Using u:stream administration

Login

Open u:stream administration and log in with u:account UserID and password.

The login is only possible for persons with an active employee account of the University of Vienna. Students do not have access. u:accounts for guests have to be activated first to be able to access. Please contact the u:stream support for this.

Editing the series metadata

Click the pencil icon to edit the series metadata. Modify the fields as needed, and then click Save. 

You can edit the following metadata:

• Series title
• Description: information about the series, visible only in u:stream administration
• Contributors: people who are contributing to the content 

Series ID: Here you can find the unchangeable series ID and copy it. You need the series ID both when publishing a series in Moodle and when linking u:stream series in Moodle.

Uploading audio and video files to the series

By clicking on the upload icon you can upload existing audio and video files to the respective series. More information in the Upload menu item section.

Showing videos of a series

In the Videos column you can see if and how many videos are available in a series. Clicking on the entry will take you to the videos in that series only. For more information on the functions there, see the section on the Videos menu item.

Checking processing status of a video

When a video is uploaded to u:stream, it must first be prepared for on-demand streaming. This process can take several hours, depending on the length of the video and the number of videos to be processed by u:stream at that moment. The ZID guarantees a maximum processing time of 24 hours, in most cases it is much faster. In the Status column you can see the progress:

• Processing: The video is currently being processed, the on-demand stream is not yet available.
• Processed: The video is finished being prepared, the on-demand stream is available.
• Processing Error: Processing failed, for assistance please contact u:stream support.

To make sure that you are shown the current status for each video, please click Reload Data above the table on the right.

Editing video metadata

Click the pencil icon to edit the metadata of a video. Change the fields as needed, and then click Save. 

You can edit the following metadata:

• Title of the video
• Series to which the video is assigned
• Description: information about the video, visible only in u:stream administration
• Contributor: people who contributed to the content of the video 

Video ID: Here you can find the unchangeable video ID and copy it. You will need the video ID when publishing a single video in Moodle.

Cutting video in the editor

Click the scissors icon to open the editor and then cut the video. You can cut away the beginning, the end or a part in the middle of the recording.

Use the play button below the video to play the video and pause it at the appropriate point. Where you are in the video is indicated by the vertical marker in the audio track of the video. You can also move the marker directly to the appropriate place.

• If you want to remove the beginning or end, place the marker at the desired point in the video before or after which to cut. Click Cut at the desired cut point. Then place the marker on the section you want to delete and click Delete. 
• If you want to cut within the video, you need 2 cut points that delimit the section to be cut out. You also set these two cut points with Cut. Then select the section and click Delete.

You can use the zoom to zoom into the audio track in order to set the cuts more precisely.

You can then view the video with preview mode on and decide if you want to save the change. If necessary, you can undo any cuts or deletions you have made by clicking Merge Left, Merge Right, Merge all or Restore.

Once you have set all the sections, click Finish in the left-hand menu of the editor. There you can:

• Save changes: The edits you make are saved, but the video is not reprocessed. This function is recommended, for example, to save the intermediate status of an edit that should not yet be visible to the users of the video.
• Save and process changes: The edits are saved and the processing of the video is triggered to apply the edits to the published video. Select the Änderungen übernehmen und Video schneiden | Apply changes and cut video workflow and click on Start processing.
• Discard changes: All edits are discarded, and the video is not reprocessed.

Creating subtitles

Click on the scissors icon to open the editor .

To add subtitles to a video, go to Subtitles in the left side menu. Then click on the plus symbol to select whether you want to add subtitles in German or English. If required, you can add subtitles in both languages. The following steps are required for each language.

Enter subtitles

You can enter new subtitles in the editor. Use the content segments to do this. The first content segment is created automatically. You can add as many further segments as you like. You can change the length of the segments using the start and end timecodes next to each segment. Enter the subtitles to be displayed at this point in the video in each segment.

To remove a segment, click on Delete segment.

You can export the subtitles as a file in WebVTT format using the Download button.

Upload existing subtitles

If you want to upload an existing subtitle file to a video, use the Upload button. Subtitle files in WebVTT format are supported. Please note: If you upload a file, any existing subtitles will be overwritten.

The uploaded subtitles are displayed in the content segments and can be edited further if required.

To check the subtitles, play the video including the created subtitles in the preview .

If you have a recording with 2 separate video tracks (e.g. from u:stream Studio), you can select which track the subtitles are created based on under Video Flavours .

To add the subtitles permanently to your recording, click on Finish in the left side menu and then on Save and process changes. Select the workflow Änderungen übernehmen ohne zu schneiden | Apply changes without cutting video. The subtitles are then added to the published video.

Customising thumbnail

By default, a still image from the start of the video is used as the thumbnail. You can customise this thumbnail. To do this, click on the scissors symbol to open the editor and select the menu item Thumbnail. 

Navigate in the video, stop it at a suitable point and select the still image as a preview image by clicking on Generate from presentation.

If you have a recording with 2 separate video tracks for presenter (1) and presentation (2) (e.g. from u:stream Studio), you can generate the thumbnail from either of the 2 tracks. In this case, you can use the Generate from presenter and Generate from presentation buttons.

Alternatively, you can click on Upload to upload an image file as a thumbnail (such as a customised title slide).

Click on Discard to remove the selection you have made. If no thumbnail is available in the editor, the default thumbnail is used

To permanently add a newly selected preview image to your recording, click on Finish in the left side menu and then on Save and process changes. Select the workflow Änderungen übernehmen ohne zu schneiden | Apply changes without cutting video. The preview image is added to the published video.

Playing video

Click the play icon to play the video. A player with the video opens in a new tab.

1. Click on the upload area to select the desired file with the file browser or drag and drop the file into it.
2. The file to be uploaded is displayed in a list. If necessary, you can change the file name. To do this, click on the pencil icon next to the title of the file. 
3. Now select the series you want to upload the file to. You can choose from all series for which you have editing rights.
4. Then click on Upload. The file will now be uploaded. Depending on the file size and internet connection, this may take different amounts of time. If necessary, you can put the browser in the background while the upload is in progress.

After the upload is complete, you can upload more files or switch to another menu item. The files that have already been uploaded are displayed under Recently uploaded.

u:stream Studio

With u:stream Studio, you can create new videos on your device via the web browser and then upload them to u:stream. The source is (depending on the selection) the screen, the camera and/or the microphone of the device or connected hardware, such as an external webcam.

To create a new recording, click on the u:stream Studio menu item. Then, if necessary, use the user guide Using u:stream Studio.

Registering Series and Streaming

Both the registration of new series to u:stream and the streaming from the lecture halls equipped for u:stream can be found in the current expansion step on the previous u:stream web interface. The menu item takes you there in a short way.