Video Center in the Webex Events platform lets you upload unlimited pre-recorded videos and add automatic closed captions in over 30 languages to each. Recordings from your Webex Events Production Studio live streams are also automatically added to the Video Center's 'Recordings' page.
Any upload or recording easily embeds in Sessions, Live Stream features, speaker, sponsor, and exhibitor profiles, and Custom List items as Simulive or Video on Demand (VOD) content!
Simulive and Video on Demand defined
Simulive is a combination of the words "simulated" and "live". Simply put, it means pre-recorded video presented at a specific time as if it were live content. Attendees must join the stream at the right time to watch the whole video, and they may not realize the content isn't live unless you tell them. 🤫
Video on Demand is pre-recorded video that always starts at the beginning, and viewers can access it at their leisure.
💡 Keep in mind, if you use Video on Demand for Session recordings, attendees still have to wait until the Session's end time to access the video.
Uploading to the Video Center
The Video Center tab is available after you publish your Event App. Before you upload a video, here are a few considerations to keep in mind:
All uploaded video files are converted to MP4 format. Uploading MP4 video files saves time since conversion takes less time.
Upload speed depends on the size of the file and the speed of your internet connection.
Conversion time is generally 1/6 the total length of the video file. For non-MP4 video, it may be longer.
In some cases, upload time may take up to 1.5 times the length of the video when Closed Captions & Translations is activated.
Each video you upload must be no more than 1920x1080 resolution and 8GB or less.
If you try to upload a video that exceeds 1920x1080 pixels, the upload will fail. For larger videos, we recommend reducing the resolution with the software you used to produce the video if possible. You can also use a third-party solution like HandBrake to scale down the video's resolution.
In your Event navigation bar under ‘Event App’, click Video Center. This opens the Uploads page. Click New Item.
In the 'Upload File' modal, do the following:
Enter a File Title that clearly identifies the video and helps you easily find it when adding it to a Session or a Live Stream feature.
Click the Browse button to select the video file you want to upload from your computer.
Activate Captions & Translations to have Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations automatically generate captions and translations in over 30 languages. Closed captions and translations become available when Video Center content is added to a feature or item. Attendees can activate captions synced to your video content in their selected language wherever they find Video Center content!
💡 Keep in mind, you should decide if you want Captions & Translations for Video on Demand content before you click 'Upload'. You won't be able to activate Captions & Translations after the video uploads. For Simulive content, however, you can activate Captions & Translations when you add the video to a Live Stream feature or Session. We'll cover this in more detail later in this article.
After you select the video, click Upload, and the modal will close. As a video uploads, continue to queue more files for upload if needed.
The Status column shows whether the video is Queued, Complete, Uploading, or Converting.
Videos with closed captions display a 'CC' icon next to the file title.
Click the Settings (⋯) icon next to a video to edit, preview, cancel, or delete it, depending on its status.
💡 Keep in mind, if a video upload ever fails, simply try the upload again. If the video still won't upload, ask Webex Events support for assistance.
Webex Events Production Studio recordings
After you click 'End broadcast' in the Webex Events Production Studio, the recording of that awesome live stream starts processing. Click the Video Center 'Recordings' tab to access recordings.
Recordings are listed chronologically, and their titles are based on the Session or Live Stream feature name, followed by the year, month, and day they were created. Refer to the 'Date Created' column to easily identify different recordings from the same Session or Live Stream feature.
Click the Settings (⋯) icon next to a recording to edit (rename), preview, download, cancel, or delete it, depending on its status.
Recordings usually take about a quarter of your live stream's duration to process. So if your live stream was 40 minutes, the recording should be available about 10 minutes after you end the stream.
When a recording is ready, a notification with a download link appears. When a recording's status shows 'Complete', you're ready to use the recording in any of the locations discussed in the following sections of this article!
💡 Keep in mind, Webex Events Production Studio recordings don't automatically have Closed Captions & Translations active. To add Captions & Translations, you must download the recording, then re-upload it to Video Center with Closed Captions activated.
Use Video Center content for Simulive and Video on Demand
Let's briefly explore each place in Webex Events that supports Video Center content.
💡 Keep in mind, some VPN tools block Simulive content from playing. Cisco's AnyConnect VPN doesn't. If your company or attendees may be using a VPN, check that Amazon IVS is accessible with the VPN enabled.
Sessions and Live Stream features
When you create a Session or Live Stream feature, select 'Webex Events Simulive' as the stream provider or 'Webex Events Video on Demand' as the recording provider.
After selecting Webex Events Simulive from the 'Stream provider' field, select the Video File to be played, then set a Streaming Time at which the video will begin playing. If the video you select was uploaded to Video Center with Closed Captions activated, the 'Enable Closed Captions' toggle is automatically active with 'Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations' as the provider.
💡 Keep in mind, if you didn't activate Closed Captions when uploading Simulive video, no problem! When setting up a Session or Live Stream feature, activate the 'Enable Closed Captions' toggle and select Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations.
To add a recording to a Session or Live Stream feature, select Webex Events Video on Demand as the recording provider, then select a video from the 'Video File' drop-down. Video files are sorted into 'Uploads' and 'Recordings' sections in the drop-down. All videos uploaded to Video Center with closed captions turned on display a CC icon.
💡 Keep in mind, Webex Events Simulive works with chat, Q&A, and Custom Tabs! Refer to our article about Sessions and Live Stream feature guide for more details.
Remember to click Save changes when you're done!
If you're using Webex Events Simulive with a Session, you'll notice a Simulive Status next to it in the Session list. Statuses include Scheduled, Started, Ended, and Failed.
💡 Keep in mind, if a Session using Simulive ever shows the Failed status, contact Webex Events support for help.
Speaker, sponsor, and exhibitor profiles and Custom List items
Each of these features is very similar, and the process for using Simulive or Video on Demand with them is identical.
When you add or edit a feature item, you can select a content provider that embeds content or links to an external source. Select Webex Events Video on Demand to choose a file you've uploaded to Video Center or a recording from the Webex Events Production Studio.
💡 Keep in mind, the 'Content Provider' field is only available if the feature is set to 'Grid View'. Edit the feature's settings to set it to 'Grid View'.
After making any other changes to the item, click Save changes. It's that simple! For a complete overview of using any of these features, refer to the following links:
Simulive and Video on Demand in practice
Video on Demand is simple. Attendees can access it whenever they want and simply click 'Play' to watch it. Let's explore the Simulive experience.
Sessions and Live Stream features
Just like with the Webex Events Production Studio, the 'Join Live Stream' button appears in the Agenda Session 15 minutes before Simulive video's scheduled streaming time. For a complete overview of the attendee experience with Session live streaming, read our article about the Agenda feature.
With the Live Stream feature, the Simulive video simply begins playing at the chosen Streaming Time. For more information about the attendee experience with the Live Stream feature, read our Live Stream feature guide.
Attendees who join after a Simulive video starts can't play the video from the beginning. For example, if the Streaming Time is 1pm and an attendee joins the live stream at 1:05pm, they'll miss the first five minutes.
Speaker, sponsor, and exhibitor profiles and Custom List items
When an attendee clicks on a feature item in the Web App, the Video On Demand content appears embedded in the middle of the screen with a sidebar showing all the other content you added to the profile. Attendees simply click on the video to play it. On the Mobile App, attendees tap the 'Video' button to open and play Video on Demand content in their device's default web browser.
Metrics
Knowing how many people watched your stream, who watched, and how long they watched is valuable information. With Webex Events Simulive, you get the same data goodies you would with Webex Events Production Studio and the Webex Events RTMP player.
From your Event App's Metrics page, click the Export Report button and select the Video Analytics option to download the report. For more information about the data included in the Video Analytics export, read our Event App Metrics article.
Now you know all about the Video Center, Webex Events Simulive, and Video on Demand! Why not learn about using pre-recorded video in your live streams?
Questions? Chat with us or email support@socio.events.