Scalar works best when media files are hosted elsewhere, since only local files under 2 mb can be imported into Scalar. Below, I've provided instructions for getting media from the U's Media Mill and other U pages into Scalar (note that general instructions on dealing with videos in Scalar, and importing them from other sources, can be found in the Scalar user guide).
The file IDs described below have been collected for most of the relevant videos, and are available in the "Videos: IAS and Shea" tab of the FoodWords spreadsheet (
www.foodwords.org). I have included instructions for gathering the file IDs in case this is necessary for additional videos. For some files, the full link (see below) is included in the spreadsheet; in this case, simply paste this link into the appropriate box when importing media into Scalar.
One initial note: it is possible to transfer media between Scalar books, but based on some initial experimenting, the annotations do not seem to transfer with the video. It also requires going through essentially the same process of importing video. Therefore, it would be most efficient to wait to import any video files - and therefore to start annotating them as well - until the final book has been created.
Importing videos from Media Mill:
The links provided for streaming and downloadable files in Media Mill do not work directly in Scalar. In order to import media from Media Mill into scalar - in whatever format you choose - and have them be annotatable, you have to construct an HTML link that Scalar will understand:
1. In Media Mill, decide which format of the desired video you'd like to import to scalar. There are Flash (.flv) videos available for all videos, and m4v files for most (listed as "video for ipod"). There are also audio-only files (not covered in these instructions). All of these file types should result in annotatable media within Scalar.
2. Each format has its own file ID number, listed in Media Mill as "Derivative ID." Copy this number.
3. If using Flash video: Paste the file ID number into the following link: http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/ mediamill/download.php?file=## ####.flv ... where ###### is the ID.
If using m4v video: Paste the file ID number into the following link: http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/ mediamill/download.php?file=## ####.m4v ... where ###### is the ID.
4. Follow the Scalar instructions for importing media from an online source, using the above link you've constructed as the media link.
For example, if I want to import the flash video interview of Ernesto Velez Bustos and the file ID is 181941, I end up with a link that looks like this: http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/ mediamill/download.php?file= 181941.flv
If I wanted to import the m4v file for the same media, my code would look like this: http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/download.php?file=181942.m4v (*note that the file number is different, since each format has its own file number). The result is viewable
here (note that the m4v videos do not tend to work in Chrome, but prompt a download of the file instead).
Another way to get videos from Media Mill into a Scalar page is to to embed a video in a page using the Sample HTML offered for Media Mill videos. This is a quick way to embed video from Media Mill into a page, but the drawback is that there does not seem to be a way to annotate media files embedded in this manner.
If you want to use this method, in Media Mill, click on the link for "HTML Embed Example: Sample HTML" for the desired file format (often available as Flash or m4v for ipod). Copy the HTML text that appears. In the desired page in Scalar, paste the HTML text into the HTML tab in the page creator. Voila!
(Note: this seems to work better by pasting the video HTML in first, and then adding any text in the Visual tab. Not sure why).
Importing videos from other U sources:
It is also possible to find the file IDs by doing some snooping in the HTML code on other U websites, e.g. the IAS website, if you do not have access to the file in Media Mill (note that this method seems to work on the IAS site, but not on the Umedia pages).
To find the file ID:
1. Go to the page where the video you want is located.
2. Choose the option in your browser for viewing the HTML source code. (In Chrome, you can do this by going to View>Developer>View source. In other browsers, this might be Page>View source, or something similar).
3. When looking at the code, use your browser's Find function (or your eyes) to search for "file=". You should be able to find a phrase of code including this, followed by the file ID number. Make sure you have the right video by checking the file format (as well as the text preceding the file, if there are multiple videos on a page); some pages may have more than one format available, especially where there is a downloadable file.
In the same phrase you will likely find information on the resolution of the video; e.g. the code for a 320x240 resolution video would say "width=320&height=260&".
4. Create a link including the file ID (making sure to include the correct file extension in the link) following the instructions above.