BATS - Instant Video Share

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Share a video from EDIUS straight to another device – with a single link

Want to show a video right away — to a customer, a colleague, a reviewer — but uploading the file to a file host is in the way? Instant Video Share shares a video clip directly from EDIUS to another device: BAT Server renders a lightweight 720p preview of the clip, and the receiving device (the recipient's phone, tablet or laptop) starts playback as soon as the first frames arrive – while the rest downloads in the background. The video travels directly between the two devices (peer-to-peer) — the server never receives the film. Through the link, both sides can also pin time-stamped comments to the video and jump straight to the respective timecode with a click.

How it works

When you run "Instant Video Share" on a video clip (in the BIN or on the timeline), BAT Server:

  1. re-encodes the clip to 720p with FFmpeg (H.264/AAC MP4, optimized for playback on mobile devices) — as a fragmented MP4, so playback can start with the very first frames even before the whole file has been transferred (progress in the BAT Server panel),
  2. then starts the P2P share and opens a tab "share <file name>" in EDIUS — the local sender dashboard with the status, the share link and a QR code,
  3. streams the preview directly from your PC to the receiving device (WebRTC, peer-to-peer) — the server only exchanges the handshake data and never sees the video.

The recipient opens the shared link (or scans the QR code) in any modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari — desktop or mobile) and presses "Start Receiving Video". Because the file is streamed as a fragmented MP4, the video plays while the remaining bytes arrive in the background; the "Fully loaded" badge only appears once everything has been delivered.

How to use it

  1. Pick a video: right-click a video (in the BIN or on the timeline) → Video share → Instant Video Share. Both context menus carry this system entry (under the "Video share" submenu).
  2. A toast shows "Instant Video Share will be prepared.." — BAT Server renders the 720p preview (progress in the BAT Server panel).
  3. EDIUS then opens the tab "share <file name>". It shows the share link (with a copy button), a QR code and the current status (waiting for receiver / connected / sending / complete).
  4. Send the link to the other side (or show the QR code). The recipient opens the link in their browser and presses "Start Receiving Video" — playback begins immediately and the rest keeps downloading in the background.
  5. Comment together: both sides can add comments as markers on the current timecode ("Add a comment at the current time..."). The marker appears live on both screens, a click jumps to that point, items can be ticked off as done, and both sides can export/import them as a CSV (EDIUS marker list).
  6. Finish: "Stop sender" on the dashboard (or close the tab) ends the share; "Remove this video" deletes the link, all comments and the receiver's local copy — this cannot be undone.

Good to know

  • No upload, no waiting: the video is transferred peer-to-peer — at no point does it sit on a file host. The signaling server only exchanges the connection data (and the comments). Your material stays private.
  • 720p preview, not the original: the shared film is a 720p preview (H.264, AAC 128 kb/s) — made for quick review, not as a delivery master. The preview (file name with the _instShare suffix) is rendered once per clip and reused afterwards — the same clip always gets the same link.
  • Works across networks: via STUN/TURN (magicmultimedia.org) the connection is established even behind strict firewalls/NATs — e.g. from your office network to the customer's phone on a mobile connection. If the connection drops briefly, the share resumes automatically; on the receiver's device the already-downloaded part is kept — reloading the link continues exactly where it left off.
  • Session liveness: the sender pings the server every 10 seconds (heartbeat). If the network is down too long, the server marks the sender offline; once it is back, the same film is re-offered automatically.
  • One sender per file: same file = same link. Only one active transfer of the same file may run at a time — a second start aborts with an error message.
  • The receiver keeps the film: once the file has fully arrived, the browser keeps playing it locally (sender or no sender) and offers a "Download File" button to save it on the device.

Managing the preset

"Instant Video Share" is a system preset (header: "system preset, do not edit it. Can be deactivated") that is present in the video context menu both in the BIN and on the timeline (under the "Video share" submenu). Like any other entry it can be temporarily disabled or deleted there; manual editing is not intended.

For advanced users: as with every BATS preset, the .bat0 file is a template — the BAT Server never executes it directly; every time you pick the entry it generates the job file (.bat) in the jobs folder, filled with the clip-specific values. The Instant Video Share template contains two steps: (1) the FFmpeg command that renders the 720p fMP4 preview, and (2) an execute_post that launches the BAT Server's --share-video command with the finished preview (the clip's frame rate is passed along so the marker timecodes match the clip's). Edits to the .bat0 would apply from the next run — the header discourages editing, though, as system presets may be replaced by updates.