Did you know that the Ci Transfer Desktop App can be utilized to enact a Sidecar Ingest Workflow? Well, you're gonna learn today! For those who aren't familiar, a Sidecar Ingest Workflow is a process used in digital media workflows to associate supplemental information with media files. This workflow uses specifically formatted .JSON files. However, any source file format will work just fine! In this article, we'll guide you on how to utilize this workflow.
To get started, you'll need to have one of three options for transferring content:
- Ci Transfer App
- Ci Web User Interface
- AWS Snow Devices
It will be necessary to have a Sidecar Import-enabled Workspace:
If using the Ci Transfer App, Install Ci Transfer
The Ci Transfer Desktop app is compatible with both Mac & Windows machines, and is free for all Ci users. We walk you through the installation process and functionality in the Ci Transfer Desktop App article in our Help Center. Please navigate to the download link below to download the app:
—> https://cimediacloud.com/downloads/transfer/en/
Figure 1: Ci Transfer Desktop App
Request to Enable Sidecar Import
This workflow can only work in with a Company Network that has it enabled and in a Workspace that has Sidecar Ingest Workflow. You can request this to be added to a Company Network by reaching out to the Ci Customer Success Team by submitting a request here in the Help Center. Allowing the Sidecar Ingest Workflow at the Workspace level is part of the Workspace settings managed by any of the Network Admins of the Company Network account.
Upload files Through Ci Transfer
For every file uploaded to the Sidecar Import-enabled Workspace (Ex: footage.mxf), Ci will search for a corresponding .json file (Ex: footage.mxf.json). This is also true of the other way around, but uploads will trigger the search for each other. This is dependent on the completion of the processing of the files in Ci. These files must be uploaded to the same folder.
Start uploading the media and the sidecar file to a folder by selecting + New:
Figure 2: Upload to folder pt. 1
Figure 3: Upload to folder pt. 2
Figure 4: Upload to folder pt. 3
Once the files are uploaded, the media files will begin processing as normal. At this point, navigate to your Workspace in the browser. After the media file(s) finish processing, Ci will begin reading the JSON file's contents and begin adding its metadata to the asset:
Figure 5: Media Files Processing in Workspace
Figure 6: JSON File Processing/Adding Metadata
At this point, the JSON file will be added as an element of the matched file, and it will be removed as a stand-alone asset from the original folder (see Figure 6). The Trashed status will indicate the .JSON has been processed and has been removed from the folder. It will be the responsibility of the user, owner of Workspace or Network Admins to manually delete from the trash the .JSON file or leverage the Ci Storage Management Policies:
Figure 7: JSON Deleted from Folder
Using the Ci Web UI
Upload both the file and it's .JSON to the same folder and ensure that the Sidecar Ingest Workflow is enabled for the Workspace. The rest of the Workflow outlined above applies in the same way.
Transferring with a Snow Device
When using an AWS Snow Device, the ordering process will allow for the device to be delivered to a specific Customer location, where the device is networked and then the transfers to the device are performed. Once the device is sent back to AWS and then dropped into a Ci bucket, the content will be ingested to Ci and the same process that applies above will be performed so that same named files with the extensions that match original file and it's complimenting .JSON will go through the same processing. For any questions on the AWS Snow Device process, please reach out to the Ci Customer Success team to provide guidance.
A Note on using BYOS:
If you choose to have content stored in your own AWS S3 bucket, you will be responsible for ordering the Snow device. The rest of the process will remain the same.
Special Characters in File Names
There are cases where special characters can caused issues with the file processing. It is necessary that both the file with content and the .json file complete processing in order for the Sidecar Ingest Workflow to function correctly.
If there are problems with the processing, then there are troubleshooting that will be helpful to work with the Ci Customer Success to work through.
To learn more about Ci Transfer, please visit the Ci Transfer Desktop App article in our Help Center.
For any additional questions, please reach out to the Ci Customer Success Team by submitting a request here in the Help Center.