc. Note that this is no longer the preferred method, and is included here for completeness.

Option 2: This is the new and improved method, and only requires that you export your footage to a location in UserData using the correct naming convention ( YY_ShowName_TermWW.ext where YY is the two digit year (e.g. 08), Term is the 3 letter abbreviation of the term (e.g. "aut") and WW is the two digit representation of the week number (e.g. 04). For example, 10_Man-Man_Episode1_spr04.mp4).

Option 1:

First, you can choose a file from the drop down list at the top. Note that there should be multiple copies of your video - one for "playout", one for "ipod" and one for "web". Each are indicated by the first part of their name in the list. "playout" and "ipod" are obvious, however the web ones are identified by a year range, "08-09" for example.

In the first instance you should add the web version of your video first. You will have to go back and add the other two versions later.

Option 2:

In this instance you simply choose the file you want to add from the file browser at the bottom of the page and press next. As long as the file is correctly named, all three versions of your video will be automatically added to the website.

In both cases, after you press "next" you will be taken to a page that looks like this:

Video files list

Here you can see the actual video files associated with your video (yes, I know that sounds complicated. Talk to the computing team or webmaster for a better explanation). You can also see the Encoding Status of any videos you added via Option 2 above. Remember, when using Option 2, the videos will get automatically enabled when they are ready -- do not try to enable them before that time otherwise bad things will happen.

Also note, that there is a link at the bottom that allows you add another video file. This is what you must do if you chose Option 1 above, and now want to add the iPod and Playout versions of your video (which you really should do).

Finally, I encourage you all to use the second option when adding videos from now on -- It ensures that all the correct files are added, and saves time for everyone.

As always, if there's anything on here that needs further explanation, or you just want to know more, please talk to a member of the Computing team (you could just email them at computing@ystv.york.ac.uk if you wanted).