Projects/OWASP Media Project/Help

Help for Google Hangouts, YouTube Channel management and social media tips will be here.

Guidelines and standards for YouTube

In order to achieve an acceptable level of quality and consitence trought the videos upload on the channel, each uploaded videos must meet theses requirements :

• Comply with YouTube Copyright regulations http://youtube.com/yt/copyright/what-is-copyright.html
  • Fun introduction https://www.youtube.com/copyright_school
  • Basically, do not upload any content or partial content that are from another source, that includes music, TV show captures, clips from movies/TV.
  • If we get Copyright strikes, after 3 we are out and will be ban from YouTube. We are at one strike before the writing of the current requirements and lost some advantages of our partnership with Google. Current resolution of status is due April 2013.
  • Deleting an infringement strike trigger (it's automated) videos won't help removing the strike.
• Respect basic quality standards for uploaded videos.
  • 720p minimum, upload in 1080p Full HD if available (YouTube will create lesser resolutions versions automatically)
    • Use recommended YouTube mp4/aac/H.264 encoding if possible (no conversion will be done, upload will be faster) https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en&ref_topic=2888648
    • Use recommended 16:9 ratio if possible
  • Slides must be readable in 480p (for mobile usage and default web view).
  • Sound must be clear and with no electronic noise or with minimal white noise.
  • Google Hangout are relaxed from theses quality standards as long as the slides are full screen and we can hear fine the speaker.
  • Editing must be professional level or very minimal with YouTube tools or absent.
• Upload videos only with consent from the source even if it's OWASP (like a chapter or a conference).
• For meta data information:
  • Put the subject and the speaker name in the title
    • If the subject is too long, the speaker name can be omitted
  • Link to the source on owasp.org Wiki and then any links you want
  • Put the abstract if available and speaker BIO in the description
  • Leave the OWASP Media Project signature
  • Use the default tags (currently #owasp and #appsec) and optionally add some if desired
• If videos are from a logical batch, associate it with a playlist (Example: AppSecEU2013 playlist)

YouTube uploading procedure

Prerequisites

• Have a Google account, preferably an @owasp.org one, that is added as a manager of OWASPGLOBAL YouTube channel
• If you plan to upload content regularly, you must be subscribed to our OWASP Media Project mailing list
• Read the "Guidelines and standards for YouTube" especially about copyright

Warnings

• Use another browser or profile than your normal browser in order to upload to YouTube. If you browse YouTube as "OWASP", all history, likes and favorites will be shared with the channel.
• Take special care of your account because it is now having all access to a front-facing OWASP asset

Procedure

• Login as OWASP on YouTube (TODO insert screen shots)
• As OWASP, Create a playlist with the name of your contribution
  • For a conference, use the full name and the year
  • Examples: AppSecUSA 2014, Projects Submit 2014, OWASP Global Chapter Meetings, https://www.youtube.com/view_all_playlists
• Upload the video using https://www.youtube.com/upload
  • In Privacy settings on the right, make it "Unlisted" or "Private" if you don't want it to be shown right away
  • As it upload and process, set the correct title and description (please leave the Media Project signature)
  • Add tags related to the subject or the contribution. These are like keywords.
  • You can use the Video Manager in order to tag many videos at once
  • Save and wait until it is completely uploaded
• View the video and add it to your playlist
  • Change the Privacy settings if it was Private or Unlisted
  • Review title and description
• Share the video as you wish on Twitter, Facebook, etc.
  • Use embed code to share it in HTML
  • Use wiki code #ev:youtube|VIDEO-ID or #ev:youtubeplaylist|PLAYLIST-ID between {{}} for owasp.org wiki

YouTube + Hangout streaming procedure

You must already be familiar with Google Hangout On Air to follow these steps. https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2553119?hl=en

It is strongly encouraged that you try an event on your own channel/Google+ before attempting to do something on OWASP official channel.

Also, any speakers must try to do a "Hangout" before the real deal even if it's not On Air just to test the setup and install plugins.

Prerequisites

• Have a Google account, preferably an @owasp.org Google Apps.
  • Ask to be a a manager of [OWASP Google+ Page https://plus.google.com/114897759028714798478/posts] (includes OWASPGLOBAL YouTube channel management access)
• If you plan to broadcast content regularly, you must be subscribed to our OWASP Media Project mailing list
• Read the "Guidelines and standards for YouTube" especially about copyright

Warnings

• Use another browser or profile than your normal browser in order to upload to YouTube. If you browse YouTube as "OWASP", all history, likes and favorites will be shared with the channel.
• Take special care of your account because it is now having all access to a front-facing OWASP asset
• Do not mix the two kind of links you'll have, "Link to share" starting with "https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_/hoaevent/" is for participants and "YouTube Page" starting with "http://youtu.be/" or "Event Page" starting with "https://plus.google.com/events/" is for viewers.

Procedure

• Login to Google+ and then switch to "OWASP Google+ Page" account
• Access the Hangout section of Google+ as "OWASP" https://plus.google.com/b/114897759028714798478/hangouts
• Start a "Hangout on Air" with the right title and description (will be the same on YouTube)
  • You can schedule it for later in order to gather the required links in advance for attendees and viewers, see Media:Mediaproject-screencap1.png
    • Please note the time zone when scheduling, you can change it later with Media:Owasp-media-project-timezone-screenshot.png
  • The Audience is really for the viewers and not the same as participants in the Hangout
  • You will be next redirected to the Event Page on Google+
• In the event page of Google+, you can click on "Start" button to lunch the Hangout interface, see Media:Mediaproject-screencap5.png
  • If it's a scheduled event, you can still click to see the interface, but don't click on "Start broadcast" until you are ready to be live
  • You can also enable Q&A app and add a trailer to it, but this will have no effect on YouTube, it's just for Google+ so keep that in mind.
  • Once in the Hangout interface, feel free to skip the invites Media:Mediaproject-screencap2.png and use the "Link to share" described bellow.
  • People will see you as "OWASP", if they see your name, you are not doing it right.
• Make sure you have the right microphone selected in "Settings" and that it is working, see Media:Mediaproject-screencap6.png
  • If you have a USB microphone or console and good Internet connection, change the quality to "Studio" in "Settings".
  • If you don't plan to use your webcam, use the "Turn camera off" button, it will show the OWASP logo from the OWASP account
• Screen sharing is available in the Hangout app and works on Mac/Windows/Linux, see Media:Mediaproject-screencap8.png
  • You can share only one application that you select, if you close the app it will fall back to webcam or default icon
  • Share your whole screen if you are unsure or using a full screen PowerPoint
  • You can also share a secondary screen (if you have a projector that is not mirrored for example)
• If you want other participants that just yourself, you can invite them with the "Invite People" button, but it is generally simpler to give them the "Link to share" by IM or email, see Media:Mediaproject-screencap3.png
  • Note that anyone with the link may join the call. Be careful.
  • Feel free to use the control room during the event to manage sound from participants
• In the Google+ Hangout interface, bottom right, click on "Links" and share the the "YouTube Page" link with viewers. This will be the same link as the offline recording of your broadcast. See Media:Mediaproject-screencap4.png
  • This is the same as the "YouTube page" from the event page on Google+, you can also share the "Event Page" itself, but it is recommended to use just the YouTube link to avoid confusion.
• Click on "Start broadcast" at the bottom to start publishing on YouTube
  • It can have a little delay to start
  • Everything is automatically recorded into YouTube and will be published as a normal YouTube video once you stop the broadcast.
  • If you stop the broadcast, you will not be able to restart it. It is a one shot deal. Note that it is possible to edit the recorded video on YouTube and cut parts of it if needed.
  • If you leave the call, it will ask you for confirmation and the broadcast will be over
  • If you close the Hangout window or crash, you'll be able to rejoin the live broadcast by clicking Start on the event page again (make sure you are as OWASP into Google+ when you do so)
• After broadcasting, make sure you are not using Google+ or YouTube as "OWASP" anymore by switching back to your account.

Event Promotion

Using our current main platform YouTube, there's many ways you can promote your events and have people receive notifications:

1) Subscribe on YouTube. This will send notification by email (see this example), on youtube.com and with the mobile app. People will receive notifications when it's live on their cellphone!

2) Add to circle on Google+ for the Media Project page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114897759028714798478/114897759028714798478

3) When you go to the event page directly, you can quick add to Google Agenda and join in if you are on Google+ to receive direct notifications. https://plus.google.com/events/c1p0oltvpr94is9f9n57rpqki44

It is advised to have a separate communication channel when you share the event page on Google+ and the YouTube page. We don't want to force people to register to G+ or YouTube if they don't want to.

Hardware and other software

In order to get the best "bang for the bucks" hardware possible, we have used and tested many devices. We apologize to direct you to specific products but some people needed direct suggestions.

Microphone

If the presenter is in front of a presentation laptop, use the microphone on that laptop. If it happens to be a MacBook Pro, you'll get great sound. If not, any USB microphone that is around the 100$USD mark will do the job. The H1 Zoom has been reported as worked on Mac, Windows and Ubuntu is a plug-n-play manner. It can also used as an stand-alone offline recorder (event with a pro lapel mic).

Note that any phone devices (dials in, Bluetooth) will reduce the sound quality and that might be problematic if you are aiming for the better quality.

Also, wireless is great, but costly. If you have a budget between 500-1000$USD for sound and operating staff, go for it, if not you're better with wired equipment.

Video capture

For low budget recording, we strongly recommend using software screen recorder and no hardware. Aside for Google Hangout Plugin, you can use Open Broadcaster Software to stream and locally records any content. It's free and open source and for Win/Linux/Mac but we have tested only the Windows version. It also supports captures cards and webcams.

For the capture part, you can input from a dedicated capture cards. Many of them are branded for gaming recording purpose and will do the job. The main advantage of the capture card is that you don't need to install any stand-alone software or plugins on the presenter's laptop. You'll quicker results and quality won't be touched much, except if you have a bad VGA cable. Some cards can "wiretap" by offering a bypass between the projector and the computer.

Officially, OWASP uses X-CAPTURE-1 to capture from HDMI and VGA, all with bypass features. It's biggest limitation is that it is Windows (DirectX) compatible only but they capture the greatest range of outputs on earth for that price (around 350$USD). For official big OWASP events those cards are available for usage.