Videos

Table of Contents

In the Videos section, you can upload and manage a wide variety of video formats. Videos you upload automatically convert to industry-standard formats (H.264 with AAC audio).

Supported Formats

  1. YouTube videos are supported out of the box, so they just get downloaded in the best possible quality (up to 1080p now).
  2. Live Streaming Videos (YouTube, UStream, or custom HLS or RTMP/RTSP streams). These will have to be delivered by the stream in H.264 format to ensure they will be played back on Players.
  3. PowerPoint files are converted to videos on our servers, retaining all transitions and animations.

Adding a Video

To add a single video file, you click on the “Add Video/YouTube/PowerPoint” button found at the bottom of the Videos list. You then need to select the type of Video source. You can choose from the following:

  • Video File – Upload one or more videos from your device, use the Import from URL option, and enter a link to a video file. The file will be copied to your account.
  • YouTube Video – use a link to a YouTube video or stream that the Player will then download directly from YouTube and playback locally or stream.
  • Vimeo – use a link to a Vimeo video or stream, which the Player will then download directly from Vimeo and playback locally or stream.
  • PPT File – Upload PowerPoint presentations from your device. Presentations are converted to videos, keeping all animations.
  • Video Stream – use a Live Video Stream from the Internet or a local source, including UStream and UDP/RTP/HLS streams.
  • Video Wall – read our detailed instructions on how to set up a Video Wall.
  • Video Input – read our detailed instructions on how to set up a Video Feed.
  • Stock Videos – search videos from our online Video gallery and import them with a few clicks.
  • After you provide the Video source, you also need to provide the following:
    • type in the Name of the video file
    • an optional Description
    • add Tags to the uploaded video
    • click Save to finally upload the video
Skip video encoding
When you upload a standard Video File stored locally on your PC, there is an option to upload the exact file for playback and skip the default encoding process.
This option is generally recommended for advanced users only since the original video file’s playback might fail. Enabling this option while uploading will inhibit encoding, decreasing the time required for the video to be available and preventing a thumbnail for the video from being created.

Adding a Video File with the drag-and-drop option

You have the option to add a video file by dragging the specific file or files from your PC directly to your Video Library, therefore skipping a few steps and saving you some extra time.

The Drag and Drop option is also available in the Folder View.

Advanced Options for Videos

For all Video source types you have the following advanced options:

  • Play From/Play Until
    • In the advanced features, you can set the Play From/Play Until parameters. In other words, you can set the expiration date, which means that you can choose the exact date and time that Video will display in your playlist/layout, or you can set it to “Always” and “Forever,” and the Video will never expire.
  • Rotate Video
    • This option allows you to set the correct orientation for a Video. This is for the specific Video alone. This way, you can use Videos that were originally saved with the wrong orientation. 
    • So, if you have a video that is not displayed properly, you can use this setting to show it correctly.
    • Keep in mind that this setting only affects playback and does not rotate the video file itself.
  • Crop Video
    • This option allows you to set crop margins for a Video. This is for the specific Video alone. You can crop out by percentage for any side of the video.
    • For example, if you set the “Right” cropping to 10%, 10% of the video’s width will be cropped out during playback. The same goes for all edges.
    • Keep in mind that this setting only affects playback and does not crop the video file itself.
  • Enable Subtitles
    • First, you have to upload the video to your account, and also, the video must have embedded subtitles.
    • Embedded subtitles are stored inside the video file (or video container) as a stream – in the same way that video and audio streams are stored inside the video file. Not all video container formats can have embedded subtitles, and there are limitations to what subtitle formats are supported for each video container format.
    • After that you can toggle the “Enable Subtitles” button to display subtitles on your screen.

NOTE: YouTube Videos

Note that YouTube videos with subtitles cannot be used this way. You will need to download the Youtube video and subtitles on your computer, burn the subtitles with a relative program and upload them as Video files on your account.

  • Preparing Videos
    • Subtitles are supported only for videos that you upload. For this workaround to work, you will need to make sure that the video files are compatible.
    • You will need to repackage the video file and subtitle track as a single MKV file. Ensure that the subtitle track is the first track since the video above will play only the 1st subtitle track of the MKV file. You have two options for preparing the MKV file:
    • Easy but slow way: Use Handbreak, adding the video source file, and adding the subtitle track.
    • Hard but fast way: If your video is already in H.264 format, then you need to repackage it (not re-encode it).
      • Use FFmpeg like this:
        ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i subtitle.srt -c copy output.mkv
      • After you prepare the video file, you will have a single MKV file, with a video track encoded in H.264 and a subtitle track.
  • Uploading Videos with Subtitles
    • Go to the “Videos” section and click the button to add a new video.
    • Select the video file.
    • Toggle the “Enable Subtitles” and click save.
    • Assign the Video to your player and push it for playback.
    • You should now be able to see subtitles for this video.
  • Disabling Subtitles
    • To disable the subtitles, toggle off the “Enable Subtitles” button, save and push once again.

Managing Video Files

In the Videos section, you can see a list of all the video files currently uploaded into your account. Information about your video files is organized in the following columns:

  • the Name of the video along with a Preview (thumbnail)
  • the Timestamp (date and time) that the video was modified for the last time
  • the Workspace (for accounts in the Enterprise plan) that the video belongs
  • the Tags (for accounts in the Pro and Enterprise plan) that are applied to the file
  • the Actions column

If you click on the three dots icon in the Actions column, you will be presented with a list of actions that you can apply to your uploaded video files.

  • Edit
    • Change the details of a video by clicking the “Edit” button. Here, you can also substitute the actual video, and it will be changed wherever used.
      Check out the “Adding a Video” section above for details on the fields.
  • Duplicate
    • Create an exact copy of the video file with a new name.
  • Move
    • You can move videos to folders and/or other Workspaces (for accounts in the Enterprise plan).
  • Delete
    • Delete the video file.

Additional Control Settings

  • At the top-left corner, you can use the Search box to quickly sort out your video listing. You can search using any of the four columns which means by name, date, workspace, and tag.
  • You can select one or more videos by clicking the square box left to their thumbnail. You can then click the Actions button at the bottom to Edit, Move, Delete all the selected videos at once.
  • At the top-right corner, you can click on the “+Add Folder” button to create a folder that can be used to group media files (the folder will be global among Images, Videos, Audio, Documents, Web Pages, and Widgets). You can also change the listing and refresh the view.