Add video assets and set up serving files

To add assets for your in-stream video creative, upload video files to Campaign Manager 360 or add URLs that point to publisher-hosted videos.

Step 1: Create an in-stream video creative

To get started, create a new in-stream video creative in your campaign or advertiser-level "Creatives" tab.

1. Open your campaign or advertiser.
2. Click New > In-stream video.
3. Name your creative in the Creative name field. Or leave it blank, and Campaign Manager 360 will name your creative based on the video file you upload.

Optional

• Universal Ad ID: Include a registered industry-wide identifier for your video creative that will be included in VAST tags. You can add IDs from Ad-ID, Clearcast, another provider, or use a Campaign Manager 360-generated ID. In VAST 2.0 and 3.0 tags, this ID will appear in the <adID> node, as well as in the extensions node for VAST 2.0 tags. In VAST 4.0 tags, this ID will appear in the <UniversalAdID> node. 
• Description: Enter any notes you have on your creative.

About default video ads

Is this the first video creative in your campaign?

• If your campaign includes in-stream video placements, Campaign Manager 360 will automatically create a default ad for your first video creative in each available orientation and assign it to all your in-stream placements. For example, if the first video creative you make for a campaign has both portrait and landscape assets, you’ll get a portrait default ad and a landscape default ad. If the first video creative you make for a campaign is a square asset, you’ll get a portrait default ad and a landscape default ad.
• The default ad has no targeting and will serve if no other ads on your placement are available. Learn more when you set up ads and placements for in-stream videos.

Step 2: Add video assets

Follow the steps below to traffic a creative with a single video asset. If you have multiple assets with the same creative message that you’d like to traffic as one in-stream video creative, use dynamic asset selection.

1. Under Creative assets in your in-stream video creative, click Add asset and select your video file.
   • The maximum size allowed is 1 GB.

   • Always upload a source file with the highest possible specifications you have available so that Campaign Manager 360 can transcode the asset into as many serving files as possible. We recommend you use a high-definition video that meets the following requirements:

     Video:

     • Supported file formats: .avi, .mov, .mp4, .m4v, .mpeg, .mpg, .webm, .wmv
     • Dimensions:
       • Landscape/horizontal: 1280 × 720, 1920 × 1080, or 1440 × 1080
       • Portrait/vertical: 720 × 1280, 1080 × 1920, or 1080 × 1440 
       • Square: 720 × 720, 1080 × 1080, 1920 × 1920
     • Aspect ratio:
       • Landscape/horizontal: 16:9 or 4:3
       • Portrait/vertical: 9:16 or 3:4
     • Codec: H.264
     • Frame Rate: 23.98 or 29.97
     • Bitrate: At least 20 Mbps
     • Length: 15 or 30 seconds
     • File size: Up to 1GB
     • Black bars: No black bars
     • Letterboxing: No letterboxing

     Audio:

     • Codec: PCM (preferred) or AAC
     • Bitrate: At least 192 Kbps
     • Bit: 16 or 24 bit only
     • Sample rate: 48 kHz
     • Audio settings: Required
     • Loudness aligned with IAB US spec of -24LKFS +/- 2LKFS (Campaign Manager 360 will normalize to target loudness of -24 LKFS)
   • If you do not have video assets and will only use a URL for a publisher-hosted video, skip to the end of these steps below.
   • In VAST 4.0 tags, your uploaded source asset will be included as the mezzanine file. 
   • For videos serving on connected TV devices, we recommend 1920 × 1080 as the creative's dimensions. 
2. Save your creative so that Campaign Manager 360 can process your asset. Campaign Manager 360 will not begin processing it until you save.
3. Wait for Campaign Manager 360 to process your asset. Campaign Manager 360 will now detect whether your uploaded video asset satisfies the video requirements for the key publishers in the specification (spec) library, validate the asset, and transcode it into a set of serving files. If you want, you can leave the page and work on other things while you wait. Nothing you do will interrupt the processing.
   • You can continue when the "Progress" column shows that transcoding is complete for the serving files you need.
   • If you have issues, see the FAQ below.
4. The uploaded video asset will be checked to ensure it meets the publishers spec requirements for fields such as:  
   • Frame rate
   • Aspect ratio
   • Kbps bounds
   • File type 
   • Required transcodes
   • Loudness
     
     View the status of your asset in the Publisher eligibility tab in your In-stream video settings.
     If your campaign is associated with a spec library publisher, Campaign Manager 360 will automatically toggle the site and placement transcodes to match said publisher’s required transcodes. If desired, this can be changed at the site or placement level under “In-Stream Video Settings”. If your campaign sites are associated with DV360 or The Trade Desk, you will also have the option of selecting the transcode requirements underneath your placement's settings for any of our supported publishers.
5. Choose which serving files to include with your video. Make this choice in the Serving files section: select ON under Include in serving to include a file.

6. Add additional assets if needed. Campaign Manager 360 will use all of the assets you add to generate serving files.

   Notes on duration in your files:

   • If you add more assets, make sure they are all about the same duration. No asset you add can be more than a second longer or shorter than the others. In other words, if the duration varies, it must vary by less than a second.
   • Campaign Manager 360 rounds duration up to the nearest second in the UI and your VAST tags. For example, if you upload a video asset of 15.7 seconds, Campaign Manager 360 will round that up to 16 seconds in the UI and in your VAST tags.
   • When you sync creatives over from Campaign Manager 360 to Display & Video 360, Display & Video 360 checks the actual files for the duration. Display & Video 360 does not use the rounded-up number in the Campaign Manager 360 UI or your VAST tags. For example, if you upload a video asset of 15.7 seconds to Campaign Manager 360 and then import it into Display & Video 360, the duration in Display & Video 360 will be 15.7 seconds.

Add URLs for publisher-hosted videos (optional)

If your account is enabled for publisher-hosted videos, you can also add URLs for this type of asset in the "Publisher-hosted videos" section of your video properties. Talk to your account manager if you need to be enabled for publisher-hosted URLs.

Use the special YouTube steps below for any YouTube URLs you want to add. You can use YouTube URLs if you want to run ads on YouTube mobile inventory or other sites that support the IMA SDK.

Before you get started, make sure you meet these requirements:

• Account settings: Make sure your account is enabled for publisher-hosted videos. Open any in-stream video creative in Campaign Manager 360 and check for a "Publisher-hosted URLs" section. If you don't see this section, talk to your account manager.

• Publisher support: If you plan to use YouTube URLs outside YouTube.com, make sure the publisher uses IMA SDK and supports YouTube URLs in a VAST tag. YouTube URLs will only work on sites that use the IMA SDK (such as YouTube.com).

Steps

1. Get your YouTube URL ready. Use standard form and use SSL (https://). For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABC1234de567f

   Do not use abbreviations (such as youtu.be).

2. Open your in-stream video in Campaign Manager 360 and add your URL to the "Publisher-hosted videos" section (click Add URL).

3. Enter the duration, width, height, and bit rate of your video. Note that Campaign Manager 360 shows sample values in each of these columns. You can remove these and enter the correct values. They are not based on your YouTube URL.

4. Set the file type to MP4 in the "File type" column.

When you're done, your YouTube URL should look like this:

URL	Preview	Include in serving	Duration	File type	Width	Height	Bit rate	Delivery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABC1234de567f		Yes	15	MP4	640	480	400	Progressive

Step 3: Edit video settings

Edit "Video settings" for your video if needed. These settings are only for VAST 3.0 and VAST 4.0 compliant publishers with skippable inventory:

• Skip button: Check the Include skip button box to insert additional skip tracking into the tags for your creative if you're using a skip button in the video. Skip buttons are overlays on your video that users can click to skip your ad content. It will only display for videos that are longer than 7 seconds. The publisher's video player is responsible for overlaying the button. You can also choose the following skip settings:
  • Skip offset: The amount of time to play the video before the skip button appears. Select and enter either a specific number of seconds or a percentage of the total video duration. This value is only used when "Include skip button" is enabled.
  • Progress offset: The amount of time before a video view will be charged, based on your agreement with the publisher. Select and either use the default value of 30 seconds, enter a specific number of seconds, or enter a percentage of the total video duration.

• OBA icon: If you're participating in an OBA (Online Behavioral Advertising) self-regulatory program, check this box to include the OBA icon, also known as the Advertising Option Icon. Please note that whether or not the OBA icon serves is dependent on the publisher’s video player.

  • Resource: Enter a link to the OBA icon file. Campaign Manager 360 only supports image and JavaScript icons. 
  • Program: Enter the name of the industry initiative that the icon supports, such as AdChoices.
  • Size: Enter the dimensions of the icon in pixels. 
  • Position: Use the drop-down to select where to position the icon over the creative. If you need to set a custom position, select "X, Y coordinates", and enter the precise X and Y pixel values to position the icon. 
  • Clickthrough URL: Enter the URL for your OBA program's informational page.
  • Click tracking URL: Enter a click tracker tag URL to record clicks to your OBA icon.
  • View tracking URL: Enter an impression pixel URL to record views of your OBA icon.

Edit QR code tracking settings (optional)

Advertisers uploading video assets that include QR code images can streamline campaign setup for their QR code video assets.

To enable QR code tracking set Enable QR tracking to On. A site, click tracker placement, and click tracker ad will automatically be generated in the same campaign, which represents the QR code. Campaign Manager 360 generates a new click tracker Ad and Creative for every instance. 

Associate your QR code asset with the click tracker URL on your third-party creative platform to complete the setup.

Switching this setting to Off will unassign and archive the auto-generated ad. 

Step 4: Preview your video

1. Click the preview button at the top of your creative properties. The Campaign Manager 360 video player selects a compatible serving file and displays your video. You can check events and try out different resolutions and dimensions.
2. To preview a specific serving file, click the preview button next to it in the Serving files section. You can cycle through every serving file in this window, but you can't check events or try different properties.
3. If you want to preview a specific serving file in the main preview (i.e., check events, try different properties, etc.), here are your steps: First, set the serving file to ON under Include in serving in your creative properties. Next, set every other serving file to OFF. This way, you can be sure the Campaign Manager 360 video player uses that specific serving file. Finally, click the preview button at the top of your creative properties.

For more details, see our guide to creative preview.

Next steps

Save your creative. After you finish uploading your assets, set up companion creatives, third-party URLs, assign ads and placements, and test your tags.

FAQs