We're waiters

[DogKnob]

We wait for the server to start accepting uploads again so we can submit the VOD we just finished. This final submission process is a bit frustrating, as there seems to be either a lack of information or a wealth of conflicting information. Done a lot of searching for this and that in the forums and come up empty. I have a few questions I'd really appreciate either answers to or a link to something that answers them. Thanks.

1. Is there an ETA on the new server?
2. When I tried to post our VOD as a "coming soon," The thumbnail I uploaded was not used. A thumbnail-sized chunk of our poster was used, which kinda looks like crap, except less interesting. What gives? I took it down because it looked so... wrong.
3. The guidelines to skip transcoding specified mono for mp3s. We did a VOD (.mp4) to the specs I saw on the non-functioning upload page:
    -H.264
    -.mp4
    -bitrate 3M

    These guidelines didn't specify audio specs for a VOD. If our movie has a stereo mix, will it get transcoded down to mono?

4. I see a lot of mention of .riff files, but can't find an actual definition. WTF is a .riff and do we need one if we're uploading a VOD?
5. Do we need a PAL version for VOD, or is this step just for audio?

BTW, the trailers (3 of them) for our VOD are at http://youtube.com/dogknob01

[RoninFox]

I can give you answers for 4 and 5 and I'm pretty sure about 3.

3. Pretty sure you do need mono to avoid transcoding.

4. A .riff file is a file used with the rifftrax player to auto-sync riff audio  to a dvd, its got noting to do with VOD and isn't even neccessary when you have a mp3.

5.  Making a PAL version is only for mp3 riffs, making your audio compatable with PAL DVDs, you only need one version of your VOD.

[DogKnob]

Hey. Thanks for your reply. Too bad about the mono thing. It seems like that would screw up the sound of the original movie if it was in stereo. They don't make it very clear regarding sound on VODs. The mp3 thing is fairly clear, though.

[torgosPizza]

I don't believe it transcodes to mono, so you might be wrong. It probably changes it to a lower bitrate but it should be set to 2 channels. There isn't any reason for us to do that really, so unless it happens by mistake.. which it didn't during testing...

1. ETA on the server is... soonish. We're working feverishly to get things up and ready to go. The wait will be worth it.

2. I'm not sure what the issue with your thumbnail is, except to say that it's probably your source. You can use a smaller version of your poster (resize the image or crop, etc.) and it should work fine. Haven't seen any issues elsewhere except for one person, but it was because they were uploading a tiny Amazon image they found.

[DogKnob]

1. "Soonish" -- Drat!

2. We made a custom thumbnail (125x125, 24k) and for some reason, your site was instead using a chunk of our full poster on the iRiffs page. OnHover it showed the full poster. Your site has poster upload size at 400x680 in one place and 450x680 in another. Which one?

Trailers:

• Rifftrax Trailer -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiKKqNP3I7M
• Sexy Trailer -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSGjcGFrHe8
• Music Video -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbuJilDdU24

Thanks TP

[RoninFox]

If you're talking about the front page of iRiffs in the "most recent" corner, it always shows a piece of the poster.  The thumbnail is used on the other catalog pages, click on the "see all iRiffs" page and you should see it.

[torgosPizza]

I think 450width is correct for the max. Also you don't need to worry about the auto-generated thumbnail, that is always generated from the large image (poster). The thumbnail that's part of the node edit form is the thumbnail that's shown at /iriffs, in the main iriffs catalog or in the top iriffs random block.

Hope this helps clarify a bit. Obviously other people haven't had this issue with their thumbnails, so if yours displays weirdly on any of those pages you might make sure your resolution and whatnot is still 72dpi and that you're not lowering the dimensions and increasing the resolution (Photoshop sometimes does this by default depending on if you have "resample" checked off).