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  4. The /http/import Robot

The /http/import Robot

Transloadit is happy to import from whatever storage solution suits you best.

The /http/import Robot imports any file that is publicly available via a web URL into Transloadit.

Parameters

Name Type Default Description
url (required) String / Array of Strings The URL from which the file to be imported can be retrieved. You can also specify an array of URLs or a string of | delimited URLs to import several files at once. Please also check the url_delimiter parameter for that.
url_delimiter String "|" Provides the delimiter that is used to split the URLs in your url parameter value.
headers Array of Strings [] Custom headers to be sent for file import. This is an empty array by default, such that no additional headers expect the necessary ones (e.g. Host) are sent.
force_name String / Null null Custom name for the imported file. Defaults to null, which means the file name is derived from the supplied URL.
ignore_errors Boolean false There might be an error coming up when importing files or trying to extract meta data from them. Setting this to true will cause the Robot to not stop the import (and the entire Assembly) when that happens. This is especially useful when you use an array of URLs for the url parameter and thereby import several files at once.
See full docs

Example use cases

Our /http/import Robot can be used in combination with other Robots, to create powerful workflows unique to your use case.
Here are a few example scenarios, and the required the Assembly Instructions to implement them.
You can also try demos of these examples right here, live on our website.

Concatenate two audio files

{
  "steps": {
    "imported_preroll": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "http://s3.amazonaws.com/fixture.transloadit.com/file/Rewinder.mp3"
    },
    "concat": {
      "use": {
        "steps": [
          {
            "name": "imported_preroll",
            "as": "audio_1"
          },
          {
            "name": ":original",
            "fields": "test-file",
            "as": "audio_2"
          }
        ]
      },
      "robot": "/audio/concat",
      "result": true,
      "ffmpeg_stack": "v2.2.3"
    }
  }
}

Audio watermarking

{
  "steps": {
    "audio_import": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "http://static.transloadit.com/crm_demos/buddha_machine.wav"
    },
    "merge": {
      "robot": "/audio/merge",
      "use": {
        "steps": [
          {
            "name": "audio_import",
            "as": "audio"
          },
          {
            "name": ":original",
            "as": "audio"
          }
        ]
      },
      "result": true,
      "preset": "mp3"
    }
  }
}

Insert cover art into an audio file

{
  "steps": {
    "imported_image": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "https://transloadit.com/assets/images/robots/170x170/audio-artwork.jpg"
    },
    "insert_artwork": {
      "robot": "/audio/artwork",
      "use": {
        "steps": [
          {
            "name": ":original",
            "as": "audio"
          },
          {
            "name": "imported_image",
            "as": "image"
          }
        ],
        "bundle_steps": true
      },
      "method": "insert"
    }
  }
}

Import files over HTTP

{
  "steps": {
    "import": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "https://transloadit.com/assets/images/robots/170x170/audio-encode.jpg"
    },
    "resize": {
      "robot": "/image/resize",
      "use": "import",
      "result": true,
      "width": 130,
      "height": 130
    }
  }
}

Concatenate two video files

{
  "steps": {
    "imported_preroll": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "http://static.transloadit.com/crm_demos/shortest_video.mp4"
    },
    "concat": {
      "use": {
        "steps": [
          {
            "name": "imported_preroll",
            "as": "video_1"
          },
          {
            "name": ":original",
            "fields": "test-file",
            "as": "video_2"
          }
        ]
      },
      "robot": "/video/concat",
      "result": true,
      "ffmpeg_stack": "v2.2.3",
      "preset": "ipad"
    }
  }
}

Generate a video from an image sequence

{
  "steps": {
    "imported_video_encode": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "https://transloadit.com/assets/images/robots/video-encode.jpg"
    },
    "imported_image_resize": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "https://transloadit.com/assets/images/robots/image-resize.jpg"
    },
    "imported_audio_encode": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "https://transloadit.com/assets/images/robots/audio-encode.jpg"
    },
    "merger": {
      "robot": "/video/merge",
      "use": {
        "steps": [
          {
            "name": ":original",
            "as": "audio"
          },
          {
            "name": "imported_video_encode",
            "as": "image"
          },
          {
            "name": "imported_image_resize",
            "as": "image"
          },
          {
            "name": "imported_audio_encode",
            "as": "image"
          }
        ]
      },
      "result": true,
      "framerate": "1/3",
      "duration": 9,
      "ffmpeg_stack": "v2.2.3",
      "preset": "ipad-high",
      "resize_strategy": "pad"
    }
  }
}

Merge an audio and a video file

{
  "steps": {
    "audio_import": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "http://static.transloadit.com/crm_demos/buddha_machine.wav"
    },
    "image_import": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "https://transloadit.com/assets/images/robots/170x170/html-convert.jpg"
    },
    "merged_video": {
      "robot": "/video/merge",
      "ffmpeg_stack": "v2.2.3",
      "use": [
        {
          "name": "audio_import",
          "as": "audio"
        },
        {
          "name": "image_import",
          "as": "image"
        }
      ],
      "width": 170,
      "height": 170,
      "preset": "iphone-high",
      "result": true
    },
    "replaced_audio_track": {
      "robot": "/video/merge",
      "use": [
        {
          "name": ":original",
          "as": "audio"
        },
        {
          "name": "merged_video",
          "as": "video"
        }
      ],
      "result": true,
      "ffmpeg_stack": "v2.2.3",
      "width": 170,
      "height": 170,
      "preset": "iphone-high"
    }
  }
}

Merge an audio file and an image to generate a video

{
  "steps": {
    "imported_image": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "https://transloadit.com/assets/images/video-merge-demo/mountain.jpg"
    },
    "merger": {
      "robot": "/video/merge",
      "use": {
        "steps": [
          {
            "name": ":original",
            "as": "audio"
          },
          {
            "name": "imported_image",
            "as": "image"
          }
        ]
      },
      "result": true,
      "ffmpeg_stack": "v2.2.3",
      "preset": "ipad-high",
      "resize_strategy": "pad"
    }
  }
}

Related blog posts

Over the years we wrote the following posts about Our /http/import robot on our blog:

Did you know?

You can easily combine Robots to create powerful workflows, unique to your business.
This is the power of Transloadit.