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Alix Manté-Martini

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Louise Baraille

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Company News

At api.video, we proudly champion the remote-first lifestyle, stitching together a vibrant team from all corners of the world. This geographical diversity allows us to welcome fantastic talent from every location, embracing [the joy of working from the comfort of their homes](https://api.video/blog/company/api-video-WFH-chronicles/). The perks? Unparalleled work flexibility, the freedom to sculpt your work-life harmony, and adieu to weekend laundry woes!

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Yet, in remote work, there's a downside—the absence of in-person banter with colleagues. And that’s the gap that the People’s Team at api.video aims to fill. 

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Let’s see how.

## 1. Virtual coffee and a buddy for new joiners

It isn’t easy for new joiners to find their comfort in a virtual setup. 

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For that reason, we have created some tools and process to help new joiners not just understand our organisation but also go through a seamless integration and be able to establish meaningful connections from day one. 

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We start by sharing visual organisation charts and directories with them so that they can swiftly familiarise themselves with our organisational landscape. Beyond structured introductions, we also give them the opportunities to create connections with their colleagues through ‘virtual coffee sessions’ and a ‘buddy system’.  

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Giving our new joiners a buddy – a person who hand-holds them in their initial days in the company – is equivalent to giving them an office tour and telling them small things like where the coffee machine is. And we feel that is very important in a virtual setup.

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We also set up virtual coffee sessions of the new joiners with team members they will be frequently interacting with, just to say a casual hi, or discuss how they can work together ahead.

## 2. Not just townhalls, but learning opportunities too

You may be chatting with your team day in and day out, but coming together as a company at least twice a month is also important. 

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Every two weeks, all the employees of api.video come together to have an ‘All-Hands’ where we share company updates and exciting projects that the teams are working on. The remaining two weeks of the month, we host ‘Learning Sessions’. This is the time where a team member from any of the departments shares some interesting insights from his/her field.

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We feel that devoting this time to learn about a team member’s work enables other team members to understand how each of them contribute to the company and makes them value each other more. 

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For example, last month, our SEO manager, Sebastien Girard hosted a TED Talk on SEO (see image below) and spilled some fun facts about how SEO works. It was an eye-opener for many as they they came to know the potential of SEO!

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## 3. Bringing out hidden talent through games

We also often turn our virtual workspace into a playground with Scribbl games, ice breaker questions and pub quizzes! 

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If you don’t know, Scribbl is on online platform where you have to draw a certain word on the virtual blackboard and other team members need to guess it. It is where some people transform into artists, guessing wild doodles, and sharing infectious smiles across the screen. It's more than just a game; it's a nice way to get together and add a splash of fun to our work days through weird, funny scribbles.

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Similarly, a session with some ice breaker questions is intended to ignite conversations, foster connections and break the ice with engaging and fun questions. 

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## 4. End-of-year fun and celebrations

As the end of the year approaches, we infuse the festive spirit into our virtual workspace with some delightful virtual get-togethers. Embracing the holiday cheer, everyone comes together for virtual celebrations around Christmas, sharing jokes, competing in games to win goodies and gifts. There are secret Christmas recipe competitions, ugliest sweater awards and much more!

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These activities are done in an effort to mirror the joyous atmosphere of traditional year-end festivities and to ensure that the spirit of togetherness is not lost in the virtual space.

## 5. Creating virtual water cooler moments

Working from home means you can get your coffee breaks any moment, but had you been in office, wouldn’t you love to share that time with your colleagues? 

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In an attempt to establish those water cooler moments, we have the ‘Wednesday Water Cooler’ question. Each week, we send through a random question on our Slack channel where team members can share their answers. This way we can get to know the little things about our colleagues which otherwise we wouldn’t really know!

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## 6. In-person meet-ups in France (or elsewhere)

Despite the digital landscape of remote work, we recognize the importance of the human touch. Periodically, we make an effort to gather in the office for some good old-fashioned face-to-face interaction. These in-person meet-ups serve as invaluable opportunities to understand the pulse of our colleagues. Beyond the confines of virtual meetings, we engage in casual conversations, exchange laughs, and share experiences. It's these moments of personal connection that bring a deeper understanding of each team member, strengthening the bonds that transcend the digital realm.

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To wrap up, working from home has its perks and downfalls and we recognise both its advantages and challenges. As the People’s Team, we're on a mission to strengthen team connections by coming up with engaging, purposeful, and downright fun experiences all year round. We're always on the lookout for activities that sprinkle some joy and connection into our remote work adventure, because that is the least we can do, right?

Cool things we do at api.video to break the monotony of remote work

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Cédric Montet

As the end of the year approaches, comes the time to reflect on the progress, achievements and give you a sense of what’s next!

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## What we have shipped in 2023

First 2023 has been a year like any other in terms of new features and improvements!

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Thanks to your generous feedback & requests, here is what we have delivered over the year:

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- 🎨 [Custom domains](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/custom-domains-for-api-video/) have been released in May to provide your end users a full white label experience and improve your SEO as all streaming URLs can now be replaced with your own domain name (instead of an api.video URL).

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- 📦 The same month, the api.video [Swift Player package](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/how-to-add-an-api-video-swift-player-to-your-ios-application/) has been updated to support livestream & private video playback.

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- 🔒 Alongside the private video features, [Domain referrer](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/playback-restrictions-with-domain-referrer-for-api-video/) became available in June to increase the control over your delivery by letting you define where your videos can be played.


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- 📈 A few days later, the first iteration of your most requested feature to date, [Analytics as an add-on](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/analytics-for-better-video-insights/) was released making the 5 first dimensions available …in real time!


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- 💰 Last but not least, the video player was improved to support [In stream ads in video player](https://docs.api.video/delivery-analytics/ads) (VAST, VPAID) giving you the ability to leverage a 3rd party ad server and monetize your delivery.


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- 🔄 Delivery capabilities improved again in July with the [Restream](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/restreams-for-api-video/) release: a convenient way to stream your event once on api.video to 4 B2C platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Vimeo.) without having to manage all of them separately.


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- 🆓 September: our biggest move: [Free video transcoding](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/video-encoding-pricing-update/), for all, for all qualities, for all video formats, without any restriction, leveraging months of work and years of experience when it comes to video infrastructure building.


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- 🦅 The last release of 2023 happened in November with the deployment of the [US infrastructure](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/introducing-multi-region-video-hosting/): when subscribing, you can now choose where you want to host your videos between the USA and Europe (Amsterdam).

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Making your experience on api.video as exceptional as possible drove many other projects over the year, including:


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- The release in January of the [Import tool](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/switch-to-api-video-with-our-fast-easy-video-import-tool/) to let you bring your video libraries in second, programmatically, from many 9 different cloud providers to api.video: [https://import.api.video/](https://import.api.video/)
- In May, we launched the [Catalog](https://api.video/catalog/) to showcase 35+ samples, libraries, clients and integrations to inspire you and make your implementation easier 
- A full revamp of the [Docs](https://docs.api.video/) in September with new 12 new tutorials and guides 

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Again, it’s all about you, our users, our customers, and we are blessed to see so incredible results once your needs are addressed: **you are 400 more** in 2023 and we expect to serve a total of 780 customers by the end of the year.

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Every day, 100+ new accounts are opened which is more than twice the amount of new accounts opened at the end of 2022.

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Partnering with you to build the video product of your dreams is the first step, seeing you achieve a massive success from our usages is **our best reward** and you have challenged the Infrastructure a lot this year!


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## 2023 performances

In June, we were thrilled to share that 1M videos have been uploaded to api.video since its inception.

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Only four months later, 500,000 new videos have been added, meaning **we transcoded 1 million videos in 2023**, almost twice the number of videos ingested over the 3 previous years.

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The deployment of [ASICS cards on the infrastructure](https://api.video/blog/video-trends/the-comeback-of-specialized-hardware/) over the summer reduced drastically our carbon footprint, accelerated the transcoding times and capacity by 7 (compared to CPU transcoding) and allowed us to manage peaks without any service latency, with a recent record of **1,620 new videos ingested over a single minute**.


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Following up on our [2020](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/video-encoding-rates-2h-2020/) and [2021](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/api-video-encoding-times-2h-2021-edition/) encoding benchmarks, the 2023 metrics reveal new milestones in terms of transcoding speed. On average, api.video has transcoded **a minute of video in 720p in less than 10 seconds** in 2023 (compared to just over 30 seconds + in 2021) and a minute in 1080p in 14 seconds (compared to 80 seconds in 2021).

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You can try it by yourself with this demo: [https://upload.a.video/](https://upload.a.video/)

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Delivery followed the same trend with an impressive 150% growth in 2023 (so far!) vs 2022.

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We pursue our investments in the infrastructure and our SLA remained extremely high this year:




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## What’s next?


We are currently focusing our efforts on three key projects and aim to release them by the end of Q1:


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- **A fully revamped dashboard**: We aim to enhance your experience by introducing a dual view. For every action made through the UX, you will see the related calls to facilitate implementation into your product.

- **Low latency**: Recognizing that many of you are building incredible livestream use cases, we strive to provide top-notch latency. We aim to significantly reduce it, allowing you to stream with a latency of 6 to 8 seconds.

- **Data**: Over the last six months, you have shared much with us regarding your need for analytics to understand your audience. We are close and thrilled to release the Watch Analytics product in the early days of February!


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Thank you for your trust in 2023. We can’t wait to show you what’s planned for 2024!

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If this resonates with you, feel free to reach out at cedric@api.video

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Cédric,
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Founder & CEO


Discover the api.video achievements and milestones that shaped the past year.

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2023: That's a wrap!

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Arushi Gupta

I was in Bordeaux last week for a quarterly meeting of api.video and just while sitting at the desk working on something important, I happened to overhear a conversation on a nearby table. It was about work-from-home (WFH) and what all my colleagues would do had they been at home at this time. 

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Intrigued, I went on to talk to them.

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Little did I know that remote work was such a game-changer for them, not just for their daily grind but for the very fabric of their workplace happiness and productivity. 

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So, I tried to dig in a bit more and I got to know the highs, the lows, and everything in between of the work-from-home escapade at api.video.

## 1. The parent perspective

We’ll start with talking about new moms and dads that have been juggling work and their babies, like a boss. 

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It is not news that the impact of work from home on childhood education and parenting, as well as quality of life and happiness levels, is indescribable. If you’re a parent, every minute at the office is a minute spent not seeing your child grow, laugh, cry, dance, and smile. From attending a child’s school events to caring for family members, remote work gives you, as a parent, valuable time that you can spend with your loved ones.

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Zoltan, Technical Writer at api.video and a newly turned dad shares how WFH has helped him,

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_"Async work allows me to give more time to my wife and kid. I'm able to take part in household chores and balance out the workload with my wife, which I wouldn't have been able to do had I had to be in the office."_

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From Margaux perspective, mom of a 2 year old and the Office Manager of api.video,

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_"As a mum, it’s refreshing to be able to handle my time as I please so I can take care of my kid and all health appointments or daycare topics. I know that as long as my tasks are handled, I have the flexibility to manage my day and it makes me more eager to be productive during my working hours."_

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Yohann, a Front-End Engineer whose daughter will be 7 months old soon, loves that he can be with his daughter in her nascent years.

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_"I love the fact that I never have to choose between witnessing my daughter’s firsts (her first steps, her first word, her first hiccup) and working. I love how WFH enables me to do the best I can for my daughter, during work hours and after."_

## 2. Healthy, inexpensive home-cooked meals FTW

Do you remember eating a cold bagel to work? Or having your lunch spill in the car? Or maybe forgetting your afternoon snack? Grabbing (too much) coffee with (extra) sugar on the way to the office?
These are things of the past with WFH.

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Remote work means you get to eat affordable, delicious, home-cooked food every day. This can mean the world to people with a tight budget, dietary restrictions, ambitious fitness goals… and it sure does mean a lot for the average foodie! 

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Jean Baptiste, our Video Team Lead, would agree. He says,

_"Working from home means I get to eat delicious home cooked food, because in the office you only eat fancy food (😉)."_

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Sebastian Marin, our Video Editor shares the same thought, more so because he feels what he eats reflects on the skin.

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_"Working from home has been a game-changer, especially when it comes to keeping things healthy. Being the face of the company for all those videos is no joke, right? Well, turns out, whipping up home-cooked meals daily has been my secret sauce.
Having my office and kitchen in the same spot has also made life easier. I get to fuel up with meals that suit both my taste buds and the hectic work life. No strict diets or anything – just good, balanced stuff."_

## 3. The most hated – daily office commute and undone laundry

The addition of office commute to your day's time gives you 30, 50, or 120 minutes more to enjoy your day. This means more time to sleep, less stress in the mornings, and more leisure time in the afternoon. All this time is yours — for you to make the best out of it! 

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Sébastien Girard, our SEO Manager, loves how he can easily manage household chores along with office responsibilities with WFH. He says,

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_"Being able to do the laundry during weekdays and not having a pile of clothes ready for the weekend is what I love about WFH! I also love the fact that I no longer need to waste time commuting (and eventually not catching a cold outside or on the bus) but I can just get up and be ready to work straight away! I can also catch a quick trip to the grocery store if needed, and I love that freedom."_

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Olivier Lando, the Head of Ecosystem at api.video, also loves the fact that he can manage home-related chores easily with WFH. He says,

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_"Working from home, I never need to miss any parcel deliveries haha. Plus I am able to have coffee breaks with my wife who also works from home, and that makes me love WFH even more."_

## 4. Geographical boundaries cease to exist

One of the best things about working from home, something that everyone loves, is that you can enter exceptional workplaces, without moving an inch from your sofa. No need to worry about uprooting your family to the city, or losing your friend group to the suburb!

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Additionally, once you start working, you do not need to be restricted to one single place only. You could be heading two towns over, escaping to a close friend’s AirBnB, or flying off to your favorite location. As long as you find and create a home where YOU feel comfortable, it is a win-win. 

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Alix Manté-Martini, the People Operations Specialist at api.video says,

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_"Remote working enabled me to overcome the geographical constraints arising from my husband's career path – his pursuit of becoming a winemaker in Corsica. Being fully remote, I get the choice to grow in my chosen field (International Human Resources) and develop my career path in a location (Corsica) where there are no such jobs. So with WFH, I've been able to bridge the gap between my career goals and the constraints of living on an island not particularly known for its openness to international professional opportunities. And that enables both my husband and I to follow our career aspirations without compromises and to craft careers that align with our passions."_

## 5. Productivity at its best and the unsaid feeling of trust

As per a recent report by Harvard Business Review, employees working remotely reported much higher job satisfaction than office workers. This job satisfaction led to employee productivity of remote workers. Another report from Future Form states that workers with full schedule flexibility reported 29% higher productivity and 53% greater ability to focus than workers with no ability to shift their schedule.

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Well, it is safe to say that probably, it is the elimination of long commutes and workplace distractions that improves energy levels and helps you focus on the job. It’s also partly because of the adoption of new technology to communicate and collaborate, as well as the reduction of pointless meetings and “face-time”. 

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Thomas Pellegatta, a Full-Stack Developer at api.video, finds himself most productive at home. He says,

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_"WFH is great because you can focus well on topics that need concentration and your undivided attention. Plus, you can dress however you like and being super comfy makes me more productive!"_

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Moreover, WFH also builds a sense of ownership and trust for a lot of people. They work with an implicit understanding that the work they have requested from other teams will be done and will be done on time. 

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On this note, Alexandra Demopoulos, Pricing Lead at api.video says,

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_"WFH for me represents freedom and trust. ‘Freedom’ that allows you to set your own working environment standards and ‘trust’ that your coworkers can count on you to deliver in time and find what they need when they need it! It also embraces transparency and proactive collaboration, making any get-together events exciting and even more meaningful."_

## 6. An office space just the way you like!

Remote work means your office is truly yours, to make of it as you please.

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What could be better than having picture collages all over the walls of your home office? Or have sober colours and fur carpets that scream ‘you’? What about a huge plant beside your work desk? 
Personalizing an office space means more than just furniture. With WFH, you get to do what makes you more productive – be it listening to your favourite music, using a scent diffuser, or playing with the lighting to suit your needs.

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And if you’re bored of your desk? Just ditch it.

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Relax on the sofa. Use your backyard. Turn your kitchen counter into a standing desk. Head to the park, the coffee shop,the cafe, the library, the co-working space— all you need is a comfortable seat and some wifi. 

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For Sebastian and Arushi who work at api.video from Italy and Germany respectively, office spaces look very different. While Sebastian, the video editor at api.video has set up his workstation at home and loves it to death, Arushi has made co-working places and cafes her workstation. 


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Gokul Kailasam, the Product Marketing Manager at api.video also takes the help of music to make working from home less boring, and focus better. 

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_"I listen to LoFi songs and do strategic work/write copy that requires my full attention. They really help me concentrate better."_

## A different perspective – Work from office

While a quick message on Slack or a visual meeting on Zoom can save you the time that an in-person meeting would take had you made a commute, often a quick message on Slack is not as quick. It gets tedious at times to explain things over a message and that may often cause miscommunication. More so, in a message, you often don’t know the tone, intent and urgency of the task which is clearer in a face-to-face conversation.

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Our CEO and co-founder, Cédric Montet, agrees and personally, he finds it better to come to the office, wrap up work and leave for home. 

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_"I prefer to work at the office to put a clear separation between work & life. I’m a father of 2 (4y and 1.5y) and I want to make sure I’m really « with them » so I try to not mix everything. My routine is to bring them to school, have a coffee at a bar to switch my mind before going to the office and have the same transition moment with a 20 min walk at the end of the day before going home to switch off as much as possible. I can read and reply to messages & emails at home but my phone is off between 7:30 and 8:30pm (bedtime for them). Otherwise, I deeply prefer to work with people in person rather than by Zoom."_

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However, from a CEO’s perspective where he has to interact with several people and teams in a day, he feels,

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_"As a CEO my views have evolved (and are still evolving). We raised our series A during Covid without a chance to meet people, so remote was the best way to be. Hiring remotely at that time helped us widen the reach across the globe – and that’s where the best talents thrive and live! But, sometimes I also feel that it takes more effort to communicate in a remote setup than it would take were we all in the same space."_

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Along similar lines, Gokul Kailasam mentions that although working from home enhances his concentration, there are moments when he feels a sense of loneliness. He says,

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_"I would love it if I could come to the office twice a week to see some colleagues and exchange banter with them. It would be fun."_

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Arushi Gupta (author of this blog) and a Content Manager for api.video shares similar feelings. She feels,

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_"Working from home gives me the chance to take my morning jog without rush, sip my coffee in the comfort of my pyjamas and spend the early hours of the day with myself. But I would love to come to the office 2-3 days a week because a lot of my work requires other teams’ involvement and it becomes easier to collaborate when we’re all present in the office. Also, interacting with my colleagues at the office gives me a chance to perceive their human side, distinct from their work, which I find to be crucial."_

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Despite completely working-from-home, the api.video team tries to come together at least once every quarter for some in-person laughs, beers (or wines) and sumptuous food together. Otherwise we see each other virtually on Zoom calls, Scribble game meetings and the bi-weekly Townhalls. 
Now, as the year ends and the curtain falls on our virtual workspaces, let us raise a toast to the coming year of remote endeavors—may your internet be swift, your coffee strong, and your virtual meetings glitch-free! 





Between code and comfort: The inside scoop on api.video’s WFH chronicles

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Product updates

We’re wrapping up a huge Q1 at api.video!
 
This is the perfect moment for a review of what happened these last weeks and what our next milestones are. :)
 
First: **people**! Because nothing reflects more on the product and ‘what’s next’ than the people contributing to it!
 


The team has grown to 26 people in Q1, I’m so happy to have welcomed:
* Erikka (🤝 Developer Relations), Joelle (📈 Growth Product), Julie (🎨 Design) and Thomas (🛠 Full-stack Developer) in the Growth team
* Olivier (🔄 Head of Ecosystem) in the Ecosystem Team
* JB (⛓ Head of core) in the Core Team

and 5 more to be announced these next weeks :)
 
Remote from day 1, it’s awesome to have (in just 6 months) great multi-cultural talents from the US, Italy, UK, France, Australia, China and Russia!
 
Every team will keep hiring this quarter, don't miss our offers [here](https://jobs.api.video/) (or drop us an email at hello@api.video)!

We have released many new features, driven by our roadmap and nurtured by your requests (please [keep adding some](https://roadmap.api.video): meeting your needs is our #1 priority!:
* **Download a high quality MP4 from go.api.video without enabling the MP4 support property**. - Previously, if you downloaded an MP4, you had to do so with the MP4 support property enabled. This was a problem if you didn’t want your end users to be able to download a video. Now, you can download a video through the dashboard no matter the property setting, but the setting still applies for your users.
* **Create a private live stream**. - Everyone’s (yes, really! everyone!) been asking for private live streams and we are proud to announce you can now create them! Just like with private videos, you use a one-time token that a user can use to access a video. This prevents sharing. The token makes the video accessible to a user one time for one web session.
* **Our first webhook, which notifies you whenever a new video is created in api.video**. - We’re also happy to announce that api.video now offers webhooks. What’s currently available is a webhook that notifies you whenever a new video is created. Over time, we’ll add additional triggers. Let us know what you think and what you’d like to see in the future!



## Adding New Developer Tools
 
You already know our mission: help you make online videos available worldwide as quickly as possible. That means helping you stay focused on your use case without having to spend months frankensteining together a mashup of services (like separate transcoding, storage, CDN, and database solutions).
 
But we wouldn’t be a best in class API without providing you shortcuts to integrate api.video! To make api.video easier to use, we’ve taken the time to build out new tools and improve upon existing ones. We now provide:
* **Two new SDKs: one for Java and one for Golang** - Our new SDKs are auto-generated, meaning we’ll be able to keep them up-to-date with the latest changes to our API much more easily. We’ve rolled out Java and Golang, with plans to roll out additional SDKs for React, Python, and more. As part of the SDK overhaul, we fixed the SDK player so that you can now start a new video when another video finishes playing without needing to create a new player instance. If you have suggestions for what you’d like to see in our SDKs, or what kind of SDK you want, please let us know, we love feedback!
* **Three stand alone modules for analytics tracking: generic, video.js, and hls.js** - We added the stand alone modules for analytics for developers who don’t want to use our player. You can track 3rd party players in detail with these.
* **Survey about no-code platforms to see which they you would want and what features** - For no-code, we wanted to know what platforms are most popular, and which our community would like to see, you can contribute [here](https://community.api.video/c/no-code-solutions/15)!

## Improving Reliability, Scalability, and Diagnostics
This quarter we learned a lot about site reliability, scalability, and the importance of diagnostic tools for everything we build. The result was we launched our own EDGE Infrastructure!
 
At api.video we deeply believe that the Internet has been for text, not video, and we are all sick of latency, buffering and bad quality when we want to enjoy video content. To drastically improve the whole online video experience, great code is not enough without an infrastructure designed specifically for video.
 
We plan to release our new infrastructure to the EU region in just a few weeks and the US before the end of Q2. We can’t wait to help all of you benefit from this major improvement :)

Last but not least:

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/26gsjCZpPolPr3sBy" width="480" height="480" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/latenightseth-thanks-thank-you-26gsjCZpPolPr3sBy">via GIPHY</a></p>

Usages have never been so intense, all metrics — new videos uploaded, transcoded, and delivered — grew three digits this quarter!

It’s fantastic to chat with all of you on a daily basis to discover your use cases, understand your needs and roll up our sleeves to help you succeed!

Let’s pursue this discussion on the [community forum](https://community.api.video) or drop me a line cmontet@api.video!

2021: Wrapping up a great Q1 at api.video

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Since day one of its existence, api.video has invested not only in cutting-edge technology but also in the strategic management of our video encoding, hosting and delivery ecosystem since day one.

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One of those investments was to have our own video infrastructure.

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And building and maintaining our infrastructure is not a mere corporate choice; it's a commitment to the future of video streaming. We recognize that when it comes to the technicalities of video streaming, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Each company or individual has its unique requirements, and an in-house infrastructure enables us to finely tailor our system to cater to these specific demands.

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_(If decoding text feels like a secret mission for your eyes, switch gears and dive into the video.)_



## A proprietary video infrastructure that powers seamless video experiences
While we are proud of the fact that we have a proprietary infrastructure, the reason we have built it is to help YOU. So let's dive in and see how our infrastructure empowers us to give you exactly what you need for your videos.

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## 1. Autonomy over video monitoring and performance

We build every stack of our video infrastructure and when it goes into production, it is monitored continuously to take immediate action if needed. We also closely measure the technical performance of your video delivery using [Golden Signals](https://sysdig.com/blog/golden-signals-kubernetes/) – error, saturation, traffic and latency – which ensure that your videos are delivered with consistent quality, even during high-traffic periods. This means that your videos will play smoothly, no matter where your audience is located. 

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This autonomy over our infrastructure gives us the power to take care of video delivery and performance end-to-end, so you can focus on creating great content, knowing that your videos will be delivered smoothly to your audience. 

## 2. Flexibility to expand and give you what you need for your videos
We have the elasticity to expand/offload to a cloud provider, based on your needs, ensuring high performance no matter how many minutes of videos. 

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Not only this, having our own infrastructure means more flexibility to be able to offer you functions as per your need. Let's say you need a special feature like AI integration or auto-captioning on all your videos. We can easily accommodate it by adding custom hardware or deploying a solution fit for your use-case.

## 3. A Content Delivery Network (CDN) that offers global delivery
We partner with the best CDN provider in the world to help deliver your videos anywhere with minimal latency. With a robust CDN that has a vast network of 140+ points of presence worldwide, we offer robust transmission, reliable connections, and cutting-edge tools to deliver live streaming video across the globe.

## 4. Video encoding at <u>zero cost</u> supported by ASICs

Our infrastructure uses Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) based encoding, an innovative hardware-based encoding that is faster, greener, and cheaper than CPU-based encoding by an order of magnitude. Using ASICSs means lower power consumption costs, which is why we are able to offer [video encoding at zero cost ](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/video-encoding-pricing-update/)to you. 

## 5. Security of videos by default and reliability at all times

For reliability, your videos are always stored in two or more data centers so that server failures never result in loss of data. **You get a 99.999999999% (eleven nines!) storage durability with us.**

With token-based private videos, [custom domains](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/custom-domains-for-api-video/), AES Encryption, your videos are secure with us by all means.

## 6. Video storage and delivery in the US and the EU

One of the most important parts of our infrastructure is our ability to offer you the freedom to decide where you store your videos. This means that you can [select the storage location](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/introducing-multi-region-video-hosting/) that best suits your needs, whether for compliance with local laws or for faster performance for your users. 


On top of the freedom to choose your storage location, we have recently updated our infrastructure with delivery servers in North America, and improved our CDN services in the region. This initiative guarantees faster, more efficient video delivery within North America and means that your American users will experience faster and higher quality video playback than ever before.

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With this update, you can have multi-region storage for your videos. So now, if you are working on a project in Europe and one project in the US, you can benefit from multi-region storage. Each Project you will create within your account will hold a different API key, and its own settings, including the video storage location. This means that you can link each project to a single region based on your customer's video storage preferences, taking your reach global. 

## Wrapping up

Unlike competitors relying solely on hyperscalers, api.video has forged a different path. While the  approach of others may seem convenient, scaling up often leads to increase in costs. In contrast, our [self-managed infrastructure ensures cost efficiency](https://api.video/product/video-infrastructure/), offering stability and scalability without the unpredictability of escalating bills as volumes rise.

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At api.video, our goal is to provide you with the highest quality video streaming experience, and our investment in owning and managing our infrastructure underlines our dedication to this goal. 

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_Create your [free sandbox account](https://dashboard.api.video/register) with us now and see what lies on the other side._




How api.video’s global infrastructure enables seamless video performance

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Should I build my video infrastructure from scratch?

Should I build my video infrastructure from scratch? Challenge accepted

Lou-Anne Lévénard

As a full-remote start-up evolving in an ever-changing and highly-innovative market, we rely on our core values to shape our culture and guide our ways of working to stay ahead of the market. These values are not just words on a page but the principles we want to live and breathe daily.

This article will explore our core values and how they help us create a positive and productive remote work environment.

## Act fast

Acting fast is essential in a tech start-up environment. Priorities are constantly changing, and the speed of actions is crucial to stay ahead of the competition.

When we act fast, it creates a sense of urgency and momentum. Therefore, we encourage our team to make rapid decisions and take actions to move projects forward. While we take the time to pause, observe, share, analyze, and think, it doesn’t slow us down. We do it in productive and agile ways, allowing us to be more responsive to our market.
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**"In the Customer Care team, acting fast is the key to ensuring that we provide timely and actionable responses to our users. In certain situations, such as during a live stream, quick and effective solutions are critical to avoid unpleasant experiences for the customer.**

**When we receive a customer request, we shift our priorities and focus on finding an appropriate answer to reduce response time and ensure satisfaction. To do so, we use our internal communication channels to identify relevant stakeholders and collaborate with them to address client issues, sometimes involving several teams to solve a single issue."**
>Joséphine, Account Manager (Bordeaux, FR)

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## Grow through humility

By approaching our work with a humble attitude, we create a culture of learning and growth, where everyone has room to share their ideas and can be sure their voices are heard. 

We encourage feedback, seek out learning and development opportunities, and always look for ways to improve. We consider there are no silly questions, and everyone is valued for their curiosity or contribution.  

By growing through humility, we are able to stay agile and adaptable in a constantly changing market.
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**"I can feel humility among team members when I have new ideas and approaches, which makes me feel respected and encouraged to collaborate. At the end of a meeting or call, our team can come up with innovative solutions that will contribute to our growth."**
>Diego, technical Support Engineer (Lyon, FR) 

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## Be reliable

As a remote company, we understand the importance of reliability. Our clients and peers rely on us to deliver high-quality work, meet deadlines, and be responsive and supportive to their needs. 

What matters to us is not the number of hours worked or physical presence but rather the quality of the delivery. While we don't expect everyone to follow a traditional 9-to-5 schedule, we expect everyone to be responsive, dependable and take the necessary time to assist one another when their contribution is needed to solve issues or create value. 

This is how we build trust both internally and externally, which is essential for long-term relationships.
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**"Joining a tech company with no technical background can be intimidating. You’re wondering if you’ll understand the product well and if you’ll be able to contribute to meetings and have an impact on operations. At api.video, it’s possible thanks to the amazing talents we have. 
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We are surrounded by individuals who take the time to answer any questions you may have and explain concepts you may not grasp. This support further extends in projects where team members from different teams join together to solve issues and trust in the work they each put in."**
>Louise, Head of People (Amsterdam, NL)

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## Be transparent

As a remote company, it is even more important for us to track and share information. 

We document most of our processes and actions to ensure transparency and availability of information at any moment.

We encourage our team members to communicate their schedules and availability with their colleagues so that everyone can collaborate effectively and efficiently.

We also share our goals, progress, and challenges in and across teams and ask for help when needed. Our feedback culture is important to us: having transparent feedback helps us improve and celebrate our actions. Therefore, openness and honesty between us are key to continuous improvement and a nice place to work.

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**"Being transparent at api.video means that whenever I ask anyone a question about anything, I receive a clear answer and an explanation of the reasoning behind it. Having more context on a topic helps me get a bigger picture and a more thorough vision.**
**Also, I can say what I really feel and be confident it will be listened to and taken into consideration."**
>Clément, System Engineer (Toulouse, FR)

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## Be bold

In a start-up environment, it's important to maintain an innovative mindset. That's why we give our coworkers as much space as they need to be as bold as they can. Being bold doesn't mean we take inconsiderate risks, but we encourage our team to be innovative and creative in their work.

We value boldness as it allows us to challenge the status quo and find new and better ways of doing things, which is essential to differentiate from the competition.

&nbsp;
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**"Being bold for me at api.video means that I am not afraid to speak up, take initiatives to make things happen, own my mistakes, and sometimes take calculated risks. I feel like my opinion counts, allowing me to drive a positive change and make an impact."**
>Aya, Front-end engineer (Belgrade, SRB)

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## Take ownership

Taking ownership means taking responsibility for our work and actions. We encourage our team to nurture accountability and drive their projects strongly. 
We trust our coworkers and encourage them to do their best. The whole team is ready to help you if you need support and coaching. 

Decision-making is supported by continuous communication on progress and outcomes across the company.

&nbsp;
&nbsp;

**"When I first started working here, we began exploring ways to better serve new customers. One of my team members took the initiative to build a new onboarding process from scratch. He went above and beyond to ensure we offer it to new customers who just signed up, in order to deliver value as quickly as possible."**
>Christian, Head of Customer Care (Canary Island, ES)
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These values - acting fast, growing through humility, being reliable, transparent, bold, and taking ownership - guide the team in creating a positive and productive remote work environment. 

It is important to note that these values alone don’t drive the company’s culture, but it is the team members who embody these values in their daily behaviors and actions. By living out these values, api.video team fosters an environment where everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow, and make a positive impact.

If you want to know more about api.video, feel free to visit [our website](https://api.video/), and if you are interested to join us, please check out [our career page](https://jobs.api.video/)!

Empowering through values: api.video's core principles

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Emilien Gobillot

In today's world, where environmental responsibility is important, businesses are re-evaluating their impact on the planet. Sustainable practices are not just a choice; they're a responsibility. When it comes to video encoding, a crucial aspect of content delivery in our digital age, there's a technology that aligns perfectly with this responsibility - ASICs. These Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) not only promise more efficient video encoding but also contribute majorly to a lower carbon footprint.

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That’s why, api.video has gone forward and switched from CPU based encoding to ASICs based encoding.

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This blog is intended to tell you more about this switch. 

## The rise of ASICs in the video industry

In the past few years, the internet's growth sparked a rise in digital video demand. As platforms like YouTube and Netflix rose, companies leaned more toward CPU-based encoding due to its versatility. However, as streaming services gained popularity, CPU encoding's limitations started getting noticed. 

&nbsp;

Video encoding relying on CPU power is no longer a sustainable approach, as superior alternatives are now available that come without any compromises. A great example of this is Google. Google has developed its own Video Processing Unit (VPU) known as [Argos](https://9to5google.com/2021/04/22/youtube-google-custom-chip/) – a groundbreaking innovation. Through the integration of these VPUs, Google has significantly amplified transcoding capabilities per server, cut down operational expenses, reduced electricity consumption, and ultimately improved the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Following in Google's footsteps, Meta has also embraced this transformation. 

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What does this mean? It simply means that ASICs reduces the resource consumption of video encoding (see graph below) and that’s why companies are adopting it. 



MPixel_s per Watt encoded to H.264 (Higher is better)(1).png

Now what is the secret behind these VPUs that are replacing CPUs? VPUs are, in fact, ASICs-based chips specifically engineered for a singular purpose: decoding and encoding video frames. They support various codecs such as h.264, vp9, and AV1, among others. 

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Their power consumption is lower than that of CPUs, and their capacity is substantially greater. Consequently, you can expect VPUs to reduce electricity consumption by 10x to 100x, depending on the codec and the specific VPU in use.

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The best part is that the quality of the video output in VPUs matches that of CPU encoding. (We will delve into the technical details in an upcoming blog post.)

## What made us start ASIC based encoding at api.video

- ASICs also known as VPU (Video Processing Unit) are one order of magnitude more power efficient than CPU based transcoding. 

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- Using dedicated hardware allows us to increase the density which in turn reduces our environmental footprint. As a corollary, it increases our transcoding capacity.

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- Specialised hardware helps improve the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). When we increase the capacity and density of a server, there is a fewer requirement of servers and less rack space. So it reduces capital expenditure and operational expenditure. 

## What does this mean for you as a customer

In today's environmentally conscious world, the impact of technology on our carbon footprint is a growing concern. This is where ASIC becomes a game-changer. 

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But, you might wonder, what can you, as a customer, gain from embracing ASICs technology?

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- **First and foremost, ASIC brings sustainability to the forefront.** By significantly reducing energy consumption compared to generic hardware, ASIC chips align perfectly with your green initiatives. Your carbon footprint shrinks, making a substantial contribution to a better environment.

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- **Secondly, [you get encoding at ZERO cost ](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/video-encoding-pricing-update/) with api.video.** Yes, it is because of ASICs that we are able to reduce our TCO and offer you video encoding at no cost. This means that if you choose api.video for video streaming, you save on the cost of encoding completely. 

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- **Thirdly, ASIC's efficiency translates to faster video processing.** This means that with ASIC’s optimized infrastructure, your complex videos are encoded faster. 

## Stepping into a greener future with ASICs

To create the environmentally responsible future we desire, changes in video encoding and distribution are imperative. ASICs-powered encoders represent a breakthrough, offering enhanced density, performance, and cost-efficiency. These advancements will ensure video applications to scale economically while significantly reducing their environmental footprint.

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With this initiative, let us pledge to make a greener and a better environment around us!

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_[Sign-up](https://api.video/) with api.video today or [talk to our team](https://meetings.hubspot.com/apivideo/talk-to-us) for more information._


Introducing ASICs-based encoding at api.video

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video api

video industry

Video trends

**The comeback of specialized hardware and its impact on the video industry**

Over the past few decades, the trend in computing has been toward general-purpose computing systems that can run a wide variety of applications. This has led to the widespread use of [CPUs and GPUs](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/processors/cpu-vs-gpu.html). However, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in specialized hardware, which is designed specifically to perform one or a few tasks extremely efficiently. In this blog post, we will explore the reasons behind this trend and some of the critical examples of specialized hardware being used in the video industry today.

**Why is specialized hardware making a comeback in computing?**

Specialized hardware in the computing industry refers to computer components or devices designed for a specific purpose, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)  or systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) . These hardware components are optimized for their specific task, resulting in faster and more efficient performance than general-purpose hardware.

Several factors have contributed to the recent resurgence of specialized hardware in computer science:

* **High efficiency : Why we want it quick and ressource-efficient**

One key driver is the increasing demand for high-performance solutions. Artificial intelligence, machine learning and video processing are domains where CPUs are far from being the right solution. Regarding AI workloads, training, and running models are more efficient on GPU and even better on specialized hardware like Tensor processing units (TPUs). Google has been the first to design TPUs. These ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) outperform the CPUs.

Why are CPUs outperformed ? In early 2023 commodity servers come with 1 or 2 sockets and maximum 96 cores per socket for the x86 microarchitecture (128 for ARM). On the other hand, a server with a mid range CPUs can receive several ASICs/TPUs on the PCIe ports. Those boosted systems outperforms by a lot the CPUs based system. The TPUv4, in terms of Tflops is 2000x faster than a laptop according to Google.

The benefits of a specialized hardware is that it provides better performance, higher density and a lower energy consumption than the classic CPUs.

In most cases, TPU/ASIC > GPU > CPU on the 3 criteria : performance, density, and energy savings.

* **Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Why It's Worth the cost**

Specialized hardware exhibits smaller size, higer speed, and greater electrical efficiency. As a result the density increases and the number of computing units decreases. At the end, the TCO is improved. After the switch to ASICs based VCUs (Video coding unit), Youtube is [reported](https://www.semianalysis.com/p/google-new-custom-silicon-replaces) to have saved millions of CPUs ! At this scale you also save data centers 💰

**How specialized hardware is changing the game in the video industry**

In the video industry, one of the most computationally intensive processes is video transcoding, especially for high-quality videos. Transcoding decodes a video from one codec and encodes it to another, such as from H.264 to H.265. This process can also involve changing other video parameters like resolution, bit rate, frame rate, etc. This has led to a need for fast and efficient video transcoding solutions without sacrificing the video quality output.

Transcoding is a service api.video provides in addition to hosting and delivery. Via an API call, a video is uploaded, and then the URL of the video is returned immediately. Note that high resolution and new codecs increase the computational cost.

Similarly to Artificial Intelligence (AI), several types of hardware are commonly used in video transcoding applications:

1. ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits): Video ASICs are specialized hardware accelerators designed specifically for video processing tasks, such as video encoding/ decoding / transcoding. They are sometimes called VPU (Video Processing Unit) or VCU (Video coding Unit). They significantly improve performance over traditional CPUs, particularly for high-resolution or high-frame-rate video. Alphabet, the mother company of Google and YouTube has designed its own ASICs : codename Argos. For a system with 20 VCUs, the TCO has decreased by a 33x factor for VP9 encoding, and throughput increased by a 100x factor!

Facebook/ Meta made the same move to specific hardware. They partnered with silicon vendors to [design custom ASICs](https://engineering.fb.com/2019/03/14/data-center-engineering/accelerating-infrastructure/).

The electric consumption of an ASIC is around a few watts.

2. FPGAs (Field-programmable gate arrays): FPGAs are programmable hardware devices that can be customized for specific applications, including video transcoding. They can provide significant performance improvements over traditional CPUs for certain types of video transcoding tasks, such as simultaneously encoding or decoding multiple video streams. Twitch is using an [FPGA from Xilinx](https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2018/12/19/how-v-p9-delivers-value-for-twitch-s-esports-live-streaming-35db26f6322f/).

The electric consumption is around 25 W for a PCIe card

3. Graphics processing units (GPUs): GPUs are another type of hardware. This hardware is more generic than FPGA and ASIC, but specialized video encoders/decoders are added to these cards. Nvidia was the first company to build a datacenter GPU for transcoding. Intel enters the market in late 2022.

The electric consumption is generally around 70W.

Regarding energy consumption ASICs > (are better than) FPGAs > GPU > CPU. This order is the same for the transcoding speed.

**Reducing the carbon footprint of video transcoding : api.video’s approach**

At api.video we are really focused on the energy consumption of our transcoding pipeline. We want to minimize the ecological impact of video transcoding while keeping the transcoding speed high. The infrastructure team has performed multiple benchmarks, and here are the results.

Those numbers are based on public information (marketing sheet) for the GPUs and FPGAs and real benchmarks for the CPU and ASICs. The quality of the video's output could change the results slightly, but we clearly see a winner regarding power efficiency. In a future blog post, we will share precise benchmarks about the ASICs vs. CPU battle with you. Stay tuned.

Along this article, we have seen the resurgence of dedicated hardware in computer science is driven by a growing need for high-performance computing, particularly in fields like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and video transcoding. Dedicated hardware can provide better performance and energy efficiency than traditional general-purpose computing units, making it an attractive option for many applications. As computing continues to evolve, we will likely see more specialized hardware being developed for specific tasks, driving innovation and progress in the field. 

Our video API allows you to add videos to your products while prioritizing the reduction of your carbon footprint. [Join us](https://api.video/) and take part of the transition to an environmentally responsible video infrastructure.

The comeback of specialized hardware

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api.video

Modern technology has been helpful for an increasingly fast and simple method of consuming various types of video media, whether it’s a YouTube video, our favorite shows on Netflix, or even catching up with friends across the globe on Zoom. Despite the relative ease of doing anything related to video, a few complex processes take place behind the scenes, away from public view. One such process is video encoding.

Video encoding basically makes the world go around in regards to anything related to video and video content. Thanks to the technologies behind the video encoding process, it has become much easier for people and companies to share video content on the internet. But what exactly is video encoding, and what happens during the process? We’ll take a closer look at this and much more in this handy guide to video encoding.

## What is video encoding?

In a nutshell, video encoding occurs when you take raw video footage, either from a digital camera or an analog film camera, and digitally compress it to make it a more manageable file size. Video encoding happens daily in both professional and personal capacities, and many people don’t realize it.

But, without encoding, services like Netflix and YouTube would not exist – or, at least, not in the same way that it does today. Without it, we couldn’t send videos of our beloved pets to our friends and family as easily as we can today.

## Why is video encoding used?

There are a variety of reasons why video encoding is used, but all factors point to the single function of video encoding – **compression**.

This is done to ensure optimal performance and compatibility with a selected suite of software and hardware, be it for DVD/Blu-ray playback, mobile viewing, online video streaming, or general video editing. A file's video and audio information undergo transformation and compression during the encoding process, all in accordance with the requirements of the selected encoding standard.

On a professional level, the ability to compress raw video into more manageable sizes makes it easier to transmit video content such as training, promotion, presentation, and so on over the internet. 

On a personal level, video encoding makes it much easier to send videos taken from your phone directly to friends and family. Most modern-day personal devices have built-in video encoding capabilities to allow for this to happen without a second thought.

To put things in perspective, uncompressed or unencoded video can have a data rate that’s as low as 3,000 Mbps and as high as 12,000 Mbps, depending on the length and quality of the video recorded. 

**Without encoding, it would take up to days for anyone to not just transmit video, but to be able to consume it, too.**

## Differences between video encoding and video transcoding

You need to be familiar with two more [essential terms related to video encoding](https://api.video/what-is/) – transcoding and codecs.

Transcoding relates to the conversion from one digital encoding format to another. It takes the already encoded video file, decompresses it, and then alters it before re-encoding or compressing it into a different codec. Codecs are what allow encoding to occur in the first place. They are software or hardware that gives us the ability to compress video to make them more easily stored and delivered tightly.

While you may hear “encoding” and “transcoding” used interchangeably, the two terms actually mean different things. Putting it succinctly, encoding is the initial process of compressing a video from a source – such as a camera – into a codec, while transcoding takes an already encoded video file to convert it into a different codec.

## Examples of video codecs

In order to understand video encoding, you must first be familiar with two interrelated terms: [video codecs and video formats](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/every-video-format-codec-and-container-explained/). These also tend to be used interchangeably, but much like the terms encoding and transcoding, they refer to two different things.

Video formats are the type of files in which the compressed video/audio is stored. Also known as a “container”, you can tell what a video format is by looking at the file’s extension — the three to four characters that sit after a period in a file name. Here are some of the most common video formats used today:

* MP4
* FLV
* MOV
* MKV
* LXF
* MXF
* AVI
* WebM
* QT

On the other hand, **the codec is short for “Coder / Decoder” (compression / decompression)** and relates to the video compression algorithms that allow encoding to happen. Over the years, codecs have gone through multiple iterations as it coincides with the increasing sophistication and rise in the quality of filmmaking. 

If you’re a content creator, you might be aware of some of the video codecs that exist today:

- **H.264 – also known as AVC, this is the most widely-used video codec available on every platform and mobile device.**
- H.265 – also known as HEVC, stands for High-Efficiency Video Coding, and it’s slowly overtaking H.264 as the standard. This codec can compress video much more efficiently than its predecessor.
- **VP9 – is an open-source, royalty-free codec developed by Google and is considered the direct competitor of H.265. The video compression codec VP9 was created to reduce file sizes, making streaming videos simpler.**
- **AV1 – is another royalty-free, open-source codec released in 2019 by the non-profit Alliance for Open Media. It was developed to become the successor to Google’s VP9 and contend with HEVC more directly.**

## How do different technologies handle video encoding

As you may have suspected, there are a majority of ways that different technologies handle the video encoding process. Let’s take a look at the most common technologies that use video and how video encoding works on each of them:

### Video editing software

When it comes to video content creation, a majority of people will use one of two video editing software — Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple’s Final Cut Pro. Both of these video editing software handle video encoding in very similar ways: when exporting the finished video.

Depending on which device the video content is recorded on, it will already be encoded and formatted according to the settings of the device. For those using iPhones recording 1080p video at 25 frames per second (FPS), for example, the iPhone will automatically encode the video using H.264 and contain it in a .mov file format. The video editing software will “open up” the container to get to the encoded, compressed video file within so the editing process can begin.

After editing the footage is complete, it will need to be exported, which typically concerns video encoding. The edited raw media taken from a recording device such as a camera will be encoded via the codec of the person’s choosing before being put into a .mp4 container once they’ve hit “export”. As we’ve mentioned before, the most common codec used in video content creation is H.264 for HD videos, with 4K videos using H.265. 

### Websites

Different websites utilize different techniques to handle video encoding – with a majority of the major sites like YouTube, Netflix, and so on using their own technologies to handle the process. A majority of social media websites allow you to upload video files directly onto the site to share, although most of them require the files to be saved in specific containers. 

These websites will take your video file and transcode it before using their own systems and serves to re-encode it to match multiple display resolutions. This process will happen regardless of your video file's original codec and settings. Different websites have different processes, but companies that don’t have the capacity to build their own video encoding systems can use a third-party application programming interface (or API) to handle this process. These APIs act as [dedicated video encoder](https://api.video/what-is/video-encoding/) that allows companies to add on-demand videos to their websites more efficiently.

Using [api.video](https://api.video) as an example, all of the videos submitted to the platform will be transformed into H.264 codec in an MP4 container. This may be done using transmuxing and/or transcoding.

We expect the video bitrate to be lower than 16 Mbps for up to 1080p resolution and 50 Mbps for up to 4K resolution. We accept any bitrates, however, we will scale them down to the limits mentioned because anything above is usually challenging for most viewers’ connection to watch.

### API

The ability to generate, store, and distribute video is made possible via a video API. [api.video](https://api.video)’s solution can be tailored to suit any specific need. 

The backend process of video on demand (VOD) is exceptionally complex, even if you’re a software programmer specializing in video. It is necessary to encode, package, and typically transcode the data before sending it to any of several possible destinations. All of these things, and more, may be done with minimal fuss using api.video.

Our API basically keeps the complexities of streaming media hidden from view, so you can rapidly develop apps with as much control as you need. This saves time and effort so developers can concentrate on making the product.

## Conclusion

As you can see through this video encoding guide, a lot of work goes into making the video you watch and the video you share possible. Without video encoding compressing raw video footage, it could take days to upload and transmit video content over the internet and perhaps even longer to be able to download and enjoy them. 

The best part about encoding at api.video is that is offered at ZERO cost. You will only be charged for delivery and hosting of your videos, and the encoding will be free. Now integrate your videos in minutes with api.video or [contact us](https://api.video/contact/) for more information.

A Guide to Video Encoding & Video Codecs

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Doug Sillars

Once I upload my video, how quickly will it be ready to be viewed?

Our reply to this question has always been “it's really fast.”  And it is really fast. But, the dev team gave me access to the backend database, and pointed me to a few tables that might be helpful (thanks to Thomas Persohn for your patient help!)

Thus armed, I waded into a sea of data to better understand how fast our videos are encoded at api.video

## Encoding

When a video is uploaded to api.video, it is re-encoded to a HLS stream, with several different video dimensions and bitrates.  This allows api.video to deliver properly sized video to all users - no matter the device or network connection. (Read our post on [Responsive video delivery](https://api.video/blog/video-trends/responsive-video-delivery/) to learn more.)

> Summary:  All videos are encoded at 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p and 2160p. However, the videos are only encoded up to the initial size of the video (so if the original video is 720p, there will not be 1080p or 2160p versions available). 

**FYI:** For our customers, encoding is absolutely free – we offer adaptive bitrate encoding at zero cost. 

How long does this step take? If a customer uploads a video to our service - they want to know how efficient api.video creates the content for viewing.

### Data in the study

We are constantly making adjustments to our infrastructure to speed the encoding step of our video (and that is one reason this post is dated 2H 2020 - we expect to be faster in early 2021). The last major adjustment was made in mid October, so the data presented in this study from every video uploaded to the api.video service between 15 October and 2 December 2020.

### Parameters that affect encoding

There are 2 major parameters that affect the speed of encoding a new video stream: the output dimensions and the length (duration) of the video.  

#### Dimensions

The output video dimensions have a huge impact on video creation - a 3840 × 2160 (or 4K or 2160p) video has millions more pixels than a 320x240 (240p) video, so it takes a lot longer to create.  In general, the videos exit the encoding process from smallest to largest.

#### Duration

If a video is 30 frames per second, and is 60 seconds long, there are 1800 frames to be created.  If a 30 frame per second video is an hour long 3600s), there are 108,000 frames to be created, so the longer the video - the more time for creation.

## Analysis

To better understand the encoding time, I divided the data by the size of the output video size, and looked at 2 lengths of video  - those under 5 minutes, and videos that are 45-75 minutes long (we are often asked how long a 1 hour video takes to encode).

I calculated encoding time for each bucket of video using percentiles.  

> Quick review - percentiles break the data into 100 evenly sized segments, so the 25th percentile is when 25% of the videos have been encoded. The median is the 50th percentile, and is when 50% of videos have been encoded.  We report here to the 95th percentile for video encoding.

### Short videos - under 5 minutes long

Many of the videos uploaded to api.video are short - under 5 minutes long.  These videos are generally ready to play in a few seconds:



The above chart has a lot of data, the 25, 50, 75, 90 and 95th percentile encoding times for all 6 variants of the video that api.video creates.

The median video is ready to play (at 240p) in 5.6 seconds, but a 720p version will be ready in 15s after encoding begins, and the 4K version will be ready in 37 seconds.

95% of all videos (under 5 minutes) will be playable in 32.6s, and will have 1080p versions ready in just over 2 minutes (140s).

### Long videos - 45 - 75 minutes long

Our most frequently asked question on encoding is "how long for a 1 hour video to be encoded and ready?"  Here are the numbers:


Observant viewers will see there are no 4K videos in this report. At this time, there are very few 4K streams that reach the 1 hour timeframe, and the data was quite noisy.  Hopefully, more of our 'long uploads' will add 4K support, so we can add this metric in our next update.

The median hour long video (red line) will be ready to play (at 240p) in just over 9 minutes (555s), and a 720p version will be ready about 18 minutes after encoding begins (1099s).

95% of hour long videos will have a 240p version ready in 33 minutes, and 720p in 54 (3230s).  the 1080p version will be available for 95% of videos in 108 minutes,

## Conclusion

Short videos will be ready to play - even at high resolution - in under a minute: the median 4K encoding for a short video is 37s. 

Hour long videos take longer to encode, and the median 720p video will be ready in 18 minutes.  95% of 720p videos will be ready to play in 54 minutes.

This is really fast! You can have responsive streaming video ready for your customers in just a few minutes with a simple upload!

That said, our team is working hard in the background to improve our infrastructure to make our encoding speeds even faster! 

We're really excited to have hard numbers to share with you on our encoding speeds, and we cannot wait to re-benchmark this data in 2021 to see how much faster your videos will be encoded as we improve our service.

Do you have questions about api.video or video encoding? Reach out on our [community page](https://community.api.video).


How fast does api.video encode video? 2H 2020 data

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ASICs-based encoding: Building a greener tomorrow through reduced carbon footprint

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Api.video started with a mission to empower product builders to effortlessly integrate video into their applications or services. To achieve this, we built and provided a global video backbone with an easy-to-use API for video delivery, transcoding, and live streaming. With this API, our customers are free to upload their videos at will and count on us for them to be quickly available for delivery. However, this becomes a formidable challenge when customers inundate us with their video catalogues at once.

&nbsp;

In tackling this challenge in the past, we initially relied on the most common solution: CPUs. But the limitation with CPUs lies in their inefficiency for video transcoding, particularly with the advent of new video codecs. 

&nbsp;

We had to overcome this challenge and so we started looking at other alternatives: GPUs, FPGA and ASICs.

&nbsp;

## FPGA vs. GPU vs. ASICS: A comparison

When we started with our research on FPGA, GPU and ASICs, we gathered information from technical marketing presentations on some products (i.e Intel flex series cards not yet available on the market at that time) and ran benchmarks in our lab. Mixing real and marketing measures could have been misleading. The Codensity G4 and G5 chips from [Netint](https://netint.com/) turned out to be clear winners by an order of magnitude when it came to power efficiency and performance per dollar.

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So, we decided to continue the theoretical study with real benchmarks with NETINT VPUs (video processing units) and transcoders, to validate this decision.

&nbsp;

## The journey of switching from CPU to ASICs

The decision to choose ASICs for [our video infrastructure](https://api.video/blog/company/api-video-proprietary-infrastructure/) came after rigorous research.

&nbsp;

Our journey began with the conventional use of CPUs. But as the demand for enhanced performance grew, our team delved into an extensive study, exploring and comparing transcoding solutions like FPGA, GPU, and ASICs. 

&nbsp;

Recognizing the need for a solution that aligned with our goals, we benchmarked the [chips from Netint as their product was the clear winner of our study](https://api.video/blog/company/asics-based-video-encoding/). The G4 performances were satisfying. We could have gone into production with the T408 cards based on G4, but NETINT’s Quadra G5-based transcoders were even more appealing with its AV1 support and higher density. The AI chips associated with the G5 on the T1U cards were also giving it some bonus points. 

&nbsp;

We then restarted our benchmarks with the G5-based Quadra T1U cards based on the G5 chips to assess their performance. We also tested different transcoding strategies to get a high transcoding speed and a good density per server. The results matched our expectations and we successfully finalised these benchmarks with the best transcoding strategy adapted to our transcoding video pipeline.

&nbsp;

This decision marked a turning point in our infrastructure, opening doors to greater efficiency. With increased capacity and advanced encoding capabilities, we went into production.

&nbsp;

## How api.video reduced encoding costs with Quadra VPUs 

api.video used the T1U cards based on the G5 chips built by Netint Technologies. These cards are called VPUs (Video Processing Unit). Let's understand the costs that come with them when we consider a 1080p30 video. To simplify the case, I will assume the source video codec is h.264. The output videos after transcoding will be five h.264 renditions for ABR: 1080p30, 720p30, 480p30, 360p30, 240p30.

&nbsp;
 
For a real time transcoding, let's try to sum up the number of MP/s (Megapixel per second) it represents. For the above output, it represents 62 MP/s + 28 MP/s + 12MP/s + 7MP/s + 3MP/s respectively for 1080p30, 720p30, 480p30, 360p30, 240p30 renditions. 

&nbsp;

We need an encoding capacity of 112 MP/s for real time transcoding. Let us assume that the transcoding cost on VPUs is proportional to the number of pixels per frame (whatever the frame resolution) for the sake of simplicity and one VPU of Netint is able to encode 2000 MP/s in h.264. In reality it is a bit more complex but let’s take these as the numbers for a rough idea.

&nbsp;
 
Now, as per the above assumptions, we can encode 2000/112 = 17 minutes of videos (all rendition included) per minute. Below is a table summarizing the minute cost for a server with 4 VPUs. The cost of the server is $10k and the amortization for such a server is 3 years. 

&nbsp;

The electricity cost will be approx. $1000 per year (420w at $0.30 / kWh) at full consumption. Let us see what is the cost of 1 minute of a 1080p30 video transcoded to 5 renditions.

&nbsp;

(The cost is split taking into consideration the average usage of the server per day)



| AVG. USAGE OF THE SERVER IN PERCENTAGE | MINUTES ENCODED OVER THE AMORTIZATION PERIOD | COST PER MINUTE TRANSCODED (MINUTES / COST OF SERVER + ELECTRICITY) IN $ |
| -------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 0,50%                                  | 536112                                       | 0,020                                                                    |
| 5%                                     | 5361120                                      | 0,002                                                                    |
| 25%                                    | 26805600                                     | 0,0004                                                                   |
| 50%                                    | 53611200                                     | 0,0002                                                                   |
| 90%                                    | 96500160                                     | 0,0001                                                                   |
<p style="margin-top: -1em" class="text-AV_Primary_Blue-500/80 pb-5 text-center text-sm">Transcoding cost per minute based upon varying usage percentages</p>



If we use the server at only 0.5% per day (i.e ~7 min per day fully loaded) the cost per minute would be at $0,020.

&nbsp;
 
If on an average, this server is loaded at 25% (6 hours a day fully loaded) the cost per minute would be 1/100 of our previous price.

So, even at 5% utilization, the cost per video is immaterial, allowing us to make the strategic decision to offer transcoding services at no charge to our customers.

&nbsp;

## What about video quality?

In the past, hardware encoders were associated with lower-quality video, but tests performed by us prove that this isn’t the case with the Quadra VPU. Specifically, we encoded a 1080p30 version of the movie Caminandes 2 via our API and compared output quality with a video encoded with FFmpeg and the x264 codec using the following command string.

&nbsp;

**ffmpeg -r 30 -y -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -force_key_frames 'expr:gte(t,n_forced*4)' -b:v 4400k -preset medium -c:a copy output.mp4**

&nbsp;

As shown in the table below, [we compared the two videos](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/video-encoding-numbers/) using well-known quality metrics VMAF, PSNR, and SSIM. The scores are all extremely close, with the VPU-encoded video edging FFmpeg in VMAF scoring and the reverse for PSNR and SSIM. Given the closeness of the scores, however, it’s clear that no viewer would notice the difference.


|                  | VMAF (AVG) | PSNR (AVG) | SSIM (AVG) |
| ---------------- | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- |
| api.video (VPUs) | 95.92      | 48.07      | 0.9888     |
| ffmpeg (CPUs)    | 95.33      | 48.69      | 0.990      |
<p style="margin-top: -1em" class="text-AV_Primary_Blue-500/80 pb-5 text-center text-sm">Transcoding cost per minute based upon varying usage percentages</p>

To summarize, api.video builds its own infrastructure so that we can take advantage of the right technology to offer the best to our customers. With these advanced VPUs in our infrastructure, we are easily able to reduce our transcoding TCO. We can pack a lot of VPUs in a single server which increases transcoding capacity and reduces the power consumption and the number of servers by an order of magnitude.

&nbsp;
 
In a nutshell, VPUs help us encode videos at scale without costing us too much. These VPUs are the reason why api.video was able to make the decision to offer [video encoding for free](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/video-encoding-pricing-update/) to our customers.

 &nbsp;

_To start using api.video for your videos, [sign-up](https://dashboard.api.video/register) for a free sandbox account now._

Beyond CPUs: api.video’s tech tale of switching from CPUs to ASICs

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Jean-Baptiste

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api.video recently announced that it now offers [free encoding for all its users](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/video-encoding-pricing-update/)—a bold move perfectly aligned with our mission to democratize videos. 

&nbsp;

As a next step and to make things more transparent, we decided to take the help of some numbers and explain it to you.

&nbsp;

The natural thought behind video encoding is that it is expensive. That is mainly because encoding workloads demand substantial CPU resources, and CPUs can be quite costly. Consequently, encoding has traditionally incurred high costs and the higher the video resolution, the greater the CPU requirements, directly impacting encoding expenses. It seems logical that pricing should correlate with these factors, which is what experts typically anticipate.

&nbsp;

But that is not always the case. Read on to learn how we, at api.video, are making it possible to scrap video encoding costs for you all. 

## We build our own infrastructure
There are two common routes you can take for video encoding - Central Processing Units (CPUs) or Graphic Processing Units (GPUs). But let us accept that they are both not very affordable. Moreover, datacenter GPUs aren't primarily designed for video encoding but are rather now targeting AI tasks. And considering the popularity of AI, cloud providers are unlikely to reduce GPU prices because they can command higher rates from AI customers. That’s when a new alternative comes in: Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). These are specialized chips (Video Processing Units) designed for specific workloads and have been recently in news due to Google developing its own VPU for YouTube called Argos.

&nbsp;

At api.video, we build our own infrastructure that has the most advanced VPUs. With these VPUs, we are able to save power consumption costs since the power consumption cost of VPUs is one order of magnitude lower than CPUs and GPUs. It is also easily possible to pack a lot of them in a single server. This increases their density and therefore, reduces the number of servers. 

&nbsp;

In a nutshell, VPUs help you to encode videos at scale without costing you too much, and that is exactly why we at api.video, made the move to use VPUs for video encoding.  

## Understanding encoding costs on VPUs

api.video uses VPUs built by [Netint Technologies](https://netint.com/). Let's understand the costs with a 1080p30 video. To simplify the case, I will assume the source video codec is h.264. The output videos after transcoding will be five h.264 renditions for ABR: 1080p30, 720p30, 480p30, 360p30, 240p30.

&nbsp;

For a real time transcoding, let's try to sum up the number of MP/s (Megapixel per second) it represents. For the above output, it represents 62 MP/s + 28 MP/s + 12MP/s + 7MP/s + 3MP/s respectively for 1080p30, 720p30, 480p30, 360p30, 240p30 renditions. We need an encoding capacity of 112 MP/s for real time transcoding. Let us assume that the transcoding cost on VPUs is proportional to the number of pixel per frame (whatever the frame resolution) for the sake of simplicity and one VPU of Netint is able to encode 2000 MP/s in h.264. In reality it is a bit more complex but let’s take these as the numbers for a rough idea. 

&nbsp;

Now, as per the above assumptions, we can encode 2000/112 = 17 minutes of videos (all rendition included) per minute. Below is a table summarizing the minute cost for a server with 4 VPUs. The cost of the server is $10k and the amortization for such a server is 3 years. The electricity cost will be approx. $1000 per year (420w at $0.30 / kWh) at full consumption. Let us see what is the cost of 1 minute of a 1080p30 video transcoded to 5 renditions.

&nbsp;

(The cost is split taking into consideration the average usage of the server per day)

&nbsp;

| Avg. usage of the server in percentage | Minutes encoded over the amortization period | Cost per minute transcoded (minutes / cost of server + electricity) in $
| ------------- | ------------- | ------------- |
| 0,50%       | 536112       | 0,020
| 5%   | 5361120        | 0,002
| 25%   | 26805600        | 0,0004
| 50%   | 53611200        | 0,0002
| 90%   | 96500160        | 0,0001

&nbsp;

If we use the server at only 0.5% per day (i.e ~7 min per day fully loaded) the cost per minute would be at $0,020.

&nbsp;

If on an average, this server is loaded at 25% (6 hours a day) the cost per minute would be 1/150 of our previous price.

### What about video quality?
Hardware encoded is always associated with quality losses in the head of many video engineers. But that was probably the case decades ago.

&nbsp;

Not anymore.

&nbsp;

Let’s see how VPUs compete with CPUs in terms of quality by taking a video under [Creative Commons license](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons): Caminandes 2.

&nbsp;

We have uploaded its 1080p30 version via our API and will compare the quality output with a CPU encoded video with this option **-b:v 4400k -preset medium** These parameters generate a rather good quality.

&nbsp;

**ffmpeg -r 30 -y -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -force_key_frames 'expr:gte(t,n_forced*4)' -b:v 4400k -preset medium -c:a copy output.mp4**


&nbsp;

Here are the quality metrics (higher is better):

|                  | VMAF (avg) | PSNR (avg) | SSIM (avg) |
| ---------------- | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- |
| api.video (VPUs) | 95.92      | 48,07      | 0.9888     |
| ffmpeg (CPUs)    | 95.33    | 48.69      | 0.990     |


The quality metrics are very closed and report a high score. The VMAF is slightly better through VPU encoding.

&nbsp;

In conclusion, this pricing update reflects our commitment to enhance the video streaming experience for everyone - be it individuals or organizations looking to build their video solutions. We firmly believe that by making video streaming more accessible, we empower creators, businesses, and enthusiasts alike to embark on their video streaming journeys with ease. 

&nbsp;

_To know any other details, [talk to our team ](https://meetings.hubspot.com/apivideo/talk-to-us) and we are here to help you out._
 


Free video encoding: Let's talk numbers

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Huge pricing update: Introducing video encoding at no cost

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Encoding and transcoding: what's the difference? 

Huge pricing update! Introducing video encoding at zero cost

Erikka Innes

Encoding and transcoding are often used interchangeably but they have slightly different definitions. **Encoding is the initial process of converting raw video files into a specific digital format or codec.** It involves compressing and packaging the video data, often to reduce file size while maintaining acceptable quality. Encoding prepares the video for storage, transmission, or playback.

&nbsp;

**Transcoding, on the other hand, involves converting a video from one digital format or codec to another.** This is typically done to optimize the video for different devices or platforms, adapt to varying network conditions, or ensure compatibility with specific playback requirements. Transcoding occurs after encoding and often involves changing resolution, bitrates, or formats without altering the content itself.

## What goes on behind encoding a video?

It's easy to say that encoding is when you go from an _uncompressed source_ to a _compressed source_, but you may ask, what exactly do compressed and uncompressed sources mean?

&nbsp;

Uncompressed sources are video files that contain data that comes directly from a camera sensor vs. encoded video. In the digital space, it's SDI (Serial Digital Interface) or HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). Both of them are popular standards. You'll find HDMI in places like your GoPro camera, or a mini camcorder. These days, you might also find HDMI in professional settings, but SDI is more common due to its reliability. Another example of an uncompressed source would be something analog, for instance, VHS tapes.

&nbsp;

A compressed sources, on the other hand, are video files that have undergone compression during the encoding process. Compression involves reducing the file size by removing unnecessary information or encoding the data in a more efficient format. This process results in a smaller file size, making it more manageable for storage, transmission, and playback.


## What are the types of transcoding methods?

There are three types of transcoding, depending on what you are trying to do to get a video to suit a particular browser, player, or platform:

* **Lossless-to-lossless** - This type of transcoding maintains the quality of your video across formats but allows you to take advantage of better hardware or compression algorithms. 
* **Lossless-to-lossy** - This type of transcoding will decrease your video in quality, but it will benefit you in ways such as – you will get a smaller and/or faster playing file, or a file that is compatible with the requirements of a particular platform, player, or browser.
* **Lossy-to-lossless** - Sometimes people think this means they are regaining quality. This isn't the case in this type of transcoding. If you transcode from a lossy format to a lossless format, all that it means is that you will not lose additional quality in the conversion process. You will not regain data you already lost through compression.

## Codecs for encoding and transcoding

For both encoding and transcoding, you will need to make use of codecs. A codec's job is to compress and decompress video files. It's right there in the name -  **co**mpress **dec**ompress or encode decode. So basically, codec is an algorithm that takes the video and shrinks it or changes it into a format that makes it compatible with the requirements of wherever you want the video to play. There are many codecs because there are many ways to compress a video or livestream for playback.



## What is transmuxing?

Now that you know the difference between encoding and transcoding, let's throw one more term in there - transmuxing. Transmuxing is when you change the container for a video instead of the format. It's a way of repackaging a video to make it compatible somewhere without changing what's in the file. 

&nbsp;

This process is faster than encoding or transcoding and takes less computing power because you only change the container, not the file. It's great when you need to quickly make something available, but the downside is that it doesn't handle things like making multiple video resolutions available. If you choose a container type that's incompatible with your video file, you may also cause compatibility issues, resulting in not being able to play the video.

## In closing

* **Encoding** - Encoding happens when you compress a raw data file from a video camera sensor or an analog source like a VHS tape. 
* **Transcoding** - Transcoding happens when you take an already compressed video file and change it to another format.
* **Transmuxing** - Transmuxing happens when you change the container of a video file but leave the video file untouched. 

We hope that explains the difference between encoding and transcoding clearly. 

_If you are looking for an affordable video API solution that does not burn a hole in your pocket for transcoding and encoding videos, check out our offerings on our [homepage](https://api.video/) or [sign-up for a free account here](https://dashboard.api.video/register)!_

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Artem Matinian

Tutorials

It’s natural that one will think about integrating videos into their project. There are so many use cases for a video that we cannot even start to count. From user-generated content like Youtube, TikTok, Instagram, and the likes, through e-learning apps, personal trainers, e-shopping, and the list goes on and on, there’s no limit to what you can do with moving images that zoom across the fiber optics as digital signals from one place to another. 

&nbsp;
 

Is there are catch, though? How easy is it to implement videos into your project, app, or website? In this article, we will look at the options, challenges, and solutions for getting video infrastructure up and running.

## The Casual Cloud Vendor ☁️

Probably, the first thought of every developer (with a mainstream line of thinking) is AWS. It comes naturally, as most of the existing infrastructure is probably set up on AWS, Azure, or the like. Who can blame you? it’s convenient, easily scalable, and…. can get quite expensive. Not only that, it might be difficult to implement as well; think about:

&nbsp;
 

- Having DevOps that specialize not only in AWS but also in the video area
- If you don’t have such a team, then you’ll need to hire people for that.
- Time-consuming setup
- High price

Here’s the implementation list of all the different services to deploy and setup to have video-on-demand with AWS:

That’s not all; you’ll also have to build the client that uploads the videos yourself and plus all of the front-end. You can already understand the costs and time involved with this project. 

&nbsp;

“Alright”, you say, now what? isn’t it better to just build the whole architecture myself? what’s the point of using AWS if it’s costly, complex, and resource intensive?

##The DIY solution 🛠️

Let’s go with this simple idea. You want to create an upload button where users upload their videos to your app or website. You already have quite a few users and you know that the feature will be adopted quite quickly, right?

&nbsp;
 
The minimum requirements are:

&nbsp;
 

- Rent a server for $120/month (i.e Cloudflare, DigitalOcean and the likes) with the following available resources (vCPU: 4, 16GB of memory, 250GB HDD)
- Install a web server like Apache, Nginx
- Create a hosting logic on your server
- Find a third-party video player
- Create your application and add an upload button to allow your users to send their videos created with their last smartphone model.
- Allow the user to play their videos freshly uploaded with the video player
- Deploy your application on the server

&nbsp;
 

It does sound easier than AWS, right? why is the AWS solution so complex? why all of these services?

&nbsp;
 
You launch the service, and it seems to run smoothly for a few hours, and then you start to get some emails from customers, like:
&nbsp;
 

MichaelScott777 says:
```
💡 My playback is really choppy, and it takes forever for the video to load! why are you so slow (that’s what she said 😀)
```
TheShrute909 exclaims:

```
💡  Why is the video is so slow?!?!?!??!!?!? it takes the video 5 hours to show! help!!1
```

&nbsp;
 
Your users are calling out that the playback experience is poor. There is a lot of buffering before the video starts to play.

&nbsp;
 

So you start Googling around, and you discover that you can’t just upload the video; you need to encode it with different qualities, plus if you want to stream the videos, you also need to implement some specific protocols, and you start going down the rabbit hole: HLS, DASH, H.264, HEVC, AV1 and etc. “WHAT THE HELL IS ALL OF THIS?” you ask.

&nbsp;
 

Then you stumble upon something that seems like salvation: [FFmpeg](https://ffmpeg.org/)! a video processing “Swiss knife” you hail in victory and pound yourself on the chest. You’ve made it. After several weeks of sleepless nights and 59.7 coffee cups later, it’s installed, it’s running, and magically does the job (you don’t really understand how completely, but it works).

Everything seems to run smoothly, but you are afraid to touch anything as you focus on your main product, and if you start messing around with the video monster again, you might sink more time into it. But then your users start to ask for more features around video:

&nbsp;
 

CryptoKing001 is asking for this feature:

```
💡 Heellooo!, how can I know how many people watched my videos? <3 <3 <3
```


You grab your head in fear, and the anxiety builds up. You can’t sink in more resources into that video thing, and that 3rd party video player I’ve used doesn’t provide analytics (!!!!). So, you decide to outsource the whole thing, although you did have a limited budget setup for this project, so you go over budget.

&nbsp;
 

The app seems to be running fine for a few weeks, and many users upload their videos daily. You check your monitors and discover that you are running out of disk space! the product is minutes from being down because of all of this video thing; eventually, it goes down, and you generate some bs message to your users about vertical scalability that they have no idea what you are talking about. Eventually, you rent more servers and add more disk space; the product is up again, but, again, you are way over budget already with that analytics stuff; now you have to pay more for space (argh!). At least you’ve evaded a disaster, but you get a new complaint:

&nbsp;
 

obee1kanobeeeeeeeeeeeee writes:
```
💡 why the videos don’t play after I upload them???? I have to wait for 5 minutes before it plays. MY VIEWERS ARE COMPLAINING!!! FIX IT!!!
```

Your head is already missing half of the hair it used to have before you started the project, and now this?! 

&nbsp;
 

You start investigating and find out that you have 100% CPU utilization on the video server; remember that magical salvation that you installed on the server: FFmpeg? now it gobbles up most of the CPU to encode the videos. So, you write another bs message to your users about encoding and some stuff you don’t even know about (and your users don’t even care), and you start sinking more money into the project. You buy more CPU and start scaling again.

&nbsp;
 
Few months past. You don’t need to buy shampoo anymore (at least that’s a good thing, you can save some money), most of your attention has shifted into scaling these wretched video servers, you are now an expert in video encoding and delivery, but you are losing users as they have no interest in your product, as all of your investment and resources went into this video project black hole.  You’ve hired more engineers that are dedicated to doing the video project, and the budget for the video project already went out of control a long time ago.

You look back and think, how did I end up here? what could I have done better? would it be better to go with AWS? or maybe there are other solutions I could have considered?

## The Perfect Solution

Like with any other service, reinventing the wheel would probably lead to huge financial implications, but as we’ve seen AWS is not perfect as well. However, there are APIs that can solve this problem by providing you with a scalable and easy-to-use service, like api.video.

&nbsp;
 

- With api.video creating an upload scenario and even more is a matter of minutes.
- api.video has a far lower cost than AWS (check the cost calculator [here](https://api.video/pricing/aws/)) or DIY
- api.video has a strong infrastructure that is scalable and reliable
- api.video gives you the ability to select the storage location of yoru videos in the US or in the EU. This will ensure that your video content adheres to all relevant legal standards for you or your customers. 

&nbsp;
 

Check out the [get started guide](https://docs.api.video/vod/get-started-in-5-minutes) to get started in 5 minutes or create a [sandbox account ](https://dashboard.api.video/login) for free to explore api.video on your own!

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