Hello dear Webgate.io community,

We are excited to introduce a new feature that enhances your video viewing experience with Webgate.io even further: AirPlay support! From now on, all Webgate.io projects come with AirPlay functionality by default. This means you can easily stream videos from your iPhone, iPad or Mac to an AirPlay-enabled TV or Apple TV.

How does it work?
With the new AirPlay support, you can enjoy your Webgate.io videos directly on the big screen. Video controls such as play, pause, frame-by-frame navigation, and all familiar shortcuts work as usual from the controlling device (e.g. iPhone or iPad). Currently, the AirPlay feature is only available for the web version of Webgate.io and is not accessible through the iOS app.

Security and Control
We understand that security is a top priority for many of you. Rest assured, all embedded watermarks remain intact in the videos, ensuring that your content stays optimally protected. If you prefer not to use the AirPlay functionality for security reasons, you have the option to disable AirPlay in the project settings.

Why is this useful?
Thanks to the AirPlay feature, you can now view dailies and videos directly on your TV, freeing you from being tied to a computer. This provides a convenient way to review videos in a larger format and to discuss them with your team or clients.

Try out the new AirPlay feature today and experience the benefits for yourself! We look forward to your feedback and are eager to hear how you like this new feature.

Best regards,
Your Webgate.io Team

Published at: September 02, 2024 10:00 AM

AirPlay Support Now Availab...

Dear Webgate.io Community,

We are excited to introduce a new feature that makes your picture and video reviews with Webgate.io even more intuitive and efficient: the overlay player for galleries and playlists! Similar to the macOS operating system, the file manager of Webgate.io now gives you the option to either use a quick preview with the Space Bar or open the full view with a double-click.

Overlay Player for Playlists
To open the overlay player for a playlist, simply select the desired playlist and press the Space Bar on your keyboard or click the eye icon. The playlist, along with all its clips, will open in the overlay player without reloading the page. You can still use the shortcuts for playlist navigation and enter timecodes. Any existing comments will be displayed in the timeline. Advanced features like commenting or user management remain hidden in the overlay player. To close the overlay, just press the ESC key.

Gallery Preview in the Overlay
You can now also open galleries directly in the overlay. All gallery shortcuts are available to you, and by pressing the Space Bar, the gallery switches to playback mode. Pressing the ESC key will close the gallery again.

File View
Objects such as image files or PDFs that can be opened directly on Webgate.io and are marked with an eye icon can now also be viewed by pressing the Space Bar.

Why is this useful?
The new overlay preview functionality allows you to efficiently navigate through various playlists, galleries, PDFs, and images, making it easier to review your content quickly. This not only saves time but also makes working with Webgate.io more intuitive and seamless.

We are sure that the Overlay Player will be of great help to you in your daily work. As always, we look forward to your feedback.

Best regards,
Your Webgate.io Team

Published at: August 26, 2024 02:00 PM

Work More Efficiently: The ...

Roles and Rights Management on a collaborative platform for filmmakers and media professionals like Webgate.io should be intuitive, clear and user-friendly. We are therefore thrilled to present some important changes to our roles and permissions system . From now on, the following new standard roles for newly created rooms are available:

Overview of the new roles

Viewer: A Viewer can only watch videos in playlists and pictures in galleries.

Reviewer: This role allows users to review playlists and galleries, comment, and vote.

Collaborator: A Collaborator has similar permissions to a Content Manager but cannot approve content or download source files.

Content Manager: This role corresponds to the previous Room Administrator role. A Content Manager can administer everything within a room, except for creating and managing users.

For maximum flexibility, you can customize the rights of the new standard roles and also edit the names of the roles to adapt them to your individual needs.

What Changes for Existing Roles?

Standard roles and special roles that have already been assigned remain in place and all rights within these roles are retained. The only difference is that the old standard roles ‘Member’, ‘User’ and ‘Room administrator’ have become special roles whose names can be edited.

More Clarity for All Users

With the changes to roles and rights management, we aim to make the functions and permissions of each role clearer and easier to understand for all users. We want to make sure that you know exactly what tasks and authorizations are associated with each role to ensure smooth collaboration within your teams.

Try out the new roles and permissions and see how they can make the user management of your film projects in Webgate.io even clearer and more efficient. We are looking forward to your feedback and to further optimizing Webgate.io step by step with your help.

Best regards,
Your Webgate.io Team

Published at: August 22, 2024 10:00 AM

New Roles, Clear Permission...

Exactly 40 years ago, in 1984, Apple introduced the then revolutionary concept of drag and drop with the Apple Macintosh. Mac OS enabled users to move and organise files and folders using drag and drop. This intuitive and user-friendly computer experience has become indispensable today.

We would like to use this anniversary to show you once again the drag and drop possibilities with Webgate.io.

Drag and drop for individual objects on Webgate.io
You can move individual objects such as playlists, files or galleries back and forth between the areas and folders using drag and drop.

Rearranging with drag and drop
Video clips can be moved within playlists using drag and drop, either in the open player or in the browser overview. This also works with images within a gallery.

Drag and drop in the upload window
A selection of files can be dragged and dropped into the Webgate upload window and uploaded. If you drag a folder into the upload window, the local folder structure is also transferred to Webgate.io.

Now new - file upload via drag and drop
It is now also possible to simply upload files to Webgate.io via drag and drop without having to specify the upload type beforehand. If you want to upload objects as a file, drag a folder or files from your browser into the Webgate.io browser window without opening an upload window first. If you want to add videos to a playlist, you can drag videos onto an open playlist and the clips will be added to the playlist. This also works with images that can be added to a gallery.

Happy Birthday Drag and Drop - and happy dragging and dropping with Webgate.io!

Published at: July 30, 2024 02:00 PM

Happy Birthday Drag and Drop

Room Settings – Custom Watermarks and Resolutions
In a production environment where every detail counts, the video feedback tool Webgate.io now offers you the ability to tailor settings for watermarks and resolutions for each room. Whether in the editorial, marketing, or dailies room, you can decide individually which watermarks and what video resolutions are best suited for each. This flexibility allows you to precisely meet the needs of each part or department of your project.

New Watermark Settings – Flexibility with Free Text
We’re expanding your security options with our new free-text watermark settings. From now on, you can use not only standard PNG watermarks but also integrate free-text watermarks. This provides you the flexibility to quickly and easily insert texts such as copyright notices, project names, or other important information directly into the image. Perfect for rapid adjustments or when you need to highlight different information in various parts of your projects.

Maximum Security with Personalized Watermarks
At Webgate.io, we're taking the security of your videos to the next level. You can now activate personalized watermarks on a per-room basis. Each video will feature a unique watermark, embedding the user's name and user-id directly into the video overlay. This overlay is permanently rendered into the videos, ensuring that it cannot be easily removed with browser tools.

Automatic Rendering – Say Goodbye to Manual Re-Rendering!
With our new feature of automatic rendering, manual re-rendering is a thing of the past. You can now make adjustments to video resolutions and watermarks, and all changes will be automatically applied not only to future uploads but also to existing derivatives. If you replace a clip or modify a playlist, everything will automatically be re-rendered, including all Directlinks with individual watermarks and resolution settings. Save valuable time and let Webgate.io handle the details.

Tip: For the most precise positioning of text and logo in your watermarks, you can continue to use PNGs with alpha channel in the format of your videos (usually HD resolution). A straightforward and cost-free online tool for creating PNGs is Photopea .

Published at: July 03, 2024 10:00 AM

Maximum security for your v...

A common challenge in video approvals is that a simple comment or drawing in one frame might not be sufficient. Sometimes, additional information is required, whether in the form of hand-drawn sketches or Excel lists with tasks. From now on, you can make your approvals in Webgate.io even more efficient without resorting to separate communication channels like emails.

You can attach files of up to 10 MB directly to a comment. Whether it's scribbles, Excel lists, or other file formats – everything you need for a comprehensive approval can now be seamlessly integrated with your comments. All users with the necessary permissions can not only see and write comments but also add attachments to comments and download all comments along with attachments. Even non-registered users who have received an approval link can use this feature.

But Webgate.io doesn't only bring new features to video approvals. In addition to comments, there are also the proven Kanban Boards that facilitate project management and team collaboration. This feature has now been expanded so that you can also upload attachments to Kanban board cards. This integration allows for an even smoother connection of files to specific tasks and helps keep track of project progress. Test the new features today and experience how easy and efficient collaboration in your team can be.

Published at: February 14, 2024 11:00 AM

Upload file attachments to ...

The Webgate.io Kanban boards enable you to manage your film project with ease and without a lot of overhead. In the hustle and bustle of film production, working through many tasks can quickly become confusing. A quick and effortless overview of the status of individual work steps is worth its weight in gold. The Webgate.io Kanban boards support you on your way to the finished product.

It is now even easier for you to create Kanban board cards. You can create a Kanban card by right-clicking on a comment, a playlist, a clip, a gallery or a file.

A possible workflow could look like this, for example: You want to carry out an edit or VFX approval and distribute the videos to the director, post-supervisor and producer using a review link. The decision-makers view the videos and give their feedback on clips and frames and leave annotations in the video about the desired changes. However, the collected feedback must now be converted into individual work packages. This is where the Webgate.io Kanban board cards come into play. You simply right-click on a comment or a clip and create a Kanban card for it. In the next step, you decide in which column the card should end up, usually in the To Do column. You can give the card a title and optionally a more detailed description. But why do you need a Kanban board if you can also comment in a playlist? The advantages of Kanban board cards are obvious:

• You can discuss change requests internally first. With Kanban board cards, you open up parallel internal communication that is only visible to the people who have access to your Kanban board.

• You are not cut off from further communication on the "public" playlist. All communication updates from the playlist are displayed on the board card, so you don't miss anything.

• You can assign board cards to your colleagues who will take care of processing the changes.

• Depending on which column a card is in, you can see immediately whether the task is still in the To Do, is already being processed or has perhaps even been completed.

• If you subscribe to a board, you are automatically informed about changes.

Project management can be that easy.

Published at: January 23, 2024 03:00 PM

Create Kanban board cards d...

The field of film production is a dynamic and collaborative environment that requires seamless coordination among various team members, ranging from the camera department and dailies crew to directors, editors, producers, conformers, and beyond. In this ever-evolving landscape, effective communication is paramount, and this is where Webgate.io steps in to optimize collaboration and streamline workflows.

More than just a platform for uploading and sharing videos, Webgate.io functions as a communication hub, a video review tool, and a data repository throughout the entire film production workflow. This includes the smooth import and export of proxy files with metadata and comments, taking into consideration the original timecodes.

Timecode plays a pivotal role in every phase of production. During shooting, efforts are made to ensure the synchronization of image and sound despite different recording devices. This synchronization allows a Digital Imaging Technician (DIT), dailies operator, and assistant editor to effortlessly sync image and sound material with just one click. In cases where the timecode is asynchronous, manual synchronization of picture and sound becomes necessary. Following dailies grading, proxies for the editing room are created, retaining the original timecode. This timecode is later utilized to reference the original camera files (OCF). The timecode traverses the entire production chain within audio and video, playing a crucial role in ensuring a seamless workflow.

While Webgate.io typically operates with proxy files like MOV and MP4, as opposed to OCF, it is imperative that these proxy files share the same timecodes as the files in the editing tool and the OCF. Webgate.io reads this timecode and generates streaming files with the timecode information identical to the originals. The Webgate.io Video Player plays videos with the original timecode and allows the setting of comments with frame accuracy, opening up various use cases:

Know what you are talking about
"This one take from the shooting day at the harbor where the main characters are arguing has a team reflection in the middle of the shot!" Never talk like that again! With Webgate.io you are always aware of the Original Camera Filename, the Scene and Take information, and the actual Timecode. So you'd rather say "Shot A011C005, Scene 109-02, Take 3 from shooting day 5 has a team reflection in the car at timecode 13:29:49:13. Please check that" 😉

Exporting review comments from Webgate.io into editing systems:
If you carry out edit approvals with Webgate.io, you can import all review comments back into the video editing software such as Avid Media Composer or Adobe Premiere. The timecode assigned to each comment ensures that the comment appears in the correct position in the timeline of the editing system.

Importing markers from the editing system to Webgate.io:
If there are markers in the timeline of your editing system that indicate future VFX shots, for example, you can upload them to Webgate.io and they will be placed on the video with timecode accuracy.

Moreover, Webgate.io facilitates the import of Avid Log Exchange (ALE) files, which may contain timecode information such as start and end time codes. While Webgate.io collects and provides access to this data via the metadata interface, these timecodes do not impact the streaming and proxy files. The original file's timecode, uploaded to Webgate.io, remains the authoritative source.

Published at: January 15, 2024 08:00 AM

Synchronized Video Collabor...

We have upgraded our Webgate.io File Browser and aligned its features with those of a native file browser. This modernization brings numerous benefits that will significantly enhance your work and interaction with files on our platform. Adapting to native systems not only creates a familiar working environment for existing users but also facilitates the onboarding of new team members who are already familiar with common file management functions. In this blog post, we will introduce the exciting new features and possibilities in detail.

Where have the checkboxes gone?

An important part of our modernization involves removing checkboxes in the Webgate.io File Browser. Instead of complex selection mechanisms, a simple click is now sufficient to mark files and folders. A double-click opens the selected item. This makes the user interface more straightforward and the operation faster and more efficient. With just a few mouse clicks, short mouse movements, and even less precise clicking, you can mark and open items.

On touch devices such as smartphones and tablets, the behavior is adapted to that of native mobile systems. A short tap opens the item, while a long press initiates the selection mode.

Capturing folders and files with the Lasso

Instead of clicking on each element individually, you can now mark them with the Lasso. Hold down the mouse button and draw a rectangular box around the items you want to select. Everything inside this box will be selected. Holding down Command allows you to add or remove individual items from the selection with a click. Pressing Shift allows you to enlarge the selection from one item to another with a click.

New Shortcuts

Introducing familiar shortcuts further accelerates operation. You can select all items with Command + A. Command + Backspace deletes the selected items.

A somewhat less native but often desired feature is copying file names. Pressing Command + C copies the names of all selected items to the clipboard. You can then paste these names into any other program, such as Microsoft Excel, for further processing using Command + V.

Quick Access to Key Context Menu Functions

Hovering over an item now displays a quick access menu on the right side. This menu includes functions for direct download, renaming, and opening a preview.

We hope that these modernizations will make your experience with Webgate.io even more enjoyable and efficient. We are always committed to improving your experience and look forward to your feedback. If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Published at: January 09, 2024 12:00 AM

Webgate.io File Management:...