Video video

This section describes working with video in Dynamic Media.

Quick Start: Videos quick-start-videos

The following step-by-step workflow description is designed to help you get up and running quickly with adaptive video sets in Dynamic Media. After each step, there are cross-references to topic headings where you can find more information.

NOTE
Before you work with video in Dynamic Media, make sure that your Adobe Experience Manager administrator has already enabled and configured Dynamic Media Cloud Services.
  1. Upload your Dynamic Media videos by doing the following:

  2. Manage your Dynamic Media videos by doing any of the following:

  3. Publish your Dynamic Media videos by doing one of the following:

Work with video in Dynamic Media working-with-video-in-dynamic-media

Video in Dynamic Media is an end-to-end solution that makes it easy to publish high-quality Adaptive Video for streaming across multiple screens, including desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. An Adaptive Video Set groups versions of the same video that are encoded at different bit rates and formats such as 400 kbps, 800 kbps, and 1000 kbps. The desktop computer or mobile device detects the available bandwidth.

For example, on an iOS mobile device, it detects a bandwidth such as 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi. Then, it automatically selects the right encoded video from among the various video bit rates within the Adaptive Video Set. The video is streamed to desktops, mobile devices, or tablets.

In addition, video quality is dynamically switched automatically if network conditions change on the desktop or on the mobile device. Also, if a customer enters full-screen mode on a desktop, the Adaptive Video Set responds by using a better resolution, improving the customer’s viewing experience. Using Adaptive Video Sets provides you with the best possible playback for customers playing Dynamic Media video on multiple screens and devices.

The logic that a video player uses to determine which encoded video to play or to select during playback is based on the following algorithm:

  1. Video player loads the initial video fragment based on the bit rate that is closest to the value that is set for “initial bitrate” in the player itself.

  2. Video player switches based on changes to the bandwidth speed using the following criteria:

    1. Player picks the highest bandwidth stream below or equal to the estimated bandwidth.
    2. Player considers only 80% of the available bandwidth. However, if it is switching up, it is more conservative at only 70% to avoid overestimating and immediately switching back.

For detailed technical information about the algorithm, see https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/av/+/master/media/libstagefright/httplive/LiveSession.cpp

For managing single video and Adaptive Video Sets, the following is supported:

  • Uploading video from numerous-supported video formats and audio formats and encoding video to MP4 H.264 format for playback across multiple screens. You can use predefined adaptive video presets, single video encoding presets, or customize your own encoding to control the quality and size of the video.

    • When an adaptive video set is generated, it includes MP4 videos.
    • Note: Primary/source videos are not added to an Adaptive Video Set.
  • Video captioning in all HTML5 video viewers.

  • Organize, browse, and search video with full metadata support for efficient management of video assets.

  • Deliver Adaptive Video Sets to the web and desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.

Adaptive video streaming is supported on various iOS platforms. See Dynamic Media Viewers Reference Guide.

  • Play back the video using Dynamic Media Video Viewer Presets, including the following:

    • Single video viewers.
    • Mixed Media viewers that combine both video and image content.
  • Configure video players to meet your branding needs.

  • Integrate video to your website, mobile site, or mobile application with a simple URL or embed code.

See Dynamic video playback sample.

See also Viewers for Experience Manager Assets and Dynamic Media Classic and Viewers for Experience Manager Assets only in the Dynamic Media Viewers Reference Guide.

Best practice: Using the HTML5 video viewer best-practice-using-the-html-video-viewer

The Dynamic Media HTML5 Video viewer presets are robust video players. You can use them to avoid many common issues that are associated with HTML5 video playback and issues associated with mobile devices. For example, a lack of adaptive bitrate streaming delivery and limited desktop browser reach.

On the design side of the player, you can design the video player’s functionality using standard web development tools. For example, you can design the buttons, controls, and custom poster image background using HTML5 and CSS to help you reach your customers with a customized appearance.

On the playback side of the viewer, it automatically detects the browser’s video capability. It then serves the video using HLS or DASH, also known as adaptive video streaming. Or, if those delivery methods are not present then HTML5 progressive is used instead.

NOTE
To use DASH for your videos, it must first be enabled by Adobe Technical Support on your account. See Enable DASH on your account.

You can combine into a single player the ability to design the playback components using HTML5 and CSS. It can have embedded playback, and use adaptive and progressive streaming depending on the browser’s capability. All this functionality, means you can extend the reach of your rich media content to both desktop and mobile users and ensure a streamlined video experience.

See also Viewers for Experience Manager Assets only in the Dynamic Media Viewers Reference Guide.

Playback of video on desktop computers and mobile devices using the HTML5 video viewer playback-of-video-on-desktop-computers-and-mobile-devices-using-the-html-video-viewer

For desktop and mobile adaptive video streaming, the videos used for bit rate switching are based on all MP4 videos in the Adaptive Video Set.

Video playback occurs using either HLS or DASH, or progressive video download. In prior versions of Experience Manager, such as 6.0, 6.1, and 6.2, videos were streamed over HTTP.

However, in Experience Manager 6.3 and on, videos are now streamed over HTTPS (that is, HLS or DASH) because the DM gateway service URL always uses HTTPS as well. There is no customer impact in this default behavior. That is, video streaming will always occur over HTTPS unless it is not supported by the browser. See the following table.

Therefore,

  • If you have an HTTPS website with HTTPS video streaming, streaming is fine.
  • If you have an HTTP website with HTTPS video streaming, streaming is fine and there are no mixed content issues from the web browser.

DASH is the international standard and HLS is an Apple standard. Both are used for adaptive video streaming. And, both technologies automatically adjust playback based on network bandwidth capacity. It also lets the customer “seek” to any point in the video without the need to wait for the rest of the video to download.

Progressive video is delivered by downloading and storing the video locally on a user’s desktop system or mobile device.

The following table describes the device, browser, and playback method of videos on desktop computers and mobile devices using the Dynamic Media HTML5 Video Viewer.

Device
Browser
Video playback mode
Desktop
Internet Explorer 9 and 10
Progressive download.
Desktop
Internet Explorer 11+
On Windows® 8 and Windows® 10 - Force use of HTTPS whenever DASH or HLS is requested. Known limitation: HTTP on DASH or HLS does not work in this browser/operating system combination

On Windows® 7 - Progressive download. Uses standard logic for selecting HTTP versus HTTPS protocol.
Desktop
Firefox 23-44
Progressive download.
Desktop
Firefox 45 or later
HLS or DASH* adaptive bitrate streaming
Desktop
Chrome
HLS or DASH* adaptive bitrate streaming
Desktop
Safari (Mac)
HLS adaptive bitrate streaming
Mobile
Chrome (Android™ 6 or earlier)
Progressive download.
Mobile
Chrome (Android™ 7 or later)
HLS or DASH* adaptive bitrate streaming/td>
Mobile
Android™ (default browser)
Progressive download.
Mobile
Safari (iOS)
HLS adaptive bitrate streaming
Mobile
Chrome (iOS)
HLS adaptive bitrate streaming
IMPORTANT
*To use DASH for your videos, it must first be enabled by Adobe Technical Support on your account. See Enable DASH on your account.)

Architecture of Dynamic Media video solution architecture-of-dynamic-media-video-solution

The following graphic shows the overall authoring workflow of videos that are uploaded and encoded by way of DMGateway (in Dynamic Media Hybrid mode) and made available for public consumption.

chlimage_1-427

Hybrid publishing architecture for videos hybrid-publishing-architecture-for-videos

chlimage_1-428

Best practices for encoding videos best-practices-for-encoding-videos

The Dynamic Media Encode Video workflow encodes video if you have enabled Dynamic Media and set up video Cloud Services. This workflow captures workflow process history and failure information. If you have enabled Dynamic Media and set up video Cloud Services, the Dynamic Media Encode Video workflow automatically takes effect when you upload a video. (If you are not using Dynamic Media, the DAM Update Asset workflow takes effect.)

The following are best-practice tips for encoding source video files.

Source video files source-video-files

When you encode a video file, use a source video file of the highest possible quality. Avoid using previously encoded video files because these files are already compressed, and further encoding creates a subpar quality video.

  • Dynamic Media supports primarily short-form videos with a maximum length of 30 minutes and a minimum resolution that is greater than 25 x 25.
  • You can upload primary source video files that are up to 15 GB each.

The following table describes the recommended size, aspect ratio, and minimum bit rate that your source video files must have before you encode them:

Size
Aspect ratio
Minimum bit rate
1024 X 768
4:3
4500 kbps for most videos.
1280 X 720
16:9
3000 - 6000 kbps, depending on the amount of motion in the video.
1920 X 1080
16:9
6000 - 8000 kbps, depending on the amount of motion in the video.

Obtain a file’s metadata obtaining-a-file-s-metadata

You can obtain a file’s metadata by viewing its metadata using an editing tool for videos, or using an application designed for obtaining metadata. Following are instructions for using MediaInfo, a third-party application, to obtain a video file’s metadata:

  1. Go to MediaInfo Download.
  2. Select and download the installer for the GUI version, and follow the installation instructions.
  3. After installation, either right-click the video file (Windows® only) and select MediaInfo, or open MediaInfo and drag your video file into the application. You see all metadata associated with your video file, including its width, height, and fps.

Aspect ratio aspect-ratio

When you choose or create a video encoding preset for your primary source video file, make sure that the preset has the same aspect ratio as the primary source video file. The aspect ratio is the ratio of the width to the height of the video.

To determine the aspect ratio of a video file, obtain the file’s metadata and note the file’s width, and height (see Obtaining a file’s metadata above). Then use this formula to determine the aspect ratio:

width/height = aspect ratio

The following table describes how formula results translate to common aspect ratio choices:

Formula result
Aspect ratio
1.33
4:3
0.75
3:4
1.78
16:9
0.56
9:16

For example, a video that is 1440 width x 1080 height has an aspect ratio of 1440/1080, or 1.33. In this case, you choose a video encoding preset with a 4:3 aspect ratio to encode the video file.

Bitrate bitrate

Bitrate is the amount of data that is encoded to make up a single second of video playback. The bitrate is measured in kilobits per second (Kbps).

NOTE
Because all codecs use lossy compression, bitrate is the most important factor in video quality. With lossy compression, the more you compress a video file, the more the quality is degraded. For this reason, all other characteristics being equal (the resolution, frame rate, and codec), the lower the bitrate, the lower the quality of the compressed file.

When selecting a bitrate encoding, there are two types you can choose:

  • Constant Bitrate Encoding (CBR) - During CBR encoding, the bitrate, or the number of bits per second is kept the same throughout the encoding process. CBR encoding persists the set data rate to your setting over the entire video. Also, CBR encoding does not optimize media files for quality but does save on storage space.
    Use CBR if your video contains a similar motion level throughout the entire video. CBR is most commonly used for streaming video content. See also Use custom-added video encoding parameters.

  • Variable Bitrate Encoding (VBR) - VBR encoding adjusts the data rate down and to the upper limit that you set, based on the data required by the compressor. This functionality means that during a VBR encoding process the bitrate of the media file dynamically increases or decreases depending on the media files bitrate needs.
    VBR takes longer to encode but produces the most favorable results; the quality of the media file is superior. VBR is most commonly used for http progressive delivery of video content.

When do you use VBR versus CRB?
When selecting VBR versus CBR, it is almost always recommended that you use VBR for your media files. VBR provides higher-quality files at competitive bitrates. When you use VBR, be sure you use with two-pass encoding, and set the maximum bitrate to be 1.5x the target video bitrate.

When you choose a video encoding preset, be sure you account for the target user’s connection speed. Choose a preset with a data rate that is 80 percent of that speed. For example, if the target user’s connection speed is 1000 Kbps, the best preset is one with a video data rate of 800 Kbps.

This table describes the data rate of typical connection speeds.

Speed (Kbps)
Connection type
256
Dial-up connection.
800
Typical mobile connection. For this connection, target a data rate in the range of 400 to a maximum of 800 for 3G experiences.
2000
Typical broadband desktop connection. For this connection, target a data rate in the 800-2000 Kbps range, with most targets averaging 1200-1500 Kbps.
5000
Typical high-broadband connection. Encoding in this upper range is not recommended because video delivery at this speed is not available to most consumers.

Resolution resolution

Resolution describes a video file’s height and width in pixels. Most source video is stored at a high resolution (for example, 1920 x 1080). For streaming purposes, source video is compressed to a smaller resolution (640 x 480 or smaller).

Resolution and data rate are two integrally linked factors that determine video quality. To maintain the same video quality, the higher the number of pixels in a video file (the higher the resolution), the higher the data rate must be. For example, consider the number of pixels per frame in a 320 x 240 resolution and a 640 x 480 resolution video file:

Resolution
Pixels per frame
320 x 240
76,800
640 x 480
307,200

The 640 x 480 file has four times more pixels per frame. To achieve the same data rate for these two example resolutions, you apply four times the compression to the 640 x 480 file, which can reduce the quality of the video. Therefore, a video data rate of 250 Kbps produces high-quality viewing at a 320 x 240 resolution, but not at a 640 x 480 resolution.

In general, the higher data rate you use, the better your video appears, and the higher resolution you use, the higher data rate you must maintain viewing quality (compared to lower resolutions).

Because resolution and data rate are linked, you have two options when encoding video:

  • Choose a data rate and then encode at the highest resolution that appears good at the data rate you chose.
  • Choose a resolution and then encode at the data rate necessary to achieve high-quality video at the resolution you chose.

When you choose (or create) a video encoding preset for your primary source video file, use this table to target the correct resolution:

Resolution
Height (pixels)
Screen size
240p
240
Tiny screen
300p
300
Small screen typically for mobile devices
360p
360
Small screen
480p
480
Medium screen
720p
720
Large screen
1080p
1080
High-definition large screen

Fps (Frames per second) fps-frames-per-second

In the United States and Japan, most video is shot at 29.97 frames per second (fps); in Europe, most video is shot at 25 fps. Film is shot at 24 fps.

Choose a video encoding preset that matches the fps rate of your primary source video file. For example, if your primary source video is 25 fps, choose an encoding preset with 25 fps. By default, all custom encoding uses the primary source video file’s fps. For this reason, you do not need to explicitly specify the fps setting when you create a video encoding preset.

Video encoding dimensions video-encoding-dimensions

For optimal results, select encoding dimensions such that the source video is a whole multiple of all your encoded videos.

To calculate this ratio, you divide source width by encoded width to get the width ratio. Then, you divide source height by encoded height to get the height ratio.

If the resulting ratio is a whole integer, it means that the video is optimally scaled. If the resulting ratio is not a whole integer, it impacts video quality by leaving leftover pixel artifacts on the display. This effect is most noticeable when the video has text.

As an example, suppose that your source video is 1920 x 1080. In the following table, the three encoded videos provide the optimal encoding settings to use.

Video Type
Width x Height
Width Ratio
Height Ratio
Source
1920 x 1080
1
1
Encoded
960 x 540
2
2
Encoded
640 x 360
3
3
Encoded
480 x 270
4
4

Encoded video file format encoded-video-file-format

Dynamic Media recommends using MP4 H.264 video encoding presets. Because MP4 files use the H.264 video codec, it provides high-quality video but in a compressed file size.

View video reports viewing-video-reports

NOTE
Video reports are only available when you run Dynamic Media - Hybrid mode.

Video Reports display several aggregate metrics across a specified period to help you monitor that published individual and aggregate videos are performing as expected. The following top metrics data are aggregated for all published videos across your entire website:

  • Video Starts
  • Completion Rate
  • Average time on video
  • Total time on video
  • Videos per visit

A table of all published videos is also listed so you can track the top viewed videos on your website based on total video starts.

When you select a video name in the list, it shows you the video’s audience retention (drop-off) report in the form of a line chart. The chart displays the number of views for any given moment of time during video playback. When you play the video, the vertical bar tracks in synchronization with the time indicator in the player. Drops in the line chart data indicate where your audience drops off from disinterest.

If the video was encoded outside of Adobe Experience Manager Dynamic Media, the audience retention (drop-off) chart and the Play Percentage data in the table are not available.

NOTE
Tracking and reporting data is based exclusively on the use of Dynamic Media’s own video player and associated video player preset. As such, you cannot track and report on videos that are played by way of other video players.

By default, the first time you enter Video Reports, the report displays video data starting at the first of the current month and ends with the current month’s date. However, you can override the default date range by specifying your own date range. The next time you enter Video Reports, the date range you specified is used.

For video reports to work correctly, a Report Suite ID is automatically created when Dynamic Media Cloud Services is configured. At the same time, the Report Suite ID is pushed to the Publish server so that it is available for the Copy URL feature when you preview assets. However, this functionality requires the Publish server be already set up. If the Publish server is not set up, you can still publish to see the video report. However, you must return to the Dynamic Media Cloud Configuration and select OK.

To view video reports:

  1. In the upper-left corner of Experience Manager, select the Experience Manager logo, then in the left rail, navigate to Tools (hammer icon) > Assets > Video Reports.

  2. On the Video Reports page, do one of the following:

    • Near the upper-right corner, select the Refresh Video Report icon.
      You use Refresh only if the end date of the report is the current day. This feature ensures that you see the video tracking that has occurred since the last time you ran the report.

    • Near the upper-right corner, select the Date Picker icon.
      Specify the beginning and end date range for which you want video data, and then select Run Report.

    The Top Metrics group box identifies various aggregate measurements for all published videos across your site.

  3. In the table that lists the top published videos, select a video name to play the video and also see the video’s audience retention (drop-off) report.

Enable DASH, multi-subtitle, and multi-audio track support on your Dynamic Media account enable-dash

About enabling DASH support on your account
DASH (Digital Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) is the international standard for video streaming and is widely adopted across different video viewers. When DASH is enabled on your account, you get the option to choose from either DASH or HLS for adaptive video streaming. Or, you can opt for both with automatic switching between players when auto is selected as the playback type in the Viewer preset.

Some key benefits from enabling DASH on your account include the following:

  • Package DASH stream video for adaptive bitrate streaming. This method leads to higher efficiency of delivery. Adaptive streaming ensures the best viewing experience for your customers.
  • Browser optimized streaming with Dynamic Media players switches between HLS and DASH streaming to ensure the best quality of service. The video player auto-switches to HLS when a Safari browser is used.
  • You can configure your preferred streaming method (HLS or DASH) by editing the video viewer preset.
  • Optimized video encoding ensures that no additional storage is used while enabling DASH capability. A single set of video encodes are created for both HLS and DASH to optimize video storage costs.
  • Helps make video delivery more accessible for your customers.
  • Get the streaming URL by way of APIs, too.

Enabling DASH support on your account is done by way of an Adobe Customer Support case that you create and submit.

About enabling multi-subtitle and multi-audio track support on your account

At the same time that you create an Adobe Support case to have DASH enabled on your account, you can also benefit from having multi-subtitle and multi-audio track support automatically enabled. After enablement, all subsequent videos that you upload are processed with a new backend architecture that includes support for adding multi-subtitle and multi-audio tracks to your videos.

IMPORTANT
Any videos that you uploaded before enabling multi-subtitle and multi-audio track support on your Dynamic Media account, must be reprocessed. This video reprocessing step is necessary so that multi-subtitle and multi-audio track capability is available to them. The video URLs continue to work and play as usual, after reprocessing.

To enable DASH, multi-subtitle, and multi-audio track support on your Dynamic Media account:

  1. Use the Admin Console to start the creation of a new support case.

  2. To create a support case, follow the instructions while ensuring you provide the following information:

    • Primary contact name, email, phone.
    • Your Cloud Services environment (program ID and environment ID).
    • Your Dynamic Media company account name.
    • Your Dynamic Media region: North America (NA), Asia-Pacific (APAC), or Europe-Middle East-Asia (EMEA).
    • Specify that you want DASH, multi-subtitle, and multi-audio track support enabled on your Dynamic Media account, on Experience Manager 6.5.
  3. Adobe Customer Support adds you to the customer Wait List based on the order in which requests are submitted.

  4. When Adobe is ready to handle your request, Customer Support contacts you to coordinate and set a target date for enablement.

  5. You are notified after completion by Customer Support.

  6. Now you can do either one of the following:

About multi-subtitle and multi-audio track support for videos in Dynamic Media about-msma

With multi-subtitle and multi-audio track capability in Dynamic Media, you can easily add multiple subtitles and audio tracks to a primary video. This capability means that your videos are accessible across a global audience. You can customize a single, published primary video to a global audience in multiple languages and adhere with accessibility guidelines for different geographical regions. Authors can also manage the subtitles and audio tracks from a single tab in the user interface.

Subtitles and audio tracks tab in Dynamic Media along with a table showing uploaded .VTT subtitle files and uploaded .MP3 audio track files for a video.

Some of the use cases to consider for adding multi-subtitles and multi-audio tracks to your primary video include the following:

Type
Use case
Subtitles
Multiple language support
Descriptive text for accessibility
Audio tracks
Multiple language support
Commentary tracks
Descriptive audio

All video formats supported in Dynamic Media and all Dynamic Media video viewers—except the Dynamic Media Video_360 viewer—are supported for use with multi-subtitles and multi-audio tracks.

Multi-subtitle and multi-audio track capability is available for your Dynamic Media account by way of a feature toggle that must be enabled (turned on) by Adobe Customer Support.

Add multi-subtitles and multi-audio tracks to your video add-msma

Before you add multi-subtitle and multi-audio tracks to your video, be sure you already have the following in-place:

Added subtitles and captions are supported with WebVTT and Adobe VTT formats. And, added audio track files are supported with MP3 format.

IMPORTANT
Any videos that you uploaded before enabling multi-subtitle and multi-audio track support on your Dynamic Media account, must be reprocessed. This video reprocessing step is necessary so that multi-subtitle and multi-audio track capability is available to them. The video URLs continue to work and play as usual, after reprocessing.

To add multi-subtitles and multi-audio tracks to your video:

  1. Upload your primary video to a folder that already has a video profile assigned to it.

  2. Navigate to the uploaded video asset that you want to add multi-subtitle and multi-audio tracks.

  3. In asset selection mode, either from the List View or the Card View, select the video asset.

  4. On the toolbar, select the Properties icon (a circle with an “i” in it).
    Selected video asset with checkmark over video thumbnail image and View Properties highlighted on the toolbar. Selected video asset in Card view.

  5. On the video’s Properties page, select the Subtitles & Audio Tracks tab.

    note tip
    TIP
    If you do not see the Subtitles & Audio Tracks tab, it means either one of two things:
    When you have completed either one of the above tasks, return to these steps.

    Subtitles and Audio Tracks tab on the Properties page. Subtitles and Audio Tracks tab on the video’s Properties page.

  6. (Optional) To add one or more subtitle (or caption) files to a video, do the following:

    • Select Upload Subtitles.

    • Navigate to, and select, one or more .vtt (Video Text Tracks) files and open them.

    • For subtitles to be visible on the media player, you must add required details (metadata) about each subtitle file that you uploaded. Select the pencil icon to the right of a subtitle file name. In the Edit Subtitle dialog box, enter the following required details about the file, then select Save. Repeat this process for each subtitle file that you uploaded:

      table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 4-row-2
      Subtitle metadata Description
      Filename The default filename is derived from the original filename. The filename can be changed only while uploading and cannot be changed later. Filename character requirements are the same as for AEM Assets.
      The same filename cannot be used for additional subtitle files and audio track files.
      Language Select the language of the subtitle.
      Type Select the type of subtitle that you are using.
      Subtitle – The subtitle text displayed with the video that translates or transcribes the dialogue.
      Caption – The caption text also includes background noises, speaker differentiation, and other relevant information, along with the translation or transcription of the dialogue, making the content more accessible for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.
      Label The text that is displayed for the subtitle’s name in the Select audio or caption pop-up list in the media player. The label is what a customer sees that corresponds to a subtitle or caption track. For example, English (CC).

      You can change or edit subtitle metadata later, if necessary. When the video is published, these details are reflected on public URLs in published videos.

  7. (Optional) To add one or more audio tracks to a video, do the following:

    • Select Upload Audio Tracks.

    • Navigate to, and select, one or more .mp3 files and open them.

    • For audio tracks to be visible in the Select audio or caption pop-up list on the media player, you must add required details about each audio track file that you added. Select the pencil icon to the right of an audio track file name. In the Edit Audio Track dialog box, enter the following required details, then select Save. Repeat this process for each audio track file that you uploaded.

      table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 4-row-2
      Audio Track metadata Description
      Filename The default filename is derived from the original filename. The filename can be changed only while uploading and cannot be changed later. Filename character requirements are the same as for AEM Assets.
      The same filename cannot be used for additional audio track files or subtitle files.
      Language Select the language of the audio track.
      Type Select the type of audio track that you are using.
      Original – The audio track originally attached to the video and represented as [Original] in the label with English language selected by default. While Label and Language can be changed in the Edit Audio Track dialog box, it defaults to the original values if the primary video is reprocessed.
      Standard – An add-on audio track for a language other than the original.
      Audio description – An audio track that also includes a descriptive narration of non-verbal actions and gestures in the video, making content more accessible for individuals who are visually impaired.
      Label The text that is displayed as the audio track’s name in the Select audio or caption pop-up list in the media player. The label is what a customer sees that corresponds to an audio track. For example, English [Original]. The label of audio attached to a video is set to `[Original

      You can change or edit this audio track metadata later, if necessary. When the video is published, these details are reflected on public URLs in published videos.

  8. In the upper-right corner of the page, from the Save & Close drop-down list, select Save. The files are uploaded and metadata processing begins, as seen in the Status column of the interface.

    note note
    NOTE
    Based on the caching settings of your instance, the metadata processing can take several minutes before it is reflected in preview and in published URLs.
  9. (Optional) If you selected Save & Close in the previous step, instead of selecting Save, you can still view the processing status of the uploaded files. See View the lifecycle status of uploaded subtitle and audio track files.

  10. (Optional) Preview the video before publishing to ensure the subtitles and audio work as expected. See Preview a video that has multiple subtitles and audio tracks

  11. Publish the video. See Publish assets.

About adding subtitle and audio track files to a video that is already published

When you upload additional subtitle files or audio track files to a video that is already published, it means that those files will have a Processed status after they are prepared, following upload. At that point, you can preview the video in Dynamic Media to see or hear the newly uploaded files.

Following preview, however, you must publish the video again for the newly added subtitle or audio track files to be published, too. After publishing, the subtitles or audio becomes available with the public Dynamic Media URL.

NOTE
Based on the caching settings of your instance, metadata updates can take several minutes before they are reflected in preview and in published URLs.

In the scenario where you have configured Dynamic Media for immediate publish, the uploading of additional subtitle or audio files immediately triggers a publish of the video following the upload of subtitle or audio files.

CAUTION
When you upload subtitle files or audio files to a video that is either published or unpublished, the files are deleted if you reprocess the video. Only the video’s original audio remains intact. In such cases, you must reupload the subtitle files and audio track files to the video, again.

Add multiple captions to a video that has an existing URL with caption modifier

Dynamic Media supports the addition of a single caption with video by way of a URL modifier. See Add captions to video.

Multiple caption changes take precedence over a caption added by way of a URL modifier for published videos.

To add multiple captions to a video that has an existing URL with caption modifier:

  1. Upload the caption file that is already added as a modifier to the video, so you can manage the file explicitly.
  2. Upload any additional subtitle/caption files, as necessary.
  3. Publish the video as usual.
    The existing URL with the caption modifier can now load multiple captions.

View the lifecycle status of uploaded subtitle and audio track files lifecycle-status-video

You can observe the lifecycle status of any subtitle or audio track file uploaded to your primary video from the Subtitles & Audio Tracks tab of Properties.

To view the lifecycle status of a video:

  1. Navigate to the video asset whose lifecycle status you want to view.
  2. In asset selection mode, either from the List View or the Card View, select the video asset.
  3. On the toolbar, select the Properties icon (a circle with an “i” in it).
  4. On the Properties page, select the Subtitles & Audio Tracks tab. In the Status column, note the state of each subtitle or audio file.
Subtitle or Audio Track Status
Description
Processing
When a new subtitle or audio track file is added and saved, it goes into a “Processing” state. Dynamic Media processes the file by attaching the streaming manifest to the primary video.
Processed
After processing is complete, the subtitle or audio track file, or the original audio track associated with the primary video, appears in a “Processed” state. You can preview subtitle and audio track files that appear as “Processed” before you publish the video live.
Published
A “Published” state represents a similar state as “Published” for a primary video. Assets are published when the primary video is published and are available on the public Dynamic Media URL.
Failed
A “Failed” state means that processing of a subtitle or audio track file did not complete. Delete the subtitle or audio track file and upload again.
Unpublished
When a published primary video is unpublished explicitly, any subtitle or audio track files that you added to the video, are also unpublished.

Status column highlighted for Subtitles and Audio Tracks fields. Lifecycle status of each uploaded subtitle and audio track file.

Set the default audio for a video that has multiple audio tracks

By default, a video’s original audio is set as the default audio to be played.

However, any uploaded audio track files can be set as the default audio to play after a video is loaded into the viewer. In the Properties user interface, under the Subtitles & Audio Tracks tab, the Default label is applied to the right of the audio track file for video playback.

NOTE
The playback of default audio can also depend on what is set in the following browsers:
  • Chrome—The default audio that is set in the video, is played.
  • Safari—If the default language is set in Safari, audio is played with the set default language, if available with the video’s manifest. Otherwise, the default audio that is set as part of a video’s properties is played.

To set the default audio for a video that has multiple audio tracks:

  1. Navigate to the video asset whose default audio track you want to set.

  2. In asset selection mode, either from the List View or the Card View, select the video asset.

  3. On the toolbar, select the Properties icon (a circle with an “i” in it).

  4. On the Properties page, select the Subtitles & Audio Tracks tab.

  5. Under the Audio Tracks heading, select the audio track file that you want to set as the video’s default.

  6. Select Set as default.
    In the Set as default dialog box, select Replace.

    The Audio Tracks heading with a selected audio track file name and highlighted "Set as default" button. Setting the default audio track for a video.

  7. In the upper-right corner, select Save & Close.

  8. Publish the video. See Publish assets.

Preview a video that has multiple subtitles and audio tracks preview-video-audio-subtitle

After subtitle files and audio track files are uploaded to a video and processed, you can use the Dynamic Media video viewer to preview all the different tracks. Doing so helps you to see what your video looks and sounds like to customers and ensures that it is behaving as expected.

When you are satisfied with the video, you can publish it using any one of the following methods.

See Embed the Video or Image Viewer on a Web Page.
See Link URLs to your web application. The URL-based method of linking is not possible if your interactive content has links with relative URLs, particularly links to Experience Manager Sites pages.
See Add Dynamic Media Assets to pages.

NOTE
The default Experience Manager preview tab does not show multiple subtitle and audio tracks. The reason is because those tracks are associated with Dynamic Media and can only be seen using Dynamic Media Viewer preview.

To preview a video that has multiple subtitles and audio tracks:

  1. In Assets, navigate to an existing video that you have added multiple subtitles and audio tracks.

  2. Click the video asset so you can open it in preview mode.

  3. On the preview page, near the upper-left corner of the page, select the drop-down list, then select Viewers.

    Drop-down list showing the Viewers option.

  4. From the Viewers list, select a viewer that you want to use for the video preview. As an example, the following screenshot shows the Video viewer being selected.

    Selection of the Video viewer from the Viewers drop-down list.

  5. Near the lower-right corner, to the left of the volume icon, select the speech bubble icon, then select the audio or subtitle you want to hear, or see or both. If desired, under Subtitles, you can select Off to not display any subtitles or captions.

    The Audio and Subtitles pop-up list in the Video viewer. Simulation of a user selecting the audio and subtitle for video playback.

  6. To begin playback, select the video’s Play button.
    Note the URL and Embed buttons in the lower-left corner. Use these buttons to link the video’s URL to your web application or to embed the video on a Web Page, respectively.

  7. Near the upper right corner of the preview page, select Close.

Delete subtitle or audio track files from a video

You can delete subtitle or audio track files from a video. Deletion of published subtitle or audio track files is automatically reflected in the video’s published URL.

The original audio track extracted from a primary video cannot be deleted.

To delete subtitle or audio track files from a video:

  1. Navigate to the video asset whose default audio track you want to set.

  2. In asset selection mode, either from the List View or the Card View, select the video asset.

  3. On the toolbar, select the Properties icon (a circle with an “i” in it).

  4. On the Properties page, select the Subtitles & Audio Tracks tab.

  5. Do either one of the following:

    • Subtitles—Under the Subtitles heading, select one or more subtitle files that you want to delete from the video, then select Delete.
    • Audio Tracks—Under the Audio Tracks heading, select one or more audio track files that you want to delete from the video, then select Delete.
  6. In the Delete dialog box, select OK.

  7. Publish the video.

Download subtitle or audio track files that were uploaded to a video

You can download one or more subtitle or audio track files that you uploaded for use with a video. You have the option of either downloading all selected files as a .zip, or creating a separate download folder for each file.

The original audio track extracted from a primary file cannot be downloaded.

To download subtitle or audio track files from a video:

  1. Navigate to the video asset whose default audio track you want to set.

  2. In asset selection mode, either from the List View or the Card View, select the video asset.

  3. On the toolbar, select the Properties icon (a circle with an “i” in it).

  4. On the Properties page, select the Subtitles & Audio Tracks tab.

  5. Do either one of the following:

    • Subtitles—Under the Subtitles heading, select one or more subtitle files that you want to download from the video, then select Download.
    • Audio Tracks—Under the Audio Tracks heading, select one or more audio track files that you want to download from the video, then select Download.
  6. In the Download dialog box, set the following options:

    table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 4-row-2
    Option Description
    Save As Use the default file name specified in the Save As text field, or specify your own name.
    Create a separate folder for each asset Create a folder for each subtitle file or audio track file that you selected for download.
    Email Use your default email program to send the .zip file to a specified email address.
    Assets Specifies the number of files that you are downloading and the combined total size of all selected files. Deselecting this option dims (turns off) the Download button, preventing you from downloading any file.
  7. Select Download.

  8. Publish the video. See Publish assets.

Add closed captions or subtitles to video adding-captions-to-video

IMPORTANT
Adobe recommends that you enable multi-subtitle and multi-audio track capability on your Dynamic Media account. Doing so lets you take advantage of the latest Dynamic Media backend architecture and a simplified workflow for adding captions, subtitles, and audio tracks to your videos.

You can extend the reach of your videos to global markets by adding closed captioning to single videos or to Adaptive Video Sets. By adding closed captioning, you avoid the need to dub the audio, or the need to use native speakers to rerecord the audio for each different language. The video is played in the language that it was recorded. Foreign language subtitles appear so that people of different languages can still understand the audio portion.

Closed captioning also allows for greater accessibility for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

NOTE
The video player that you use must support the display of closed captions.

See also Accessibility in Dynamic Media.

Dynamic Media can convert caption files to JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format. This conversion means you can embed the JSON text into a web page as a hidden but complete transcript of the video. Search engines can then crawl/index the content to make the videos more easily discoverable and give customers more details about the video content.

See Serving static (non-image) contents for more information about using the JSON function in a URL.

To add captions or subtitles to video:

  1. Use a third-party application or service to create your video caption/subtitle file.

    Ensure the file that you create follows the WebVTT (Web Video Text Tracks) standard. The captioning filename extension is .VTT. You can learn more information about the WebVTT captioning standard.

    See WebVTT: The Web Video Text Tracks format.

    There are many websites that offer both free and premium tools and services that you can use to author WebVTT caption/subtitle files outside Dynamic Media.

Follow the onscreen instructions from a site to author and save your WebVTT file. When you have finished, copy the caption file contents and paste it into a plain text editor and save it with a VTT filename extension.

NOTE
For global support of video subtitles in multiple languages, the WebVTT standard requires that you create separate .vtt files and calls for each language you want to support.

Generally, you want to name the caption VTT file the same name as the video file, and append it with the language locale, such as -EN, or -FR, or -DE. By doing so, it can help you with automating the generation of the video URLs using your existing web content management system.

  1. In Experience Manager, upload your WebVTT caption file into DAM.

  2. Navigate to the published video asset that you want to associate with the caption file that you uploaded.

    Remember that URLs are only available to copy after you have first published the assets.

    See Publish assets.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • For a pop-up video viewer experience, select URL. In the URL dialog box, select and copy the URL to the Clipboard and then past the URL into a simple text editor. Append the copied URL of the video with the following syntax:

      &caption=<server_path>/is/content/<path_to_caption.vtt_file,1>

      Note the ,1 at the end of the caption path. Immediately following the VTT filename extension in the path, you can optionally enable (turn on) or disable (turn off) the closed caption button on the video player bar by setting to ,1 or ,0, respectively.

    • For an embedded video viewer experience, select Embed Code. In the Embed Code dialog box, select, and copy the embed code to the Clipboard and then paste the code into a simple text editor. Append the copied embed code with the following syntax:

      videoViewer.setParam("caption","<path_to_caption.vtt_file,1>");

      Note the ,1 at the end of the caption path. Immediately following the VTT filename extension in the path, you can optionally enable (turn on) or disable (turn off) the closed caption button on the video player bar by setting to ,1 or ,0, respectively.

Add chapter markers to video adding-chapter-markers-to-video

You can make your long-form videos easier to watch and navigate by adding chapter markers to single videos or to Adaptive Video Sets. When a user plays the video, they can select the chapter markers on the video timeline (also known as the video scrubber). They can easily navigate to their point of interest, or immediately jump to new content, training, and demonstrations.

NOTE
The video player that is used must support the use of chapter markers. Dynamic Media video players do support chapter markers but using third-party video players may not.

You create a chapter list for your video in much the same way that you create captions. That is, you create a WebVTT file. Note, however, that this file must be separate from any WebVTT caption file. You cannot combine captions and chapters into one WebVTT file.

You can use the following sample as an example of the format you use to create a WebVTT file with chapter navigation:

WebVTT file with video chapter navigation webvtt-file-with-video-chapter-navigation

WEBVTT
Chapter 1
00:00.000 --> 01:04.364
The bicycle store behind it all.
Chapter 2
01:04.364 --> 02:00.944
Creative Cloud.
Chapter 3
02:00.944 --> 03:02.937
Ease of management for a working solution.
Chapter 4
03:02.937 --> 03:35.000
Cost-efficient access to rapidly evolving technology.

In the example above, Chapter 1 is the cue identifier and is optional. The cue time of 00:00:000 --> 01:04:364 specifies the start time and end time of the chapter, in 00:00:000 format. That last three digits are milliseconds and can be left as 000, if preferred. The chapter title of The bicycle store behind it all is the actual description of the chapter’s contents. The cue identifier, the starting cue time, and the chapter title all appear in a pop-up in the video player when a user hovers their mouse pointer over a visual cue point in the timeline.

Because you are using an HTML5 video viewer, ensure that the chapter file you create follows the WebVTT (Web Video Text Tracks) standard. The chapter filename extension is .VTT. You can learn more information about the WebVTT captioning standard.

See WebVTT: The Web Video Text Tracks format.

To add chapter markers to video:

  1. Save the VTT file in UTF8 encoding so you avoid problems with character rendition in the chapter title text.

    Generally, you want to name the chapter VTT file the same name as the video file, and append it with chapters. By doing so, it can help you with automating the generation of the video URLs using your existing web content management system.

  2. In Experience Manager, upload your WebVTT chapter file.

    See Upload assets.

  3. Do one of the following:

    table 0-row-2 1-row-2 html-authored no-header
    For a pop-up video viewer experience
    1. Navigate to the published video asset that you want to associate with the chapter file that you uploaded. Remember that URLs are only available to copy after you have first published the assets. See Publishing Assets.
    2. From the drop-down menu, then select Viewers.
    3. In the left rail, select the video viewer preset name. A preview of the video is opened in a separate page.
    4. In the left rail, at the bottom, select URL.
    5. In the URL dialog box, select and copy the URL to the Clipboard, then past the URL into a simple text editor.
    6. Append the copied URL of the video with the following syntax so you can associate it with the copied URL to your chapter file:

      &navigation=<full_copied_URL_path_to_chapter_file.vtt>
    For an embedded video viewer experience
    1. Navigate to the published video asset that you want to associate with the chapter file that you uploaded. Remember that URLs are only available to copy after you have first published the assets. See Publishing Assets.
    2. From the drop-down menu, then select Viewers.
    3. In the left rail, select the video viewer preset name. A preview of the video is opened in a separate page.
    4. In the left rail, at the bottom, select Embed.
    5. In the Embed Code dialog box, select, and copy the entire code to the Clipboard, then paste it into a simple text editor.
    6. Append the embed code of the video with the following syntax so you can associate it with the copied URL to your chapter file:

      videoViewer.setParam("navigation","<full_copied_URL_path_to_chapter_file.vtt>"

About video thumbnails about-video-thumbnails

A video thumbnail is a reduced-size version of a video frame or an image asset representing the video to the customer. The thumbnail should serve to encourage a customer to select the video.

All videos in Experience Manager must have an associated thumbnail; you cannot delete a thumbnail without replacing it. By default, when you upload a video to Experience Manager, the first frame is used as the thumbnail. However, you can customize the thumbnail for branding purposes or visual search, for example. When you customize a video thumbnail, you can either play the video and pause on the frame you want to use. Or, you can select an image asset that you have already uploaded and published in your digital asset manager.

When the thumbnail is changed for a video, thumbnail generation by way of Asset Compute Service on reprocessing the video is skipped.

The ability to customize a video thumbnail is only available after you have applied a video profile to the folder where the video is located.

Adding a custom video thumbnail adding-a-custom-video-thumbnail

  1. Be sure you have already done the following:

  2. Navigate to an uploaded video asset whose thumbnail image you want to change.

  3. In asset selection mode either from List View or Card View, select the video asset.

  4. On the toolbar, select the Properties icon (a circle with an “i” in it).

  5. On the video’s Properties page, select Change Thumbnail.

  6. On the Change Thumbnail page, do one of the following:

    • To use a frame from the video as the new thumbnail:

      • On the toolbar, select Select Frame from video.
      • Select the Play button, then select the Pause button on the frame you want to capture as the video’s new thumbnail.
    • To use an image asset as the new thumbnail:

      • On the toolbar, select Select Thumbnail from Assets.
      • Select Select Thumbnail.
      • Navigate to a previously uploaded and published image asset that you want to use. The asset is automatically resized to serve as a thumbnail image for the video.
      • Select the image asset, then select Select.
  7. On the Change Thumbnail page, select Save Change.

  8. On the video’s Properties page, in the upper-right corner, select Save & Close.

Change the Dynamic Media URL for Dynamic Media assets

Videos processed in Dynamic Media can be used by way of out-of-the-box viewers and also by directly accessing the manifest URLs and playing them through your own custom viewers. The following is the API for fetching manifest URLs for a video.

About the getVideoManifestURI API

The getVideoManifestURIAPI is exposed through cq-scene7-api:com.day.cq.dam.scene7.api and can be used to generate the following manifest URLs:

/**
* Returns the manifest url for videos
* @param resource video resource
* @param manifestType type of video streaming manifest being requested
* @param onlyIfPublished return a manifest only if the video is published
* @return the manifest url for videos
*
* @throws Exception
*/
@Nullable
String getVideoManifestURI(Resource resource, ManifestType manifestType, boolean onlyIfPublished) throws Exception;

getVideoManifestURI API parameters

This API takes in the following three parameters:

Parameter
Description
resource
The resource corresponding to the video that Dynamic Media has ingested.
manifestType
Can be either ManifestType.DASH or ManifestType.HLS
onlyIfPublished
Set to true in case the manifest uri is generated only if it is published and available on the delivery tier.

To fetch the manifest URLs for videos using the method above, add a video encoding profile to an “upload videos” folder. Dynamic Media processes these videos based on the encodings found in the video encoding file that was assigned to the folder. Now you can invoke the above API for fetching manifest URLs for the uploaded videos.

Error scenarios

The API returns null if there are errors. Exceptions are logged in Experience Manager error logs. All such logged errors start with Could not generate Video Manifest URI. The following scenarios can make such errors occur:

  • An IllegalArgumentException gets logged for any of the following:

    • The resource parameter passed is null.
    • The resource parameter passed is not a video.
    • The manifestType parameter passed is null.
    • The onlyIfPublished parameter is passed as true, but the video is not published.
    • The video was not ingested using an adaptive video set from Dynamic Media.
  • IOException gets logged when there is an issue connecting to Dynamic Media.

  • UnsupportedOperationException gets logged when a manifestType parameter passed is ManifestType.DASH, while the video has not been processed using DASH format.

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