Download Materials
When creating final assets to fulfill a Source Request in Backlot, you may need certain materials to get started on your work. The new Download Materials feature in Backlot aggregates the specific assets needed on one easy-to-use page.
Continue reading, or watch the video below for a full overview of the features.
Table of Contents
Accessing Download Materials
There are two ways to access Download Materials from the dashboard.
- On a single Source Request, select the "i" icon to go to the Source Request Details page. This will allow you to download materials for a single request.
- Or select multiple Source Requests, then click the download arrow icon from the toolbar that appears at the bottom of the page. This will allow you to download materials in “bulk” across several requests.
Discover Assets
Download Materials consists of the following sections that provide a swift and easy way to discover, filter, sort, and gain context across all available Asset Types:
1. Asset List
2. Groups
3. Actions
4. The Asset Details panel will open if a file is selected in the Asset List.
Groups
The left-side Groups section provides a quick way to filter specific assets in the Asset List.
My Downloaded displays only those assets where you have initiated a download. This assumes the download was successful. It could also reveal “Downloaded” when the transfer is initiated but the download did not complete. In a future update, we will extend this functionality to show only when download is complete.
Newly Added/Updated displays only the assets that have been delivered or have had a QC status update in the last 7 calendar days.
All Available Materials displays only the assets that are available to download.
All is the default group view for the Asset List. All possible materials are grouped by Asset Type, showing both those available for download and those that are not.
- Selecting an Asset Type under "All" will filter the Asset List to only show that specific Asset Type.
- Asset Types that have files available to download have a number count next to them, indicating the total number of files available.
- Asset Types with grayed-out text indicate that there is no downloadable material available at this time.
- Asset Types with no available files will also not have checkboxes in the Asset List, another indication that there are no materials to download at this time.
Asset List
"Asset Type/Title" Column
- The Asset Type/Title column displays assets grouped by their Asset Type.
- Expand and collapse an Asset Type by selecting the arrow icon in its row.
"File Name" Column
- The File Name column displays the original file name as it was provided to Netflix.
"QC Status" Column
- Applicable assets will be marked with a QC label in the QC status column
- QC Pending - The audio asset(s) have not yet been QCed or has failed QC and is pending new assets and another QC review.
- Ready for Mix - The audio asset(s) have passed QC.
"Newly Added" Column
- The “Newly Added” column will display a label when there is an asset that has been delivered or has had a QC status update in the last 7 calendar days. Assets with this label are also filtered by the Newly Added/Updated group.
"Downloaded" Column
- The “Downloaded” column will display a label when there is an asset that has a previously initiated download. Files with this label are also filtered by the My Downloaded group.
- If a newer version of this asset type is delivered, the “Downloaded” label will remove itself.
Please note that the Asset List will display the "Downloaded" label when a download has been initiated. It does not necessarily indicate that the download has completed (at this time).
Normally, our Proxy files are created in advance and ready for download. In some rare instances, the Proxy pool will be depleted of available assets and upon initiating a download, we will need to generate a watermarked Proxy on-demand. These assets will be labeled as "Processing" in the Downloaded column until the file has completed processing and is ready to download. You will also receive an email notification when it is ready for download.
"Delivered On" Column
- “Delivered On” column will show when the file was delivered and processed into the Netflix ecosystem. This timestamp will not match the creation date & time of the asset.
Asset List Actions
There are additional actions that you can take to further customize the display of information in the Asset List.
- Use the "Collapse/Expand All" button to open or close all Asset Types in the Asset List.
- Columns can be resized by dragging the edge of its header.
- Columns can be reordered by dragging a column header to its desired placement.
Each column is filterable in two ways. Hover over a column and select the hamburger icon for options.
The text field allows filtering by using any word in an entry in that column.
The filter icon allows the filtering of what’s displayed by any values that are present in the column.
Use the “Reset Filters” button to reset the Asset List to its defaults.
Asset Details
Each individual file has detailed context that can be accessed by selecting the file in the Asset List and opening the right-side Asset Details panel.
The Detail tab displays important metadata about the actual file. Video assets support the ability to play preview proxies directly from the Detail tab.
The player can be controlled in a variety of ways.
1. Click and drag or “scrub” the playhead to any location within the video.
2. Toggle mute on and off.
3. Seek back for a set amount of seconds within the video. The default duration is one second, and can be customized using the “Seek Duration” feature. (see 9).
4. Seek back 1 frame.
5. Play or pause the video.
6. Seek forward 1 frame.
7. Seek forward for a set amount of seconds within the video. The default duration is one second, and can be customized using the “Seek Duration” feature (see 9).
8. The Language Options menu allows you to configure the audio playback language and subtitles for available languages of Final Proxy Asset Types. The Language Options icon will be inactive and greyed out for other video assets.
9. The Seek Duration setting allows you to change the number of seconds that the Seek Forward and Back buttons will advance you in the video. The default value is 1 second.
10. Toggle full screen playback.
The Update History tab tracks the version history of this Asset Type.
- If the Asset Type also qualifies for QC, the QC history will be displayed.
The Download History tab lists all download activity for a given partner, so you can not only see what you have downloaded, but also what your colleagues have downloaded. It displays username, version, and date & time stamps for the download.
- If you have downloaded this Asset Type, you can filter to “Show My Downloads Only” and see which past version(s) you have downloaded.
Download
There are multiple ways to select assets to download.
- Select all available assets by marking the checkbox in the top-left corner of the Asset Type/Title column.
- Select all assets of a specific type by marking the checkbox of an Asset Type.
- Select individual assets by marking the checkbox in its row.
Please note, Download Materials only provides download access for the most current version of each Asset Type.
Once selected, the asset count is reflected in the top-right corner of the screen. Select the “Download” button to begin transfer.
A download can also be initiated from the Asset Details panel. Only this asset will be downloaded, even If other assets are selected for download in the Asset List.
If the Proxy pool is depleted of available assets, we will need to generate a watermarked Proxy on-demand. The Asset Detail panel will display that the file is "Not Available”. Selecting the blue button will initiate the encoding process and a yellow "Processing" label will appear until the Proxy is ready to download.
You will receive an email notification when the watermarked Proxy is ready for download.
