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#1 2018-08-31 05:26:42

hndrsn
Member
Registered: 2012-10-31
Posts: 27

Theater not working.

Trying to get Theater to work. But I don't understand the directions at all. I went through the entire process of "Embedding HTML5 Video" per the manual and the gallery shows up, with no thumbnail, and when I click on it , a new window appears with a player but nothing plays, just spinning propeller.

--I don't get what I am supposed to put into the Lightroom Album since it won't accept video files.
How do I "publish" an empty folder?
--Also can you clarify this sentence:

Under Page Content ⇒ Video ID, supply the video ID; the name of the video should then be entered into Lightroom without a file extension, i.e. “my_awesome_video”.

What exactly is the "video ID"? The name? Is it supposed to be in quotes? Why does this not work?
Thanks

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#2 2018-08-31 05:45:46

Matthew
Administrator
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: 2012-09-24
Posts: 5,795
Website

Re: Theater not working.

If you're struggling with this, then I suggest you host your video either on Vimeo or YouTube, and use those presentation methods instead. There are lots of reasons NOT to host your own videos, briefly discussed at the bottom of this page:
http://backlight.theturninggate.net/doc … tml5_video

That said, if you've followed the instructions correctly, then you should be using the video's file name as Video ID, without quotes, without extension.

For example, if you have my_video.mp4, my_video.ogv and my_video.jpg (the poster image) as your video files, then your video ID will be "my_video", without quotes.

If you want to thumbnail, then put an image into the collection in Lr and publish it.


Matt

The Turning Gate, http://theturninggate.net

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#3 2018-08-31 06:34:33

hndrsn
Member
Registered: 2012-10-31
Posts: 27

Re: Theater not working.

Matthew, I just spent 25 bucks on Theater and 70 bucks on EasyHtml5. Telling me to host my video on Vimeo is not an acceptable solution. I have gone over this several times, and it doesn't work. If I am doing something wrong, I need to know how to fix it. If not, there is something wrong with either your software or your manual, or both. If this is so tricky to use that you recommend not doing it, then why sell the plug-in in the first place?

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#4 2018-08-31 06:39:33

rod barbee
Moderator
From: Port Ludlow, WA USA
Registered: 2012-09-24
Posts: 17,830
Website

Re: Theater not working.

Can you outline the exact steps you've taken so far?
Where have you put your video files? And have you supplied all the files needed?
Have you done the server side setup?

I know this works because I and other have been doing it for years


Rod 
Just a user with way too much time on his hands.
www.rodbarbee.com
ttg-tips.com, Backlight 2/3 test site

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#5 2018-08-31 06:52:08

Matthew
Administrator
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: 2012-09-24
Posts: 5,795
Website

Re: Theater not working.

Rather, I was suggesting you the look into Theater's presentations for YouTube and Vimeo hosted video. Also, the docs do advise "HTML5 video embedding allows you to host video locally in your own space; it's also the most complicated to setup."

Theater works, and the docs are pretty cut-and-dry. More likely, you've missed a step.

I also answered the questions you posed at the top of this thread. If you'd like to post a link to an affected page, or provide more detail about what you've done, we can take a look.


Matt

The Turning Gate, http://theturninggate.net

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#6 2018-08-31 06:59:02

hndrsn
Member
Registered: 2012-10-31
Posts: 27

Re: Theater not working.

I followed these instructions from the documentation.

http://backlight.theturninggate.net/doc … ding_html5

Added code to .htaccess file as per instructions.

I used EasyHtml5 to make the video files
1_QCC.m4v
1_QCC.mp4
1_QCC.ogv
1_QCC.webm

Uploaded them to the backlight/galleries/videosrc folder.

Configured the template as per instructions.

Configured Publish Services as per instructions.

Published album with a jpg in it for the thumbnail.

The thumbnail shows up in the Galleries page. When you click on it, a page opens and looks all ok, but the video doesn't load, just spinning pod. The videos are around 30MB which is quite a low quality.

Been over it three times. No luck.

Thanks for the assistance.

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#7 2018-08-31 07:07:38

hndrsn
Member
Registered: 2012-10-31
Posts: 27

Re: Theater not working.

Okay I think I sorted it out on my own.
videosrc folder was in the wrong place.
I think the instructions are very confusing. Specifically:

Upload your files into a folder named “videosrc” in the main domain of your Backlight installation, i.e.:

/backlight
/galleries
/videosrc

To a person who is not well versed in website design such as myself, that appears to mean, put the folder inside the galleries folder. Why are they listed otherwise? It appears to contradict the instruction to put it in the "main domain". It's all to easy to miss that crucial piece of information. Suggest you clarify the manual.

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#8 2018-08-31 07:21:06

hndrsn
Member
Registered: 2012-10-31
Posts: 27

Re: Theater not working.

Matthew wrote:

Rather, I was suggesting you the look into Theater's presentations for YouTube and Vimeo hosted video. Also, the docs do advise "HTML5 video embedding allows you to host video locally in your own space; it's also the most complicated to setup."

Theater works, and the docs are pretty cut-and-dry. More likely, you've missed a step.

I also answered the questions you posed at the top of this thread. If you'd like to post a link to an affected page, or provide more detail about what you've done, we can take a look.



Sorry, Matthew, the docs are not "cut-and-dry" even slightly.
I defy anyone who does not have experience doing web-design to get their website up "in minutes". The interaction between the Pages, Templates, Albums, Menus, plug-ins, and Lightroom itself is very hard to grasp, and the manual doesn't do a very good job of explaining it. I'm sure this is not what you want to hear, but the manual needs a lot of work.

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#9 2018-08-31 07:41:33

rod barbee
Moderator
From: Port Ludlow, WA USA
Registered: 2012-09-24
Posts: 17,830
Website

Re: Theater not working.

hndrsn wrote:

Okay I think I sorted it out on my own.
videosrc folder was in the wrong place.
I think the instructions are very confusing. Specifically:

Upload your files into a folder named “videosrc” in the main domain of your Backlight installation, i.e.:

/backlight
/galleries
/videosrc

To a person who is not well versed in website design such as myself, that appears to mean, put the folder inside the galleries folder. Why are they listed otherwise? It appears to contradict the instruction to put it in the "main domain". It's all to easy to miss that crucial piece of information. Suggest you clarify the manual.

That's just a folder structure, it shows all folders at the same level.


Rod 
Just a user with way too much time on his hands.
www.rodbarbee.com
ttg-tips.com, Backlight 2/3 test site

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#10 2018-08-31 08:24:31

hndrsn
Member
Registered: 2012-10-31
Posts: 27

Re: Theater not working.

That's my point. A person such as yourself knows that. How would I know that? There are plenty of other folders also at the same level.
Instruction should read "for example" instead of "i.e."

Another question if  I may:
How can I edit the "Galleries" page to (for example) change the order of the galleries in the grid?

Thanks

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#11 2018-08-31 08:47:17

rod barbee
Moderator
From: Port Ludlow, WA USA
Registered: 2012-09-24
Posts: 17,830
Website

Re: Theater not working.

Another question if  I may:
How can I edit the "Galleries" page to (for example) change the order of the galleries in the grid?

go to Backlight > Publisher > Top-level Galleries
Click on the name of your top level gallery, most likely Galleries.
Click on Edit Properties
In Order Albums By, choose the way you want albums sorted via the drop-down.

There's a bunch of other things you can do from that page as well.

If you need albums in a specific order, choose "Slug" and then rename the album slugs (do this in Lightroom) so that they fall in the order you want. Ordering is by standard alpha-numeric. The easiest way is to pre-pend the slugs with a number: 01-first-album-name, 02-second-album-name, etc.


Rod 
Just a user with way too much time on his hands.
www.rodbarbee.com
ttg-tips.com, Backlight 2/3 test site

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#12 2018-08-31 09:43:37

hndrsn
Member
Registered: 2012-10-31
Posts: 27

Re: Theater not working.

Could I suggest making some kind of mention of this in the manual? There's nothing. The manual gives the impression that everything is done from the web app. Nor is there any explanation of what a "slug" is or what it does. Maybe a glossary?
It may seem that I'm being a pain in the ass, but look at it this way. Say you came to me with a motorcycle that sat all winter and now it's idling poorly. I might say "pull the carbs and clean the float bowls and the pilot jets, and reset the float heights". This would be perfectly obvious to a mechanic. Your average motorcycle owner probably doesn't even know what a carburetor is. The TTG website makes it sound like anybody can buy Backlight and get instant results when in fact there's a steep learning curve, and frankly inadequate documentation.

I hope you get paid for all your work on this forum.
Thanks
Dave

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#13 2018-08-31 10:17:47

rod barbee
Moderator
From: Port Ludlow, WA USA
Registered: 2012-09-24
Posts: 17,830
Website

Re: Theater not working.

I also do beta testing so that gives me access to all the Backlight goodies. Other than that, I'm just a user with way too much time on my hands....
(not really, but it sounds good)


Rod 
Just a user with way too much time on his hands.
www.rodbarbee.com
ttg-tips.com, Backlight 2/3 test site

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