Reference Guide

Administration - Manage Users

This is where Managers and Admins create, delete and edit user accounts. All users are displayed in a list which displays the following:

ID (visible in the Media Player Overlay)
Last Name
First Name
Role - See below for more information on user roles
Manage User Buttons

To create a new user, click on “+ Add New User” in the left-hand sidebar.

Manage User Buttons

Copy - This button allows you to use a user account as a template in order to create new users with the same permissions and settings as the selected user. This is useful for adding users to existing productions or projects.

Edit - This opens the Edit User page where you may view or edit the user’s settings and permissions.

Delete - This button deletes the selected user account. You will receive a pop up box to confirm the deletion.

Administration - New User / Administration - Edit User

User Account Info - This section is where Managers and Admins enter a User’s name, email address, username, and password.

North Shore recommends using a User’s email address for the Username, but another Username may be chosen for simplicity, ease of use, or to match an existing system.

Akomi Password Policy

Passwords must be 8 characters or longer
Passwords must be alpha-numeric
Passwords must be multi-case

Administrators set a password that meets these requirements when they create a user. Users can reset their password at any time, but new passwords must also meet these requirements.

There is a "forgot password" link on the login screen that allows users to enter their email address and receive information to reset their password.

Assigning Roles

Using this pull-down menu, each User is given a Role in the Akomi system. Roles are defined as follows:

User - A User is limited to specific access assigned in Permission Groups and has no access to System Administration panels.
Manager - A manager is granted access to all Media Groups/media (Permission Groups do not apply to Manager roles), and may access User and Groups panels and Reports, but cannot access any system configuration panels.
Admin - An admin has access to all Media Groups/media (Permission Groups do not apply to Admin roles), and has full access to all System Administration panels, and may configure and modify system configuration settings.

For more information about User roles, please see the related section.

User Groups/Permissions

This section is where access to Permission Group-specific permissions are managed.

Add to Group - Managers and Admins use the “Add To Group” pull-down menu to add a User to a specific Permission Group, and remove a User by clicking “Remove” in the right hand side of a specific Permission Group listing.

The “Add to Group” pull-down menu is only visible for User roles, because Permission Groups do not apply to Manager and Admin roles.

Users may be added to several Permission Groups by using the pull-down menu multiple times. Once added, the Permission Group will appear in a list below the pull-down menu.

In designing the Permission Groups structure, it is important to remember actions are controllable on a per User and per Permission Group basis.

For more information on setting up Permission Groups, see the related section.

Permission Group Action Settings - The Manager or Admin uses the checkboxes for each Permission Group to enable the following specific actions (which appear in the Action Menu for each item in Akomi):

Edit - Allows a User to edit the metadata for an asset and, if system integration is enabled, Akomi updates CatDV with the change.

Download - Allows a User to download available formats for an asset.

Share - Allows a User to share a secure, expiring link to the asset.

Delete - Allows a User to delete an asset.

Hi-Res - Allows a User to to request a link to a Hi-Res version of an asset.

For more information on the Action Menus and each specific action, see the related section.

User Permissions

This section is where the following system-wide permissions for Users are managed:

Archive - Allows access to the Archive button in the Inbox.

Approve/Reject - Allows access to the Approve and Reject buttons in the Inbox.

Edit Profile - Allows a User to edit some of their account settings. A User accesses the Edit Profile pane by clicking on their Username in the upper right-hand of the Akomi window

Access Library? - Allows a User access to the Library section of Akomi. If unchecked, a User will only have access to the Inbox.

This setting allows Organizations to give specific Users access to Inbox review and approval workflows, without granting them access to an entire media library.

Move to Library - Allows a User to move an Inbox asset to the Library. If system integration is enabled, Akomi updates CatDV with the change.

Upload to Inbox - Allows a User to upload low-res or proxy assets directly into the Akomi Inbox via the “Upload” menu, accessed from the Inbox pull-down menu in the upper left corner of the Akomi window.

Upload to Library - Allows a User to upload low-res or proxy assets directly into the Akomi Library via the “Upload” menu, accessed from the Library pull-down menu in the upper left corner of the Akomi window.

Assets imported into Akomi via “Upload to Inbox” or “Upload to Library” are not imported to CatDV. To allow Users to upload assets to Akomi and CatDV, please contact your dealer for information on North Shore’s Hi-Res upload solution.

For more information on system-wide permissions, see the related section.

User Preferences

This section is where the following User-specific interface settings are managed:

Default Tab - This pull-down menu sets a User’s default Akomi landing page to either the Inbox or Library. For Managers and Admins the menu includes System Administration.

Style Sheet - This pull-down menu sets a User’s default style sheet (also called“themes” or “skins”). By default Akomi includes a Light theme and a Dark theme, but your configuration may have several more themes.

Notifications - This radio button turns on and off email notifications from Akomi, sent when new assets are added the User’s Inbox.

For more information on email notifications, see the related section.

Administration - Manage Groups

This section is where Manager and Admins set up and edit Permission Groups. All groups are displayed in a table.

To create a new Permission Group, click on “+ Add New Group” in the left-hand menu, or click on the "Copy" button to create a new Permission Group with the same settings as an existing Permission Group.

To edit an existing Permission Group, click the “Edit” button to the right of that Permission Group in the list.

Click on the "Delete" button to delete a Permission Group.

Add New Permission Group/ Edit Permission Group

Group Info - This section is where Managers and Admins enter a Permission Group’s name and description. The Group Name is displayed in all permission-related panels. The description is optional.

Group Content Section

There are two sets of panes in this section, one for Media Groups, and one for Group Members. The Media Group panes control which Media Groups are a part of the selected Permission Group, and the Group Member panes control which Users may access the selected Permission Group.

You add a Media Group to the Permission Group by dragging it from the "Media Group Added" pane to the "Media Group Available" pane. You may drag multiple Media Groups at the same time by using the command (⌘) key on OS X or the control key on Windows.

Users may be added to the Permission Group by dragging them from the "Available Group Members" pane to the "Active Group Members" pane. You may drag multiple Users at the same time by using the command (⌘) key on OS X or the control key on Windows.

Users may also be added to a Permission Group from the Edit User panel. North Shore recommends using the Edit User panel to add a single User to multiple Permission Groups, and the Edit Permission Group panel to adding several Users to a single Permission Group.

System Preferences

This section is where Admins configure Akomi settings. It has several groups of settings on this panel, and two additional groups of settings on the Advanced Settings panel, which is accessed by clicking the "Advanced Settings" link at the bottom of the panel.

Site

The Site settings include hosting information and Akomi interface elements.

Site Title - The text that will appear at the top of the Akomi browser window.

Site URL - Akomi’s web address as mapped in your DNS server (e.g. myakomi.mydomain.com).

Site Port - The port used for Akomi web services. The default Akomi is port 80, and most systems use this port number. This can be changed to work with different server and network configurations.

Session Timeout - The maximum amount of time, in minutes, that a user’s login remains active. After this interval expires, a user will need to re-enter credentials.

Logos

View Current - Clicking this button displays the current login logo.

The recommended format is PNG with transparency. Maximum recommended height and width is 335px.

Header Logo - The graphic that appears in the header at the top of all Akomi windows except for the login.

View Current - Clicking this button displays the current header logo.

Recommended format is PNG with transparency. Maximum recommended height is 65px and maximum recommended width is 450px.

Features

These two settings are used to enable or disable the Inbox and Library sections of Akomi. If disabled, the Inbox or Library buttons at the top left of the Akomi window will not display.

Inbox Access - Enable or disable access to the Inbox for all users.

Library Access - Enable or disable access to the Library for all users.

Akomi requires at least one of the two sections to be enabled.

SMTP Server

These are the settings for the email server that Akomi will use to send notifications.

SMTP Server - The email smtp server hostname (e.g. servername.mydomain.com).

** Note ** If the server requires a secure connection (usually on port 465) you will enter ssl:// before the SMTP Server address. (e.g. ssl://servername.mydomain.com)

SMTP Port - The default SMTP server port. The default SMTP port is 587, but this can be changed to work with different configurations.

SMTP Username - The username for the email account that Akomi will use.

SMTP Password - The password for the email account that Akomi will use. Clearing the SMTP username will also clear the password.

Email & Media

These are the settings for the email account that Akomi will use to send notifications.

From Address - This is the email address that will appear in the “from address” field in email received from Akomi.

Link Expiration - Enter values in this field to set the available time intervals, in days, for the expiration of your shared links. Values must be separated by the pipe character “|” (e,g, “1|5|10” would give users the option to select 1, 5, or 10 days until their shared links expire from the option menu in the “Share” dialog box). If you enter 0 the pulldown in Akomi will display 'Never' and the link will never expire.

There is no limit to the values you may offer but generally 6 or less is a good guideline. 1|5|10|30|60 are the default values, offering users from 1 to 60 days of access to links.

Notifications - Clicking this button turns on email notifications, which a user receives when new assets are added to their Inbox. Users may manage their own notification settings by using the "Edit Profile" pane, accessible by hovering on their name in the header at the top of the window.

Import

Thumbnail Time - The location, in percentage from start time, from which Akomi will select it’s thumbnail image. Ex. If this value is set to 50% and a 1 minute clip is placed in Akomi, the thumbnail will be extracted at 30 seconds in. If the clip was 30 minutes long, the thumbnail would be extracted at 15 minutes into the clip.

Import Notifications - This button enables or disables email notifications of assets being imported into the Inbox. If enabled, each user can disable notifications for their own account.

North Shore recommends disabling notifications when importing multiple assets into the Inbox, to avoid overloading users' email accounts, and then re-enabling notifications after the upload.

For more information on importing to the Inbox, see the related section.

Formats

These settings cover the naming and import workflow of proxy and alternate formats for storage and download in Akomi.

Default Format - This is the display name of Akomi’s default proxy format, which is shown in pull-down menus.

“Proxy” is the default value for the Default Format, but common alternate terms are “Low-Res” and “Preview”, and this can be set to match your organization's terminology.

Additional Formats - These fields allow an Admin to add or remove additional asset download formats.

Name Field - This is the display name of each additional download format, which is shown in pull-down menus (e.g. Mezzanine).

Suffix Field - This is the filename suffix for the source file of each additional download format (e.g. “_mezz”, “_web”).

Remove - This button will remove the selected Additional Format from the system.

There is no character limit to the Additional Formats field, but North Shore recommends that you limit the suffix to 3 or 4 characters to keep file names short

For more information on Additional Formats, see the related section.

WARNING: This has significant impact on your system and workflow. Additional formats will no longer be available in the download menus. Any new Additional Format media submitted will not be imported into Akomi and any files delivered to the Akomi Import folder will be left in the import folder. However, all asset media imported previously will be preserved in the Akomi data storage. Contact Support for assistance with removing old Additional Format versions from your Akomi server.

Add New Format - This button exposes fields for the Name and Suffix of a new Additional Format. After you have clicked this button, and entered your chosen name and suffix, hit the "Save" button at the bottom of the page to save your changes. Your settings will then appear in the formats list, and a new line with blank fields is added.

Additional formats are not saved until the “Save” button at the bottom of the System Preferences panel has been clicked.

Tools

This section contains the server paths that Akomi uses to access to software tools for various background tasks. These paths are set in the install process, by default, and should never be changed other than at the direction of your dealer or a North Shore staff.

FFMpeg Path - The path to the Akomi FFmpeg binary.

Zip Path - The path to the Akomi FFmpeg binary.

Advanced Settings

This section is where Admins configure global Library permissions, public links, and required fields. They are not accessible through the main left hand menu because changing these settings has significant consequences.

For more information on configuring Advanced Settings, see the related section.

Library Permissions

Akomi is designed to allow Admins to set viewing permissions by users and groups. Therefore, by default, this setting is "On". In some Akomi deployments administrators/integrators may want to make all media in the Library available to every logged-in user. In those cases Admins can change this setting to "Off".

Warning: Changing the Library Permissions setting to "Off" will enable all users to view all media in the Library regardless of Group membership!

Generate Asset Links

Akomi can generate a URL for each asset for delivery back to CatDV and other web systems via API. This is so that Akomi may be used as a video playback server for systems that may not have sophisticated, integrated video players such as job tracking or accounting systems. Following the generated link will display the asset in a web page with a simple HTML 5 media player and limited metadata. Because this exposes the assets in the Akomi system, the default setting is "Off". To generate the link, Admins change this setting to "On". North Shore recommends that you work closely with your system integrator & NSA support to discuss the impact and configuration of this feature.

Warning: Changing the Library Permissions setting to On will generate a public link for every file imported into Akomi, and publish that link back to the host MAM (if enabled).

This will allow users with access to those links to access all media in the Akomi system.

Required Fields

Akomi requires certain metadata fields in order to import a record. This panel is where those fields are mapped to your CatDV system. You may set the Akomi display name in the Names column. If Akomi is connected to a CatDV Server, the associated CatDV database field IDs are set in the DB Field column.

If you are integrating Akomi with a CatDV Server, make sure to map the fields to the corresponding USER field ID in your CatDV settings (e.g. the DB Field “CUSTOM31” would write back to the CatDV Field USER31).

Below is a list of the required fields, showing the default Akomi field names, the CatDV field names that configured by default, along with their descriptions.

*See "Generate Asset Links" in System Preferences to enable private or public links to an asset.

To allow users to edit an asset’s Title field, mark the “Editable” checkbox to the right of the Title field.

The Media Group is Akomi’s primary filter. Whatever MAM field is associated with the Media Group, that will be the field populating Akomi’s filter pull-down menu.

Warning - Do NOT change the Media Group setting. All Akomi Permission Groups are based on this setting, and it should not be changed after initial setup.

MAM Settings

This section is where Admins configure how Akomi communicates with a MAM such as CatDV. Your integrator will assist you with choosing the correct connection method at the time of installation.

CatDV Settings

Click on one of the four options to control if and how Akomi writes data back to a CatDV Server (referred to as “write-back” in North Shore documentation). If your system is not integrated with CatDV, choose “Disable” and write-back will be disabled.

REST - This option uses CatDV Server's REST API to transmit metadata back to CatDV

SSH - This option uses the SSH protocol to remotely connect Akomi to the CatDV Worker Node CLI via a secure connection.

Command Line - This option requires the CatDV Worker Node CLI to be running locally on the Akomi server.

The Command Line Akomi-CatDV connection is a legacy connection method used only in custom deployments, and is not compatible with Akomi systems installed on a Linux VM platform.

Disable - This option disables write-back, either for testing and maintenance operations or to run Akomi without a connection to CatDV.

After selecting a connection option, click Submit to save the setting. Contact North Shore support for more info on how each of these protocols is implemented.

Metadata

This section is where Admins map database fields, and set which fields are used in sorting, filtering and searching for data.

Field Mapping

The Field Mapping panel is where you create and map database fields for Akomi. Akomi ships with several default fields which can be renamed, re-mapped, changed, or deleted.

To create a new field, enter configure the empty field at the bottom of the field list. To create additional fields, click the “New” link at the bottom right of the last field record to add another field, and then configure the empty field in the new row.

Once you have completed configure the new records, click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the panel.

Then add the item to the Media Page

Field Columns

Name - This is the Akomi field display name.

DB Field - This is the ID of the field in Akomi database.

If you are integrating Akomi with a CatDV Server, make sure to map the fields to the corresponding USER field ID in your CatDV settings (e.g. the DB Field “CUSTOM32” would write back to the CatDV Field USER32).

Type - Akomi supports several types of fields.

WARNING: Not all field types in Akomi write back correctly to CatDV. See the list below for exceptions.

CatDV does not allow access to picklist values via API. Picklists must be manually updated in Akomi.

North Shore recommends mapping CatDV Grouping fields (e.g. controlled vocabulary fields) to an Akomi regular text field, without enabling field editing. Then there is no need to manually update the CatDV picklist values.

"Multi-Grouping" fields are not supported in Akomi currently. Contact North Shore support for questions regarding displaying this type of data.

Values - If you choose a CatDV Grouping field (e.g. controlled vocabulary field type), such as Pull-down menus, Checkboxes, or Radio Buttons, provide the values in this field, separated by the "pipe" character “|” (e.g. 1|2|3|4).

Action - There are two functions in this area:

The “Is Editable” checkbox controls whether a field is editable.

Only users with permission to edit metadata will be able to edit these fields.

The "Delete" link deletes the selected field.

Akomi Field Types

- - - Text
    - Text Area
    - Pull Down
    - Radio Buttons

Because Akomi handles Radio Button values differently from CatDV, North Shore recommends not enabling the write-back of Radio Button field values to CatDV. This issue is under review with Square Box Systems.

Checkboxes

Because Akomi follows the XML convention of putting the checkbox value in the XML/field, North Shore recommends not enabling the write-back of checkbox field values to CatDV (e.g. for a checkbox named "Approved", Akomi XML reads "<field-name>Approved</field-name>", while CatDV XML reads "<field-name=Approved>True</field-name>"). This issue is under review with Square Box Systems.

Date

Date fields in Akomi do not enforce a date format for data entered into these fields. Update Date fields carefully, using the correct syntax for your CatDV deployment. Contact your system administrator for more information.

Warning - Editing date fields in Akomi may create issues with CatDV metadata (if Akomi is integrated with CatDV).

JSON

Akomi supports displaying JSON formatted data as a styled table.

In the Metadata Field Mapping create a new field with the Type set to Table (JSON)

Below is some sample JSON data. Note that the header must be repeated in each row.

[

{"Header 1":"Data 1 Row 1", "Header 2":"Data 2 Row 1", "Header 3":"Data 3 Row 1"},

{"Header 1":"Data 1 Row 2", "Header 2":"Data 2 Row 2", "Header 3":"Data 3 Row 2"},

{"Header 1":"Data 1 Row 3", "Header 2":"Data 2 Row 3", "Header 3":"Data 3 Row 3"},

{"Header 1":"Data 1 Row 4", "Header 2":"Data 2 Row 4", "Header 3":"Data 3 Row 4"},

{"Header 1":"Data 1 Row 5", "Header 2":"Data 2 Row 5", "Header 3":"Data 3 Row 5"},

{"Header 1":"Data 1 Row 6", "Header 2":"Data 2 Row 6", "Header 3":"Data 3 Row 6"},

{"Header 1":"Data 1 Row 7", "Header 2":"Data 2 Row 7", "Header 3":"Data 3 Row 7"}

]

This data will display as in the image below

Filters

The Filters panel in Akomi contains the settings for which Akomi fields are used in sorting, filtering and searching for data.

Sorting, Filters, & Search Settings

Sorting Options - This is where you choose the options for sorting a page of results in Akomi.

To add a field, drag it from the right pane (Inactive Fields) to the left pane (Active Fields), and to remove it drag it from the left to the right.Set the display order of the fields by dragging them up or down in the Active Fields list.

Date Added is the default sorting option, and will be the main, default sort regardless of whether it is chosen or set as the top value in the Active Fields list. All other fields chosen will be sorted in order from top to bottom.

Secondary Field Categories - This is the setting for what fields appear as options in the “Categories” filter menu on the Library page. This is the second pull-down menu (reading from left to right).

For more information on choosing these fields Secondary Field Categories, see the related section.

Search Fields - This list controls which fields are searchable in Akomi. There are three areas affected by this setting:

The Inbox - the "Keyword Search" field
The Library - the "Keyword Search" fiel
The Library - the "Advanced Filters" pull-down menus.

To check these settings, click the arrow for “Advanced Filters” in the Library and you will see that your selected fields are listed in the pull-down menu there.

Date Search Fields - This setting selects which date field is searched in the "Start Date" and "End Date" fields in the Library filter header.

By default there is only one field option, “Date Added”. Custom date fields created in the Field Mapping section will appear here, and may be chosen as the search criteria.

Secondary Filter Categories - Two rules for Secondary Filters are:

Never set a filter that will return the same results as the main grouping/primary filter, and
Never set a filter that could result in a single result being returned.

An example of a filter that will return the same results as the main grouping/primary filter:

If all clips in a media group have the same value in a field named “Ad Agency”, and the secondary filter is set to “Ad Agency”, selecting that filter amount of results as the primary filter.

An example of a filter that could result in a single result being returned:

If the secondary filter is set to “filename”, the pull-down menu of display the same number of values as there are records in that media group. Selecting any of those values from the pull-down menu will return a single result, the asset with that file name.

North Shore recommends a selecting fields for filters that will display 5-to-10 values. Ideally, when selected each value might filter the database to return 100-to-200 assets.

Page Content

Media Page

This section controls the look and behavior of the media page which is displayed when an asset is clicked on in either the Inbox or Library pages.

Default Layout - There are two layout options for the Media Page, "Production View" and "Corporate View". The layout is a system-wide setting and cannot be changed on a per-user basis.

Corporate View - the default layout. The Info Panel displays basic metadata to the right of the media player. This is used in organizations where viewing the asset and metadata are more important to the workflow than markers.

Production View - an alternate layout that displays an asset's markers to the right of the media player. As the media plays the list of markers will scroll, and the markers are highlighted as the "playhead" passes the associated point in an asset timeline. This layout is commonly used in video production where a producer may be looking at a set of markers as a log for the asset.

Download Avid Markers - This option adds a “Download Avid Markers” item to the Action menu on the Media Page. If this option is chosen, Akomi downloads a text file to the local computer. The file contains the "IN" points of the markers for that asset. This file can be imported into the Avid Media Composer clip or sequence matching the Akomi asset.

Avid Media Composer only reads locator points, not ranges, so the file does not contain the OUT points.

Video Overlay - These settings determine the look and behavior of the transparent overlay on the video player. This overlay is dynamically displayed by the player and is not burnt into the video media.

The overlay allows you to track the source of video assets that may have been recorded off of the screen by a smartphone or other video camera.

Enable - Turns the overlay on or off.

Field - Chooses which field is displayed on the overlay. Options are:

User ID
Username
Full Name

Position - Chooses where the overlay displays the field data. Options are:

Top Left
Top Center
Top Right
Centered
Bottom Left
Bottom Center
Bottom Right

Size - Chooses the size of the overlay display. Options are:

Small
Medium
Large

Color - Chooses the color scheme of the overlay display. Options are:

Light On Dark
Dark On Light

Info Panel - This section sets which fields are displayed in the "Info" panel on the Media Page.

More Panel - This section sets which fields are displayed in the "More" panel on the Media Page. The More panel is accessed by clicking the More arrow below the media player (or to the right of the media player if the Production View is set).

Use Source Timecode - For each video asset, Akomi extracts the start timecode and frame rate from the XML metadata upon import. The Akomi media player uses those values to calculate the source timecode (e.g. 01:58:30:00). If this option is turned off, all clips will have a start timecode of 00:00:00:00.

Inbox

This section controls the look and behavior of the Inbox, including the metadata fields displayed, their order, and the options displayed in the Action Menu. There are three Inbox views - Summary, List, and Gallery - and you switch between them by clicking on the view icons at the upper-right corner of the window, next to the "Sort By" pull-down menus.

Summary View - This is the Akomi's Default layout. It shows a medium-sized thumbnail of the asset in a box, a limited set of metadata, and an Action menu icon. The first metadata field is displayed in bold.

North Shore recommends displaying 4-to-6 fields. Adding more fields may affect the alignment of the layout.

If there is a Title entered for the asset, the Title is the first metadata field. For assets without a Title field, the filename is the first metadata field.

These settings cannot be changed, however, any metadata field from CatDV may be mapped to the Title field by using the Advanced Settings located inside System Preferences. Take this into account when choosing your metadata display to avoid redundancy in the display.

Action Settings - This section controls which actions are available to users when they click on the Action menu icon. There are two sets of controls, "Action Buttons" and "Option Menu":

Action Buttons
- Approve Video
- Reject Video
- Archive
Option Menu
- Edit Metadata
- Download Video
- Share Video
- Move To Library

If a button or option is not checked here, no user will have access to it. If it is checked, it is only available to users who have the related permission set in their user profile.

For example, if “Download Video” is enabled in the Action Settings and a user has permission to download assets from a media group, they will see that menu option. If a user does not have permission to download, they will not see that menu option in their Action Menus. However, if “Download Video” is disabled in the Action Settings, no users will see the option to download in their Action Menus.

List View - This view allows for management and review of large numbers of assets. It shows a small thumbnail of the asset with up to six metadata fields in a list view, and an Action menu icon.

North Shore recommends not including fields that may include long notes or descriptions, as they will negatively impact the alignment and “look” of the list.

Gallery View - This view displays thumbnails for each asset in a “contact sheet” layout. This view shows a medium-sized thumbnail of the asset in a box with only one metadata field and an Action menu icon. The metadata field is displayed in bold, and can be either the Title or filename field. For assets without a Title field, the filename is automatically used.

Results Paging - Enter values separated by the pipe (“|”) character here to control how many assets are displayed on each page. If you enter more than one value, users can choose between them by clicking on the numbered button at the top of the results display (e.g. values of "5|10|20" will allow users to choose between a results display of 5, 10, or 20 clips).

Library

The settings and options of the Library are identical to the Inbox section. For convenience of users using this manual as a reference, they are included the instructions below.

If you have read this section on the Inbox, there is no need to read the layout of the Library.

This section controls the look and behavior of the Library, including the metadata fields displayed, their order, and the options displayed in the Action Menu. There are three Library views - Summary, List, and Gallery - and you switch between them by clicking on the view icons at the upper-right corner of the window, next to the "Sort By" pull-down menus.

North Shore recommends displaying 4-to-6 fields. Adding more fields may affect the alignment of the layout.

If there is a Title entered for the asset, the Title is the first metadata field. For assets without a Title field, the filename is the first metadata field.

Action Settings - This section controls which actions are available to users when they click on the Action menu icon. There are two sets of controls, "Action Buttons" and "Option Menu":

Action Buttons
- Approve Video
- Reject Video
- Archive
Option Menu
- Edit Metadata
- Download Video
- Share Video
- Move To Library

If a button or option is not checked here, no user will have access to it. If it is checked, it is only available to users who have the related permission set in their user profile.

List View - This view allows for management and review of large numbers of assets. It shows a small thumbnail of the asset with up to six metadata fields in a list view, and an Action menu icon.

North Shore recommends not including fields that may include long notes or descriptions, as they will negatively impact the alignment and “look” of the list.

Shared Link

Akomi allows users to share a secure, expiring link to an asset (if they have permission to share that asset). The user enters an email address for the recipient, adds a note, and selects a time interval before the link expires.

The recipient can view the asset by clicking the link in the email sent from Akomi. Once the expiration date passes, the link is no longer functional and the recipient can no longer access the asset.

For more information on the use and administration of Shared Links, see the related section.

Video Overlay - These settings determine the look and behavior of the transparent overlay on the shared link media player. This overlay is dynamically displayed by the player and is not burnt into the video media.

The overlay allows you to track the source of video assets that may have been recorded off of the screen by a smartphone or other video camera. This is especially important for shared links, as they can be sent to users outside of your organization who may not respect your privacy and security practices.

Enable - Turns the overlay on or off.

Field - Chooses which field is displayed on the overlay. Options are:

User ID
Username
Full Name

Position - Chooses where the overlay displays the field data. Options are:

Top Left
Top Center
Top Right
Centered
Bottom Left
Bottom Center
Bottom Right

Size - Chooses the size of the overlay display. Options are:

Small
Medium
Large

Color - Chooses the color scheme of the overlay display. Options are:

Light On Dark
Dark On Light

Info Panel - This section sets which fields are displayed in the "Info" panel on the shared link display screen.

Shared Playlist

Akomi allows users to share a secure, expiring link to a playlist (if they have permission to share playlists). The user enters an email address for the recipient, adds a note, and selects a time interval before the link expires.

The recipient can view the playlist (and associated assets) by clicking the link in the email sent from Akomi. Once the expiration date passes, the link is no longer functional and the recipient can no longer access the playlist.

For more information on the use and administration of Shared Playlists, see the related section.

Video Overlay - These settings determine the look and behavior of the transparent overlay on the shared playlist media player. This overlay is dynamically displayed by the player and is not burnt into the video media.

Enable - Turns the overlay on or off.

Field - Chooses which field is displayed on the overlay. Options are:

User ID
Username
Full Name

Position - Chooses where the overlay displays the field data. Options are:

Top Left
Top Center
Top Right
Centered
Bottom Left
Bottom Center
Bottom Right

Size - Chooses the size of the overlay display. Options are:

Small
Medium
Large

Color - Chooses the color scheme of the overlay display. Options are:

Light On Dark
Dark On Light

Info Panel - This section sets which fields are displayed in the "Info" panel on the shared playlist display screen.

Help

Akomi has a Help section that is accessed when a user clicks the "Help" link in the upper-left corner of the Akomi window. All of the text in the Help section is editable, and may be replaced with any HTML-formatted text, images and or video links that will assist users in using the system.

By default, the Help section text includes a link to a PDF copy of the Akomi User Guide, hosted inside your Akomi server. There is also information on basic browser compatibility and troubleshooting.

Upload Forms

Akomi allows a user to upload video assets directly to the system. There is an “Upload” form, which is accessed by selecting "Upload" from the pull-down menu of Inbox or Library buttons located in the upper-left corner of the Akomi interface.

Assets imported directly to Akomi through the Upload form have no connection to CatDV (if CatDV is integrated).

For more information on the recommended Akomi proxy format, see the related section.

The Upload form is typically used for temporary assets in a review-and-approval workflow. It is also useful in organizations who use Akomi without an integrated MAM and need to upload all clips.

Most clients with CatDV integrated disable this feature for the Library, but may use it for the Inbox. That way a user can quickly upload a Work-in-Progress (WIP) version of an asset from any location, without having to have access to CatDV. This process may be automated by your integrator.

To allow users to upload assets to both Akomi and CatDV, please contact your dealer for information on North Shore’s High-Res upload products.

To configure the Upload form, start by clicking “Add New Field”. That will create a new field on the Upload form. To remove a field from the form, click the “Remove” button to the right of the selected field. To save changes to the Upload form, click on the "Save" button at the bottom of the panel.

Both the Inbox and Library Upload forms use the same set of fields.

Use the “-SELECT FIELD-” pull-down menu labeled to choose which Akomi field to add to the form. To require that users enter data into the field, click the “Required” checkbox. Field order is changed by dragging and dropping the order of the fields in this panel.

For fields that will display a set of metadata through a pull-down menu, users will be presented with the options that were configured in the Metadata>Field Mapping panel.

For more information on creating and editing Metadata Fieds, see the related section.

Email templates

Akomi sends out various notification emails to users and shared link/playlist recipients. This section sets the appearance of these emails.

Users only receive notifications for the Media Groups that they have access to. Managers and Admins are in all groups by design, so therefore they receive notifications for all Media Groups.

There is no way to set notifications by Media Group. If a User is a member of four Media Groups, they will receive notifications for all four groups.

The email notification messages are editable. You may enter your own plain or HTML formatted text. There are also several "Variables", which are replaced in the email with field metadata.

Each email template panel has 3 sections

The "Plain Text Version" pane - enter the text for the plain text version of the notification email
- The "HTML Version" pane - enter the text for the HTML version of the notification email
- The "List of available variables" - a list of the variables you can use in the notifications emails.

Inbox Links

An Inbox Links notification email is sent when a user shares an asset from the Inbox.

Library Links

A Library Links notification email is sent when a user shares an asset from the Library.

Playlist Email

A Playlist Email notification email is sent when a user shares a playlist from the Library.

Import Notification

An Import Notification notification email is sent each time an asset is added to a user's Inbox.

Import Notification emails are not sent for assets added to the Library, only for assets added to the Inbox.

Daily Digest Notification

An Daily Digest notification email is sent once per day, listing all assets added to a user's Inbox in the proceeding 24-hour period.

Each User can choose whether to receive email notifications in their User Profile.

Reports

Akomi includes five reports that allow Admins to monitor system usage and control asset or playlist sharing. Each report is presented as a list with several columns, and can be downloaded as a CSV file. Some reports have the option to filter the report.

To download the CSV file, click the "Export as CSV" link in the upper-right corner of the Akomi report window.

Usage Reporting

The Usage Reporting report is a list of all Akomi transactions. The list columns are:

Last Action
Clip ID
Name
Media Group
Views

You can filter this report by user, media group, and date.

User Transactions

The User Transactions report is a list of all Akomi user. The list columns are:

ID
Last Name
First Name
Username Last Login
IP Address
Report

Clicking the "View User Report" link to the right of each user shows a report of all transactions for that user. The list columns are:

- Timestamp
- Clip ID
- Name
- User
- Action

You can filter this report by date.

Approval Reporting

The Approval Reporting report is a list of Inbox media actions (Approved, Rejected, Archived, and Moved to Library). The list columns are:

Timestamp
Clip ID
Name
User
Action

You can filter this report by Username, Clip ID, Name (filename), and by date.

Ingest Report

The Ingest Report is a list of all assets added to Akomi. The list columns are:

Date/Time
Type
Size (in MB)
Description
- Click on the "+" icon at the right side of the Description to display the name of the related file.

You can filter this report by ingest type ("Automated File Import", "Automated File Update", "XML Update") and by date.

Sharing Reporting

The Sharing Report is a list of all assets and playlists shared from Akomi. The list columns are:

Sent
Date/Time
Type
Title
User
Recipients
Expiration
Actions

The Expiration column displays the shared link. The Expiration column shows the date the shared link expires or expired. The Actions column always shows an "Edit Date" link, which allows an Admin to extend or shorten the link sharing period. If the expiration date is in the future, the Action column also shows an "Expire Link" link, which immediately terminates the shared link.

You can filter this report by Username and by date.

Akomi API Reference

http://kb.northshoreautomation.com/akomi-portal/akomi-admin-guide-1/reference-guide/akomi-api-info