Audio and Video Management

Viewing Media Information

• Basic Information

  Click Details in the Operation column. On the displayed Basic Information tab page, view the media name, media ID, thumbnail, subtitle, duration, creation time, size, last update time, category, label, and description.

• Playback

  Click the Playback tab to view the quality, format, codec, resolution, bitrate, size, and playback URLs of the source file and transcoded file.

• Subtitle and Thumbnail Info

  If you have added subtitles and a thumbnail for the uploaded file, click the Subtitle and Thumbnail Info tab to view the thumbnail, subtitle format, and URL.

• Code Example

  Click the Code Example tab to view the sample code and reference the media file to your website.

Modifying Basic Information

On the Basic Information tab page, you can modify the category, label, name, and description of the audio/video file.

1. Click Edit.
2. Click Set Category to reset the category to which the media belongs.
3. Specify Label, Name, and Description so that you can use advanced search to search for media files.
4. Click Save. The updated description and category are displayed.

Updating a Thumbnail

After a media file is uploaded, the first frame is captured as the thumbnail by default. You can also upload a JPG or PNG image as the thumbnail. Before using a video image as the thumbnail, use snapshot capturing to capture a video image.

1. On the Basic Information tab page, click Edit.
   Figure 1 Basic media information
   

2. Click the plus sign next to Thumbnail. In the Upload Thumbnail dialog box, select a local image file.
   Figure 2 Uploading a thumbnail
   

3. Click OK and Save.

   The thumbnail will take effect in 3 to 5 minutes.

Adding a Subtitle File

You can add an SRT subtitle file in UTF-8 to a media file.

Currently, only single-subtitle files can be uploaded on the console. To upload a multi-subtitle file, see Subtitle Management. The supported formats of single-subtitle and multi-subtitle files are different.

1. On the Basic Information tab page, click Edit.
2. Click Upload Subtitle File and select a local subtitle file.
3. Click Save.
4. Return to the Audio and Video Management page. Select the media file and click Transcode to transcode the file again and add subtitles.
5. Click Details in the row containing the video file. The subtitle file URL is displayed on the Subtitle and Thumbnail Info tab page.

Transcoding

1. Select one or more media files and click Transcode.
2. In the dialog box displayed, select a system template or a custom template configured in Transcoding Settings and click OK.
3. View the status of the media files. The status changes to Running.
4. After the transcoding is complete, click Details in the row where the media file is located to copy the streaming URL on the Playback tab page.

Pre-loading

During pre-loading, CDN nodes pull the most recent content from the VOD origin server. When a user requests that content for the first time, CDN nodes distribute the content for faster download and better user experience.

1. Select one or more media files.
2. Click Pre-load.

   The time required to complete a pre-loading task depends on the number and size of files to be pre-loaded, and on network conditions.

Categorizing

Select one or more media files and click Categorize File to categorize the selected media files.

Extracting Audio

If you need the audio content of a video file, you can use this function to extract audio from the video file and then save the extracted audio file to MP3 format.

1. Select one or more video files and click Extract Audio.
2. Refresh the audio/video management page. The status of the audio extraction task becomes Running.
3. View the extracted audio file when Transcoding Status becomes Completed.

   The name of the extracted audio file is the same as that of the source video file. You can find the corresponding audio file based on the description. By default, the Description column is not displayed in the audio/video list. Click on the right of the page and select Description.

Exporting Media Information

Select one or more media files and click Export to export information about the selected files. If you do not select any file, information about all media files is exported by default. Media file information includes the media ID, media name, media status, label, category, resolution, streaming URL, thumbnail, and subtitle URL.

Searching for Media Files

• Simple search: Enter a name, description, or category name in the search box in the upper right corner.

• Advanced search: Click Advanced Search and set search criteria as follows.
  Figure 3 Advanced search
  
  • Advanced search supports multi-dimensional filtering. However, if you search for a file by its ID, other filtering conditions are invalid.
  • A deleted media file is displayed only when you search it by media ID.
  • File statuses include published and unpublished. The transcoding status can be Running, Untranscoded, Completed, or Failed.
  • Media ID is the unique ID for identifying an uploaded media file.
  • Category ID is used to identify a category. You can query the category ID on the Global Settings > Categories page.

Playback

Using this function will incur downlink traffic or bandwidth fees.

• Preview via the console

  You can preview transcoded video files in MP4, FLV, HLS, and DASH formats on the console. Source video files may not be previewed. You are advised to transcode them before playing them.

  • Click the thumbnail of an audio/video file to preview it.
  • Choose Details > Playback and click in the Operation column to preview it.
    

    H.265 and HLS-encrypted videos cannot be previewed.

    Figure 4 Preview
    

• Playback via a player

  Click Details on the right of a video. On the displayed page, click the Playback tab, and then click in the Operation column to copy the streaming URL to the player for playback.

  When you transcode an audio/video file again,

  • if transcoding parameters remain unchanged, the playback URL remains unchanged.
  • if transcoding parameters are modified and
    • the output format is MP4, the previous URL becomes invalid.
    • the output format is HLS or DASH, the primary index URL remains unchanged. The secondary index URL changes.

Deleting Media Files

To delete one or more media files, select them in the media list and click Delete above the list. Once deleted, all related resources, including the source file, transcoded file, and snapshot file, will be deleted permanently. The operation cannot be undone. Exercise caution when performing this operation.