Author Topic: ustream feed through wordpress to itunes  (Read 7193 times)

redphonezone

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 4

mgdell

  • Blubrry Customer Support Coordinator
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3318
Re: ustream feed through wordpress to itunes
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2010, 09:58:45 am »
The ustream.tv link is an embed and not a link to a media file. 

You will need to have a .mp4 or .m4v video file to make it show up in your podcast feed (and itunes)

The embed feature in powerpress just puts the embeded video from ustream (or wherever) in your blog post that is playable on your site.

Hope that helps.

-Mike

Todd

  • Administrator
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 418
Re: ustream feed through wordpress to itunes
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2010, 11:08:01 am »
Mike

I am seeing a lot of people do this. I see links to YouTube videos in the Media URL box and as you and I both know that will not work.  I am going to talk to angelo about putting a warning on the embed box and a pop up note on the media url box warning them not to put a embed in the media url area.

With Ustream if they are a pro-user they can get access to media links but the media naming convention is horrible and the media does not have any ID3 tag data which makes the listing on iTunes/ipod/iphone/zune/blackberry unusable.

Todd..
 
« Last Edit: March 09, 2010, 12:30:47 am by mgdell »

redphonezone

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 4
Re: ustream feed through wordpress to itunes
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2010, 11:49:46 pm »
So to be clear - even if I get ustream producer pro / ustream pro I will still need to host the podcast files on my own server/hosting?

There is no way to add the necessary data without downloading and restreaming it?

mgdell

  • Blubrry Customer Support Coordinator
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3318
Re: ustream feed through wordpress to itunes
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2010, 12:29:37 am »
Well, as Todd said above, you could use the file on a Ustream pro account but with all the problems with the file, it's not advised.

The best bet is to host your own file on a server you control.  The embed is just an easy way to put the video on your site for people to play in a browser. 

Here is a blog post to explain why you should control your own media: http://blog.blubrry.com/2010/02/16/be-in-control-of-your-show/

Hope this helps!

-Mike
« Last Edit: March 09, 2010, 12:31:21 am by mgdell »

redphonezone

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 4
Re: ustream feed through wordpress to itunes
« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2010, 12:34:27 pm »
Thank you a million, guys! Your rapid response is really appreciated!

To let you know - if I can't use the powerpress plugin "in this fashion" then I will not be using it. I found it looking for a "non-hosting" solution, and if the only way to use the plugin is to buy additional hosting then I will be upgrading my hosting plan. Thats not what I want to do - but it is what is going to happen.

If you can let me know how to configure the powerpress plugin to pipe the ustream feed (and we will have the pro account soon), or in any way solve my problem there then I would love to hear it. I would rather have the minimum web hosting and use services like ustream...

wait... what if I got a google video account? Could I download them from ustream and upload them to google? Would I be able to pipe them in that fashion?

Furthermore and finally - apparently ustream is making a big push (and got a whole lot of investment capitol) recently - if its not too demanding I suggest that you could get into contact with their tech side and get their system playing ball with your system and then you would dominate the ustream > wordpress market  ;D

Thanks again for the rapid response!

www.redphonezone.com
Where we don't know what were talking about! 

angelo

  • CIO, RawVoice
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4483
Re: ustream feed through wordpress to itunes
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2010, 01:01:41 pm »
If you get the Ustream pro account, you "can" link those video files it makes but you will not have any relevant tags (embedded information in the actual media file) such as the title, summary, program title, artist name, program art work, etc... and you don't have control of the actual file name.

Good file naming is important. If the files have random file names, then when the user tries to find them on their portable media player they will not find them grouped together. A good file naming scheme will use a prefix + either a date YYYY-MM-DD and/or episode number padded with zeros 001, 002, etc... so when they are listed in a folder they are in the correct order. For my podcast, I name the files: Plugins001-three-word-title-of-episode.mp3. You also want to only use letters, numbers dashes and underscore characters in your file names, spaces and special characters such as $ or @ will cause problems on various devices.

The tagging (embedded information in the actual media file) is important again for those portable media players. When a user selects the media file on their iPod, the tag information in the media file will tell them the title, program title, author name, etc...

angelo

  • CIO, RawVoice
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4483
Re: ustream feed through wordpress to itunes
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2010, 09:31:28 am »
You can use PowerPress without using our services, all you need to do is enter the complete URL to the media file that has the appropriate file extension (e.g. mp4, mp3, m4v, etc..). The URL can come from Ustream, Google, any web server where you can upload the media file or service that provides you a podcast supported media file. There is nothing stopping you from taking your video recordings and uploading them to your current web site and hosting them yourself.

You can get a pro account of UStream, but as we already said, it gives you raw mp4 files which are not as ideal for distributing as a podcast for the reasons already explained. You can do it, but UStream doesn't put the information we described in the media files and the file naming convention is problematic for portable devices. We love Ustream, as a live streaming service they are awesome, but as a podcasting service they're not up to par.

As far as Ustream or any site that provides embeds is concerned, we already "play ball" and provide an "embed" option that replaces the default player in PowerPress with the embeds you specify.

Please contact me cio [at] rawvoice.com so we can schedule a time to talk over the phone, I think we can better explain your options interactively. A brief conversation will clarify the difference between Ustream embed and the not very podcast friendly archive video file they provide you vs. the advantage of controlling your own podcast media (whether hosted by blubrry.com or your own server).