Table Of Contents
About the Cisco Media Experience Engine 3500
About the Video Conversion Interface
Getting Your Account
Converting Your Video
Select and Upload Video
Select Video Format
Enhance Video
View Video Conversion Status
Sharing Your Video
Download a Video
Upload a Video to Cisco Show and Share
Video Format Options
Glossary
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
Using the Cisco MXE 3500 Release 3.3 Video Conversion Interface
1 About the Cisco Media Experience Engine 3500
The Cisco Media Experience Engine 3500 (Cisco MXE 3500) is a media-processing appliance that provides comprehensive multimedia transcoding capabilities, automatically converting video files into other video formats, different bitrates, and so on.
Several Cisco MXE 3500 options provide high-value, post-production processing of video files, such as a graphic overlay (to identify a speaker, for example), watermarks (to display a company logo or copyright information), and more.
The Video Conversion Interface is a basic interface that enables easy conversion among various encoding types.
Note 
See the "Glossary" section for video terms.
2 About the Video Conversion Interface
You have recorded a video by using a Flip camera, smart phone—such as an iPhone—or a commercial video camera. So that you can share it with other people or post it on a video portal like YouTube or Cisco Show and Share, you need to convert it to different video formats. Sometimes people talk about converting a video as transcoding a video.
To make the video look more professional, you might want to add a graphic overlay at the bottom that includes the video title in a company or school design or to add a short introductory 'bumper' video with a title and a 'trailer' video.
The Cisco MXE 3500 Video Conversion Interface can do all this for you very easily.
3 Getting Your Account
Depending on how your system is setup, you have one of the follwoing options:
•Your Cisco MXE 3500 system administrator will give you the URL to the Cisco MXE 3500 and an access code. You will use these to create your personal Cisco MXE 3500 account. Because this account uses your e-mail address as the user name, be sure to provide a working e-mail address which you can access.
OR
•Use your Enterprise login credentials to log in to the Video Conversion Interface.
Note No one else can see the videos that you convert by using your account until you share them.
4 Converting Your Video
Using your account credentials (e-mail and password that you created), log in to the Cisco MXE 3500 web interface at the URL that your system administrator provided. The web interface will look like the interface shown in Figure 1.
To convert your video, do the following:
1. Select and Upload Video
2. Select Video Format
3. Enhance Video
4. View Video Conversion Status
Select and Upload Video
To upload your video, do the following:
Note The maximum file size for a video is 1 GB.
Step 1 Next to the File field, click Browse and then navigate on your computer to the video that you want to convert. The video file name will appear in the File input field when you select it.
Step 2 Click Upload.
You will see a progress bar and a Cancel button while the Cisco MXE 3500 uploads and verifies your video file.
Tip Click Cancel if you want to cancel the upload while it is in progress. Click Clear Fields if you want to clear all fields inlcuding the File field.
If all goes well, the progress bar is green and Finished! appears.
If the upload is not successful, you will see an error message. It could mean that there is something wrong with the video file itself. If the file will play on your computer, it may mean that upload failed, and you should try again. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator.
Figure 1 Step 1: Select Video Screen
Step 3 Add a title.
Step 4 (Optional) Add a description and tags if you like. Tags are enabled only with the Cisco Show and Share integration option. Tags are keywords that help search engines find your video by topic. Separate tags with a comma.
Note Title, tags, and description are embedded in only a few output types, such as the WMV (Windows Media Video) output type. If you system administrator has integrated Cisco MXE 3500 with Cisco Show and Share, you will see the tags and description with your video after you upload it to Cisco Show and Share. Tags and the description do not enable your video to be found in a search, for example.
Step 5 Click Next.
The Select Format screen appears.
Select Video Format
To select one or more video formats, to the following:
Step 1 On the Select Format screen (Figure 2), choose one or more formats that you want your video converted to. The formats are named for the devices that you want the video to play on, such as iPad and iPhone, and so on. For a description of the possible output formats, see Video Format Options.
Note Your system administrator chooses which output formats appear in this screen.
Figure 2 Step 2: Select Format Screen
Tip Clicking Clear Fields only clears the checkboxes on this page; it does not erase your input in other pages. Clicking Back takes you back to the Select Video page.
Step 2 When you have selected the output formats, click Next to enhance the video.
The Enhance Video screen appears.
Enhance Video
Note Your system administrator chooses the options that are available to you for video enhancement.
To enhance a video, do the following:
Step 1 In the Enhance Video page (Figure 3), add a bumper, trailer, watermark, and graphic overlay by checking the checkbox next to the enhancement that you want to add.
•Bumper—Adds short movie or graphic that is added before your video.
•Trailer—Adds short movie or graphic that is added after your video.
•Watermark—Adds a transparent graphic that goes on top of your video all the way through.
•Graphic Overlay—Adds a logo bar that appears for a few seconds and that contains a person's name and the name of the video or some other title, such as school or company name. When you check this box, two input fields display so that you can enter that information.
Figure 3 Step 3: Enhance Video Screen
Step 2 To see a short preview of your video, click Show Preview. The preview will include the overlay that contains the text that you provided. You can change your selections and run another preview as follows:
•Skip the first ... —Specifies a time to start the preview after the beginning of your video. Just put in the number of seconds of your video to skip before starting the preview. This will not be skipped in the finished conversion - all of your video will be used. This is only about the preview on this screen.
•Use ... —Specifies the length of preview that you want to look at. Usually you just want to see how the conversion will look, and make sure you have the right video. You don't really need to see the entire video at this step.
Step 3 When you are ready, click Convert Video.
Tip Clicking Clear Fields only clears the information on this page; it does not erase your input in other pages. Clicking Back takes you back to the previous page.
Clicking Convert Video sends the conversion request to the appliance.
The Job Status page appears. See the View Video Conversion Status section.
View Video Conversion Status
The Job Status page (Figure 4) shows the status of the video conversion jobs that you submitted. When a job status gets to 100%, you can download and send the video to others or upload to a portal such as YouTube, Cisco Show and Share, and so on. You will get an e-mail notice each time that your video is converted to a different format. If you requested iPad and iPhone videos, for example, you will get a notification e-mail for each one separately. Note that each link on the Job Status page is for one of the separate output types that you requested.
Caution
There is a limit of four simultaneous conversions on each Cisco MXE 3500. If your job does not appear to start, the delay can mean that other users are running conversions. Your conversion will be processed in the order that it was received. Please wait for the notification e-mail.
Figure 4 Job Status
Your Results
You can see a summary of your recent conversions by clicking Your Results (Figure 5). Your system administrator provides you with a predetermined amount of storage for this area. If you exceed it, you might not be able to convert videos. To delete videos from this area, click the trash can icon to left of each entry.
Tip You may want to download the video before you delete it.
5 Sharing Your Video
To share your video, do the following:
•Download a Video
•Upload a Video to Cisco Show and Share
Download a Video
When you click a Download link on the Your Results page, the video is downloaded to your computer's hard drive. You can play it on your computer, send it to others by e-mail, or upload it to a video portal.
Note You can use the Download link to watch a video on a Mac or PC if you have an appropriate viewer or to download and then transfer the video to an iPhone or iPad for viewing.
Figure 5 Your Results page
Upload a Video to Cisco Show and Share
If Cisco Show and Share is integrated with the Cisco MXE 3500, you will see the Show and Share button on the Your Results page whenever you convert a video to one of the Cisco Show and Share (SNS) formats.
Before You Begin
•You will need your Cisco Show and Share account credentials to complete the upload. Contact your system administrator if you do not have this information.
•You must have converted the video to one of the Cisco Show and Share formats. For more information, see the Video Format Options section.
To upload a video to Cisco Show and Share, do the following:
Step 1 Click Show and Share next to the video that you want to upload.
Step 2 When prompted, enter your Show and Share credentials.
Figure 6 Uploading a video to Cisco Show and Share
Step 3 Select a Category from the drop-down menu.
Step 4 After The video has been uploaded to Show and Share successfully message displays, log in to Cisco Show and Share at the URL that your system administrator provided and publish the video from your Drafts folder. For more information on Cisco Show and Share, see the Cisco Show and Share documentation.
6 Video Format Options
This list provides names and descriptions of output file options that are available when you convert your video to other formats.
Note Some formats in this list might not appear in the user interface. The Cisco MXE 3500 system administrator determines the formats that are available based on policy or for technical reasons.
•Android - Designed to produce a video for playout on Android devices
•Blackberry_320x240_1MB_30: Designed to produce a 320x240 (1MB bit rate, 30FPS) video for playout on Blackberry devices
•Blackberry_320x240_500K_30: Designed to produce a 320x240 (500K bit rate, 30FPS) video for playout on Blackberry devices
•Blackberry_480x320_1.5MB_24: Designed to produce a 480x320 (1.5MB bit rate, 24FPS) video for playout on Blackberry devices
•Blackberry_480x360_1.5MB_24: Designed to produce a 480x360 (1.5MB bit rate, 24FPS) video for playout on Blackberry devices
•Blackberry_480x360_2MB_30: Designed to produce a 480x360 (2MB bit rate, 30FPS) video for playout on Blackberry devices
•Cisco_DMP_4300.job.awp: Designed to produce a video for playout on Cisco DMP4300 Digital Media Player
•Cisco_DMP_4400.job.awp: Designed to produce a video for playout on Cisco DMP4400 Digital Media Player
•Flash_16x9.job.awp: Designed to produce Flash FLV 16x9 video
•Flash_4x3.job.awp: Designed to produce Flash FLV 4x3 video
•h.264_16x9.job.awp: Designed to produce H264 16x9 video
•h.264_4x3.job.awp: Designed to produce H264 4x3 video
•iPad_720p.job.awp: Designed to produce a 720P video for playout on the iPad
•iPhone-iPod-iPad_320x240_250K.job.awp: Designed to produce a 320x240 (250K bit rate) video for playout on iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad
•iPhone-iPod-iPad_320x240_500K.job.awp: Designed to produce a 320x240 (500K bit rate) video for playout on iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad
•iPhone-iPod-iPad_640x480_1M.job.awp: Designed to produce a 640x480 (1MB bit rate) video for playout on iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad
•SNS_16X9_FLV.job.awp: Designed to produce a 16x9 Flash video for upload to Cisco Show and Share
•SNS_16X9_h.264.job.awp: Designed to produce a 16x9 H264 video for upload to Cisco Show and Share
•SNS_4X3_FLV.job.awp: Designed to produce a 4x3 Flash video for upload to Cisco Show and Share
•SNS_4X3_h.264.job.awp: Designed to produce a 4x3 H264 video for upload to Cisco Show and Share
•WMV_16x9.job.awp: Designed to produce a 16x9 Windows Media video
•WMV_4x3.job.awp: Designed to produce a 4x3 Windows Media video
Note When you upload a video for transcoding by using an iPhone or iPad, the Cisco MXE 3500 transcodes the file in the lowest resolution setting. This is because the iPhone or iPad application compresses the video on the client side to a lower resolution. The uploaded video causes Cisco Show and Share to automatically request the low resolution version from the Cisco MXE 3500. For best results, you should upload the video by using a PC.
7 Glossary
•Aspect ratio—A way to describe the rectangular proportions of the video frame. The traditional television aspect ratio of 4X3 or 4:3 means that the video frame is 4 units wide and 3 units high, such as 400 pixels wide and 300 pixels high. Aspect ratios such as 16X9 are commonly called wide format or HD format.
•Bitrate—The number of bits transmitted per second by the video server, such as 1.5MB/sec., or 1.5 megabits per second. It also means the number of bits per second the player has to process.
•Coded—A code-decode compression format.
•FLV—Adobe Corporation Flash Video format.
•SNS—Cisco Show and Share is a video portal that allows upload, search, and playback of video programs. To allow upload to Show and Share, you must choose one of the `SNS' output formats, such as SNS_4X3_FLV when converting your video.
•Tags—Keywords that add meaning to a video and help it be found in a search.
•Transcoding—Transforming (converting) a video to play in other formats, codecs, or devices by altering the way it is encoded. See codec.
•WMV—Microsoft Windows Media Video format.
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see What's New in Cisco Product Documentation at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html.
Subscribe to What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, as an RSS feed and deliver content directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free service.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)
Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses. Any examples, command display output, and figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.
© 2011 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Feedback