App Cloud
- Overview and general topics
- Product Updates
- Glossary
- The App Cloud SDK
- Creating an app template
- Tutorials
- Content optimization
- Development tips and best practices
- Packaging a template
- Creating apps from a template
- Publishing an app
- Delivering ads
- Push Notifications
- Analytics
- Managing users and accounts
Player Debugger
Resources
Uploading Videos
Video Cloud offers a variety of different methods you can use to upload your videos into your Video Cloud Media Library. Which method is best for you depends on your workflow, available skills, and (to some extent) location. This topic summarizes them and describes the benefits and disadvantages of each. Since the Media module is the only upload method available to Video Cloud Express publishers, this topic is relevant primarily for Video Cloud Pro and Enterprise publishers. This topic includes these sections:
Summary of upload methods
- Video Cloud Studio Media module
- FTP batch provisioning
- Accelerated upload with Aspera
- Media module with remote assets
- Batch provisioning with remote assets
- Media API Write methods
- Video Cloud Mobile Upload app for iPhone
Video Cloud Studio Media module
Process. In the Media module, click the Add Videos button, select your files, and click Upload.
This is by far the easiest method. However, files are limited to 2 GB in size and travel via HTTP, which is slower than other protocols. You also may need to go back to the video in the Media module to modify its metadata after upload, since you can only set its name, tags, rendition settings, and active/inactive state as you upload. Read more.
FTP batch provisioning
Process. Create an XML document (a manifest) that describes in detail each of the videos you want to upload, including as much of the metadata as you want to set. Upload your videos to the Video Cloud FTP server, then upload your XML manifest.
This requires knowledge of XML, use of FTP client software, and the URL, user name and password for access to the FTP server. If you have to write a new XML manifest every time you upload a video, that can take a significant amount of time. However, many publishers who use FTP batch provisioning create applications that draw the metadata need for the manifest from their content management systems and automatically create the XML manifest, with just a little input from the user. Read more.
Accelerated upload with Aspera
Process. Just the same as FTP batch provisioning, except that instead of uploading your videos and manifest to the Video Cloud FTP server, you upload them to the Video Cloud Aspera server.
This requires knowledge of XML, an Aspera client, and the URL, user name and password for access to the Aspera server. In addition, it is available only to Video Cloud Enterprise publishers. Aspera's proprietary protocol enables upload speeds that are significantly faster than FTP. Read more.
Media module with remote assets
Process. Just the same as standard upload with the Media module, except that instead of uploading your videos, you keep the videos on your own CDN and provide Video Cloud with information about where to find the video files.
In addition, you are responsible for setting up, managing, and paying for your own relationship with your CDN. Since you're not actually moving the video files to Video Cloud and Video Cloud is not transcoding them, the videos can become available in Video Cloud players quickly. However, you'll still need to transcode your videos and upload them to your CDN first. Read more.
FTP batch provisioning with remote assets
Process. Just the same as FTP batch provisioning, except that instead of uploading your videos and manifest to the Video Cloud FTP server, you upload just the manifest, which must contain a pointer to the location of the video files on your own content delivery network (CDN).
This has the same requirements as FTP batch provisioning. In addition, you are responsible for setting up, managing, and paying for your own relationship with your CDN. Since you're not actually moving the video files to Video Cloud and Video Cloud is not transcoding them, the videos can become available in Video Cloud players quickly. However, you'll still need to transcode your videos and upload them to your CDN first. Read more.
Media API Write methods
Process. Compose a Media API create_video method call and POST it to the Video Cloud Media API servers. The method call is composed of the create_video command, the Media API Write token for your account, and a JSON representation of the video and its metadata.
Using the Media API requires some programming skill and an understanding of how to work with JSON. You can use your choice of a large number of programming languages and SDKs are available for many of them. It is comparatively easy to create a web form that creates and posts a create_video method call. Here's one example. Files are limited to 2 GB in size and travel via HTTP, which is slower than other protocols. Read more. It's also possible to create videos with remote assets using the Media API.
Video Cloud Mobile Upload app for iPhone
Process. Install the Video Cloud Mobile Upload app on your iPhone and upload a video from your phone to Video Cloud.
This is very simple to use. It requires an Apple iOS device with a video camera (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad 2) and only works with videos recorded on that device. It makes use of the Video Cloud Media API and uploads travel via HTTP. Read more.
Factors affecting upload speed
Upload speed can vary depending on the characteristics of your video file, your upload method, and your location. The single biggest factor is the size of your video file. The longer the video and the higher its total bit rate, the bigger the file will be and the longer it will take to upload and process, regardless of what route it takes to arrive. In addition, consider these factors:
What protocol does my upload use?
File size and other things being equal (and when are they ever equal?), upload speed depends on the characteristics of the protocol you are using to transfer your files. Here is a ranking of the upload methods for speed, based solely on the protocol used, from fastest to slowest:
- accelerated upload with Aspera. This uses the proprietary Aspera protocol.
- FTP batch provisioning. This uses FTP protocol.
- Media module, Media API, Mobile Upload app. These use HTTP protocol.
Media API. All Media API write calls go to Brightcove's Boston data center.
Mobile Upload app. Since the Mobile Upload app uses the Media API, your video files go to Brightcove's Boston data center.
What happens to my file when it arrives?
Getting your video file to Video Cloud is just one step on the way to getting your video playing in a player. Once your video file arrives at a Video Cloud ingestion server, it may need to be transcoded and transferred to the CDN. The transcoding and CDN transfer process is identical, regardless of the upload method you choose (unless you're using remote assets, in which case no transcoding or CDN transfer occurs). Here are some factors that may affect how soon your video is playable after it reaches Video Cloud:
- If your video source file is anything other than H.264 / MP4 or VP6 / FLV, it must be transcoded before it can be played.
- If your video source file is VP6 / FLV, it will not be transcoded.
- If your target renditions are H.264, they can be transcoded faster than if your target renditions are VP6 / FLV (and as a bonus, they will be higher quality and more useful on mobile devices).
- Your primary rendition will be created first and made available as soon as it's ready; other renditions will be added as soon as possible.
- The total speed of transcoding also depends on the size of the source file, the number of renditions you are creating, the quality of the renditions (size and bit rate as well as one-pass vs. two-pass), and the total amount of upload traffic from you and our other publishers.
