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Release Conference Videos on YouTube¤

Manage and release conference videos on YouTube using the talk and speaker infos in Pretalx

Main Features¤

  • Video Management on YouTube:

    • Automated video descriptions from Pretalx data
    • Scheduled publishing dates
    • Multi-channel support for different tracks
    • Release status monitoring

  • AI-Powered Content Generation:

    • Support for multiple AI providers: OpenAI (GPT-3.5/4), Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Cohere
    • Automated teaser and description generation
    • Configurable temperature settings for creativity control

  • Multi-Platform Social Media:

    • Post to LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Mastodon, or Bluesky
    • Platform-specific formatting (character limits)
    • Automated posting when videos go live

  • Additional Features:

    • Email notifications to speakers
    • Event-based directory structure for multi-conference support
    • AI-friendly CLI with structured JSON responses
    • Comprehensive setup wizard

High level process overview¤

  1. Pre-Production: Coordinate with video team, establish naming conventions
  2. Data Collection: Fetch session/speaker data from Pretalx (pytube records fetch)
  3. Video Organization: Assign videos to channels and organize files (pytube video assign-channels + move)
  4. Upload: Manually upload videos to YouTube (maintaining filename as title)
  5. Processing: Map videos and update metadata (pytube youtube map + update + schedule)
  6. Automation: Monitor publications and send notifications (pytube notify check --auto-post)

⚠️ Note: Video files must include the Pretalx session ID (e.g., ABC123-title.mp4)¤

Simplified graph of the process¤

graph LR;
    P[Pretalx] --> R[Records]
    R --> O[Organize Videos]
    O --> U[Manual Upload]
    U --> Y[YouTube Processing]
    Y --> M[Monitor & Notify]
    M --> S[Social Media/Email]

    O -.->|do_not_record| DNR[Do Not Release]

Conventions¤

  • Video files: Must include the Pretalx session ID at the start (e.g., ABC123-title.mp4)
  • Status tracking: JSON files move between directories to track progress
  • Channel assignment: Based on track patterns, with special handling for do_not_record sessions

Preparations¤

Involve your video recording team from the very start. It's a best practice to have a production plan.

The current implementation provides an interface to Google Sheets to get data from a production plan shared on Google Drive. The production plan must include information for linking the video recording files to the Pretalx Id.

Upload videos to YouTube, for instructions details see here.

Configuration¤

There is a general configuration file config.yaml that provides the general structure.

Individual configurations are stored in the local file config_local.yaml which must never be shared:

  • Storage locations - Working directories and video paths
  • Pretalx - Event slug and API credentials
  • AI Service Selection - Choose between OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or Cohere
  • Social Media Platform - Select LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Mastodon, or Bluesky
  • API Credentials - Keys and tokens for all services

For detailed setup instructions, see: - API Credentials Guide - Step-by-step instructions for obtaining API keys - Quick Setup Guide - Fastest path to get started - Step-by-Step Guide - Complete workflow walkthrough

Note

Pretalx access is provided via pythanis which stores the credentials in a separate local file

Credentials for Pythanis¤

Pretalx is used to interact with:

  1. Pretalx
  2. Google Spreadsheets
  3. Helpdesk (to send Emails)

See here how to add credentials.

Limitations¤

Currently, a local storage is required for storage of metadata and managing the release status.
A future version should support a shared space or document database.

Sending Emails is currently only supported via the Helpdesk API.
Other ways to send emails should be supported in the future.

Realization¤

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