Posts Tagged ‘iTunes U’

Yes. All content that has been uploaded using the Uploader will appear in the Media Library once it has been branded and encoded. In addition, since the Uploader was created to allow the easy branding and distribution of content you may simultaneously choose to publish your content to iTunes U if desired. Please see step 3 of the post “How do I upload content?” for more information.

Because iTunes U is an external site any content that is designated for publication on our iTunes U channel will only become available once it has been approved by the Digital Media team in the Communications and Development Division. This process is initiated automatically when you indicate that you wish for your content to be published on iTunes U.

You can follow the progress of your content from the Dashboard in the Media Library, once logged in.

Can I publish my content to iTunes U at a later date?

Yes. If you initially chose to only publish your content to the Media Library it is still possible to publish it to iTunes U at a later date. Your content will then be approved by the Digital Media team in the Communications and Development Division.

Please note that it is not possible to solely publish content to our iTunes U channel. By default all uploaded material is included in the Media Library.

The final step of the uploader requires users to tick a box representing that they are not uploading material which infringes copyright, or breaks the Conditions of Use of IT Facilities policy. For more information on copyright and permissions, you may find this Wiki useful.

To delete material you have uploaded to the Media Library, you will need to login to the Media Library, and then navigate to the Dashboard. Once there, you will see a list of the videos you have uploaded. Underneath each video is an “Edit” link: when you click on this, you will see a link appear in the grey right hand sidebar which allows you to delete the video.

Deleted videos will be removed from the College’s Media Player immediately, and will be removed from iTunes U within 24 hours. If you urgently need your video removing from iTunes U, please contact Elizabeth Atkin in the first instance.

Please note that the “Delete video” button removes content irretrievably, as well as all content associated with the material – including statistics and the image for the frontslide.

Once the file has been uploaded and encoded, you can navigate to the Dashboard of the Media Library where you’ll see a list of the files you have uploaded (you will need to login to the Media Library to do this). Underneath the each video is an “Edit” link which allows you to edit the title, description and image associated with the file.

Please note that these changes will only change how the file appears in the College’s Media Library, and not on iTunes U. Changes to the title will not show up on the frontslide of the video, as the frontslide with the original title is now part of the encoded file. In order to correct this data, you would need to delete and then re-upload the file, with the information correctly entered.

Anyone with a College login can upload content using Imperial’s “uploader”. You will first of all need to login to the Media Library, and then navigate to the upload page.

The uploader follows a straightforward five stage process.

Step 1: Upload your file. The uploader accepts most file types, including flv, mov, mp4, m4v and avi video files, and aac, mp3 and m4a audio files.

Step 2: Add the title (which will be added to the frontslide of the video) and description. You can also tag your file to make it easier to find in searches: many common terms already exist, but you also have the option to create new tags.

Step 3: The pre-ticked boxes for “Show in search” and “Imperial College London” will allow your file to be available and searched for on the Media Library. When you tick the iTunes U box, a pop-up screen will appear allowing you to select a category, channel and collection. The category and sub-category options are pre-set by Apple and cannot be changed. Collections have already been created, and it may be that your material fits into one of these; if not, there is the option to create a new collection. Please note that Apple advises to use only one category per collection: this means that you should avoid assigning items that have different categories to the same collection, unless they are closely related.

Step 4: creating the frontslide. You can use either your own image, or select “default” to get Imperial’s standard frontslide. Imperial’s logo will automatically be added to the top left of the frontslide. You can toggle between a black and a white logo depending on the colour of your background image – so you don’t end up with an invisible white logo on a white background! Don’t forget that if you’re uploading a file which is audio only to tick the “Audio only” button, and if you’re uploading a file with no audio to tick the “No audio” button.

Step 5: upload your file. Tick the box, click upload and the file will be encoded to the server.

We consider all requests on a case by case basis. Please contact Elizabeth Atkin in the first instance.

For audio material, we use the piece of freeware Audacity; you may find this guide to using Audacity useful.

We would recommend the following software packages to edit and encode your video material before uploading it to the system:

• Adobe Premiere
• Adobe Premiere Elements
• iMovie
• Windows Movie Maker
• Media 100
• Avid
• Avid Express

There are many online tutorials and “How to” guides for using these pieces of software. A good resource is the tutorial libray of Creative Cow, but there are many more.
If you are using iMovie, Apple has produced a “How to” guide for using iMovie. Please note that none of this software is currently supported by the ICT Service Desk.

If a complaint is received by the College, the content will be removed until the submitter provides reasons for it to be republished.

We do not lend out our professional equipment, but will consider requests to borrow Flip cameras and podcasting kits on a case by case basis. Please contact Elizabeth Atkin in the first instance.

No. All material submitted will be checked by the Digital Media team in the Communications and Development Division to ensure that the audio and visual content is appropriate, and that the material does not break the College’s Conditions of Use of IT Facilities policy. We will not be looking at the quality of the material itself.