Using the Vantage Social Media Connector

Application Note

Vantage

This App Note

applies to

Vantage

Versions 6.3 UP5,

7.0, 7.0 UP1, 7.0 UP2,

& later

Using the Vantage Social

Media Connector

Overview....................................................................................................................... 2

Deployment Options............................................................................................. 2

Requirements ............................................................................................................... 2

Software ................................................................................................................. 2

Limitations ............................................................................................................. 4

Support .................................................................................................................. 4

Configuring the Social Media Connector ................................................................... 5

Workflow Description.................................................................................................. 7

Publish Media to the Social Media Catalog......................................................... 7

Receive Origin........................................................................................................ 8

Watch Origin .......................................................................................................... 9

Workorder Origin .................................................................................................. 9

Configuring the Deploy Action .......................................................................... 10

Example Workflow Descriptions........................................................................ 28

Example Workflow: Social Media—Watch and Associate................................ 28

Example Workflow: Social Media—Workorder ................................................ 31

Example Workflow: Receive and Deploy to Multiple Sites .............................. 33

Example Workflows: Using the Workflow Portal.............................................. 36

216408 March 2017

Overview Page 2

Overview

The Vantage Social Media Connector enables digital media producers to quickly and easily

publish their digital media assets to Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, Vimeo, and LinkedIn

using one or more Deploy actions within a Vantage workflow.

In addition to uploading the media files or media links to social media sites, the Social Media

Connector publishes metadata, such as description, location and other pertinent information,

which reduces manual steps that are sometimes needed after upload. Some of the Social Media

endpoints also support uploading caption or subtitle files and thumbnail files.

Deployment Options

There are two deployment operation types of Social Media workflows. Operator assisted and

fully automated.

1. Operator Assisted—Operator assisted provides users with tools to edit metadata and

video so that operators who do not have access to Vantage for directly submitting jobs to

workflows (such as social media marketing teams) can choose their media and define their

messaging in a user interface.

For examples of operator assisted workflows see the descriptions below: Submit Using the

Vantage Workflow Portal, Using the Vantage Workflow Portal, and Submit from Live or Cap-

ture.

2. Fully Automated—Fully automated operation receives media and metadata from

workorders, associated metadata files (such as XML), or API submissions, and provides a

method for publishing pre-formed content and metadata.

For examples of fully automated workflows see the descriptions below: Example Workflow:

Social Media—Workorder and Example Workflow: Social Media—Watch and Associate.

Requirements

The following are the requirements to enable publishing to YouTube, Google+, Twitter, Vimeo,

and LinkedIn using the Vantage Social Media Connector.

Software

• Vantage 6.3 Update Pack 5 or 7.0 or later and Vantage Social Media Update 6.3.950.190955

or later:

– A valid license that includes the Vantage Social Media Connector.

– Additional Vantage licensing requirements depending on your workflow

configuration. See Workflow Description.

• Social media accounts with appropriate user credentials. See additional account informa-

tion below.

If you do not currently have the correct Vantage version, you can download it from Telestream

at telestream.net and request a license that includes the Vantage Social Media Connector.

Requirements Page 3

Required .NET Framework Updates

Publishing to YouTube and Facebook requires .NET 4.5 or later, and publishing to Vimeo,

requires .NET 4.5.2 or later. To ensure full functionality of the Social Media action, you should

install .NET 4.5.2. Follow the steps below to determine your current .NET version, and if

necessary, update to the correct .NET version.

1. To check which version of .NET is installed on your system, follow these steps (or see this

Microsoft suppor page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/318785):

a. Right-click Start, select Run, and type regedit in the Open field of the Run window.

b. In the Registry Editor left panel, expand the list to this location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > .NET Framework Setup > NDP > v4

c. Click the FULL and CLIENT folders, and check the “Release” number.

d. The Release number for 4.5.2 is 379893. Your Release number should be equal or greater.

e. Follow the steps below to install a newer version of .NET, if necessary.

2. Click this link to download an update to .NET 4.5.2 for Windows Server 2008 R2 or 2012 R2:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2901907.

3. Click Download. The next page opens.

4. Click Save File from the popup, or Cancel and select item 3 from the list and click Download.

5. Locate and launch the downloaded installer file by double-clicking it. Installation begins.

6. When the installation completes, restart your machine to finish the update.

Requirements Page 4

Limitations

• Each Social Media Connector license allows up to four (4) concurrent file uploads to social

media accounts.

• This app note describes the Vantage Social Media Connector for 6.3 UP5,

version 6.3.950.190955. Features may differ if you have an earlier or later version.

• Facebook was added with Vantage 7.0. You must have version 7.0 and the 7.0 Social Media

Connector if you need Facebook connectivity.

• Telestream does not contract with Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, Vimeo, or LinkedIn

for the use of this product. Before you use the product, you will need to create your own

Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, Vimeo, and LinkedIn accounts. Then use the Vantage

Social Media Connector to post to your accounts using your credentials.

Support

• The Vantage Social Media Connector can be installed as part of a new Vantage standalone

or array installation, or it can be added to an existing Vantage domain.

• Telestream provides online and telephone support for Vantage and the Vantage Social

Connector. See http://www.telestream.net/telestream-support/vantage/support.htm for

details.

• For issues with Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, Vimeo, or LinkedIn, visit their web site

for contact and support information. Telestream does not provide support for problems

posting to the site.

Configuring the Social Media Connector Page 5

Configuring the Social Media Connector

The Vantage Deploy action contains a social media deployment type for Facebook, YouTube,

Twitter, Vimeo, and LinkedIn. Each of these deployment types allows you to upload media (or

supply a media link) and associated metadata to each type of social media account.

Accordingly, all social media workflows are built around the Vantage Deploy action.

The following steps provide an overview of how to create a social media workflow using an

origin action, a Flip action, and a Deploy action. For more details on specific workflows refer to

the workflow examples that follow later in this document.

To create simple social media workflows in Vantage, follow these steps:

1. Add an origin action that will acquire the media file you want to process and post. Origin

actions are Watch, Receive, Workorder, and Camera Ingest.

a. Configure the origin action as required to find and import a media file. Setup of each

origin action type will differ, depending on which origin type is required.

b. Within the origin action apply a nickname to the incoming file, such as Original.

2. Add a Flip Action and connect it to the origin action. The required media file specifications

will differ depending on the social media site's media requirements. Your account type may

limit the video duration, file size, or amount of space consumed. Review these restrictions

by visiting each respective site’s media policies. When configuring the Flip action follow

these guidelines:

Facebook—Use a Flip action in your workflow to transcode your media file to an output

file type supported by Facebook. For guidance in uploading videos to Facebook click this

link: Help Center > Videos > I want to add a video I've edited to Facebook.

– Recommended formats: MOV or MP4 files containing H.264 video and AAC audio.

Many other formats are also available.

– File size: 4 GB or less

– Aspect ratio: No larger than 4000 pixels wide and divisible by 16 pixels

– Frame rate: 30 fps or lower

– Audio: stereo audio with 44,100 sample rate

– Length: 120 minutes or less.

Yo u Tu b e —Use a Flip action in your workflow to transcode your media file to an output

file type supported by YouTube. For video upload specifications for YouTube go to:

YouTube video specs— https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171

– Recommended formats: MP4 container, H.264 video, and AAC-LC audio.

– File size: 4 GB or less

– Aspect ratio: No larger than 4000 pixels wide and divisible by 16 pixels

– Frame rate: progressive 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, or 60 fps (other rates also acceptable)

– Aspect Ratio/Resolution: 16:9/360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 2160p

– Bitrate: (see posted bitrate table for details)

– Audio: stereo audio or stereo + 5.1 at 96 or 48 kHz sample rate

– Length: 120 minutes or less.

Configuring the Social Media Connector Page 6

Vimeo—Use a Flip action in your workflow to transcode your media file to an output file

type supported by Vimeo. For video upload specifications for Vimeo go to:

Vimeo video specifications— https://vimeo.com/help/compression

– Recommended formats: H.264 or Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) video, and AAC-LC audio.

– File size: Limits depend on purchased plan options

– Resolution: wide range from SD 360 x 640 to 4096 x 2048 4K Stereoscopic

– Frame rates: 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, or 60 fps (other rates also acceptable)

– Bitrate (Mbps): SD 2-5, 720p 5-10, 1080p 10-20, 2K 20-30, 4K 30-60

– Audio: stereo audio, 320 kbits/s data rate, 48 kHz sampling

Twitter—Use a Flip action in your workflow to transcode your media file to an output file

type supported by Twitter, using these specifications:

Twitter video specifications—https://dev.twitter.com/rest/media/uploading-media

– Video container and codec: MP4 with H.264 or x264

– Video dimensions: between 32x32 and 1280x1024

– Duration: 0.5 to 30 seconds per Twitter requirements (not limited by Vantage)

– Aspect ratio: between 1:3 and 3:1

– Frame rate: 40 FPS or lower

– Maximum bitrate: 25 Mbps

– Maximum file size: 15 MB per Twitter requirements (not limited by Vantage)

– Must not have open GOP

– Must use Progressive scan (no interlacing)

– Must have 1:1 pixel aspect ratio

– Audio should be mono or stereo

– Audio must be AAC with Medium Complexity profile. High-Efficiency AAC is not

supported.

LinkedIn—LinkedIn does not support direct media file uploads. When posting to

LinkedIn include a link to media uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo or another media site. See

the YouTube and LinkedIn workflow examples below.

3. Add a Deploy action to the workflow to deploy the output of the Flip action to the

appropriate social media site. Setting up the Deploy action consists of filling in the

metadata information blanks with details describing the media and the social media's

account information.

Metadata can be acquired in multiple ways (described later in this document) and individ-

ual metadata values are saved into their respective Vantage variables. This information

allows Vantage to log in, post the media (or media link), and set any metadata values asso-

ciated with your post to the social media site.

4. Activate the workflow and submit media to it. The workflow automatically acquires the

media file, transcodes it, and logs into the social media account you specified.

Once logged in, Vantage assigns the Social Media metadata properties based on Vantage

variables acquired from a Workorder, side car file Transform, API submission, Workflow Por-

tal or the variables default value within the Deploy action and then posts the media (or

media link) and metadata to the Social Media site.

Workflow Description Page 7

These simple steps allow you to use Vantage to automate the process of posting media and the

metadata about the media.

For example workflows and details about how to fill in the fields in the Vantage actions they

use, see the following Workflow Description section of this application note.

Workflow Description

The following sample workflows are available for download at Telestream.net and are

described in detail later in this application note. These workflows demonstrate how media and

metadata can be sent to social media sites, using several origin action methods.

Publish Media to the Social Media Catalog

This workflow publishes content to a Social Media catalog you create using the Vantage

Management Console. From the catalog, the content can be accessed by a Workflow Portal

configured to use the Watch Origin workflow shown below.

Workflow Description Page 8

Receive Origin

Receive Origin -> Send to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Vimeo, and Twitter

This workflow is used to transcode incoming media to a format supported by each respective

social media site, and deliver metadata to these sites. Jobs can be submitted to it from a

Workflow Portal or directly from the Watch or Workorder Origin workflows described below.

Receive Workflow First Half

Receive Workflow Second Half (input connected to Synchronize output)

Workflow Description Page 9

Watch Origin

Watch origin with associated metadata -> Watch for incoming media and metadata ->

Forward to Receive workflow

The Watch origin workflow monitors a folder for incoming media and metadata files. Metadata

is extracted from an XML file and populated into labels and variables. The workflow then

forwards the media file and metadata to the Receive Origin workflow for processing and

delivery to social media.

Workorder Origin

Workorder submits Path to media with associated metadata -> Watch for incoming

media and metadata -> Forward to Receive workflow

The Workorder origin workflow accepts a CSV formatted Workorder file which contains the

path to the media file and all associated metadata. The workflow then forwards the media file

and metadata to the Receive Origin workflow for processing and delivery to social media.

Workflow Description Page 10

Configuring the Deploy Action

The Deploy action delivers the output media file (or URL link) to the social media end-point

selected: Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

The Deploy action includes several metadata fields used to populate the corresponding

information fields describing the post. You can manually type text into these fields describing

the post each time you run the workflow, or you can use the green button beside each field

to assign the field to a variable. Then you can provide the text for the variable using a

Workorder or associated metadata XML, or by filling in the metadata label fields in a Workflow

Portal.

To configure the Deploy action, click the Inspector (I) to open it, select the social media end

point desired from the deployment type list, and configure it for the respective social media

types:

Workflow Description Page 11

Facebook

Using the Deploy Facebook selection, you can deploy media directly from Vantage to

Facebook.

Media to Deploy—Select the output media nickname of a Flip action you wish to deploy to

Facebook, for example, Original, Proxy, or a custom nickname, such as FacebookOUT. The

media file being uploaded must meet Facebook's media file requirements. (See https://

www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/get-started/video for Facebook's video media best

practices.)

Title—Enter the title of your video, or use the green button to title the video by selecting and

using a variable, such as the File Name variable. If you leave this blank, Facebook will use the

name of the source media file as the title.

Description—Enter the description of the video, or use the green button to tie this field to a

variable. If you leave this blank, Facebook will leave the description field empty. The maximum

is 5000 characters and truncates at that number. Spaces count as 2 characters.

Category—Select a category for your video from the category types listed in the drop-down

menu. These include selections such as Business, Entertainment, Home, News, and so on.

Privacy Status—Select from the drop-down menu. Choices include Friends of Friends, All

Friends, Everyone, Custom, and Self.

Embeddable—Check this box to allow your video to be embedded in third party websites.

Unchecking does not allow embedding.

Captions SRT File—Specifies the nickname, fully-qualified path, or variable pointing to an

optional closed caption file, which must be in SRT format. SRT files may be generated from a

Workflow Description Page 12

Vantage Timed Text Flip action or a third-party product. The file name must be in the form of

<filename>.en_US.srt, where the locale (shown here as US) may be any locale.

Thumbnail File—Check the box to include a JPEG or PNG thumbnail image of less than 2 MB

to post. Specify the thumbnail file location using either a Vantage nickname, by browsing, or by

assigning a variable.

Security Code—Click Log in with Facebook to acquire a security code token providing

authentication to upload media to a Facebook account.

Note: During configuration, when you click the Security Code button, this action allows you

to enter your Facebook login information. When you do this, you are logging into Facebook in

real time using your credentials. If you receive a note from the social media site that you need

to enable cookies, you must use Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Security to set

the Internet Security level to Medium so that cookies are enabled.

After you login, Vantage receives your login user name and security code tokens for use during

job processing. These are visible in the Deploy Inspector. You should be using the latest version

of Internet Explorer, with all Microsoft updates installed, and your computer and firewall must

be configured correctly to contact the Facebook servers:

When jobs are processed through a workflow using the Facebook Deploy type, the server

hosting the Vantage Transport service executing this action and the firewall must be

configured correctly to communicate with Facebook.

After you click Get Security Code, a Facebook sign-in dialog appears within the Inspector

window. To get a security code, sign into Facebook by entering an Email address and an

associated Password and click Sign in.

Workflow Description Page 13

Facebook advises you that you are giving account access to Vantage.

Next, Facebook asks you who should be able to view the uploaded media and gives you an

opportunity to choose what you will allow Vantage access to. Make selections and continue

(click OK).

After you log in, you are returned to the Deploy Inspector window, which now shows your user

name and security code. Obtaining a security code token is a one-time task during

configuration or when your account credentials change. The token is stored with the workflow

for use in logging onto Facebook automatically each time a job runs.

Important: The Clear Security Information button removes Security Codes from the action.

Consider using this feature before exporting your workflow to avoid sharing your security

information, which is visible as clear text in the exported XML file.

Workflow Description Page 14

Notes:

(1) You can configure Vantage to log into different accounts (to target multiple groups of

followers) by adding and configuring multiple instances of the Deploy action and Social Media

Connector in the same workflow.

(2) If you have trouble clearing your credentials and logging in as a different user after you log

into Facebook using the Deploy inspector, follow these steps:

1. Click Cancel instead of Continue As. A message explains how to log in as another user.

2. Select Click here to go to Facebook to log out. This takes you to your main Facebook page.

3. Select Log Out from the drop-down menu in the upper right corner.

4. Close the Deploy inspector Facebook Authentication window.

5. In the Deploy inspector, click Log in with Facebook again and log in as another user.

Facebook Output Variables

The Facebook Deploy action can set variables for use in downstream workflow actions.

Command Line—This variable contains a command line for the standalone application.

URL—This variable output contains a direct link to the Facebook video.

Workflow Description Page 15

URL for Embedding—This variable output contains the HTML code used to embed your video

within another web page or document. See Embeddable option above.

HTML embedded code example using URL for Embedding variable:

der="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

VideoID—This variable contains the Video ID of your Facebook media. The Video ID is a unique

identifier linked to your video. It can be used to create links or for creating HTML code to embed

your video within another web page or document.

Thumbnail—This variable output contains a link to a thumbnail JPEG image generated by

Facebook.

When you’re finished making entries, click Next, and click Finish to save and close the Inspector.

Facebook and Closed Captions

Facebook has a couple of ways to add captions to your videos. If you are creating a Facebook

video advertisement, you can use a Facebook tool called Power Editor to edit and add captions

to your video. Search Facebook Help for Power Editor Basics to get more information.

If you are posting a personal video, not an ad, the editing capabilities are simpler. You will need

to generate an SRT closed caption file for your video from a program such as Telestream’s

CaptionMaker or MacCaption, or by using the Timed Text Flip action in Vantage. Facebook then

allows you to add the SRT captions to the video.

Starting with Vantage 7.0 UP2, simply specify a nickname in the Facebook Deploy action that

represents an SRT file. The SRT file may be generated by Timed Text Flip upstream in the

workflow, or created by CaptionMaker/MacCaption and brought into the Vantage workflow

with an Associate action.

Workflow Description Page 16

Yo uTu b e

From your Google YouTube channel set your channel's default settings from the Video Manager

by selecting Channel > Upload Defaults.

YouTube also allows you to automatically share with other Social Media sites such as Twitter

and Google+. Click on your Username in the top-right corner of Google homepage, and click

“YouTube Settings”. From Account Settings select “Connected Accounts” where you can add

other sites to share with.

Media to Deploy—Select the output media nickname of a Flip action you wish to deploy to

YouTube, for example, YouTubeOUT. The media file being uploaded must meet YouTube's

media file requirements. (See https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171 for

YouTube's recommended encoder settings.)

Title—Enter the title of your video. If you leave this blank, YouTube will use the name of the

source media file as the title. The maximum is 100 characters.

Description—Enter the description of the video. If you leave this blank, YouTube will leave the

description field empty. The maximum is 5000 characters and truncates at that number. Spaces

count as 2 characters.

Tags—The Tags field can contain a list of keyword search terms separated by commas. Tags

terms may contain spaces. Example: “

Nevada City,Telestream,Vantage”. These

descriptive keywords help people find your YouTube content when they search. YouTube

Formatting tags can also be added to change the appearance and format of your video within

YouTube or embedded players. (For details, see https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/

146402.) The maximum is 500 characters, including commas and spaces. If no tags are entered,

YouTube will leave this field empty.

Workflow Description Page 17

Category—Select a category for your video from the category types listed in the drop-down

menu. These include selections such as Autos & Vehicles, Comedy, Education, Entertainment,

and so on.

When setting the YouTube Category through a variable, API, or Workorder, take care that the

text you enter exactly matches one of YouTube’s category types, including upper and lower

case. A mismatch will cause an error.

Public Stats Viewable—Check the box to allow public access to the video's statistics (views,

likes, dislikes, etc.). Leaving the Public Stats Viewable box unchecked prevents public access to

the statistics.

Privacy Status—Select the privacy type for this video from Public, Unlisted, or Private. Videos

set to Private require the viewer to log in. Those set to Unlisted can be viewed by anyone having

the video's URL link, but they will not appear in a YouTube search request. Setting the Privacy

Status to Public allows anyone to view or search for this video.

Location Description—Enter a partial or full street address (formatted as required by the

country of the location), a city, a country, or a landmark name (such as Yosemite National Park,

Empire State Building, or Wembley Stadium). YouTube uses the location description to

determine the geographic latitude and longitude of the location. The Location Description and

latitude/longitude are retained within the YouTube asset's metadata. If the location, latitude, or

longitude are not specified or cannot be discovered, YouTube leaves these fields empty.

Recording Date—Enter the date and time when this video was recorded or created.

Captions SRT File—Specifies the nickname, fully-qualified path, or variable pointing to an

optional closed caption file, which must be in SRT format. SRT files may be generated from a

Vantage Timed Text Flip action or a third-party product.

Thumbnail File—Check the box to include a JPEG or PNG thumbnail image of less than 2 MB

to post. Specify the thumbnail file location using either a Vantage nickname, by browsing, or by

assigning a variable.

Security Code—Click Get Security Code to acquire a security code token providing

authentication to upload media to a YouTube channel.

Note: During configuration, when you click the Security Code button, this action contacts

Google in real time and, using your credentials, receives security code tokens for use during

job processing. If you receive a note from the social media site that you need to enable

cookies, you must use Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Security to set the

Internet Security level to Medium so that cookies are enabled.

Use the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all Microsoft updates installed, and your

computer and firewall must be configured correctly to contact the Google servers:

• accounts.google.com (port 80)

• google.com (port 80)

• ssl.gstatic.com (port 443)

Enter these URLs into the Internet Explorer Trusted Sites field (or otherwise configure Internet

Explorer to allow access to these URLs). When jobs are processed through a workflow using the

YouTube Deploy type, the server hosting the Vantage Transport service executing this action

and the firewall must be configured correctly to communicate with Google.

Workflow Description Page 18

After you click Get Security Code, a Google Sign-in dialog appears within the Inspector window.

To get a security code, sign into Google by entering an Email address and an associated

Password and click Sign in.

Next, the YouTube Accounts dialog opens, if multiple accounts are associated with your login.

Click an account and click OK.

An Authentication dialog displays, asking you to verify that you are allowing YouTube to access

your information. Click Allow and then OK to get a security code token.

Obtaining a security code token is a one-time task during configuration or when your account

credentials change. The token is stored with the workflow for use each time a job runs.

Workflow Description Page 19

Click OK to return to the main Deploy action Inspector window, and click Next to set up the

YouTube output variables.

Note: You can configure Vantage to log into different accounts (to target multiple groups of

followers) by adding and configuring multiple instances of the Deploy action and Social Media

Connector in the same workflow. To select a different Google account for each Deploy, select

accounts from the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the YouTube Authentication

dialog.

Important: The Clear Security Information button removes Security Codes from the action.

Consider using this feature before exporting your workflow to avoid sharing your security

information, which is visible as clear text in the exported XML file.

Workflow Description Page 20

YouTube Output Variables

The YouTube Deploy action can set variables for use in downstream workflow actions.

Command Line—This variable contains a command line for the standalone application.

URL—This variable output contains a direct link to the YouTube video.

URL for Embedding—This variable output contains the HTML code used to embed your video

within another web page or document. See Embeddable option above.

HTML embedded code example using URL for Embedding variable:

der="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

VideoID—This variable contains the Video ID of your YouTube media. The Video ID is a unique

identifier linked to your video. It can be used to create links or for creating HTML code to embed

your video within another web page or document.

URL examples:

https://youtu.be/[Video ID]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[Video ID]

HTML Embedded code example:

[Video ID]" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thumbnail—This variable output contains a link to a thumbnail JPEG image generated by

YouTube.

When you’re finished making entries, click Next, and click Finish to save and close the Inspector.

Workflow Description Page 21

YouTube and Closed Captions

Closed Captions can be propagated to YouTube by submitting a transport stream with MP2

essence and embedded captions as the source file. YouTube extracts and formats the captions

so that they can be user enabled or disabled in the YouTube player.

Twitter

The Twitter deployment is used to upload media to twitter.com. You must have a Twitter

account, enter metadata, and supply the required credentials for authentication to configure

this action.

Media to Deploy—Select the Media nickname you would like to Deploy to Twitter. The Twitter

Deploy type does not check for the media file requirements prior to starting the upload. If the

video being uploaded does not meet Twitter's requirements the Deploy action will fail with an

error message.

In order to avoid having your video upload rejected by Twitter, use Vantage's Analysis actions

to analyze the media file prior to the Deploy action. Create a workflow that reports which

requirement is not within the proper ranges.

Tweet—Enter your Tweet message. The message may include @mentions (directed to a

particular username), URLs (web addresses) and hashtags. 140 characters is the maximum

(@mentions and hashtags are included in this count).

Security Code—Click Get Security Code to acquire a security code token providing

authentication to upload media to a Twitter account. To acquire a security code you must sign

into a Twitter account using the account's Username/Email and associated Password. Enter

these when the Twitter sign-in dialog appears. If you receive a note from the social media site

Workflow Description Page 22

that you need to enable cookies, you must use Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options >

Security to set the Internet Security level to Medium so that cookies are enabled.

After you have signed in, a Twitter Authentication dialog will open. Click Allow and then OK to

acquire a security code token. This is a one-time requirement during configuration or when

your account credentials changes. The security code token is stored with the workflow in the

Vantage database and used each time a job is run.

To sign out or select a different Twitter account, open the drop-down menu in the upper right

hand corner of the Twitter Authentication dialog.

Important: The Clear Security Information button removes Security Codes from the action.

Consider using this feature before exporting your workflow to avoid sharing your security

information, which is visible as clear text in the exported XML file.

Note: After you log in using Vantage, if you have trouble clearing your credentials so you can

Code window, click your profile picture in the top right corner. (3) Sign out of Twitter. (4) Log in

as another user.

Workflow Description Page 23

Vimeo

The Vimeo deployment is used to upload media to Vimeo.com. You must have a Vimeo

account, enter metadata, and supply the required credentials for authentication to configure

this action.

The type of account you have affects the settings you can make:

Basic account—This option is not available to a Vimeo Basic account user. Do not set Who Can

Watch This Video to Disable. This results in a failed job and an error in Vantage.

Plus account—Has access to all of the settings and options in the Vimeo Deploy action.

Pro account—Has access to all of the settings and options in the Vimeo Deploy action. In

addition, a Pro account user can log into Vimeo and under Preference settings, place the

account into Private mode. When Vantage interacts with Vimeo using a Pro account in Private

mode, the first four options in the Who can watch this video? setting are disabled.

Note: When you click the Security Code button (described below), this action contacts Vimeo

in real time and, using your credentials, receives a security code token for use during job

processing. If you receive a note from the social media site that you need to enable cookies,

you must use Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Security to set the Internet

Security level to Medium so that cookies are enabled.

You should be using the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all Microsoft updates installed,

and your computer and firewall must be open to these ports:

- api.vimeo.com (port 443)

- vimeocdn.com (port 443)

- telestream.net (port 80).

Workflow Description Page 24

Media to Deploy—Select the Media nickname you would like to Deploy to Vimeo. The media

file being uploaded must meet Vimeo's media file requirements. See Vimeo's video

compression guidelines at: https://vimeo.com/help/compression.

Title—Enter the title of your video. If you leave this blank, Vimeo will use the name of the

source media file as the title. The maximum is 100 characters.

Description—Enter the description of the video. If you leave this blank, Vimeo will leave the

description field empty. The maximum is 5000 characters and truncates at that number. Spaces

count as 2 characters.

Tags—The Tags field can contain a list of keyword search terms separated by commas. Tags

terms may contain spaces. Example: “

Nevada City,Telestream,Vantage”. These

descriptive keywords help people find your content when they search.

Category—Select a category that generally describes your video from the category types

listed in the drop-down menu.

When setting the YouTube Category through a variable, API, or Workorder, take care that the

text you enter exactly matches one of YouTube’s category types, including upper and lower

case. A mismatch will cause an error.

Who can watch this video?—Select one of the available options from the drop-down menu.

Anybody, Nobody, Contacts, Users, Unlisted, or Disable.

Who can comment on this video?—Select one of the available options from the drop-down

menu. Anybody, Nobody, or Contacts.

Where can this video be embedded?—Select one of the available options from the

drop-down menu. Anywhere or Nowhere.

Can anyone download this video?—Check this box if you want the video to be able to be

downloaded.

Allow anyone to add this video to Albums, Channels, or Groups—Check this box to allow

the video to be added to Albums, Channels, or Groups.

Captions SRT File—Specifies the nickname, fully-qualified path, or variable pointing to an

optional closed caption file, which must be in SRT format. SRT files may be generated from a

Vantage Timed Text Flip action or a third-party product.

Thumbnail File—Check the box to include a JPEG or PNG thumbnail image of less than 2 MB

to post. Specify the thumbnail file location using either a Vantage nickname, by browsing, or by

assigning a variable.

Workflow Description Page 25

Security Code—Click Get Security Code to acquire a security code token providing

authentication to upload media to a Vimeo account. To acquire a security code you must sign

into a Vimeo account using the account's username, email, and associated password. Enter

these when the Vimeo sign-in dialog appears. If you receive a note from the social media site

that you need to enable cookies, you must use Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options >

Security to set the Internet Security level to Medium so that cookies are enabled.

After you have signed in, a Vimeo Authentication dialog will open. Click Allow and then OK to

acquire a security code token. This is a one-time requirement during configuration or when

your account credentials changes. The security code token is stored with the workflow in the

Vantage database and used each time a job is run.

To sign out or select a different Vimeo account, open the drop-down menu in the upper right

corner of the Vimeo Authentication dialog.

Important: The Clear Security Information button removes Security Codes from the action.

Consider using this feature before exporting your workflow to avoid sharing your security

information, which is visible as clear text in the exported XML file.

Workflow Description Page 26

Vimeo Output Variables

The Vimeo Deploy action can set variables for use in downstream workflow actions.

Command Line—This variable contains a command line for the standalone application.

URL—This variable output contains a direct link to the Vimeo video.

URL for Embedding—This variable output contains the HTML code used to embed your video

within another web page or document. See Embed option above.

HTML embedded code example using URL for Embedding variable:

frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

VideoID—This variable contains the Video ID of your Vimeo media. The Video ID is a unique

identifier linked to your video. It can be used to create links or for creating HTML code to embed

your video within another web page or document.

URL examples: https://vimeo.com/[Video ID]

HTML Embedded code example:

height="360" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen

allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thumbnail—This variable output contains a link to a thumbnail JPEG image generated by

Vimeo.

Workflow Description Page 27

LinkedIn does not allow for direct media file uploads, but instead expects a URL link to media

on another site such as YouTube or Vimeo.

Comment—Enter the comment to include with this post. The maximum is 100 characters.

Title—Enter the title of this post. The maximum is 100 characters.

Description—Enter the description of this post. The maximum is 5000 characters and

truncates at that number. Spaces count as 2 characters.

Submitted URL—Enter the URL of the media that will be linked-to in this post. This URL can

generate as an output variable from a previous YouTube or Vimeo Deploy action.

Image URL—Enter the URL of a JPEG image that will be linked-to in this post. This URL can

generate as an output variable from a previous YouTube or Vimeo Deploy action.

Company—Select the company identifier from the drop-down list. This list is generated by

your LinkedIn account.

Security Code—Click Get Security Code to acquire a security code token providing

authentication to upload media to a LinkedIn account. To acquire a security code you must sign

into a LinkedIn account using the account's username, email, and associated password. Enter

these when the LinkedIn sign-in dialog appears. If you receive a note from the social media site

that you need to enable cookies, you must use Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options >

Security to set the Internet Security level to Medium so that cookies are enabled.

After you have signed in, a LinkedIn Authentication dialog will open. Click Allow and then OK to

acquire a security code token. This is a one-time requirement during configuration or when

your account credentials changes. The security code token is stored with the workflow in the

Vantage database and used each time a job is run.

To sign out or select a different account, open the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of

the LinkedIn Authentication dialog.

Important: The Clear Security Information button removes Security Codes from the action.

Consider using this feature before exporting your workflow to avoid sharing your security

information, which is visible as clear text in the exported XML file.

Workflow Description Page 28

Example Workflow Descriptions

The Example Workflows described here will give you a good overview of how to implement

your own Social Media workflows. All examples, including associated media and metadata, can

be downloaded from the Vantage support page at www.telestream.net/telestream-support/

vantage/workflow-examples.htm.

Example Workflow: Social Media—Watch and Associate

A sample workflow you can use to deploy to social media uses Watch and Associate actions.

This workflow extracts external metadata contained in an XML file and populates this data into

a Social Media label which is forwarded for use in the Deploy action.

This workflow requires the addition of the Vantage Metadata Conversion (V-METADATA-SW)

option.

Watch Action

The Watch action will submit media files matching specific parameters upon arrival in the

monitored folder.

Associate Action

The Associate action associates an additional file with the media file acquired through the

Watch Action. In the case of this workflow, the associated file is XML, containing metadata used

to populate the Social Media metadata fields within the Deploy action.

For this workflow the XML file should have the same base name as the media file obtained from

the Watch action, however, the file extensions will be different, such .mov and .xml. The

workflow proceeds only when both the Watch action and Associate action have successfully

acquired their respective files.

Workflow Description Page 29

Transform Action

The Transform action uses a custom XSLT stylesheet to transform the metadata values

contained in the incoming XML metadata file into their respective Vantage label metadata

fields.

Populate Action

The Populate action takes the metadata contained in the Vantage label created in the

Transform action and populates the Social Media variables. Now that all of the Social Media

variables are populated with the external metadata values acquired from the XML, the

workflow can be forwarded for processing.

Workflow Description Page 30

Forward Action

The Forward action takes the media and metadata obtained, and forwards it to our main Social

Media process/deploy workflow. See Example Workflow: Receive and Deploy to Multiple Sites.

For more information about the actions used in this workflow see the Vantage Actions chapter

in the Vantage User Guide— www.telestream.net/pdfs/user-guides/Vantage-UserGuides/

Vantage-User-Guide.pdf.

Additionally, learn more about how to transform XML using XSLT by reviewing

www.telestream.net/pdfs/app-notes/app_Vantage_Ingest_XML_into_Label.pdf.

Workflow Description Page 31

Example Workflow: Social Media—Workorder

Another method you can use to ingest media and external metadata into a workflow is by

using a Workorder action. Workorder actions use workorder schemes (created using the

Vantage Management Console) to describe how data contained in a workorder file is to be

parsed and used within the workflow. A workorder file contains the path to a media file and any

other metadata that may be required for the workflow.

Workorder Action

The Workorder action is similar to a Watch action with additional capability for extracting

metadata from a submitted workorder file. This action accepts only properly formatted

workorder files. Workorder files are text files containing metadata in a comma-separated value

format (CSV). The structure of data contained in the workorder file is defined by a workorder

scheme, which is configured using the Vantage Management Console. The sample workflow

package includes a YouTube sample workorder file and associated workorder scheme.

Workflow Description Page 32

Populate Action

The Populate action takes the metadata values contained in the Vantage label passed into the

workflow by the Workorder, and populates the respective Social Media variables. Now that all

of the Social Media variables are populated with the external metadata values acquired from

the Workorder, the workflow can be forwarded for processing.

Forward Action

The Forward action takes the media and metadata obtained, and forwards it to our main Social

Media process/deploy workflow. See Example Workflow: Receive and Deploy to Multiple Sites.

For more information about the Workorder action used in this workflow, see the Vantage

Actions chapter in the Vantage User Guide—http://www.telestream.net/pdfs/user-guides/

Vantage-UserGuides/Vantage-User-Guide.pdf.

For step-by-step details explaining how to create a workorder scheme, refer to the Vantage

Domain Management Guide, Fulfillment Schemes > Workorder Schemes topic. Workorder

Schemes are created using the Vantage Management Console > Fulfillment Schemes >

Workorder Schemes window.

Workflow Description Page 33

Example Workflow: Receive and Deploy to Multiple Sites

The following example workflow receives files and deploy to multiple social media sites.

Workflows that begin with a Receive action (figure below) are designed to receive media files,

Vantage metadata labels and Vantage attachment files from other workflows or applications. In

our examples the Receive action accepts input from Vantage workflows using a Forward action.

Other methods of submitting to a Receive action are via the Pipeline Control for Windows

Vantage plug-in, from a Vantage Workflow Portal, or from a Vantage SDK-based custom

application. You can also open the workflow in the Workflow Designer and submit a job directly

from there.

Receive Action

The Receive action is very simple to configure. In the Inspector, you specify the Original file

nickname and the Social Media label. The Attachments selection is not used in our example

workflow.

Populate Action

The Populate action takes the metadata contained in the Vantage label passed to it by the

Receive action and populates the Social Media variables. Now that all of the Social Media

variables are populated with the metadata values passed to it by the Receive action, the

workflow can proceed to the Flip and Deploy actions.

Workflow Description Page 34

Flip Actions

Two Flip actions follow the Populate action. One Flip action is configured to make a media file

appropriate for YouTube and Vimeo, and the other creates a media file for Twitter. The Twitter

Flip action creates a file that is no longer than 30 seconds (see Twitter media file requirements).

Twitter

Several analysis actions follow the Twitter media file Flip action. The results of the analysis are

then checked to assure that the file created meets the Twitter requirements. If the file meets the

requirements it is sent to Twitter using a Deploy action.

Yo uTu b e

A Flip action creates a YouTube compatible media file, which is consumed by a Deploy action.

The Deploy action sends the media file to YouTube. Upon completion the Deploy action

outputs YouTube URL and Thumbnail variables which are then passed onto a Deploy action for

delivery to LinkedIn.

Yo uTu b e / Vi m e o

A common media file can be delivered to YouTube and Vimeo by a Deploy action. The Deploy

action sending to YouTube outputs a URL variable that is then used to send a post to LinkedIn.

Message Action

The final action in the workflow is a Message action that sends an email containing the Job

Name and Job Message, as well as any output variables from upstream Deploy action.

Submit from Live or Capture

Live or captured signals can be submitted or streamed to social media by Vantage from a

Pipeline or Lightspeed Live Capture system. The Vantage publish plug-in can submit directly to

a Vantage workflow containing a Receive action at its origin. Depending on configuration the

workflow can add metadata or captions and publish social media stills or video in whatever

format is required by the social media site.

For more information, see the Pipeline User Guide for Windows—http://www.telestream.net/

download-files/pipeline/guides/PipelineUG-Win.pdf or see the Lightspeed Live Capture Guide—

http://www.telestream.net/pdfs/user-guides/Lightspeed-UserGuides/Lightspeed-Live-

Guide.pdf.

Workflow Description Page 35

Submit Using the Vantage Workflow Portal

In order to use the Vantage Workflow Portal you must first register the Social Media Jobs

catalog with media assets. To register media into the catalog, use the Ingest into Social Media

Catalog sample workflow to process the demo media. See the next example for details.

1. With one, or more, assets available in the Social Media Jobs catalog you can open the Social

Media Workflow Portal and submit to YouTube with associated metadata.

2. Open the Workflow Portal application and select Change/Reload Application

Configuration… from the File menu.

3. In the Select Configuration dialog select the Social Media Work configuration.

4. Select the clip you want to deploy, and then select the workflow you want to submit the

media file to from the Forward to Workflows tabs, and then click Submit.

5. In the Submit Jobs dialog select the Social Media metadata label, fill in the data fields and

then click Submit.

6. Your job is will be submitted to the workflow you selected with all the associated metadata.

This workflow requires the addition of Vantage Metadata Conversion (V-METADATA-SW) and

Vantage Workflow Portal (V-PORTAL) options.

Workflow Description Page 36

Example Workflows: Using the Workflow Portal

Social media workflows can be managed by an operator using the Workflow Portal to select the

media files and direct the output to an output workflow for posting to Social Media. The

following workflows and Workflow Portal steps describe how this process works.

Ingest and Register Workflow

The process begins by using an ingest workflow to pick up the media file from a specified

location and register it. This preliminary process is necessary before you can view and work

with the file in the Workflow Portal. The following figure shows the workflow for the ingest into

the social media catalog.

Ingest into Social Media Catalog Workflow

Watch Action

The Watch action will submit media files matching specific parameters upon arrival in the

monitored folder.

Flip Actions

Two Flip actions follow the Watch action. One to transcode the media file into a thumbnail and

another to create a proxy file. The thumbnail file provides an icon representing the media,

which is displayed in the Workflow Portal upper panel. The proxy file provides the operator

with a smaller media file to manipulate in the Workflow Portal (smaller files can be displayed

and manipulated more quickly) and then Vantage automatically applies the proxy file changes

to the full-sized output file.

Workflow Description Page 37

Populate

The Populate action extracts the Social Media label so it can be added to the asset when

registered into the Social Media catalog (see Register below).

The Register action registers a media asset into the Social Media catalog. Included in the

registered asset is the original media file acquired by the Watch action, the thumbnail image

created by the first Flip action and the media proxy file created by the second Flip action.

Using the Vantage Workflow Portal

You can use the Vantage Workflow Portal to select media files in a catalog, and submit them to

a Social Media output workflow such as the Receive workflow described earlier. The output

workflow posts the media and metadata to the Vantage Output Workflow for posting to Social

Media.

To use the Workflow Portal for social media processing, follow these steps:

1. Add a media asset to the Social Media catalog by using the Social Media Ingest Workflow

described previously.

2. Open the Workflow Portal using the Social Media portal (included in the Social Media

Workflow Example package) and select the catalog used in the ingest workflow.

3. Select the media file to process. It displays in the media player.

Select the catalog and select the clip

Workflow Description Page 38

4. Select the Metadata Labels tab and add your required metadata values.

5. Select the Forward to Workflows tab, and check the Social Media Output workflow or

workflows to which you want to submit the clip.

6. Finally, click Submit to send the clip to the Social Media workflows you have chosen. When

submitted, the clip will be processed immediately by the workflows, culminating in posting

the media and metadata to Social Media.

View metadata on

Metadata Labels tab

Select output workflow

Click Submit

transmitted, transcribed, altered, or translated into any languages without written permission

of Telestream, Inc. Information and specifications in this document are subject to change

without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Telestream.

Telestream, CaptionMaker, Episode, Flip4Mac, FlipFactory, Flip Player, Lightspeed, ScreenFlow,

Switch, Vantage, Wirecast, Gameshow, GraphicsFactory, MetaFlip, and Split-and-Stitch are

registered trademarks and MacCaption, e-Captioning, Pipeline, Post Producer, Tempo,

TrafficManager, VidChecker, and VOD Producer are trademarks of Telestream, LLC. All other

trademarks are the property of their respective owners.