I was searching around the Asset Module's documentation and the program itself and was surprised to find that the Asset Import Module only allows you to import images. This seems kind of silly; as most of your larger files will be audio/video.
I know that the geeks here use the Asset module in many of their sites, how do you get around this problem?
There is currently a feature request for it here: http://drupal.org/node/246770
Not sure I follow
Hmm....I'm sure I must be misunderstanding what you're looking for....But Asset's power is that it accepts images, video or audio. Fshbwl.com is currently using asset to produce the video on it's 27 hour service.
Could you clarify what you're looking for it to do?
As a note, after reading that post, that guy is asking for PPT file support initially...which would be very difficult to support...but then he's just incorrect that Asset doesn't do audio/video. It does.
-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com
Web Interface
Currently we are using a web interface to manage all our images/audio/video.
Yes, it would be nice to have the asset module all be able to pull in files that were ftped to the server.
The power in the asset module is in it's media handling. There is a lot of room to grow and improve in the asset module. It's the conceptual foundation that's got me hooked and not so much the specific technical implementation.
Wanna code a patch to add this feature?
Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.mattfarina.com
Example for Screencasting
Sorry if I was too vague. Let me explain my situation.
First off I really enjoyed the podcast on screencasting, I actually wanted to open a section of my site to be used just for Basic Tutorials on how to use computers (this is my vocation), so I found it profitable.
For me, what I would love in the Asset Module, is to be able to through CCK, create a content type: "Tutorial", that has a Flash Video Field, where I can choose already imported assets.
I already have most of this set up. I created a content type for the Video Tutorial through CCK, and attached an Asset Field to the node type. A typical screencast for me is about 7-10 megs; So I would preferably FTP this to my asset import directory then import using "Asset Import", in the Admin Section of my site.
I would then create a new Tutorial Node, and attach the imported, in this case, *.FLV file.
From what I can see it appears that the only way for the Asset Module to recognize an FLV file, for my asset field, is to use the upload function through the "Insert Asset Wizard".
I'm hoping that all made sense.
Because of the large size of screencasts I was hoping to not have to upload files through the Asset Wizard and wait for the form to load (I prefer FTP).
So my question was is there a way around this?
FTP...gotcha.
Ah, ok...I didn't realize you wanted to import via ftp, not the asset wizard.
This seems like a dumb question maybe, but have you tried just uploading the file into the asset module's directory to see if it'll recognize it? Probably doesn't work, but worth a shot.
Otherwise, you are correct...this functionality doesn't exist current in asset module...but would be nice!
-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com
Asset Module won't recognize it
The asset module doesn't recognize all files. Just those that are associated with it. So, if you want to add you flv files to assets modules you'd need to load them through the web interface or write a module that imports them from ftp.
This has to do with how the asset module works and permissions. For one, Assets are not open for everyone to see and use unless you set them to be that way.
If you want to upload via ftp I'd suggest crafting an import module that meets your need. It should be relatively easy to write as all the crud functions already exist in the asset module.
Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.mattfarina.com
Yeah, it would be nice
Yes, I did try uploading it straight into the Asset Module's final directory (you're right, it doesn't work); it would make sense in that the Asset Wizard interfaces with a database, not the file system.
I'm not too good with the php hackery, otherwise I would try making a patch to enable this functionality.
Oh well, I'll just wait for a future release, but I have great expectations for the Asset Module.