VBrick Systems V5.0 manual

VEMS v5.0 P or tal Ser v er User Guide August 15, 2009 4410-0264-0000 VBric k Enter prise Media System[...]

Copyright © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc . All rights reser ved. 12 Beaumont R oad W allingford, Co nnecticut 06492, USA www . VBrick.com This pu blication contains confiden tial, proprietary , and trade secret inform ation. No part of this document may be copied, photocopied, re produced, translate d, or reduced to any mach ine-re adable or electron[...]

VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide iii Contents P or tal Ser v er v5.0 User Guide Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

iv Contents Scheduling an Ev ent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 9 R ecur rence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 0 Advan ced Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide v P or tal Ser v er v5.0 User Guide Thi s P or tal Ser ver User Guide is written for anyone who will be using or ev aluating the VBrick Enterprise Media System P or tal Ser ver . T his includes syst em admi nistrators , software developers , network tec hnicians , and end users in a v ariet y of business environmen[...]

vi Preface Getting Help If y ou need hel p , or mor e infor mation about any topic , use the online help system. Th e online help is cross-referenced and searchable and can usually find the infor mation in a few seconds . Use the t ree controls in the left pane to open documents and the up an d down ar rows to page through them. Use the Search box [...]

VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Topics in this section Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Login . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

2 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Desktop Requirements The following requirement s show what is required on each end user desktop in order to r un the P or tal Ser ver interface. The use r interfac e in the VEMS Po r tal Ser ver is designed for viewing at a s creen resolution of 10 24x768 . Low er screen resolu tions may not displa y properly . Note [...]

Introducti on VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 3 T a ble 4. Downloaded Components Lo gin The VEMS Portal Ser ver Home page is automa tically displayed when you logon with a valid Username and Passw ord . All VEMS P ortal Ser ver functio nality and commands are a vailabl e from this page but you may not ha ve access to all features and functions de[...]

4 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 3. Log in with a valid User Name and Password to launc h the P ortal Ser ver (Figure 1). If your site use s multiple authenti cation ser ve rs, y ou may need to sele ct a Domain name as well. Contact y our system admi nistrator for more infor mation. 4. Depending on how yo ur system is configured , the P or tal Ser v[...]

Introducti on VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 5 Help This command launches an online version of the Portal Ser ver User Guide in a new windo w . This online help system prov ide fast full-text search and mak es it easy to find the in for mation you need. T o na vig ate in the help window , use th e tree contr ols on the left to expand a topic and[...]

6 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Search The P ort al Server has a search feat ure that make s it easy to find video assets . Y ou can se arch for keyw ord tags or text usi ng the search bo x, or you can use the dropdown list bo xes to filter the results for different "types" of content (e.g . presentations). In g eneral yo u search for a b[...]

Introducti on VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 7 Search P arameters The cur rently selected search p arameters are sho wn as read-only information on the left side of the page. Chec k this infor mation as yo u sear ch to see what folder and date range options are currently selected. Filter b y F older The Media Library lets you filter stored conte[...]

8 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc.[...]

VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 9 Chapter 2 Media Librar y Some P ortal Ser ver functionality and features ma y be restricted for cer tain users . If you are not authorized to launc h a Priority Alert or Add Video , for example , those men u items will not be displayed on the navigation footer on the P ortal Ser ver home page as shown in Figure 4[...]

10 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Filter By F older Show s all content av ailable in the selected folder(s) and includes any subfolders (if present). See Search Filt ers on page 6 for more infor mation. Filter By Date Shows a ll content av ai lable on the selected date(s). Y ou can filter the c ontent b y Day , W eek, Month, or Date Rang e). See Sea[...]

Media Library VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 11 Content Each listing displays either a default file icon or a thumbnail image of the clip (see Creating T humbnails o n pa g e 1 5 ), a s w el l a s in f or ma t io n ab ou t th e cl i p s uc h as duration and tags . T he scroll bar on th e right of the table of av ailable videos a l l ow s t h e u[...]

12 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Customizing Stored Videos Users ( with Content Publishing per mission ) and administ rators can cu stomize or delete stored videos; they can change the name, the folder , ke yw ord tags, etc. All stored videos hav e an Info hyperlink button t hat displays additiona l infor mation (i f av ailable ) about the vi deo .[...]

Media Library VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 13 external web site s and desktop files . (Y ou mu st have the appropriate application installed locally; for example, y ou need Po werP oint to open a P owerP oint presentation.) T T o delete a stored video: 1. Click on the Info button to the right of any stored v ideo . 2. Click Del ete Vid eo and [...]

14 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Sharing Content The env elope icon at the bottom of the Info page associated with ea ch video lets y ou share a stored VOD stream with other l ocal or remote users via an e-mail me ssage. Simply click on the icon and an e-mail (see belo w) is auto-generated with links for local netw ork viewing and for outside Inter[...]

Media Library VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 15 Creating T humbnails Y ou can create thumbnails for all videos stor ed in the Media Librar y that wer e r ecorded on the Portal Ser ver. If giv en publishing pe r missions, y ou ca n replace the generic vi deo clip icon with a snapshot of the video or with any .jpg or .gif image you c hoose. The fo[...]

16 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. <video_titl e><date><time> , for example: VBrick Rules_09_14_2007_13_27:59 3. T o edit the bookmark, g o to the Playlist pa ge, mouseov er the bookmark y ou just created, and click Edit Playlis t . 4. Y ou can change the name, folder, duration, etc . using the editing options . See Editing Playlist[...]

Media Library VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 17 Figure 5. Sto red Rich Me dia Presentation[...]

18 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc.[...]

VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 19 Chapter 3 Li v e Media Topics in this section Playing Li ve Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Playing Li ve Streams The Live Me dia pag e lets you view li ve streams , TV stations, and ric h media presentations av ailable on t[...]

20 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Note Many P or tal Ser ver functions h av e restric ted per missions . If you are not authorized to launch a Priority Alert or Add Video , for example, thos e menu items will no t be displayed on the na vig ation footer . Other functi onality may hidden o r non-functional. F or example if you do not have "r eco[...]

Liv e Media VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 21 Viewing Multiple Streams The video player can be configured by an administr ator so that you can view multipl e streams in se parate windo ws . Click on any live or r ecorded stream and then click the Pop-Up button below the preview window . If this fe ature is enabled, you can repeat this step to la[...]

22 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. T T o tile your screen as shown belo w: 1. Open multiple windows using the Pop-Up button. 1. Right-click in an empty ar ea on the Windows taskbar at the bottom of your screen. 2. T hen select Tile Windows Horizontally or Tile Windows Vertically . 3. When done click Undo Tile . Recording Li ve Streams If you ha ve pe[...]

VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 23 Chapter 4 Channel Guide The Channel Guide displays a list of custom st ations and TV stations . Custom stations are defined by an admi nistrator at your site and may al so include prog ramming data (scheduled programs names and times). TV Stations are pr ovided by a third-part y content provider and alwa ys have[...]

24 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Figure 7. Channel Guide The message "Prog ram Unav ailable" in the Channel Guide means there is no programming data associated with the stream. It does not mean the stream itself is unavailable. Y ou can still click on the stream to launch it in the pr eview wi ndow . The message "Sign Off" means[...]

Channel Guide VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 25 Time Zone Select a time zone . R emote view ers will see a scheduled ev ent that has been time-adjusted relati ve to the z one selected here . If you sc hedule an event for 3:00 PM Easter n Time (U S), it will be displa yed as 6:00 PM P acific Time (U S) i n California . Schedule Options Use this o[...]

26 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc.[...]

VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 27 Chapter 5 Sc heduling Topics in this section Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Liv e Broadcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

28 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Schedule Pri vileges As shown below , P or tal Ser ver users ma y have limited schedule pri vileg es in which case their ability to create or modify sc hedules is restri cted. F or example, any one can view a schedule on the calendar pag e but users with "par tial" priv ileges, for example , will only be a[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 29 Scheduling an Ev ent The av ailable content for creati ng a scheduled program include liv e streams from a VBrick encoder or stored file s on an V OD ser ver (or a VBStar). Y ou can access the Scheduling page from anywhere in the application. Any sc heduled prog rams currently in prog ress will displa[...]

30 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 3. Enter a Schedule Name and complete the Start and End fields . (T o av oid for mat er rors , click in the date and time fields and use th e calendar and dropdown list respectively .) Depending on the view y ou selected abov e, these fields may be pre-filled. Recur rence 4. Create a Recurrence schedule if appropria[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 31 5. Select a Schedule Type . Each sc hedule type has a different wizard as explained on the follo wing pages but basically , you select the source and destinati on targ ets (for li ve and stored broadcasts), the VBricks (for a video conference), the li ve program you will record, or the script or contr[...]

32 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. T a ble 6. Color-coded Sc heduled Events Adv anced Settings Advanced Settings are a vailable to con figure VBricks and IPRs with exceptional configurati on parameters—ofte n wi th help from VBric k Support Ser vices. It is unlik ely you will ev er need to change these settings . In all cases you can safely ignor e[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 33 and change the settings as neces sary . Note that if you schedule a recording with a recu rrence pattern, the filenames shown on the following window are aut omatically appended wit h the date and time, for example: filename>d>t.mp4 Delete Schedule T o delete a schedule , simply clic k on the sc[...]

34 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 3. In Select Video Source , c hoose one of the follo wing and clic k Next . T To u s e a VBrick as the Video Source : 1. Select VBric k as the Video Source . 2. Select one VBrick b y Hostname and click Next (or Finish if no destinations are to be specified). 3. Select one or more destination VBrick(s) or IPR(s) that[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 35 T To u s e Enter Manually as the Video Source : 1. Select Enter Manually and clic k Next . 2. Enter the Schedule Start Op tions and clic k Next . Th e options v ar y as follows depending on the Source device type . Source Select one: MPEG-1, MPEG- 2, MPEG-4, WM, or H.264. Source IP Address Destination[...]

36 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 3. Select the destination VBrick(s) or IPR(s) that will receiv e the video and click Finish . 4. V erify the infor mation and click Create Schedule to add the new schedule to the calendar . Stored Br oadcast Use these ste ps to create a schedule for broadcas ting a stored vi deo . This means that at the scheduled da[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 37 3. Select the source of the stored broadcast. It can be either a VBrick VBStar (with a hard driv e) or a V OD ser v er . Each has a different ico n. T T o use a stored video on a VOD se r ver: 1. Select a se r v er by IP address and navigate to a video that will be the source of the broadcast. 2. Sele[...]

38 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Conference Use these st e ps to create a video confer ence between tw o encoder s/decoder pairs at differ ent locations . T his means that at the schedu led date and time a video conference will automatically be launched using two specified VBric ks—one at each end. T T o schedule a video conference: 1. Select a s[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 39 4. Select VBric k 2 and click Finish . 5. V erify the infor mation and click Create Schedule to add the new schedule to the calendar . Record Use these steps to create a schedu le that will initiate the recording of li ve content. This means that at the scheduled date and time the liv e co ntent will [...]

40 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. T To u s e a Program Name as the record source: 1. Select a liv e stream from the list of Program Names . 2. Go to Advanced Settings > Record To and select NVR or VBrick . Record to NVR T To u s e a n NVR to sav e the recording: 1. Select NVR and clic k Next . Use the tabbe d windows explained be low to define sp[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 41 Location Use the dropdown to select the fo lder in whic h the recording will be sav ed. T ags Enter metadata text for searc h by tag . Description Enter metadata te xt for Description search. Custom Fields Field name Shown only if custom fiel ds are defined by an administrator . Dropdown list Shown on[...]

42 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 2. When done clic k Finish , then verify the information and clic k Create Schedule to add the new schedule to the calendar . Record to VBrick T To u s e a VBrick (MPEG-2 or WM VBStar) to save the recording: 1. Select VBric k and click Next . 2. Enter a filena me and then select a VBrick (MPEG-2 or WM VBStar) that w[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 43 4. When done clic k Finish , v erify the infor mation, and clic k Create Schedule to add the new schedule to the calendar . Record by Man ual Entr y When the Record Source is Manual Entry , you can only Record To an NVR. T To u s e Manual Entry as the re cord source: 1. Select a liv e stream from the [...]

44 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 4. Use the tabbed windows to define specific at tributes for the recording . These are the same fields described abov e in Record b y Prog ram Name . 5. When done clic k Finish , then verify the information and clic k Create Schedule to add the new schedule to the calendar . Script Scripts and Sc ript Devices are cr[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 45 3. Select a previously-defi ned script and click Fini sh . 4. V erify the infor mation and click Create Schedule to add the new schedule to the calendar . Control Device Control device s are video source s like DVDs or V CRs that can be controlled by end users from the P ortal Ser v er. A control devi[...]

46 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. T T o schedule a control device: 1. Select a sc hedule name, date s, and (optionally) recurrence pattern (see Scheduling an Event ). 2. F or Schedule Type , select Control Device and clic k Next . 3. Select a device and click Next .[...]

Scheduling VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 47 4. Select the dest ination VBricks that will receiv e the video and clic k Finish . 5. V erify the infor mation and click Create Schedule to add the new schedule to the calendar .[...]

48 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc.[...]

VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 49 Chapter 6 More T ools Topics in this section Create Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

50 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Figur e 10. Create Presentation Page Creating Pr esentations Go to More Tools > Create Presentation and use the following steps to create a presentation. When fi nished, the pre sentation will b e shown in the P or tal Ser ver on the Live Media page. T o edit or modify th e presentation after it has been publishe[...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 51 3. Content Description Use this page to describe your content. Title and Description are require d; T ags are optional. Y ou can also upload an image that will replace the generic "presentatio n" icon on the P or tal Ser ver pages . Use the Presenter(s) field to add one or more presenters w[...]

52 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 5. Audience Use this pane to in vite attendees—either indi viduals or groups . As a conv enience, y ou can also impor t a text file with e a ch address on a se parate line or delineated with commas . Y ou can also add your o wn text to the invitation. The invitation will be se nt auto matically after you hav e pu [...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 53 Authoring Presentations Once a presentation has been configured and pu blished y ou can launch it from the P ortal Ser ver at the sc heduled date and time. T T o deliv er a presentation from the P ortal Ser ver: 1. Configure and publish a presentation as explained abo ve . 2. Launch the P or tal Ser [...]

54 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 7. If desired, click Save presentation to sav e the presentation to the specified V OD folder . Figure 11. Presentation Launc h P age Figur e 12. Liv e "Presenter" Page Present Launch es the Live Presenter page (Figure 12). Edit Displays the Crea te Presentation page (Figure 10) so y ou can edit the config[...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 55 Video preview Launches a thumb nail of the stream in a preview windo w for verification. It is alw ays a g ood pr actice to verify y our slides have been uploaded and y our video is streaming . See Best Practices for more infor mation. Create poll Lets you cre ate a multiple c hoice poll for view ers[...]

56 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Best Practices It's always a good idea to test your audio , vide o , and slides locally before presenti ng to a liv e audience . This can help identify problems in adv ance and pro vide your view ers with an optimal viewin g experience . F or a successful presenta tion, there is no substitut e for a thorough wa[...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 57 4. Poll results from vie wers are a vailab le from the presenter page by selecting the named poll (the cur rent poll name +is preceded b y as asterisk.) Resp onses from viewers are displayed in graphical for m as shown belo w . 5. If desired the presenter can click Send Results to displa y the result[...]

58 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. The following window shows questions that ha ve been submitted preceded by the viewer's login name. The display panel is auto refreshe d each time so meone asks a question. This means you can see and answ er new questions in realtime. Alternativ ely , you can tell y our audience to ask questi ons at any time bu[...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 59 2. The inter nal e-mail link for ex ample will display the follow ing page. 3. Click View webinar to launch the li ve presenta tion (Figure 14).[...]

60 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Figur e 14. Viewing a Liv e Presentation Viewing Sa ved Presentations Presentations that have been sav ed to a VOD ser ver are av ailable on the Media Library page. T T o view a saved presentation: 1. Go to the Search bo x at the top of the Media Library page and click Search Presentations . 2. Click on any sa ved p[...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 61 for mats (for example Windo ws Media or H.264) and at different bit rates . Playlists have a special icon and ar e only created fr om stor ed streams. They are not av ailable with li ve streams and they are not a vailable when multiple win dows are displa yed. (Pla ylists and bookmarks are supported [...]

62 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. and display an infor mational messag e below th e preview window . As explained below , there are several wa ys to create playlists . Y ou can quickly bookmark a st ream playing in the preview window using the Bookmark button; this creates a playlist with one bookmark. Y ou can also create a playlist from the Media [...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 63 Editing Playlists Y ou can launch the pla ylist editor from th e Media Librar y or from the Playlist page. T T o edit an existing pla ylist: 1. Navigate to any existing pla ylist (or bookmark) and click th e Edit Playlist icon. 2. Use any of the functionality explained below ( Up , Down , Remove , et[...]

64 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Info Each play list has its own search able metadata. Y ou can add/change the name, th e folder , tags, et c. F or ex ampl e you can add a descripti on or keyw ord tags that can be used for search ing, as well as links to external we b sites and desktop files . See Customizing Stored Videos on page 12. Up Mov e clip[...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 65 Add Video If giv en publishing per missions , you hav e the ability to Add Video to any V OD ser vers y ou hav e per mission to access . T he folders to which you can add video are configured b y your system administrator . The folder list that you can add video to may also be different from the fold[...]

66 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. Source File Browse to the folder on y our PC or a network driv e that has the video you wis h to ad d. Destination Choose a folder you wo uld li ke to publish the video to . Only the folders you ha ve permission to publish to will be shown in the dropdown list. Video Name Enter the name yo u want di spla yed on the [...]

More T ools VEMS P ort al Ser v er User Guide 67 Status This window provides impo r tant realtime info r mation. It sho ws the status of videos being added to the Video on Demand ser ver or of any recordings currently in prog ress . Use Refresh to update the screen or Purge to remo ve all entries . Click the Cancel icon to the right of each item to[...]

68 © 2009 VBrick Systems , Inc. 2. Click a previously-defined te mplate name. 3. Set the broadcast Duration in minutes (or click No Limit (Stop Manually) . 4. Click Start Priority Alert and conf ir m. (A message will indicate the broadcast is in prog ress . Any streams cur rently in prog ress will be preempted and re placed b y the priority alert.[...]

[...]

VBrick Systems , Inc . 12 Beaumont R oad W allingford, Connect icut 06492, USA[...]