• How do I setup a VideoCast?
• How do I contact ORS and CIT?
• Is there a fee to have my event VideoCast?
• How do I get a CIT Account Code?
• Can I request a Podcast?
• Can I use Adobe Connect for my event? Will slides look better or will it cost less than VideoCasting?
• Can viewers send comments during a live VideoCast?
• I'm using slides. Will they show up clearly on the VideoCast?
• Can I VideoCast from my conference room or a hotel?
• Can I synchronize live video to PowerPoint web images?
• Can I have a tape or DVD added to the VideoCast archive?
• I need to give a presentation. Are there self-help VideoCasts?
• Can CIT convert VideoCasts for YouTube or host Windows Media, QuickTime or Flash videos?
• Do I need captions?
• Can I get statistics for my VideoCast?
• Can I put links on my web page so each speaker has a portion of the video they appear in?

How do I setup a VideoCast?

NIH clients schedule VideoCasts

• NIH stakeholders (all 27 Institutes and Centers)
• Customer Billing - contact AO to
  • get a CIT Account number for CIT live streaming and archiving services
  • get a CAN number for ORS camera work, captions and video distribution services
• Contact NIH Events Management (ORS) to
  • Obtain work order number
  • Route live video and captions to CIT
• Schedule the event at http://videocast.nih.gov/info
  • Provide event details such as the title, description, date and time etc

HHS clients schedule VideoCasts

• HHS stakeholders (ACF, AoA, AHRQ, ATSDR, CDC, CMS, FDA, HHS, HRSA, IHS, PSC, and SAMHSA)
• Customer Billing - contact AO/Funding Official to
  • Establish an Inter Agency Agreement (IAA) with ORS
• Contact NIH Events Management (ORS) to
  • Obtain work order number
  • Route live video and captions to CIT
• Schedule the event at http://videocast.nih.gov/info using ORS CIT Account number for billing
  • Provide event details such as the title, description, date and time
• CIT Billing
  • CIT bills ORS directly for streaming services

How do I contact ORS and CIT?

ORS - Contact NIH Events Management (301-496-4700) for an estimate and work order number so they can provide room support and send CIT live video and captioning for the VideoCast.

CIT - Contact CIT Video Services (301-594-8433) for streaming and Podcast services. Please try to contact us at least two weeks in advance of the VideoCast.

Is there a fee to have my event VideoCast?

You need to make arrangements in advance with CIT to pay for streaming services and with ORS to pay for camera work, captioning  and room support.

ORS - Camera and caption rates are at http://dems.ors.od.nih.gov/multimediaServices.htm. Please call 301-496-4700 for an estimate and work order number so ORS can send CIT live video and captioning for the VideoCast.

CIT - Live VideoCast encoding and archiving is $273 per hour. Podcasting is optional at $117 per hour.

How do I get a CIT Account Code?

A CIT Account Code is required for all billable accounts. A CIT account code is tied to a CAN, but centralizes account management with the CIT Financial Management Office. A CIT account takes the form of 3 letters, or 3 letters and a number (e.g. ABC or ABC1).

If you do not know your CIT Account Code, contact the person responsible for CANs in your office, possibly your Administrative Officer.

If you need a new CIT Account Code set up, please fill out the attached form and return it to the NIH/CIT/Financial Mgmt Office as indicated on the form.

CIT Account Code Request Form: Download the CIT Account Request Form (PDF, 158 kb)

• Requesting Institute/Center (IC) - IC requesting the new account.
• Primary/Alternate Sponsor - The Sponsors are federal employees. The Primary/Alternate Sponsors are responsible for the management of the account being issued and for the proper professional use of their account and users. They will add and remove users, change sponsors, titles and CANs when necessary. The sponsors and deregistration officials are assigned by the IC at their discretion. Since the account officials can be responsible for budgetary and financial issues, the appointed person many not be a contractor.
• Deregistration Officials - Government employee designated to be responsible for the accuracy of computer access information.
• Account Information: Account/Project Title - Means of identifying the account or what it's being used for. Common Account # (CAN) - Every IC at NIH uses CANs as the mechanism to pay for services. Each CIT account number that is opened for NIH customers has one CAN associated with it for billing of services provided by CIT.
• Authorization - Sponsor's signature
• Send the completed form to the NIH/CIT/Financial Mgmt Office as indicated on the form.

Can I request a Podcast?

CIT can make your event available for download so viewers can access content whenever they want from portable media players. The service includes video and audio files, an RSS feed for programs such as iTunes, a Podcast web portal directly linked to the NIH VideoCast page and a link to USA.gov Podcasting. CIT offers enhanced Podcasting. We can create video files with chapter markers and hyperlinks or video files with still images at a higher resolution in place of the video along with hyperlinks. Enhanced audio Podcasts have still images at a smaller resolution with hyperlinks. For more information, go the Podcast FAQ. CIT's standard Podcast fee is $117 per hour.

Can I use Adobe Connect for my event? Will slides look better or will it cost less than VideoCasting?

Sometimes it costs less to run and record a Connect session and the slides are much clearer than a VideoCast. Adobe Connect meetings can also be shown from the VideoCast page without users needing to logon. VideoCast with Adobe Connect. For more details contact CIT's Web Collaboration Team

Can viewers send comments during a live VideoCast?

CIT has developed a live event feedback form that can forward requests to a specified email address. Messages can be retrieved in real time at your event with your notebook or wireless handheld.

Sample Live Event Feedback Form

I'm using slides. Will they show up clearly on the VideoCast?

Slides can be very hard to read on a VideoCast screen. Some ways of alleviating the problem are to:

• Set your font as large as possible.
• Use 24pt type or larger for bulleted items and any additional text on the slide, with 30pt type or larger for headings.
• Have plenty of white space between groupings of text.
• Avoid more than three bulleted items on a single slide.
• Make graphics as large as possible, but try to keep your slides uncluttered.

Figure 1. A white background with large dark text limited to a few words on three or less bullets looks best.For other ideas for making your slides more readable, contact CIT Video Services.

Can I VideoCast from my conference room or a hotel?

CIT can VideoCast your event from your conference room. You can connect your existing video conference equipment over ISDN or IP. Multiple far sites can join the VideoCast via the DHHS Video Bridge.

Video from a conference room

CIT can VideoCast your event from a hotel or off-site location with our mobile encoder.

Video from a hotel

Please contact CIT Video Services for more information.

Can I synchronize live video to PowerPoint web images?

CIT uses Adobe Connect to synchronize live video to PowerPoint web images. Flash Player version 9 is a free download that is already on most computers.

Example Video with synchronized PowerPoint slides

Can I have a tape or DVD added to the VideoCast archive?

Yes. Contact CIT Video Services to see about having your tape or DVD added to the archive.

I need to give a presentation. Are there self-help VideoCasts?

Yes - please review Help! I Have to Give a Presentation!! from the NIH Work Life Center and Creating a Memorable Speech (HHS Only) from the GMAC Subcommittee on Training.

Can CIT convert VideoCasts for YouTube or host Windows Media, QuickTime or Flash videos?

If you want CIT to convert and host your VideoCast to other formats or help you add your VideoCast to the NIH Youtube Channel or HHS Youtube Channel, contact CIT Video Services to discuss your needs. You must coordinate all uploads to YouTube with your IC's communications office.

Do I need captions?

VideoCasts require captions for Section 508 compliance. For more information, visit http://508.hhs.gov/508_policy.htm#1211SubpartBTechnicalStandards

§ 1194.24 Video and multimedia products.

All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission, regardless of format, that contain speech or other audio information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be open or closed captioned.

Can I get statistics for my VideoCast?

If you need to know how many connections your VideoCast had, please contact CIT Video Services. You can request standard or advanced statistics. Standard stats are numbers for live and archived video. Advanced stats include a RealServer log report in Adobe Acrobat format with time stamps, IP addresses, bytes sent, total for ISP, total for country, grand total bytes sent and total requests.

Can I put links on my web page so each speaker has a portion of the video they appear in?

Web authors can add syntax to their web page with start/stop times so each speaker has a link to the portion of the video that they appear in. An example is at http://biowulf.nih.gov/symposium The link is made to the .ram file, which is a small text file you can download from our Past Events section. Content owners use a text editor such as Notepad to set the start and stop times for each presenter. "00:00:00:00" = "day:hour:minute:second"

rtsp://servername.nih.gov/folder/filename.rm?start="00:00:00:00"&end="00:00:00:00"

Figure 1. Sample text syntax allows web authors to create custom video links on their web page.