Publish a video layer
To use a video's spatial information in a map, it must first be published as a hosted video layer.
Download the video
First, you'll download a video showing a facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Then, you'll sign in to your ArcGIS Enterprise portal and access ArcGIS Excalibur, which you'll use to publish the video to ArcGIS Video Server.
- Download the cheyenne-inspection zipped folder.
- Locate the downloaded folder on your computer and unzip it to a location you can easily remember, such as your Documents folder.
Note:
Depending on your web browser, you may have been prompted to choose the file's location before you began the download. Most browsers download to your computer's Downloads folder by default.
The extracted folder contains a single file: cheyenne-inspection.mpg. A .mpg file is a type of video file.
- Sign in to your ArcGIS Enterprise portal using a named user account.
Note:
To complete this tutorial, your Enterprise account must have the Publish Video role privilege. If you don't have this privilege, contact the administrator of your Enterprise portal.
- On the portal home page, on the ribbon, click the apps button and choose Excalibur.
The Excalibur home page appears.
Publish the video as a hosted layer
Next, you'll publish the video you downloaded as a hosted video layer on ArcGIS Video Server using ArcGIS Excalibur. Once the video is published as a hosted layer, it can be used in other enterprise GIS software.
- On the Excalibur home page, click the Publish Layer button.
Tip:
Alternatively, you can click Publish New: Hosted Web Layers.
First, you're asked the type of hosted web layer you want to create. Excalibur can be used to host imagery layers, observation layers, or video layers.
- For Video Layer, click the arrow.
Note:
If your Enterprise environment is not configured to publish video layers, you will not see the option to publish video layers. To learn how to configure your environment for this, please see Federate an ArcGIS Video Server site with ArcGIS Enterprise portal.
You're prompted to provide some basic metadata about your video layer.
- Set the following information:
- For Title, type Latest Damage Assessment around Facility of Interest and add your name or initials to ensure the title is unique.
- For Summary, type This video can be used to analyze structural damage in and around a facility of interest in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
- For Tags, type Aerial Video.
- For Share to the Organization, choose Yes.
- Click Next.
You can choose to create a video layer from a single video file, or from a combination of video file and metadata files. Your video is a single .mpg file, so single video file is the appropriate choice.
- Check Video Layer from a Single Video File.
- Click Next.
Next, you'll choose the file to upload.
- Click Browse to select or drop files here for upload. Browse to and double-click cheyenne-inspection.mpg.
The file is added to the page. The total upload size is listed. Your file has an upload size of about 77 MB.
You can choose the output video resolutions. Video layers are encoded with different resolutions if ArcGIS Video Server has GPU resources on the machine where it is hosted. If GPU resources are not available, only the source resolution is available when publishing.
A video layer can have a lower resolution than its source but cannot have a higher resolution. The original video has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, so you'll choose a resolution to match.
- For Select the desired output video resolutions, check Full High Definition.
- Click Next.
Your video layer is ready for publishing.
- Click Ready to publish your new video layer.
A message informs you when publishing is finished. Your new hosted video layer is ready for use. The video layer is stored in your account's content and can be accessed by anyone in your organization.
- Optionally, in a new browser tab, navigate to your Enterprise portal home page. On the ribbon, click Content.
Your video layer is available as an item in your account.
- On the ArcGIS Excalibur browser tab, click Connect to Canvas.
The video layer is added to a new exploitation canvas, where it can be interacted with and analyzed. By default, the exploitation canvas has two panels: the Map Panel, which shows a map of the location where the video was taken, and the Focus Panel, which shows the video.
Tip:
You can also add a video layer to an exploitation canvas from your Content page. Click the name of the video layer to go to its details page. Then, click Open in ArcGIS Excalibur.
You've successfully published a video file to Video Server as a hosted video layer. Now, the video can be used alongside maps and other spatial data for analysis in Excalibur.
Analyze a video layer
Now that you've published a video layer, you'll analyze it. The video shows an aerial inspection of a facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming. You'll compare the video to an imagery map of the same area to inspect the facility's rooftops for damage, debris, or other unexpected differences. You'll annotate the differences and capture a screenshot to share with others.
Watch the video
First, you'll change the basemap to show satellite imagery. Then, you'll play the video and compare it to the imagery on the map.
- In Excalibur, in the Map Panel, click Basemaps. In the Basemap window, choose Imagery.
The basemap changes.
- Close the Basemap window.
The imagery depicts the facility from the top down.
- In the Focus Panel, click the Play video button.
The video plays. As it does, the map updates to show the location of the sensor capturing the video (the circle) and the location it is capturing (the polygon). A dotted line follows the sensor, showing its path.
- Watch the video to the end and observe how the map changes over time.
Is there any visible debris on the facility rooftops in the video? To help you answer that question, you'll use video analysis tools in Excalibur.
Capture a video frame
Several analysis tools can be used in the Map Panel when working with video layers, including tools to measure, count, or create reports on elements of the video.
You'll use a tool to capture a specific video frame, allowing you to compare what is seen in the video to what is seen in the imagery.
- Play the video again. At the 00:22 mark, click the Pause video button.
Tip:
Alternatively, pause the video at any time and drag the time slider to 00:22.
Some of the white cylindrical structures visible in this frame appear to have debris on top of them or are possibly damaged. You'll capture this frame for comparison.
- Above the Focus Panel, click Tools and choose Capture Video Frame.
- In the Capture Video Frame panel, click Capture.
The video frame is captured and displayed as a preview.
Note:
If you do not see a preview of the image, it's possible your browser is experiencing a security error and won't allow the image to be downloaded. If so, resolve any certificate errors before proceeding.
You can choose to view the frame on the map or download it. You'll view it on the map to compare it to the satellite imagery.
- Confirm that View on map is chosen and click Submit.
A notification verifies that the video frame has been added to the map. At the map's current extent, the video frame may be difficult to see, so you'll navigate to it.
- Above the Capture Video Frame panel, click Layers. For Captured Video Frames, click the Actions button.
- Click Zoom To.
The Map Panel zooms to the extent of the captured video frame.
To view the frame better, you'll turn off layers on the map that show the sensor's line of sight and the outline of the frame.
- In the Focus Panel, click the Update video layer graphics button.
- Uncheck Sensor Sight Line, Frame Outline, and Frame Center.
The map now shows the video frame unobstructed.
- Click the Layers button. For Captured Video Frames, click the Hide Layer button.
The video frame is hidden on the map.
- Show and hide the Captured Video Frames layer to compare the video frame to the imagery.
The video frame is not fully orthorectified, but it is similar enough to the imagery to compare.
There are some major differences between the video frame and the imagery. Some structures are missing in the imagery but are present in the video frame. Some structures also appear to have damage or debris. The imagery is more recent than the video, so some of these structures may have been removed.
Mark up the map
Now that you've compared the imagery to the video, you'll mark up the map to annotate structures that are damaged, covered in debris, or missing entirely.
- Confirm that the video frame is hidden on the map and that you are still zoomed to the area of interest around the facility.
- Click Tools and choose Mark Up.
You can mark up the map with points, lines, polygons, rectangles, or text. You'll use points to mark missing or damaged structures.
- In the Mark Up panel, click the Click to add a point button.
Before you add points to the map, you'll change their size and color.
- For Size, type 16. For Fill, choose the blue color or type #1E90FF.
- In the Map Panel, click a structure that appears to be missing in the imagery compared to the video frame, such as the location in the example image:
- In the Mark Up panel, click the Click to add a point button. Change the following parameters:
- For Size, type 16.
- For Fill, type #1E90FF.
- In the Map Panel, click another structure that appears to be missing in the imagery compared to the video frame.
- Optionally, add more points with the same parameters for structures that appear to be damaged or covered in debris in the video, but not the imagery.
Note:
Your mark up doesn't have to match the example image.
You'll draw a rectangle around the structures to visually group them. You intend to capture a screenshot of this area to share with others, so you'll also add a text for more context.
- In the Mark Up panel, click the Click and drag to draw the rectangle button.
- For Outline, type #1E90FF. Change Fill Transparency to 100% Transparent.
- In the Map Panel, draw a rectangle around the points you added.
- In the Mark Up panel, click the Click to define the text location button.
- For Label, type The marked structures are either damaged, covered in debris, or missing when compared to the video. For Color, type #FFFFFF.
- In the Map Panel, add the text above the rectangle you drew.
You've now marked up the map with the findings of your comparison between the video frame and the imagery.
Capture a screenshot
You'll capture a screenshot of your marked-up map, which you can download and share with others involved on the project.
- Click Tools and choose Screenshot.
- In the Screenshot panel, click Draw area.
- In the Map Panel, draw a rectangle that covers the entire map extent.
A preview of the area you indicated appears in the Screenshot panel.
Tip:
If you're not satisfied with the preview, click Redraw to draw the screenshot extent again.
Next, you'll download the screenshot.
- For Options, confirm that Download is chosen. For File Name, type Facility Structures Analysis.
- Click Submit.
Your screenshot is downloaded.
- Locate the downloaded screenshot on your computer and open it.
This file can be shared with other members of the inspection and used in presentations or briefings.
If you want to be able to access your Excalibur project again, you can save it.
- In ArcGIS Excalibur, click Save. In the Create an Excalibur Project window, enter the following information:
- For Title, type Facility Structures Analysis.
- For Folder Name, confirm that Facility Structures Analysis is populated by default.
- For Project Instructions, type Inspect the differences between a video and imagery of the facility.
- For Summary, type A comparison between video and imagery of a facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
- For Tags, type Aerial video.
- Set Sharing Level to Organization.
- Click Create Project.
Your project is saved for later access.
In this tutorial, you published a hosted video layer to ArcGIS Video Server. After you published the video, you used ArcGIS Excalibur to explore and analyze it side-by-side with satellite imagery of the same area. You marked up your findings and exported them as a screenshot to share with others.
Video layers hosted in Video Server can be accessed and reused by anyone with whom they are shared. The video in this tutorial can be repurposed for different uses at any time.
You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.
