Creating and Publishing Media Files
Video Caster’s
comprehensive set of
tools, enable you to
easily publish your
videos to a video
service and stream them
to your family and
friends. Advances
in computer networking
combined with powerful
home computers and
modern operating systems
make streaming media
practical and affordable
for ordinary consumers.
With Video Caster staying in touch is not
a problem anymore, as
these memories can be
shared with close ones
and the special moments
can be relived.
Video Caster also
provides you with tools
required to work with
Digital Video Camera,
Digital Still Cameras
and videos already
present on your
computer.
Getting Started with
Media Publishing
Media Publishing is the
process of uploading
your media files to a
streaming server.
Once published, you can
send links of the media
files to your viewers.
The viewers in turn can
use any standard browser
like Internet Explorer
to view live streaming
of your media files.
Streaming media
is becoming
increasingly
important with the
growth of
Internet. With
streaming, the
client browser can
start displaying the
data before the
entire file has been
transmitted.
Understanding Video
Streaming explains in detail
the dynamics of
Video streaming.
It is a requisite to
subscribe to a video
hosting service before
you start publishing. Video Desk is one
such service that allows
you to publish video and
audio files in the
Windows Media streaming
format. To
subscribe to a free
trial account of Video
Desk, log on to the
website www.videodesk.net and click “Free
Account”.
Fill in the information
required to register for
the new account.
When signing up for a
free account make sure
you provide a valid
e-mail address.
Once you validate your
account you are ready to
login to your free Video
Desk account.
To publish your media
files using Video Caster
you must know Video
Desk’s FTP Login
information. After
logging into your FTP
account, Video Desk
displays this
information on the left
under “FTP
Upload”.
Note down details like Connect to, User
Name and Password .
Publishing your Media
Files
Open Video Caster and
locate the media file
that you want to
publish. If the
video that you want to
publish is present in
your Digital Video
Camera then use Video
Caster’s Capture tool to
capture the footage to
your computer. To
publish images from your
Digital Still camera,
use Video Caster’s user
friendly Auto
Slideshow tool to
quickly make a slideshow
of your images. To
publish videos that are
not in streaming media
format to your Video
Desk account, you can
use the Conversion tool.
These three options for
Media Content Creation
are discussed later in
this article.
To start publishing your
file using the
Publishing Wizard,
launch Video Caster and
click the Publish
Your Media Files
option on the main interface of
application. Click
Next on the
welcome screen of the
Media
File Publishing Wizard.
Click
Add to
specify the file you
want to publish.
Click
Next to proceed.
You will now need the
information you noted
down from Video Desk.
Specify the Streaming
Server information where
you want to publish your
files:
- FTP Address: ftp.videodesk.net
- Login
Name:
Specify
the user
name
that is
displayed
by Video
Desk (a
number)
- Password:
The same
password
that you
use to
log into
Video
Desk
- Remote
Folder
(Optional):
Keep
blank to
publish
to the
root
folder.
If you
want to
publish
to a
sub-folder
that you
have
created
using
Video
Desk’s
Media
Manager
then
specify
the name
of the
folder
here.
If you connect to the
internet using a proxy
server, then click Configure Proxy Server and specify the
proxy server’s settings.
You may have to contact
your system
administrator for your
proxy settings.
The Port is given
as 21, by default.
The Use Passive Mode for
logging in option is
checked by default.
Click Next.
The Publishing Wizard
will now start
publishing your media
files. After the
publishing process is
complete, click
Finish. You
can now login to your
Video Desk account and
use the Media Manager to
view the published file
and e-mail its link to
your viewers.
Media Content Creation
Though Video Caster is
basically a media
publishing application,
it also avails you with
proficient file
management and content
creation tools.
Video Caster’s Content
Creation tools include:
Capture, Auto Slideshow,
and Conversion Tool.
Let us first see how to
capture using Video
Caster.
The Capture Tool
The Capture tool enables
you to capture videos
from an attached Digital
Video Camera or Web
Camera. To use
this tool, follow the
given steps:
- Ensure that
you have
connected
the Digital
Video or Web
Camera to
your
computer and
have
configured
the camera
correctly.
Also, make
sure that
other
applications
are not
using the
capture
device.
- On the
main
interface
of
application,
click
the Capture
Video from
Your
Camera
and
Publish option
under What
would
you like
to do?
- The Capture window
opens.
Make
sure
that you
select
the
Digital
Video
Camera
or Web
Camera
as the
device
from
where
you want
to
capture.
If the
selected
device
is
different,
then
change
the
capture
device
by
clicking Change
Devices.
- Select
the
folder
where
you want
to save
the
captured
file.
The
capture
tool
sequences
file
names by
appending
a number
if the
file
with the
same
name
already
exists
in the
selected
Capture
To
folder.
- By
default,
the
capture
tool
captures
audio
with
video.
You can
choose
to turn
off
audio.
- If
required,
change
video,
camera
and
audio
settings
or
formats
like
video
output
size,
frame
rate
etc.
- The
capture
tool
captures
footage
in WMV
format.
You can
choose
to
capture
in a
streaming
profile
or a
profile
for
desktop
viewing.
- On the Capture menu,
click Start or click
the Start
Capture button.
- Confirm
the
capture
file
name and
folder.
If
required
you can
choose
to
change
them now
by
clicking
the Browse button.
- Capture
entire
Tape option
is
disabled
for Web
Camera
and can
be
enabled
only
when DV
Camera
is
selected.
By
default Manually
Stop
Capture option
is
selected.
- Click Start to start
capturing.
While
capturing,
the
capture
tool
displays
the
number
of
frames
captured
and
duration
captured
under
Output
Options.
- To stop
capturing,
point to
the Capture menu and
click Stop or click
the Stop
Capture button.
- Once you
have
finished
capturing
Video
Caster
gives
you a
brief
summary
for the
same.
You can
also
preview
the file
that you
have
captured.
The Auto Slideshow Tool
This style-based tool
enables you to swiftly
create spellbinding
slideshows from your
Digital Still Photos in
ready-to-publish windows
streaming format.
To use it, follow the
given steps:
- In Video
Caster,
on the
main
interface
of the
application,
click
the Create a
Video Slideshow
from
Your
Photos
and
Publish option.
- Click Add
Photos to add
all the
images
that you
want to
include
in the
Slideshow.
- Select
the Style tab and
select a
style
you
like.
- Select
the Options tab to Add
Music, Opening
Title and Closing
Credits to your
slideshow.
- To
preview
the
slideshow,
click
the Preview
Slideshow button.
- Click Make
Slideshow and
follow
the
steps to
make the
slideshow
in
Windows
Media
streaming
format.
The Conversion Tool
A streaming service
accepts video and audio
files in a streaming
format only. Video
Desk, for example,
accepts video and audio
files in Windows Media
streaming format.
You can use Video
Caster’s conversion tool
to convert video and
audio files from almost
all popular formats to
Windows Media Format.
To convert a file:
- In Video
Caster,
on the
main
interface
of the
application,
click
the Convert
Your
Media
Files to
Windows
Media
Streaming
Format
and
Publish option
under What
would
you like
to do ?
- The
Search
Media
Files
dialog
opens.
Click Browse to
specify
the
folder
where
files to
be
converted
are
located. Select
File Extensions to
search within
the
folder.
Click Next .
Click Finish after
the
files to
convert
are
listed.
- The Conversion
Wizard opens.
The
files
you had
searched
for are
listed.
Click Add to
include
other
files
that you
want to
convert.
- Specify
the Destination
Folder where
you want
the
converted
files to
saved by
clicking Browse.
Click Next.
- From the Profile
Category drop
down
box,
select WMV -
For
Media
Server -
Streaming.
- Select a
video
and an
audio
profile
depending
on the
quality
you
want.
- The
available
streams
would be
listed.
Check
the
streams
you want
to
encode
for.
Click Next to start
converting
the
file.
People make memories of
good times, of the loved
ones in their lives.
Time moves on, and with
the routine
hustle-bustle it becomes
impossible to always
stay in touch with
friends and family.
But now with Video
Caster you do not have
to lose the people dear
to you with passage of
time.