Eventive Virtual supports a variety of video formats in uploaded source content.
Recommended File Specifications
We recommend conforming to the following specifications.
File size: 1920 x 1080p H.264 @ 10 Mbps
Recommended size is under 10 GB (a 90 minute film is approximately 5GB)
File types: .mp4, .mov and/or .mkv
DCPs and ProRes files are not accepted
Audio Channels: Stereo AAC
5.1 surround is not accepted. Learn more about audio specs here.
Closed captions: .SRT and/or .VTT files
Available Video Layouts
When uploading a new asset, you can select the Video Layout for the encoder to use when transcoding your content.
Default
The default video layout should be used for all non-360° video content. All aspect ratios are supported.
360°/VR
The 360°/VR video layout is designed for 360° content. These assets will be delivered using a special player format that allows users to experience the video in 360°.
The source 360° video must be uploaded in a single slice that covers all the horizontal directions of the frame, like the below:
Content will automatically adapt to the user's device, and both a pannable "orb" style view and a "split" view (for headsets) will be made available to viewers.
Here are some examples of the player in action:
If you are running into any trouble preparing your 360° video content, please send us a message or email team@eventive.org.
How to Upload Films
Films can be uploaded either manually by you, the organizer, or you can send an upload invitation directly to filmmakers and distributors (highly recommended).
On a Film's edit page, you will see the option to Send Upload Invite, which will prompt you to enter the filmmaker or distributor's email address. They will receive an email invitation to upload their film to your event bucket.
If you are in possession of the film file, click Upload Directly. You can upload the file from Dropbox or select Upload Content to select the file from your computer or hard drive.
How long does an upload normally take? Uploading generally takes as long as your file size divided by your upload speed. For example, 5 GB / 10 Mbps would take a little over an hour. Search "[file size] divided by [upload speed]" in Google to find your anticipated upload duration!
NOTE: Content Creators cannot upload materials other than their film file and .SRT/.VTT closed captions through the Creator Hub. Your organization should reach out to content creators directly for assets such as posters, film stills, and trailers, which you will upload to each Film edit page.
Upload Audio Description Tracks
If the film has descriptive audio, the descriptive audio must be included in the film file as a secondary audio track. You cannot add audio description tracks after the film has been uploaded. Learn more about audio specifications. If you have any additional questions about descriptive audio, please reach out to Eventive support.
Add Subtitles (Closed Captions) to Films
We highly recommend uploading caption files for all of your content to make your screenings as accessible as possible. Upload captions as either .SRT or .VTT files.
Visit admin.eventive.org/creator_hub and click on "Manage Asset" to upload caption files. Content Creators can do this at the time of uploading their film file.
NOTE: The timecode in caption files must begin with 00:00:00:00 to ensure they will sync properly.
Can I upload multiple caption files? Yes, you can upload as many caption files that are provided by the filmmaker or distributor.
Can my audience turn captions on and off? Yes, closed captions can be turned on/off. Your audience will manually enable captions by clicking the CC button on the video player.
Can subtitles be burned in (Open Caption) to the film? Yes, burned-in subtitles must be included in the film file, rather than uploaded separately.
What platforms are captions available on? Captions are available on browser-based platforms and our TV apps: Apple TV, Roku, and Fire TV. Please note that closed captions are not currently available on AirPlay.
Quality Check Your Film
We recommend that event organizers preview their asset(s) before their screening's availability window opens. You can preview how each asset has uploaded & transcoded either by clicking Preview beneath the Virtual content in each film record.
Alternately, you can find the assets in the Creator Hub. For organizers, the Creator Hub can be found in the menu on the left side of your dashboard, under the "Global" heading by clicking More > Creator Hub. In the creator hub, click Manage Asset next to the film file you wish to preview. Then, simply click View Preview and you can quality check your uploaded film!
Uploading Tips:
Audio
Please use AAC CoreAudio
Only the first two tracks will be heard if you use 5.1 surround
Learn more about audio upload specs here
Video
Please make sure you use H.264 main profile as your encoder
If your current file does not have an accepted frame rate, please re-encode the file
We suggest using Handbrake, a free encoder, with the following settings to whichever accepted frame rate you would like: 23.976, 24.000, 25.000, 29.970, 30.000, 48.000, 50.000, 59.940, or 60.000
Eventive does not currently support interlaced content. We require progressive mode encoded source content. Please de-interlace content before uploading. We suggest using Handbrake to do this.
Transcoding
Please remain on the upload page until the status changes from vod_upload_started to vod_transcoding_queued. Navigating away prematurely will kill the upload. Do not close the tab until the status has changed.
If your file has been stuck in the upload status for several hours, it may have stalled. Please contact Eventive support through your dashboard to halt the upload and retry.
Vimeo, Youtube, and Google Drive links are not accepted for ingesting DRM content. Please download the content to your computer or Dropbox and upload from those instead. Links can only be used in the case of directly initiating a download upon being clicked.
If you receive a transcoding error, please check that your file conforms to the above specifications and consider re-encoding with the suggested Handbrake settings.
Check that your file conforms to specifications by inspecting its properties with Quicktime Player under Window → Show Movie Inspector. This will expose the metadata of the file including bitrate, source format, resolution, frame rate, and size.