Millisecond Forums

Cannot upload video files to server

https://forums.millisecond.com/Topic17542.aspx

By audiosophy - 10/30/2015

I am trying to upload some video files to the server, but I am getting the 505 error:

This video is just 25 mb. It is an approximately 3 min movie that I am using as an experimental manipulation

http://www.millisecond.com/forums/uploads/images/81391fe6-09cf-4a0c-a3c3-cff2.jpg
By Dave - 10/30/2015

What's the file type / file extension of that video?
By audiosophy - 10/30/2015

I tried it with a .mov and a .wmv - neither work
By Dave - 10/30/2015

Okay, thanks. Trying to figure out whether the size is the issue or whether something else is going on?
- Are you able to upload any *small* MOVs or WMVs or do they throw errors as well?
- What are the full file names of the videos you are trying to upload? Do they contain any special characters?
- Have you changed your account password recently? If so, have you tried logging out and back in prior to uploading?
By audiosophy - 10/30/2015

the files are labelled, for example, neutral_video.mov so only an underscore. 

And yes, I just tried to upload a a shorter video which only measured 2mbs and that did upload. 

So is this a file size problem? If so, what are my options? 
By Dave - 10/30/2015

Great, thanks. Looks like it's the size then.
What you can do unilaterally:
- Decrease size of the videos if possible (1 or 2 MB less should be sufficient; ~25MB is right around the current upload cap).
- If you have your own webspace available, you can host your videos there (they need not reside on the millisecond.com server). I.e., it is perfectly possible to do

<item myvideoitems>
/ 1 = "http://www.myserver.com/mydirectory/myvideo.wmv"
...
</item>

If neither of the above is viable, we can increase the upload limit.
By audiosophy - 10/30/2015

Ok thanks for letting me know. I will re-render them. However, before I do, and attempt to upload them, I am wondering whether the next problem will be the total experiment size?

I have 3 conditions in my study (of which participants receive only one). Each of these has both a mov and wmv associated with it (to solve the codex issues), so that's 6 videos of around 20 mbs each. Will that 120mb total go over the total experiment limit? 

Also, am I right in thinking that even though participants only receive one of the six videos, they will still have download the entire set to run the experiment?

It is these kinds of difficulties  that lead me to think streaming a video in a html window would be a much better option, but as we were discussing in the other thread, there seems to be a very inconsistent performance from Inquisit's web player in doing that.  
By seandr - 10/30/2015

I just published an update to the file uploader, so you should no longer see that error with a 25MB file. (Please let me know if it persists.)

The quota for all combined files in the experiment is currently set at 40MB, but you'll see an informative error message if your upload would exceed it.

If you have access to another web server, you could host them video files there and edit your script so that Inquisit downloads them from your server. 

As for streaming, this will be supported in Inquisit 5.

Thanks,
Sean
By audiosophy - 10/30/2015

Thanks for the reply Sean. Unfortunately I do not have access to my own server, so does this mean it is simply not possible to run this experiment with Inquisit 4?
By audiosophy - 11/1/2015

OK, while I wait for your reply to the last question (which I am intuiting is a no), I thought I'd ask one final question on this topic – addressed to either Dave or Sean, or any one else that has had any experience: if I do get my own server space and upload the video stimuli to that, will my participants still need to download ALL the videos associated with the experiment? or will it work (hopefully) that only the videos associated with the assigned experimental condition (1, 2 or 3) and detected operating system (win or mac) get downloaded? If it is the former, which will entail an 120mb download, then I really see no way of making this kind of study work with Inquisit (I can already see the mTurk lynch mob finding a suitable tree). If it is the latter  (a 20mb download) then that is much more feasible and I can see this study working. 

Thanks for your time/advice,

By Dave - 11/1/2015

Given your script's setup

<include>
/ precondition = [computer.platform=="win"]
/ file = "win_vids.iqx"
</include>

<include>
/ precondition = [computer.platform=="mac"]
/ file = "mac_vids.iqx"
</include>

*all* videos referenced in "win_vids.iqx" will be downloaded to Windows systems, but not those referenced in "mac_vids.iqx".

Conversely, *all* files in "mac_vids.iqx" will be downloaded to Macs, but not those referenced in "win_vids.iqx".

If you wanted to restrict this further to only those files pertaining to the given participant's condition, you'd have to extend the conditional <include> logic accordingly. See the attached example based on your script; I've shortened the trial duration and substituted the <video> elements with <text> elements for illustration purposes. It works the same with the actual videos and duration.

On an unrelated note, I'd recommend revising your <data> element:

<data>
/file = "/Users/myninja/Documents/Sussex/PhD/Awe Project/Experiment 3/Data/Manipulation/Manipulation_rawdata.iqdat"
/ columns = [date, time, subject, group, stimulusnumber, stimulusitem, stimulusitem, stimulusitem]
/separatefiles = true
</data>

The file path referenced above *will not* exist on participants' system which can lead to issues, potentially even data loss.
By audiosophy - 11/1/2015

Whooo great! that is some ninja coding right there - thanks so much. Will get some server space, test it out and report back :) 
By audiosophy - 11/1/2015

And yeah, the local data path was left there as this was just a test script, I will remove for the proper experiment.
By audiosophy - 11/4/2015

Ok I have got my own server now and would like to link these videos in. I have saved all 7 iqx files to implement the include logic. I am having trouble playing the video though. 

Each of the video include item files looks something like this:

<item video_items>
/ 1 = "http://existlab.x10host.com/videos/neutral_video.mov"
</item>

But all I am getting is the text but not file located at this address.

I have also tried it with ftp instead of http before the url. Any ideas?


By Dave - 11/5/2015

The string (URL) in the <item> element is interpreted as text because your script ( http://www.millisecond.com/myaccount/scripts/astell/manipulation/manipulation.iqx ) has <text> elements using that <item> element.

<text awe_video>
/ items = video_items
/ size = (100%, 100%)
/ erase = true(255, 255, 255)
</text>

<text amusement_video>
/ items = video_items
/ size = (100%, 100%)
/ erase = true(255, 255, 255)
</text>

<text neutral_video>
/ items = video_items
/ size = (100%, 100%)
/ erase = true(255, 255, 255)
</text>

Those ought to be <video> elements of course as I have pointed out in my previous reply when I gave you the example: "I've shortened the trial duration and substituted the <video> elements with <text> elements for illustration purposes. It works the same with the actual videos and duration."

So: (1) Change the <text> elements back to <video> elements and (2) set the /trialduration back to the required value.
By audiosophy - 11/6/2015

Gotcha, sorry I forgot that had been changed. Thanks again.