Managing an Asset

Whether your library of assets is small or large, managing these assets is simple. Each asset can take full advantage of our robust metadata engine, have multiple images and files associated with it, and even be published in multiple formats for SimLive workflows, MP4 downloads, and even audio files for podcasts.

This article will introduce you to the first tab in the Asset management pane. Introductions to the other tabs can be found here:

Select an Asset

To access a specific asset, click on the asset you want to review or update from the Asset list.

This will open the management pane for that asset and present you the Asset Overview tab.

Basic Information

Basic information is found at the top of the asset, under the Asset name, and is visible from all tabs within the Asset.

Created: date the asset was initially created
Edited: date the file was last updated
ID: the identification # assigned to the asset upon creation

Helpful Tip: You can search the Assets area to find this specific asset using this ID #. If you need to copy the ID #, simply click on the icon to the right of the number to copy it to your clipboard.

Asset Details

An overview of Asset Details can be seen to the right of the asset thumbnail.

Status: shows whether an asset is Published or Unpublished.
Duration: this field will automatically populate with the length of the video content
Metadata: quick view of what metadata fields currently exist on the asset
Content: visual representation showing the amount of existing content in the Media, Images or Files tabs of the asset
Publish Profile: displays the format of the asset (HLS, MP4, MP3, Thumbnails Only)
Publishing Status: shows publishing status (Completed or will show a progress bar when an asset is currently publishing)

Quick Actions

Quick Actions are available below the thumbnail image of the Asset. From here, you can quickly access Player or Embed URLs, Create Thumbnails from the video file or clip your asset for VOD or use on social media sites.

Share: opens a modal with Player and Embed URLs

Player URL: If the Asset is a livestream feed, production teams are often given access to a Player URL so they can see the feed as Viewers would from an existing Channel or Event Watch Page. Note: This unauthenticated link has no access restrictions, so should be shared appropriately.
- To copy the Player URL, click on the icon next to the URL link to copy onto your clipboard.
Embed URL: If embedding the asset as an iFrame on another site, this Embed URL should be used.
- To copy the iFrame, click on the Embed URL code. You will then see a confirmation message that it has been copied to your clipboard.

To close the Share URL window, click on either the Cancel or Done button.

Create Thumbnail: Use this action if you want to create a thumbnail from a frame in the video file. This is a quick and easy way to ensure an appropriate “visual hook” to encourage Viewers to play your asset. As an alternative, you can also upload a thumbnail to the Images tab and set it as the default thumbnail.

To get started click on Create Thumbnail.

An instructional window will appear explaining how to create a thumbnail by pausing the video on the frame you want your default thumbnail to be set to. The default thumbnail is the frame Viewers will see before initiating the video to play, so it is helpful to capture a frame that best reflects the asset content.

Once you’ve found the desired frame, click the Create button to set it as your default thumbnail.

Clip: There may be times when you want to clip out a portion of a longer asset for the purpose of posting it on social media, create a VOD asset from a livestream asset, etc.

Helpful Tip: To learn more about our clipping tool, please review this article: How to Clip an Asset

Permissions Actions

Below the Quick Actions available under the Player, you will also see the Permissions Actions.

This gives you a quick view of whether the asset is approved to show up in a feed or has been restricted to being a private asset only.

To change the status, click the Toggle to turn the setting ON or OFF.

ON: indicated by the blue toggle with checkmark
OFF: indicated by the gray toggle and ‘no” icon (circle with a slash through it)

Helpful Tip: These permissions have to do with how the asset will behave when added to feeds.

Approval Actions

When toggled ON, the asset is Approved to appear in any feeds it has been added to. If the asset is not approved, it will not show up in any private or public feeds.

Helpful Tip: When an Asset is approved, the thumbnail is no longer grayed out from the list view, indicating that its visibility in feeds has been approved.

NOTE: Assets are always available in the API of a feed, but when approved it will display on any channels the feed has been added to.

Toggle OFF to unapprove an asset. Unapproved assets will not appear in any public or private feeds until approved.

Helpful Tip: Unapproved assets are quickly identifiable in the list view because they are grayed out and show the “no visibility” icon on the thumbnail.

Restriction Actions

Toggle ON to hide asset in a Public Feed but make visible in Private Feeds. This setting only works when "Enable Private Feed" toggle is also ON in Feed Restrictions.

Helpful Tip: Restricted assets are depicted in the list view by the lock icon over the thumbnail, indicating it has restrictions added.

NOTE: Assets must still be approved to be displayed, even if restricted.

Toggle OFF to ensure this asset is available to all viewers, in any feeds it is added to.

Helpful Tip: Unrestricted assets do not show the lock icon on the thumbnail when viewing from the list, indicating they will not be hidden from any viewers.

Publish Asset

You can publish your asset in multiple profiles (HLS, MP4, MP3, etc).

Helpful Tip: HLS is the preferred profile for streaming, as it will give you all of the bit rates that are needed in order to adjust to viewer internet speeds.

Publishing as an MP4 or MP3 makes this asset available for download in these media file types as well. For more info, refer to the Downloadable Links article.

Publishing as HLS makes this asset available for use in workflows such as Sardius SimLive.

To publish an asset, find it in the list view and click on the specific asset to open the detailed window. The Publish button is always visible in the lower right hand corner from any of the asset tabs.

Click on the Publish button to open the Publishing modal.

When the modal appears, select the appropriate publishing profile from the list of dropdown options and click the Publish button when finished.

As your file publishes, you can view your Publishing Status in the Overview tab, to the right of the Player.

Once the Publishing process is complete, you will see the status updated and all existing Publish Profiles listed in the Overview tab, to the right of the player.

Helpful Tip: The larger the file size, the longer it will take to publish, so plan accordingly.

Additional Actions

Additional actions are accessible from the hamburger menu in the upper right hand corner of the asset.

From here you can: Copy the asset URL, iFrame or ID or Publish, Clone or Delete an Asset.

Copy URL & Copy iFrame

The Copy URL and Copy iFrame option will copy the same information found from the Share quick options below the player on the asset. This is just another way to easily access and copy that info to your clipboard.

Copy ID

Copy ID option does the same thing as copying the ID from the Basic Information area at the top of the asset. This is just another way to easily access and copy that info to your clipboard.

Publish

Publish option does the same thing as clicking the Publish option button at the bottom right of the asset. This is just another way to publish your asset.

Clone

To clone an asset, select Clone from the hamburger dropdown menu (click on the three vertical dots to see the option) in the upper right hand corner of the asset.

This pulls up a confirmation modal about cloning the asset.

If you are sure you want to clone the asset, click the blue “Yes, clone asset” button.

Helpful Tip: This will create a new copy of the original asset (with the same title and “copy” at the end of it). This new asset has a different ID but contains all of the content and metadata from the original asset as well as the same permissions (approval/restrictions) set on the asset. This may be helpful when using parent/child assets.

Delete

If you need to delete an asset, you can also do this from within that same hamburger menu on the top right of the asset.

To delete an asset, click on the hamburger menu and select Delete Asset from the dropdown options. This will open a confirmation modal. If you are sure you want to delete the Asset, click on the red “Yes, Delete Asset” button on the bottom right.

WARNING: If you delete an asset, you will not be able to recover it.