Gathering Media

There are a variety of ways of gathering and importing media into the application. This section will take you through the process of gathering media from your desktop, browser, and webcam.

In This Section:

• Import Files into the Media Manager
• Learn about Currently Supported File Types
• Capture Videos, SMVs, and Stills using a webcam
• Convert Videos to SMVs

Importing Assets

The Import Dialog

The Import Dialog provides the means for importing files from your desktop into the Database. This dialog is accessible by right-clicking in the search results field in the Media Search window, or via the Main Menu.

To import a file:

• Select "Import..." from the Main Menu (the MashCast logo in the upper left hand corner). The following dialog will appear:

• Select a file or files to import and click "Open".
• NewMBC and Mashcast Networks take the rights of copyright holders seriously. In order for you to bring assets into the Mashcast Network, you must accept Mashcast.com’s Terms and Conditions for importing files. By clicking "Accept", you agree that you are the copyright holder of these assets or have the rights to use these assets.

Supported File Types

• Currently supported file formats include the following:
  
  • wav: This is the current Windows standard uncompressed audio file format.
  • ogg: This is an open source audio standard, and the native audio file format of MashCast.
  • png: This is an Adobe file format for images containing transparency.
  • bmp: This is a Windows bitmap format.
  • jpg:  Jpeg is a well-established standard for compressed images. It is especially effective for photographs.
  • gif: GIF is an 8-bit image format that supports transparency.
  • tif: TIFF files are uncompressed image files with broad cross-platform support.
  • ico: Favicons that appear in the address bar of web sites and desktop icons for your operating system are stored in this format.
  • swf: Shockwave-Flash format. This is the native format for the Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Flash player.

Note: Current Application support for importing .swf files is somewhat limited. Basic Flash 4 animations are supported. Interactivity and certain basic tags are not. To create a Flash-4 compatible file from within a current version of Flash, make sure your Publish Settings are configured accordingly. For up-to-date info on this subject, consult MashCast Help Forums, at http:// mashcast.com/support/mc.

• MashCast’s Media Manager is robust enough to accommodate hundreds of files, while providing the ability to locate any one asset quickly and easily. To get the most out of the Media Manager, it is to your advantage to assign keywords to each of the files you import.

• To save you time, MashCast gives you the ability to import multiple files at once. If you would like to assign the same keyword to all of the files in a batch, check the “Apply to All Files” box.
  
• Click the “Accept” button to complete the import process.

Once imported, your files will be added to the MashCast Database, where it can be retrieved instantly by searching by title, keyword, or filetype. For more on this see Organizing Your Media.

Using the Camera Interface to Capture From a WebCam or Live Feed

Camera

• 1 - Record Video : Starts and Stops recording of video.
• 2 - Capture Still: Capture a still image.
• 3 - Time Code Display: Displays the elapsed time for video and SMV Captures. Displays countdown when using Capture Timing features.
• 4 - Stop Motion Video (SMV) Capture: Starts and stops capture of SMVs.
• 5 - Capture Timing: Opens the Capture Timing dialog, where you can set Capture Countdown and Capture Duration.

Video & SMV

Make sure your camera is properly configured, and that you can see an image on the Live Preview window. If you are having problems connecting your camera, see Configuring Your Camera. The Settings... dialog, accessible via the Main Menu, contains capture settings for Camera, Audio, Videos, Stills, & SMVs. For more info on this dialog. see Settings.

• You can set a delay time in seconds before capture begins by clicking on the Capture Timing button.
• Click on the Video or SMV Record Button to begin recording. The button will flash red, and the Timecode Display will show the duration of the recording.
• Click on the button again to stop recording. The video will open in the MashCast TV window, where you can preview it.
• The SMV Capture Frame Rate determines the number of frames per second (or seconds per frame) captured during a Stop Motion Video Record. This parameter can be accessed via Main Menu>Settings>SMV.
• You can set the Capture Delay, by clicking on the Capture Timing button.

Stills

Click on the Still Capture Button in order to capture the contents of the Live Preview window. The resulting image will open in a MashCast TV window, where you can preview it.

You can set the Capture Delay, by clicking on the Capture Timing button.

Capture Timing

The Capture Timing button brings up a control panel where you can set the following parameters:

• Capture Delay: The delay, in seconds, between the time that the record button is depressed, and the time that recording begins.
• Capture Duration: The duration, in seconds, of the recording.

Configuring Your Camera

Follow these steps to configure your camera:

• If your camera has a power switch, turn it on.
• If there is a lens cap, make sure it is off.
• If the camera is a USB or Firewire device, plug it in, and make sure the proper drivers are installed. For instruction on how to install the drivers, consult the instructions that came with the camera.
• If the camera attaches to a video card, plug it into the card, and make sure the card is firmly seated in your PC.
• Open the Settings control panel, and select the Camera pane. (See figure below).
• If your camera is connected directly to the computer through USB or Firewire, it is most likely visible in the Device dropdown. Select your camera from the dropdown if it is not already selected.
• If your camera is connected through a PC card, the card should appear in the Source dropdown. Select the card first and then select the Device.
• Additional settings specific to your camera may be available by clicking on the "Camera" button in the Camera Settings dialog.

Preparing Videos for the Stage - The SMV Converter

In order to present video on the MashCast stage, it is first neccessary to convert it into a sequence of still frames called an SMV (Stop Motion Video). MashCast automatically performs this conversion when you click on "Send to Stage" from the Player, or when you select "Send to Stage" from the Media Search context menu.

During the conversion process, the following dialog will appear:

The dialog allows you to set the Capture Rate, as well as the Playback Frame Rate. The Capture Rate is the rate that frames are captured, in frames per second, or seconds per frame. The Playback Frame Rate is the rate that the frames are played back. By setting the Playback Rate faster than the Capture rate, the resulting SMV will appear "sped up". Conversely, by setting the Playback Rate slower than the Capture Rate, the resulting SMV will play back in slow motion.

Note that the SMV format does not currently support sound. If you require the soundtrack from your video to appear on the stage, there are many shareware programs available online that will extract video soundtracks as .wav files, which you can then import into MashCast. Once you've imported the file, position the scrubber at the beginning of the SMV that's on the stage, arm an available audio track, and drag the audio from the Media Search window onto the stage. If you want the sync to be preserved, make sure that when you perform the SMV conversion, that the capture and playback frame rates are the same.