Creating a .tar Archive for Launchpad Deliveries

Created by Dimi, Modified on Thu, 23 Jul at 5:36 PM by Dimi

Creating a .tar Archive for Launchpad Deliveries

Create a .tar archive on Windows or macOS when your delivery specification requires one.

General User Launchpad Getting Started with Launchpad

On this page

Overview
Step-by-Step Instructions
Troubleshooting & FAQs

Overview

Some clients require audio or other non-video deliverables to be supplied as .tar archives before they can be ingested into Launchpad. Whether this applies to you depends entirely on your delivery specification — not every client delivers this way.

This guide explains how to create a .tar archive on both Windows and macOS.

When is a .tar archive needed?

This is set out in your delivery specification, and varies from client to client. If you're not sure whether your deliverables should be packaged as a .tar archive, check your delivery specification or contact your VIDA project contact before proceeding.

Why does VIDA prefer .tar?

Unlike a .zip archive, a .tar archive can be inspected from the outside. VIDA can see the files it contains without needing to fully extract it first. This gives users visibility into exactly what's been delivered, helping them identify and resolve any issues more quickly during ingest.

Important.

Unless your delivery specification states otherwise, we recommend creating one .tar archive per episode. Do not combine multiple episodes into a single archive.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Windows

Before you begin

Windows does not include built-in support for creating .tar archives through File Explorer. We recommend installing 7-Zip.

Place all files for a single episode into one folder.
Right-click the folder (or select all files for the episode).
Select 7-Zip → Add to archive...
Set Archive format to tar.
Choose a suitable archive name.
Click OK.

A .tar file will be created in the selected location.

macOS

macOS includes built-in support for creating .tar archives using Terminal.

Place all files for a single episode into one folder.
Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal).
Type cd, leaving a space after it.
Drag the episode folder from Finder into the Terminal window.
Press Enter.
Run tar -cvf Episode_Name.tar ., replacing Episode_Name with the name you would like to give the archive.

The .tar file will be created inside the folder.

Uploading to Launchpad

Once the archive has been created:

Upload the .tar file via Launchpad.
Add any required metadata to the package.
Click Finalize to submit the package for processing. You don't need to wait for the upload to finish before doing this.

Remember

If you do not click Finalize, the package will remain in your Launchpad account and will not be received by the recipient.

Troubleshooting & FAQs

Terminal says "no such file or directory"

This usually happens because:

There is no space after cd.
The folder path contains spaces and has not been quoted correctly.
The wrong folder path has been entered.

Recommended solution: rather than typing the full path manually, open Terminal, type cd, drag the folder from Finder into the Terminal window, then press Enter.

macOS will automatically insert the correct path.

My archive contains multiple episodes

Each .tar archive should contain one episode only, unless your delivery specification explicitly states otherwise.

I can't upload my .tar file

Please ensure:

The archive has finished being created.
Any required metadata has been added to the package.
You have clicked Finalize after uploading.

Still need help?

If you continue to experience issues creating or uploading your .tar archive, please contact the VIDA Support team. When possible, include a screenshot of the error message so we can assist you more quickly.