FLV FIle

An FLV File asset is used to upload flash video files into Squiz Matrix. To allow users to download and watch the file on your Site, you need to create an FLV File asset. Once it has been created, it can be used as many times as you like within your Squiz Matrix system.

Adding an FLV File

When you add an FLV File, additional fields appear on the Create new FLV File screen, as shown in the figure below.

The fields available on the Create New FLV File screen

Enter the following details for the FLV File asset:

• Title: enter the name for the FLV File asset. This will be used as the friendly name of the FLV File and will appear in the Asset Map. This name will also appear wherever the keyword replacement %asset_short_name% is used. This field is required when creating an FLV File.
• Upload File: select which file to use as the FLV File. To do this, click on the Browse button – the File Upload pop-up will appear. Locate the file that you want to use, left click on it and click on the Open button. The path of the file that you have selected will appear in the Upload File field. You can only upload files of type flv. This field is required w hen creating an FLV File.
• Choose a pre-uploaded file: if the file has already been uploaded to the server, you can select that file by clicking on the Choose a pre-uploaded file button. For more information on how to do this, refer to the Using Pre-uploaded Files section in this chapter. 

Once you have entered the required information, click Commit. Your FLV File will appear in the Asset Map on the left hand side of the screen.

Once created, you can configure the settings of your FLV File on its associated asset screens. These screens are often the same or similar to those for a Standard Page and are described in the Asset Screens manual. In this chapter, we will describe the Details screen, which is different for an FLV File.  

Tip: To find out which assets in the system have a hyperlink to a FLV File, look at the Linking screen. The assets linked to the FLV File will be listed in the Current Linking section.

Details Screen

The Details screen for an FLV File allows you to set up this asset. For more information about the Status, Future Status, and Thumbnail sections of this screen, refer to the Details chapter in the Asset Screens manual.

Details

This section allows you to change various details of the FLV File including Metadata and Title.

The Details section of the Details screen

The fields available are as follows:

• Title: by default, theTitlethat was entered into the Title field when the FLV File was created will appear in this field. You can change the title of the FLV File by clicking into this field and entering the new Title for the FLV File.
• File Name: by default, the name of the file that was used when the FLV File was created will appear in this field. You can change the name of the file by clicking into this field and entering the new file name.
• Upload File: this field allows you to upload a new version of the FLV File. This file can be an updated version of the flash video or a different flash video. To upload a new file, click on the Browse button; the File Upload pop-up will appear. Locate the file that you want to use, left click on it and click on the Open button. The path of the file that you have selected will appear in the Upload File field. You can only upload files of type flv.
• Current File: this section outlines the details of the FLV File including the size of the file and when it was last updated.  

  Tip: If you have selected a new FLV File to upload using the Upload File field, the details of this file will not appear in the Current File section until you click Commit.  

• Allow Unrestricted Access: depending on what this setting is, the Status of the FLV File and whether or not Public Read access has been granted, Squiz Matrix will use different style URLs.  
  • Yes: if the Status of the FLV File is Under Construction and Public Read access has been granted then a human readable URL will be used, for example, http://www.example/video.flv. This means that it is served dynamically from the Squiz Matrix repository and hence is not optimal in terms of performance.
    If the Status of the FLV File is Live and Public Read access has been granted then a static URL will be used, for example http://www.example.com/__data/assets/image/5/video.flv, where 5 is the asset ID of the FLV File. The static URL gives optimal performance as it is served directly by the web server.  
  • No: if this setting is No, then the human readable URL will be used. This may be required if an external system is referencing the file and needs to use the dynamic human readable URL.
  The default setting of the Allow Unrestricted Access field is Yes.

FLV Basic Information

This section allows you to change the settings for the FLV File. The FLV Basic Information section is shown in the figure below.

Basic Information section of the Details screen

The fields available are as follows:

• Extract Basic FLV Metadata?: select this field to extract any metadata from the FLV File to apply to the asset. To do this, the getID3 external tool must be enabled. If the tool was enabled when the FLV File was first created, any metadata will have been automatically extracted. If it was not enabled, an error message will be shown, as seen in the figure above. For more information on the getID3 tool, refer to the System Configuration manual. Selecting this option will overwrite any metadata information previously entered.
• Duration: enter the length of time the FLV File runs for in seconds.
• Width: enter the width of the FLV File in pixels.
• Height: enter the height of the FLV File in pixels.
• Frame rate: enter the number of frames shown in the FLV File each second.
• Video data rate: enter the video bit rate of the FLV File in kilobits per second.
• Video codec ID: enter the ID of the video codec used in the FLV File.
• Audio data rate: enter the audio bit rate of the FLV File in kilobits per second.
• Audio codec ID: enter the ID of the audio codec used in the FLV File.
• Audio Sample Rate: enter the sample rate of the audio in the FLV File in hertz.
• Audio Sample Size: enter the resolution of the audio in the FLV File.

Using Pre-uploaded Files

When creating a new FLV File, on the Create new FLV File screen there is an option called Choose a pre-uploaded file. This option allows you to select a file that has already been uploaded to the Squiz Matrix server. For more information on how to upload a file to the server, refer to the Server Administrator manual.

When you click on the Choose a pre-uploaded file button, the fields shown in the figure below will appear on the Create new File screen.

The Create New FLV File screen when using a pre-uploaded file

The fields available are as follows:

• Title: enter the name for the FLV File asset. This will be used as the friendly name of the File and will appear in the Asset Map. This name will also appear whereever the keyword replacement %asset_short_name% is used. This field is required when creating a FLV File.
• Choose a pre-uploaded file: select which file to use from the list provided. This field is required when creating a File.
• Upload File: if the FLV File has not been uploaded to the server, click on the Upload a new file button to upload the file manually. For more information on how to do this, refer to the Adding a FLV File section in this chapter.

Updating the File

Once an FLV File has been created, you can change the file that it is using at anytime. To do this, go to the Details screen of the FLV File. In the Upload File field, click on the Browse button - the File Upload pop-up will appear. Locate the flash video file that you want to use, left click on it and click on the Open button. The path of the file that you have selected will appear in the Upload File field.

Once you have clicked Commit, any assets that reference the FLV File will be updated with the new version of the file. You can only upload files of type flv.

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