E-mail this pageSon of MediaFileThingy: Publishing
When you click on the Publish to Media Server, ANGEL button, you gain access to a series of functions that let you upload media files to the media server, generate playlist files, generate HTML code, create ANGEL pages embedding your media playlists, and manage the media files on the server.
Logging On
When you first click the Publish to Media Server, ANGEL button, you will be required to log on. If you wish, you can have the program save the logon information for you so that you will not have to log on again in the future--this option should only be selected if you are working from your own desktop or in a trusted location.
After you have logged on, you will see a window listing the media and support files that are presently in your folder on the media server. (If you haven't yet uploaded any media files, this listing will not show any files.)
By default, you will see that the Generate ASX file on upload option has been checked and that the Upload to Media Server and Close buttons are visible and enabled. Clicking on a file name will expose a list of available options/actions for the given file and introduce a preview window (if the file is an ASX Playlist or a media file).
Uploading a Media File to the Server
Son of MediaFileThingy can upload any Windows Media format file (*.wmv, *.wma), along with captioning files (*.smi) if they've been created.
Because you will need an ASX playlist file to perform the function of eventually linking a media file to a web or ANGEL page, the program is set, by default, to generate the ASX file automatically when a file is uploaded.
To upload a file, click on the Upload to Media Server button, and then, when presented with the standard Windows file dialog, select the Windows Media file from your computer to upload it. If you have added captioning to your file, repeat this step to upload the captioning file.
Downloading a Media File from the Server
If you've put a file on the media server and would like to retrieve it to your own computer, select the file from the list of files on the server and then click the Download button.
When you click the Download button, you will be presented with a regular Save As dialog window, prompting you for a location to save the file. Note : depending on the size of the file and the speed of your connection, it may take some time for the Save As dialog to appear.
After selecting your desired folder, click the Save button to save the file to that location.
Deleting a Media File from the Server
To delete a file that you've uploaded to the server, select the file from the list and then click the Delete button. Please note that you'll probably also want to delete any SMI captioning file that's associated with the media file you've deleted, and you'll also want to remove (or edit) the ASX playlist(s) that reference the file.
You will be prompted to confirm any deletions from the server.
Clicking the OK button in the prompt will delete the file.
Editing/Building with ASX Playlists (ASX redirector files)
The Edit button becomes enabled whenever an ASX file is selected from the list of files, allowing you to edit an existing playlist; the Build ASX button becomes enabled whenever a playlist file is selected from the list of files. In both cases, the operations involve the same interface.
The ASX file editor is drawn in three panels: the first (Media File ASX Connector ) has a link for the ASX Show Information , which allows you to edit the metadata which describes the playlist as a whole, along with a link for each file in the playlist, allowing you to edit (or create) the metadata describing each constituent video clip. The second panel (Clip Information ) contains the editable information related to the element that was selected in the Media File ASX Connector panel. The third panel plays a preview of the selected show or clip.
To edit the information relating to the entire media presentation, click on the ASX Show Information link, and enter information into the provided fields. Minimally, you should include information for the Title , Copyright , Author , and Description fields.
NOTE : The Save button saves all changes made to any portion of the ASX file and closes the ASX editing window. You needn't click the Save button until you have made desired changes to the ASX Show Information and the information for any or all individual files in the show.
To enter information for any given file on the playlist, click on the file name in the Media File ASX Connector panel. Along with the fields available to your for the ASX Show Information , you'll also have options for adding or removing files from the playlist, rearranging files on a playlist, and the option for associating a captioning file with a media file.
Playlist Functions: Associating a Captioning File
If you've created and uploaded an SMI captioning file, click the [!] button to associate it with the selected media file.
After clicking the [!] button, you will be presented with a list of captioning files on the server. Click on the one associated with the current media file to establish the playlist link between media and captioning file.
When you click on the title of the captioning file, the center panel will change, again, to reveal the current clip information screen, and the link to the captioning file will appear in the appropriate field.
Playlist Functions: Adding Additional Media Files to the Playlist
A playlist can, in theory, play back as many files as you'd like, in whatever sequence you specify. To add a media file to a playlist, click on the Add Media File to Playlist button. The center panel of the screen will show a listing of all media files you have posted to the media server. Simply click on the title of the desired file to add it to the playlist.
Once a new file has been added to the playlist, you will see its title in the panel to the left, and its clip information in the center panel.
If you have more than one file on a playlist, you can rearrange the playback order of the files by clicking on a file title and then clicking on the Up or Down buttons, as appropriate.
Displaying Media on a Web Page
When you click on any ASX playlist file in the listing of files on the server, you will have the option to Post to ANGEL or Build HTML . NOTE: These buttons will be disabled for any other file types: web pages and ANGEL pages can only connect to playlist files, not directly to the media files themselves: the playlist file will do the work of negotiating the connection between web page and the file on the media server.
Posting a Page to ANGEL
To generate a web page that incorporates one of your playlist files, click on the playlist file in the listing of files on the server. Once you do so, the Post to ANGEL button will be enabled.
A click on the the Post to ANGEL button introduces a listing of all of your ANGEL sites and the top-level folders within these sites.
To create a media page in ANGEL, select the folder which you'd like the page to appear in, and click on the Post to Selected ANGEL Folder button. A message box will confirm that the page has been created.
NOTE: By default, the ANGEL pages created through the Post to ANGEL function will have their Hidden attribute turned on, making them invisible to students until you enter your ANGEL site, review the page, and toggle the Hidden attribute off in the ANGEL page's settings. If you would like students to have immediate access to the media file as you are posting it, remove the checkbox from the field marked Set "hidden" attribute on newly created ANGEL media page.
Generating HTML Code
To generate a HTML code for a web page that incorporates one of your playlist files, click first on the playlist file in the listing of files on the server, and then click on the Build HTML button.
After you have clicked on the Build HTML button, the HTML code for an embedded player page will be copied to the clipboard, and a confirmation message will appear.
The clipboard contents can then be pasted into the code view of any HTML document.
Editing an SMI Captioning File
Because the captions for a media file can also be directly embedded into the media file, it's generally advisable to download the media file that requires significant captioning changes and subsequently to use the Index and Caption Existing File option to work with the captions.
The Edit option that appears when an SMI captioning file is selected from the list of Media and Support Files will, nonetheless, allow you to make quick edits to the text in the captioning file. (It will not let you change the time-stamps or create new index entries.) To edit an entry, select the line to be edited from the lower part of the screen, and edit it in the textbox at the top of the screen. Once you have modified all the lines you'd like to change, click on the Save Changes button to record the changes and return to the main Publish to Media Server screen.
