Merging with Existing Hub Session (Collaborative Workflow)

With Focus 9.0, users can now re-upload their Focus sessions back to the Hub without creating duplicate copies. This significantly enhances collaboration by allowing:

• Individual Work: Everyone can work independently on their own version of a session in Focus.
• Seamless Integration: Once completed, all changes can be uploaded directly into the master Hub session, consolidating everyone’s updates into a single, unified record.

This streamlined process makes collaboration, especially for post-match analysis, much easier and more efficient, eliminating concerns about version confusion or extra manual work.

This guide details the complete process, along with specific workflow considerations and recommendations. For more workflow context, visit our blog on this topic: https://www.catapult.com/blog/pro-video-hub-collaborative-coaching-workflows

How merging sessions works

Every Focus session has a unique ID number that stays the same throughout its entire lifecycle. This ensures that Focus always recognizes it as the same session, even if, for example, a server session is exported as a standalone package, copied, and shared with another user via file transfer.

This unique ID is especially important for Hub uploads. When you upload a session to the Hub for the first time, it creates the main version on the Hub. If you (or someone else) upload that same session again later, Focus knows it's the same one and automatically merges any new changes.

This means:

• The video doesn't need to be re-uploaded
• Everyone's edits get combined in one place
• You avoid duplicate tags or timelines

From that point on, users can continue their workflow, making the most of the live editing and sharing capabilities of Hub sessions. If needed, a Hub session can be exported as a standalone package with selected video angles for further offline work.

Exporting standalone packages for independent work

After a live session has been captured, it can be exported into a standalone package, copied, and distributed to relevant staff members. Exporting a package can be done either on the local client (running on the same machine as Focus Server) or on any remote clients connected to the live session.

To export a session package, simply navigate to the export menu and select Export Package. You also have the option to select which video angles to include in the exported package.

Uploading session to Hub

To upload a session to the Hub, simply go to the Export menu and select Upload Session to the Hub.

At this point, you can select which video angles to include. You'll find two additional options at the bottom of the dialog:

• Reuse local media for local cache: uses existing video files from the server/package as local cache for the Hub session. Avoids having to re-download media.
• Delete session on successful upload: deletes the original server/package session once the upload is complete, leaving only the Hub version.

Selecting both options effectively converts your session into a Hub-native session with local video available.

Clicking Upload starts the process and opens the Transfer Manager.

• You can safely close the Transfer Manager - the upload continues in the background.
• Any edits made while the upload is in progress will be included in the final Hub version.

You can access the Transfer Manager at any point by navigating to the Export menu and selecting Hub Transfer Queue.

Once the upload is complete, Focus will briefly display the Finalising Hub Changes pop-up and automatically switch to the Hub session. From this point on, you can continue your workflow using that version.

You can identify a Hub session by the Hub icon located in the bottom right corner of the screen.

If the Delete session on successful upload option was selected, you will only see the Hub version of the session in the Review Sessions dialog. Otherwise, your server or package session will still be available. You can either keep it for future reference or delete it manually.

Hub session re-uploads

If a session already exists in the Hub, every subsequent upload of that session will merge the local changes into the Hub version instead of uploading it as a separate copy. This process is almost identical to the initial upload, so you can follow the steps described in the section above.

The only difference lies in how video channel uploads are handled:

In the vast majority of cases, having all channels selected during a re-upload (which is the default behavior) is the correct workflow.

Note that the Reuse local media for local cache and Delete session on successful upload options also apply to re-uploads. This means a user uploading their local changes to a Hub session can effectively "convert" their local package to a locally-cached Hub session within seconds.

Clicking Upload will display a dialog explaining the merge workflow. Clicking Upload Changes will then display the Transfer Manager.

Once the upload is complete, Focus will briefly display the Finalising Hub Changes pop-up and automatically switch to the Hub session. This transition is very quick, especially if no new video is being uploaded (for example, if a new channel was added to the local package). From this point on, you can continue your workflow using the Hub version of the session.

Conflict Resolution

When re-uploading package sessions, Focus applies conflict resolution logic to ensure a smooth workflow:

Hub Session Backups

Focus automatically backs up every Hub session:

• A backup file (session.json) is created every time you open or close a Hub session.
• These backups are stored by default in:
  • Mac: ~/SBG/Focus/Hub Sessions Backup
  • Windows: C:\SBG\Focus\Hub Sessions Backup
• Up to 100 backups per session are kept.
• Old backups are automatically deleted after 14 days.

To restore a session to a previous state:

1. Go to Tags > Import Tags.
2. Click BROWSE… and navigate to the backup folder.
3. Select the file with the desired timestamp.
4. Make sure Replace all tags is selected.
5. Click Import.