Tech Talk

How to go about uploading videos is one of the most common questions we get from new customers at Zencoder. As a developer, implementing file uploads is something you've probably done a few times, but it's always a pain. Enter Filepicker.io Filepicker.io makes file upload easy. Like, really easy. You're not just limited to just local files either; they support a wide range of sources, from Dropbox and Google to even recording a video directly from your webcam. The best part is, you can do all of this without ever leaving the front-end. Before we do anything else, you'll need to sign up for a Filepicker.io account. Once you've done so, create a new App in your dashboard if one doesn't exist. Take note of the API key you see, we'll be using that later. Filepicker.io is nice enough to provide an S3 bucket for getting started, but take a second to set up a destination S3 bucket for your uploads.

Congratulations to Zencoder customer Sibme on their launch.  Internet video is a major component of the rapid evolution that is underway in education.  While other Zencoder customers such as Khan Academy use video as an instructional tool for students, Sibme was founded by three former educators as a web-based professional development tool built to empower teachers, administrators, and instructional coaches. The following is a quick Q&A with Sibme co-founder Dave Wakefield on how they use video, and how they use Zencoder. Tell us about the work that you do at Sibme. Sibme is a private video collaboration and professional development platform for teachers, instructors, and instructional support staff. Video is a powerful way to train and provide instructional feedback to educators.  The problem has always been that it has never been that easy or efficient to implement in schools and institutions. While athletes like Peyton Manning spend a lot of time reviewing game tape to improve their performance, teachers rarely have enough time in the day to think about professional development.  There are no reason teachers or instructors should not be doing the same.  Sibme allows for more meaningful and frequent observation in schools in a private and secure environment. Many teachers are willing to use video to collaborate with their peers and improve their craft if they trust and respect the reviewer’s opinion.

In a multi-device world, navigating the murky waters of video support can be tricky, especially when you’re trying to keep costs down and quality high. Renditions and The Modern World In its most basic form, online video consists of transcoding a single source file into a single output file that will play over the Web. Each of these video files is called a rendition, and an array of renditions defines how video will be delivered to end-users. When YouTube launched in 2005, it delivered a single output rendition through a basic player. Fast forward to 2013 and the world of online video is defined by HTML5/Flash players, ad-insertion, recommendation engines, paywalls, and anywhere from a handful to a boatload of renditions at different bitrates and in various formats. It may sound like a confusing mess, and it can be, but there are strategies that can simplify your approach to delivering video, shrink costs, and improve the viewer’s experience. It all starts with renditions.  You can download the series “Architecting a Video Encoding Strategy Designed for Growth” as a whitepaper here.

Today we're announcing public availability of stored transfer credentials, a new feature that makes it easier to manage login information and access to the servers and services you use with Zencoder.

Or, how to deliver unique viewing experiences through dynamic manifest generation This article is focused on HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), but the basic concepts are valid for other HTTP-based streaming protocols as well. A deep dive into the HLS protocol is beyond the scope of this article, but a wealth of information is available online including the published standard: HTTP Live Streaming.  This article is part of a series on online video encoding strategies designed for growth.  You can download the series as a whitepaper here. Concatenation and The Old Way Content equals value, so, in the video world, one way to create more value is by taking a single video and mixing it with other videos to create a new piece of content. Many times this is done through concatenation, or the ability to stitch multiple videos together, which represents a basic form of editing. Add to that the creation of clips through edit lists and you have two of the most basic functions of a non-linear editor. As promising as concatenation appears, it can also introduce a burden on both infrastructure and operations. Imagine a social video portal. Depending on the devices they target, there could be anywhere between a handful to many dozens of output formats per video. Should they decide to concatenate multiple videos to extend the value of their library, they will also see a massive increase in storage cost and the complexity of managing assets. Each time a new combination of videos is created, a series of fixed assets are generated and need to be stored. HTTP Live Streaming and The Manifest File The introduction of manifest driven HTTP-based streaming protocols has created an entirely new paradigm for creating dynamic viewing experiences. Traditionally, the only option for delivering multiple combinations of clips from a single piece of content was through editing, which means the creation of fixed assets. With technology such as HLS--since the playable item is no longer a video file, but a simple text file--making edits to a video is the same as making edits to a document in a word processor. For a video platform, there are two ways to treat the HLS m3u8 manifest file. Most simply, the m3u8 file can be treated as a discrete, playable asset. In this model, the m3u8 is stored on the origin server alongside the segmented TS files and delivered to devices. The result is simple and quick to implement, but the m3u8 file can only be changed through a manual process. Instead, by treating the manifest as something that is dynamically generated, it becomes possible to deliver a virtually limitless combination of clips to viewers. In this model, the m3u8 is generated on the fly, so it doesn’t sit on the server, but will be created and delivered every time it's requested.

Steve Jobs once remarked: “(One should) be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." These days it seems that everyone has caught on to Mr. Jobs' ideal of an excellent experience.

Internet technology, and video in particular, are reshaping education.  While entertainment content is fun, we're proud to have a number of customers who are doing the good work  of educating our fellow global citizens. Here are some words from Pathways to Education Digital Media Manager Jason Shim on their use of online video and the technology behind their organization.