Best Workflow for Uploading Footage?

Also... does that mean if you do the FLV compression locally that you can upload HD footage even though the KMC doesn't support HD encoding without a commercial encoder agreement?

Hi Chris,

There are 4 main flows for uploading your content -

• Use the KCW within the KMC and upload the files you want.
  The KCW also allows multiple files to be selected and uploaded at the same session.
• Use the CSV import option on the KMC - Upload your files to an FTP server, create a CSV file of the following format and submit it to Kaltura using the CSV upload feature of the KMC.
  The CSV format: name, description, tags, file url, file type (audio, video, image).
• Use the APIs to upload the files from your own custom system.
• Use the KCW on your own implementation.

In general the source content does not matter and you could upload the files as is, then the Kaltura Server will handle the transcoding for you.
Due to the amount of codecs and video formats out there, we might on rare cases fail to convert your file, in this case - please submit a post or support message to let us know.
The common codecs and formats (such as avi, mov, mpg, flv, wmv, etc) are all supported.

The frame size and Kbits/sec should be according to your expectations - you should consider the following -

• User's bandwidth - If your users are most likely to be connected over a broadband connection that can handle files of over 1000Kbit/sec than you can choose to convert the files to HD content (considering the source is in fact at that quality).
  Though on cases where the users can handle a maximum of 700 or less it is recommended that you convert the files to Medium quality or even low.
• Lowest compromisable quality - If a low quality stream is out of the question, keep the minimum quality you are willing to compromise on and set your player (KDP) to use a high buffer. This means the user will have to wait longer before he/she can watch the video, but the quality will remain as high as possible.
• Frame sizes - This affects your video stream Kbits/sec, the larger the frame size, more data will be streamed. As a general rule - use the frame size of the player size (i.e. if your player will be 600x480 there's no need to use a 1920x1080 frame size).
• FPS (Frames Per Second) - The lowest possible would be the best. This also affects the amount of the data that would be streamed as more frames need to be played, more data will be squeezed to every second.
  
  • Here we also recommend not using an FPS of larger than 25, as this is usually produces a qualitative responsive stream (considering we all use progressive monitors today the standards of NTSC/PAL are no longer a consideration).
  • Using a higher than 30 FPS is unnecessary and can cause the user's cpu to work harder than it should while causing the video to stutter. In general - you should use a 25fps encoding.

You can upload your FLV footage to Kaltura using bypass FLV feature and we'll keep your encoded files. This means that whatever encoding you used will be maintained.

The KCW has the option of selecting multiple files and upload on the same session, is that what you're looking for ?

When you do the encoding on your own, you should be aware of the above and also have the best transcoder for the job (We recommend using Adobe Media Encoder CS4).
The pro to this is that you will be in full control of how the file is encoded and after uploading the file will be immediately available due to conversion process will be not needed.
The con is that you will be converting the files yourself (a task not everyone is capable of due to time and budget limitations).

Just out of interest, can you please tell me what settings/compression ratios you used for this site?

Thanks!

Hey Chris,
the videos seen on the Namco-Bandai mini-site were transcoded using the On2 commercial transcoder with these parameters: -r 25 -b 700 -k 100 -w 400 -h 226
Hope this helps.
Elad.

Hi Elad,

Sorry, but I have no idea what those parameters actually refer to. Could you please explain what they mean, or provide me with a link to the user manual for the "On2 Commercial Transcoder"?

Thanks!

Best Regards, Chris!

Hey Chris,
Basically mean that it was encoded using the On2 Flix encoding engine with these params:
-r 25 -b 700 -k 100 -w 400 -h 226
25fps, 700bitrate, 100 gopsize, 400width, 226 height
you can find more information about the available params of the Flix On2 website.
Cheers,
Elad.

Thanks Elad!

Hi
and here http://corp.kaltura.com/technology/video_player for the HD what did you use?
Thanks

The Big Buck Bunny trailer was converted at 1280x720 screen resolution @ 2000kbps using On2 H264 codec

Hi there,

what is your take on the preferred frame rate. I have heard that using 30p is better as most user displays run on 60Hz.
Does this make a difference at all?

Bernd

Depends on what format you shot on. Down under everything is shot at 25fps, and therefore displaying at 25fps makes sense for us. However, in the States, 24P or 30P is generally a nice option depending on the kind of content you're showcasing and the format it was acquired on.

Chris!