Submit a Video

The Communications website can play videos associated with published articles. The authors of all articles accepted or commissioned for publication in Communications are invited to submit an original or preexisting video to accompany the article. Videos may be submitted more than a month before or at any point after an article is published in the Communications magazine or on the Communications website. Original videos stored in the ACM Digital Library or on Vimeo may be played on the Communications website. Preexisting videos hosted on YouTube or another site will be run as embedded videos on the Communications site.

Authors are encouraged to be imaginative and creative with their videos, and to seek the assistance of their organization or institution, as many have video production capabilities. The video should be informative and generate interest in an article. It can introduce, explain, or discuss the article using an approach as simple as a person talking to the camera, or as involved as a cinematic production. Authors creating original videos are strongly encouraged to submit it in .mp4 format with H.264 encoding. Authors offering a YouTuve or other preexisting video are to submit embed code, which will allow videos stored elsewhere to be played on the Communications site (See below: Submission Procedures for Preexisting videos). Videos will be reviewed for audio and visual clarity, suitability, and to assure they are paired with the correct article before they are published online. They will then be viewable or downloadable from the Communications website. Original .mp4/H.264 videos will also be viewable in the ACM Digital Library.

Length

Shorter videos are generally more engaging than longer ones. Usage statistics show that more users will watch a 5-minute video from start to finish than will watch a 10-minute video. Videos that are longer than 10 minutes should be exceptional in occurrence and content.

Preferred format, original videos

• .mp4 with H.264 encoding. These formats support streaming and will be viewable from the Communications website and the ACM Digital Library.

Other supported formats

Videos in the following formats will not be viewable on the Communications website. They will be downloadable from the Digital Library.
• .flv
• .mp3
• .m4a
• .m4v
• .mov
• .3gp
• .f4v
• .f4p
• .f4a
• .f4b

Submission Procedures

There are a few ways to submit a video. CACM needs only a URL for a preexisting video on YouTube. One way to submit a video is via FTP. Include at minimum the author's last name and month of publication in the file name (ex: Vardi_January2012_EditorsLetter.mp4; Kroeker-Nov2012.mp4). Go to ftp://pubftp.acm.org/; use these credentials to log onto the server:

Username: cacmauthor
Password: v!d3o
(Note: The last character of the password is a lower case letter, not a number.)

The FTP server will be monitored regularly to identify newly submitted videos. We look forward to seeing your video there, and on the Communications website.

Alternate Submission Procedures

Videos may also be published on a video-sharing site like YouTube.com or Vimeo.com and played on the Communications site using embed code, which is readily available from the aforementioned sites and other video sites. On YouTube.com, click the "Share" button beneath a video's viewing window, then click the "Embed" button to access the embed code. On Vimeo.com, click the "Embed" button in a video window to see the embed code. YouTube and Vimeo videos are supported on the CACM site given their cross-browser support and mobile compatibility. The CACM site will support embed code from other video-sharing sites as needed.

Email embed code to [email protected]. Include at minimum the author's last name and month of publication in the subject line and/or in the body of the email.