Closed Captioning with Kaltura - Manual Setup

Closed Captioning Kaltura videos with CaptionSync is easy using our integration. This tutorial describes how to manually set up CaptionSync's integration with Kaltura.
NOTE: While this method of setting up the Kaltura integration is supported, we strongly recommend following the instructions to configure the automated Kaltura setup with CaptionSync instead of the manual configuration described in this tutorial.

If your Kaltura system is already integrated with one CaptionSync account, and you're looking to enable the integration for another account, please read this article about configuring the Kaltura integration instead.

Tutorial:

Configure your Kaltura account:

• Log into the Kaltura KMC, and verify that your Kaltura account is enabled with the new caption features that are part of the Eagle release of the Kaltura SaaS Edition. When you double-click an entry in your Content entry table, you should see a Captions tab on the lower left, and you should have edit permissions to the fields on this tab. If you do not see this tab or cannot make edits, please contact your Kaltura account manager to have the features enabled.

• Add two new categories to your account: a top-level category called CaptionSync and a subcategory called Requested. These can be set up in the KMC under Content -> Categories.
  Important Note: The integration is case sensitive. Ensure the categories are properly named: CaptionSync and Requested .

• Go to Content -> Playlists -> Add Rule Based Playlist, and create a playlist that will include all videos that you want to be captioned. The playlist can be called Caption Playlist, and is created by selecting the Requested category that you created earlier, and then clicking Save.

• Go to Content -> Syndicate -> Create New Feed to create a feed that is based on the playlist. Select the following: only content from the Caption Playlist; Feed Type should be Google; Content Flavor should be SD/Small - WEB/MBL (H264/900) (flavor ID 487061). For Landing Page, insert the domain of your organization, followed by ?videoid= (e.g., http://www.yourcompany.com?videoid= ).

• Once the feed is created, the Syndication Feeds list will show the full URL of the feed under the Feed URL column. Later you will need to copy this URL and save it in your CaptionSync account.

Configure your CaptionSync account:

• Log into CaptionSync, go to Settings -> Account Features, select Enable my account for Kaltura Integration from the drop-down menu, and click Request Account Feature. You will receive an email updating you about the feature status. Note that if you don't see Kaltura on the "Account Feature to Add" drop-down menu, it's already enabled.

• In the meantime, in your KMC, go to Settings -> Integration Settings, and copy your Partner ID and your Administrator Secret.

• Once you're notified that the feature is enabled, go back to your CaptionSync account, go to Settings -> Kaltura, paste the Partner ID and Administrator Secret into the appropriate fields and click Manually Set Up. On the next screen, you need to add the RSS Feed URL (found under Content -> Syndication).
  

Requesting Captions:

• Log into the Kaltura KMC, go to Content -> Entries, select all the videos you wish to have captioned, and, at the bottom of the screen, click More Actions -> Add/Remove Categories -> Add to Categories. From the Categories popup window, scroll to CaptionSync, select the Requested category, and then click Apply:

Viewing the Status of the Request:

Go to Content -> Entries and toggle between the Requested, In Process, and Complete categories. CaptionSync checks for caption requests periodically, so there is some delay, but when the category is changed to In Process, work has begun.

When captions are complete (with results on Kaltura), the status will change to Complete. Unless you have disabled email notifications, you will also receive an email from CaptionSync.

To see details of a request, cancel it or to submit a redo, log into CaptionSync and go to Captioning -> Status of Submissions. You may also use the Kaltura ID to track the status of your submissions by pasting the ID at the end of https://web.automaticsync.com/show_details.php?ka_id= URL; then copy and paste the URL in your browser.

Once captions are associated with a video, you can turn captions on/off in any of Kaltura's accessible players. Two common player templates for captions are Captions for Accessibility and Captions Over Video.

Additional Notes:

• If you have a Purchase Order account, a valid Purchase Order needs to be set before you make any requests from Kaltura. If there isn’t a default Purchase Order set, the most recent valid one will be used. If there aren’t any valid Purchase Orders, all captioning requests will be rejected.

• To enable the integration for more than one account, or make expedited transcription requests from your Kaltura system, read this article about configuring the Kaltura integration.

• The above tutorial covers the integration between CaptionSync and the commercially licensed Kaltura editions (SaaS, On-Prem, and Cloud Editions). The integration between CaptionSync and the Kaltura Community Edition (the free and open-source self-hosted version) is untested. However, the steps/settings below should work with Kaltura CE v5.0 or higher.