Video watermarking

Normal

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Erikka Innes

Tutorials

Python

One of our most requested features is video **watermarking**. 
A video watermark is a visible overlay on a video that can be text, a logo, or other image type. 

Usually, a watermark serves some purpose like increasing brand awareness by displaying your company logo, or it might prevent someone from claiming a video is their work. Sometimes a watermark might prevent you from putting the content into production - for example at api.video we watermark our sandbox videos since sandbox video content is intended for proof-of-concept testing. A watermark might also present details about privileges you have regarding the video content. 

Whatever your reason for watermarking, you can now use api.video to add watermarks to your account, then add them to your video content when you create a new video for the first time or you want to update an existing video. We'll walk through the different options in this tutorial. 

## Pre-requisites 

For this tutorial, you will need: 

* api.video account - [Sign up here](https://dashboard.api.video/register)
* api.video Python client - [Python client](https://github.com/apivideo/api.video-python-client)
* An image to use as a watermark, png or jpg 
* The video ID for a video you've already uploaded

## Installation 

Install api.video's Python client with `pip install api.video` 

## Code sample 

The code sample we're using is this: 

## Code walkthrough

What you'll be doing in the code is creating a watermark, then retrieving the watermark ID and referencing it when you upload a video that you want to display your watermark on. 

At the end, your watermarked video will be something like this:

A sample watermark of the api.video logo on a video of the river.

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NOTE: During the walk through, we'll go over how to move the watermark around the video and resize it. Please be aware that you must upload a new video with your new dimensions each time. 

1. The first thing to do is initialize the client and connect.

`client = apivideo.AuthenticatedApiClient("your API key here")

client.connect()
`

2. Next, we prepare our watermark (in this case I've selected the api.video logo and placed my image in the same folder as my code sample) for upload: 

`watermarks_api = WatermarksApi(client)

file = open('logo_orange.png', 'rb') # file_type | The .jpg or .png image to be added as a watermark.`

3. We send the file to api.video:
`api_response = watermarks_api.upload(file)`

4. We check that our file was successfully sent and retrieve the watermark ID which we'll need if we want to add it to a video. 
        
`pprint(api_response)
pprint(api_response['watermark_id'])
`

5. Now we need to create a video container to upload a video into. If you've checked out our other tutorials, you know that video upload is a two part step. You create your container with metadata, then you upload your video into the container. We'll start by preparing to use the video endpoint and setting up our video payload with our watermarking information: 

`videos_api = VideosApi(client)

video_creation_payload = {
    "title":"Sample video",
    "description": "Show a watermarked video",
    "watermark": {
        "id": watermark_id,
        "top":"20px",
        "left":"20px",
        "opacity":"70%",
    },
}`

6. Send the video data in to api.video to create a container to upload your video into, then retrieve the video ID: 

`api_response = videos_api.create(video_creation_payload)
video_id = api_response["video_id"]
`

7. Now with our video ID we can upload a video: 

`file = open("test_vid45.mp4", "rb")

video_response = videos_api.upload(video_id, file)
print("Uploaded Video", video_response)` 

For the last part, you'll have to wait a little bit while your video processes. Once it's done processing you can see your newly watermarked video! 

## Retrieve watermarks 

If you need to retrieve a watermark ID you can always list all your watermarks. The code for that is this:


## Conclusion 

Watermarking is a great way to show branding on your video. You can play with the settings to move your watermark around your video or set it to different levels of opacity. You can find the information in [our docs](https://docs.api.video/reference/api/Watermarks#upload-a-watermark) or ask questions in [our Community](https://community.api.video/). Happy coding! 

How to add watermarks to your videos

captions

If you are creating captions for your videos, sometimes the captions don't appear where you want. Maybe they don't sit on the screen correctly, or maybe you have a creative way you want to present them. As it turns out, captions are adjustable! It will take some fine tuning to get the hang of working with them, but WebVTT is easy to use.

## Prerequisites

For this project you need: 

* api.video account - [Sign up here!](https://dashboard.api.video/register)
* A video you want to caption, uploaded to api.video - [here's a blog about how to upload your video](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/upload-a-video-with-the-api-video-python-client/)
* A VTT file for your video - [Learn how to caption a video with Maestra](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/add-captions-to-your-video-with-maestra-and-api-video/)

## Moving captions

To move captions, open your VTT file. You'll see captions listed next to their times, like this: 

`00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:02.000 
Hello World!`

Now let's say you don't like where the caption starts from. You can add on to the end to move it horizontally. Like this: 

`00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:02.000 position: 20%
Hello World!`

The screen is divided into percentages, so if you put a lower percentage, your caption moves further to the left. If you choose a higher one, it moves further to the right. Be careful you don't move captions into positions where they can't be seen. 

You can also make the captions go vertical. For that, you'd add: 
`00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:02.000 position: 20% vertical:rl
Hello World!`

And in this case, the position is vertical, so the percentage represents a portion of the vertical. 

You can learn a lot more about how to move captions and what's possible by checking out the [WebVTT Guide](https://www.w3.org/TR/webvtt1/). Just a few things you can do include changing the color of text, adding italics, specifying if something is loud, and much more!

How to edit and style your video captions

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Video trends

4K has been around just long enough for some of us to want the next best thing and when it comes to resolution, we may be approaching our limit. That might sound strange at first, if you've heard about Roger Clark's project to find out how many megapixels the human eye can see. By his calculations, you can see up to 576 megapixels. 8K only creates 33.17 megapixel images, so what gives? We should be able to see a lot more. 

The answer in the way the human eye processes visual information. The way it's designed, you can only see with the kind of clarity required for a 576 megapixel image with a tiny part of your eye called the fovea. 
It lies at the center of your visual field and covers about 1% of the retina. Amazingly, about 50% of the part of your brain that's for visual processing focuses solely on details received from the fovea! What is more, in the very best of lighting conditions for your eye, with someone with the very best vision, that person can only see about 1/60th of a degree with their fovea. This is the equivalent of a dot .07 inches across and 20 feet away! 


## Okay, So Can We See 8K? 

If that's how we see, can our eyes detect 8K? Do we need 8K if it's just a tiny part of your eyeball that can really see with the incredible level of detail you'd need to enjoy 8K in an image? The answer is...it depends. If you're going to sit at home on the sofa and stare at a TV, then no, probably not. According to Paul Maguire, you'd have to sit less than 4.2 feet away from your 65 inch TV or 3.6 feet away from your 55 inch TV to see all the detail in 4K. For anything greater than 4K you'd have to sit less than 3 feet away. Which is liable to irritate any other viewers in the room that wanted to see the screen around you. This doesn't mean 8K resolution isn't useful. 

## Benefits of 8K

8K is potentially beneficial for recording video. If you have 8K quality, you can zoom in on parts of your shots and still have 4K quality or better. It can allow someone shooting to have more choices from every shot because the quality will still be very high. 

8K is also great creating intensely realistic, immersive experiences. If you have a wrap around TV or a planetarium, or virtual reality goggles, 8K is amazing. It allows for the rendering of softer, more realistic edges. It increases the realness of a scene because the human eye can't see any pixelation. 


## Conclusion

For virtual reality, 8K will probably become the standard. As for becoming the standard for streaming video, probably not for a while. It's not necessary in many cases, and at this time it's also difficult to stream at that level and know it will arrive at its destination as 8K. Someone streaming in 8K would likely end up outputting to lower resolutions based on the wide range of viewing devices users have. 
api.video upload your videos up to 4K, with fast encoding and a worldwide delivery. You can [test it for free](https://dashboard.api.video/register) and start building your video project or check [our Community](https://community.api.video/).


What kinds of video experiences are best with 8K?

Can the human eye see 8K resolution and when is 8K most useful?

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Use cases

no code

Husband and wife team Didier Duffas and Valentina Zatevalneva dreamed of building their own digital dance academy - Neva Ballet. Their goal was to make it possible for people around the world to experience the magic of dance for fitness and health. Focused on classical dance techniques and the strength and beauty of Russian ballet, the classes would be open to anyone with the desire to learn. 

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## The right video tool for the Job
There were just a few hurdles standing in the way of their dream. Neither one of them had built a website before and they had no previous developer experience. Additionally, for video they needed a way to create a high quality recording for playback. They wanted something simple to implement, that would be cost effective and easy to manage. They started with Wix and Zoom. Wix's easy-to-use interface made it possible for them to create their own ecommerce site and Zoom allowed them to live stream all of their classes to a small group.

There was just one problem - the live streams. While they were great for live teaching, they wanted to offer customers a **high quality playback** of each class as well as create a backup if anything happened with their Zoom recording. 

This led them to api.video. 

api.video offers high quality HLS live streams that look great in playback, customizable players, easy implementation and reasonable prices. With these three tools combined, their digital dance academy began to take shape.

## Video recording set-up

> "Our job is to provide to our customers online classes in different disciplines based on ballet and all the physical preparation of ballerinas. Valentina used to be a ballerina in the national state ballet in Russia," Didier said. 

To bring the couple's vision to life, Didier set up an ecommerce website with Wix and then turned to setting up their classes. For the video recording implementation, he set up Zoom meetings with recording enabled. Next, he created a [live stream](https://api.video/blog/no-code/start-and-record-a-live-stream-of-your-zoom-meeting/) with api.video, then added it to the Zoom meeting. Any time Valentina opened Zoom to start live streaming a class, she would speak with the class, then when it was time to begin, she cut everyone's mics but her own, started her live stream with api.video, and then with Zoom. 

Didier described the typical class set up for us: "The teacher has the camera filming giving the lesson and at the same time she can see the gallery of Zoom for the images of the students. All our members are not doing live at the same time and we advise them to make live classes sometimes just to participate so we can give feedback. But we mainly use the replay and that's the reason why also we use api.video -- <ins>because we need to provide them with high quality video for the replay.</ins>" 

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They decided to offer the Zoom playback alongside the high-quality api.video playback. Students had access to either playback as many times as they wanted for one week after the class. 

## No code video implementation
With their implementation together, the digital dance academy [Neva Ballet](https://www.nevaballet.com/) was born. They have now been in business for one year, and they offer classes in nine different disciplines, with subscription and a la carte purchasing models available. They have multiple channels for their live streams, and they've not only made it possible for students to take classes from anywhere, but to do so affordably. A monthly subscription to classes starts at 35 euros while others charge double with lower video quality. Individual classes start at 15 euros. Another perk the couple found is that they can teach the classes from anywhere. 

They also found their no-code implementation tremendously valuable because it meant they could manage the site on their own. 

> "We never had any developer. I didn't know how to make a website one year ago. I do everything by myself...It's really cool...For us it's very important because we are autonomous and we can do things...ourselves," Didier told us. 

By not needing a developer except for some help with a menu arrangement in Wix, Didier said they are able to keep costs low, quickly respond to problems and implement improvements. 

> “It would be very complicated for us if we had to ask a web agency or web developer to work for us. Since one year I have made so many changes and we are really in A/B testing mode. I put something, I see a change, I correct it," Didier said. 

The couple hopes to grow their digital academy over time, with more classes and teachers, and they look forward to doing so with the help of api.video. 

> "api.video will help us to evolve." --Didier Duffas


To find out how you can build your own online business with video content, [contact us](https://api.video/contact) or [sign up](https://dashboard.api.video) for an account and try one of our many tutorials and demos.

Case Study: building a digital dance academy without coding

Case Study: How api.video helped a couple build a digital dance academy without coding

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Twitter (Anne-Sophie)

Anne-Sophie Poupard

No-code

With video files becoming larger and larger, WeTransfer a simple way to transfer them via the internet. 

The service evolved and now it requires extra steps to get started (accept terms, select a video, fill the form, create an account, validate the account, and finally send your video).

We've developed a dead simple tool to upload your videos directly into your local folder! As easy as drag and drop!

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## How does it work?

1. [Download the app](https://github.com/apivideo/api.video-desktop-synchronizer/releases/latest/) (from GitHub). 
2. When you launch the app for the first time, the Settings window appears. Here, you'll have to enter your api.video API key, and the folder you want to watch:

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3. Drag and drop videos to the folder
4. And that's it! You'll get sharing links to your transcoded videos

The tool is available for Windows and MacOS clients!


## How is it built?

The application has been developed using the TypeScript language and the Electron framework.
Electron makes the creation of cross-operating system applications possible with only a few lines of code.
All the interaction of the app with the api.video API are made through our [nodejs api client](https://github.com/apivideo/nodejs-api-client). The client handles all the parts that could have been boring to deal with by hand, like the authentication or the upload of big files by chunks.


You can use it to automatically to send your Zoom recordings into your local file too!
Feel free to test it and give us your feedback on [our community forum](https://community.api.video/)!

A handy desktop app for uploading and sharing your videos

A handy desktop app for syncing local folders with api.video

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A handy desktop app for uploading and sharing your videos in a few clicks

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Cédric Montet

Product updates

As the year comes to an end, we wanted to take a moment to look back at everything the team released to help you build your video products (and to share a surprise)!

Let's start with our core principle: *make videos available worldwide in seconds*.
For years, it has been highly complicated to add video features to apps and platforms because of the various services you had to aggregate (ingest, transcode, host, deliver, analyze). 
Our goal is to bring you a dead-simple API to implement the entire video workflow in minutes and provide an exceptional experience to your end-users, whether they are creators or your audience. 
In 2021 we've welcomed users from **122 countries** (astonishing!) and have ingested **110%** more video minutes than in the previous year. 

## Providing the greatest video performances for your app

* All videos you send to us have never been transcoded faster. Our recent [benchmark](https://api.video/platforms-benchmark/) reveals that a 5-minute video is available for playback in 6 seconds with api.video. In contrast, other services take up to 60 seconds.

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* Once the video is uploaded, your audiences expect an exceptional playback with no buffer or latency. We have been delighted to discover the [PlayerX benchmark](https://dev.playerx.io/compare/). Considering all B2B and B2C video platforms, api.video provides the greatest viewer experience on the Market!

**The best part of that? This is nothing compared what we'll bring you in 2022!**

## New features 

We've introduced a lot of new features, most of them inspired by your feedback 🙏
* After releasing live streaming in 2020, we added [private live streaming](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/new-beta-feature-private-livestreams/) to help your users broadcast their video feed securely into your app.
* [Progressive upload](https://api.video/progressive-upload/) was released earlier this month to let you build recording features that your users can launch right from their browser or record a video directly from a video stream.
* Thanks to the [webhooks](https://api.video/blog/endpoints/webhooks/), you are now notified when on-demand and live videos are ready to be played.
* Clipping became available a few days ago. This new feature allows you to edit your videos right from the service without downloading them first.

## Reduce your workload and make api.video available in your CMS
To help you launch your product fast, we've added many new ways to implement [api.video](https://api.video) in your stack:

* 8 (yes...8!) [new clients](https://docs.api.video/) were published on our GitHub account: PHP, Python, Go, Java, NodeJs, C#, Android, and iOS
* If you are using a CMS to build your portal, you can now install our official [plugins for WordPress](https://github.com/apivideo/api.video-wordpress-plugin), [Contentful](https://docs.api.video/sdks/nocode/contentful), [Bubble.io](https://docs.api.video/sdks/nocode/bubbleio-plugin), and Moodle to allow your users to upload and share videos right from their backend.
* To enable customization of the video experience, we've also released standalone plugins for [analytics](https://docs.api.video/sdks/player/apivideo-videojs-analytics), the video uploader modules for [Flutter](https://docs.api.video/sdks/vod/apivideo-flutter-uploader), [Android](https://docs.api.video/sdks/vod/apivideo-android-uploader) & [iOS](https://docs.api.video/sdks/vod/apivideo-ios-uploader), and the live streaming modules for [ReactNative](https://docs.api.video/sdks/livestream/react-native-livestream-component), [Android](https://docs.api.video/sdks/livestream/apivideo-kotlin-livestream-module), Flutter, and [iOS](https://docs.api.video/sdks/livestream/swift-livestream-library).

## New branding
You may have noticed our [new logo](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/new-logo-same-mission-connecting-people-through-unique-video-experences/) last summer, but there is more. 
Check out our [fully redesigned dashboard](https://dashboard.api.video/overview) that lets you easily switch between your environments, create, view, and edit videos. Plus, you can share the on-demand and live stream videos you're managing and access your KPIs and metrics! The new dashboard also lets you switch from one plan to another at any time as your needs evolve.

We hope you enjoyed reading through some of the major releases we've had in 2021 and that you've discovered some new features that you'll start using today. We are building [api.video](https://api.video) for you and with you: your ideas and feedback are essential to us. Let us know which new features you'd love to see us add in 2022 either in chat or by posting in our [community forum](https://community.api.video). 

On behalf of the whole api.video team we would like to thank our amazing community for all the feedback and support over this past year. We wish you all a wonderful festive period and a very happy New Year! ✨

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## One more thing!

We couldn't end this review without a gift 🙂

You might have videos on your computer that you want to upload during your implementation, or you might need to iterate and quickly share different versions of your content without having to open & close WeTransfer again and again.

Do you remember the first time you used Dropbox and how magical it was to sync a local folder with them?

We're thrilled to announce the Windows and macOS clients!

- [Download the app](https://github.com/apivideo/api.video-desktop-synchronizer/releases/tag/v0.1.2), pick a local folder to sync, and add your API Key.
- Drag and drop videos to the folder.
- Voilà! The sharing links to your transcoded videos are ready to be use

2021 in review: video transcoding, playback and new features

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2021 in review: lightning-fast video transcoding & playback and many new product features!

Video upload

Today we'll walk through how to use the Python client to do a progressive upload for a video. Progressive uploads are great for large videos. We recommend choosing this type of upload if your video is 200MB or greater.

## Prerequisites

* Sign up for an api.video account - [https://dashboard.api.video/register](https://dashboard.api.video/register) 
* Set up a virtual environment for your project (optional)
* Install the api.video Python client - `pip install api.video`
* Get a video file that's 200MB or greater (you can use a smaller one to see how it works, but it should be at least around 50MB) 

## Code sample 
Here's our code sample for today: 

In this sample we do the following: 

1. Set up the API client.
2. Create a container for our video with a payload containing our video metadata. 
3. Retrieve the video ID from the new container we made.
4. Create a session to handle our progressive video upload using the video ID we retrieved.
5. Set the chunk size we want to use. This value will be used to create chunks of this size. It's set to a smaller number so you can demo with a smaller video. If you want to upload something bigger, you might want to use a bigger number for each chunk.
6. Set up a method that handles breaking the video into chunks of data.
7. Set up a progressive video uploader. Of note - you have to take each chunk of data and save it as a clearly numbered part. For example chunk_file.part.1, chunk_file.part.2. End the files with part.* so that the api.video server can figure out the chronological order for each chunk of video. Also of note - you must signal that you're uploading the last chunk of video with the session.uploadLastPart() method. Otherwise, the api.video servers cannot determine if you're still uploading or not, so your upload will fail. You also have to open your file after saving it, using 'rb' or read binary. 

## Conclusion
If you want to try this upload without the client, see the [article about how to do a progressive upload with just Python](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/progressively-upload-large-video-files-without-compromising-on-speed/).

Happy coding!

Progressive uploads with the api.video Python client

Video list

Today we'll learn how to grab video data from api.video, add it to a database, then use that information to create an infinite wall of videos that you can keep scrolling through.

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For this project, we're going to also use Laravel 8. 

## Prerequisites

* api.video account - [Register here](https://dashboard.api.video/register)
* [Laravel 8](https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/installation) installed
* Project repository - [https://github.com/apivideo/api.video-php-client/tree/main/examples/laravel/infinite_scroll](https://github.com/apivideo/api.video-php-client/tree/main/examples/laravel/infinite_scroll)
* api.video [PHP client](https://github.com/apivideo/api.video-php-client) 
* Symfony HTTP client - `composer require symfony/http-client` 
* composer - [https://getcomposer.org/](https://getcomposer.org/)

## What you'll be doing
You have three tasks for this project: 
1. Retrieve your data from api.video
2. Add your data to your database
3. Set up your page to show the videos in an infinite scroll 

## Retrieve your data
You need to collect some data from api.video about the videos you're going to use. To keep it simple, for this walkthrough I'm just retrieving videos tagged 'holiday' and keeping the title, video ID, and MP4 link for each one. You can retain any information you might want to use or display, the most important thing is the MP4 link. 

For this part of the project, I didn't use Laravel 8, I just set up a php file with my code and used composer. 

After you run the code, you'll have a list of all videos from your account that you tagged **holiday** in a .csv file. Save the file, we'll use it for the next part of our project.

## Set up your project
Now it's time to set up our Laravel 8 project. We'll need this before we can do anything with our database. These instructions are for Macs.

1. Make a new project by opening a terminal in the place where you want to store your project by typing `laravel new holiday`. 

2. Install the api.video PHP client. `composer require api-video/php-api-client`

3. Install the Symfony HTTP client. `composer require symfony/http-client`

4. Go into your project and find the .env file. For the section that starts **DB_** delete every **DB_** item except for **DB_CONNECTION**. Set **DB_CONNECTION** to sqlite. `DB_CONNECTION=sqlite`

5. Create a database table for the .csv file we made. `php artisan make:migration create_holidays_table`

6. Go into your project in the database folder and open the migrations folder. There should be a .php file with a timestamp at the start followed by the name of the table you just created in the terminal. Open this file and paste in this code:

7. Migrate your new table. `php artisan:migrate` 

8. Now we're going to create two models. The first is for handling infinite scroll. `php artisan make:model Model/InfiniteScroll` 

9. After you've made this model, go find it in your project and paste in this code: 



10. The second model we're going to make is for setting up our Holidays table contents. `php artisan make:model Model/Holiday`

11. Navigate to your new Holiday model and paste in this code:



12. Let's create a seeder that we can use to populate our new table using our .csv file. `php artisan make:seeder HolidaySeeder` 

13. Take your .csv file and place in the data folder for your database. 

14. Go to the seeders folder and open your HolidaySeeder.php file. Paste in this code:

15. Now we can run our seeder! `php artisan db:seed --class=HolidaySeeder` This should populate your database with the information from your .csv file. We're ready to set up our page to display our video collection. 

## Display videos
In this section we'll set up routes, a controller, and the page that will display videos whose links are retrieved from our database. 

1. We're going to add a new route, but before we do that, navigate to RouteServiceProvider.php. Scroll down to the line that reads `protected $namespace = 'App\\Http\\Controllers';` - it's probably commented out. Remove the commenting so it is active again. 

2. Navigate to routes\web.php. Add a new route `
Route::get('/load-more-data', 'VideoController@InfiniteScroll' );`

3. Make a new controller. `php artisan make:controller VideoController` 

4. Navigate to Controllers and open your VideoController file. Paste in this code:

5. Now let's set up our blade file. Navigate to views and craete a new blade file called **holidayView.blade.php**. Open the new file and paste this in: 

6. If you don't have a **data.blade.php** file, create one in the same folder as your other blade files. Open **data.blade.php** and paste in this code: 

## Run your project

Open a terminal in your project and type `php artisan serve`. You should be able to see a list of scrolling videos! 

If you have any questions about this tutorial, or would like to share what you've built, please join our [community forum](https://community.api.video/). 

Create an infinite scrolling wall of videos with Laravel 8

Create an infinite scrolling wall of holiday videos with Laravel 8

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[](https://)If you work with video, you know that when you have a gigantic video file, you must break it into chunks to send it to the server. We at api.video already offer a way for you to break up your video into chunks and send it to us, but today we are introducing a new way of uploading large files: [Progressive Upload](https://api.video/progressive-upload).

Instead of spending time worrying about getting the bytes right for the header, or relying on our API clients to handle it for you (still a great choice if you have a client in use) you can simplify the header for a chunk to be about what part of your video you're sending. Here's an example of what I mean:

Old header: 
`Content-Range: bytes 0-1000000/200000000`

Here you can see the Content-Range header shows the bytes being sent from the video and then the total number of bytes. But there's a couple of issues with this. First, it's tricky setting up the header correctly (which makes the clients great to use since they handle this for you) and second, what if you want to upload a video where you don't know its size? It'd also be great if you could upload video chunks concurrently and have that handled for you. Progressive Upload does this, and the new header looks like this: 

New header:
`Content-Range: part 1/*`

Every video chunk just receives a part number. The only video chunk that can be smaller than 5MB is the last chunk. Everything else must be larger. And with this explained, we're ready to prepare and try a code sample. 

## Prerequisites
For this project, you'll need:

* (Optional) Familiarity with other ways to upload (it might make this tutorial easier, but this is written so you don't need the other tutorials)
* An api.video account, you can sign up [here](https://dashboard.api.video/register)
* Python or a Python virtual environment to work with (recommended)
* Requests library for Python installed 

## Progressive Upload code sample 
The code sample we're going to walk through looks like this:

In the code sample, you're doing the following things: 

1. Retrieving a token using your API key. 

2. Setting up a video container to upload to. You upload in two parts - first you create a container with metadata about your video. Then you retrieve the videoID for your video container, and reference it so you can upload your chunks to the right container. You can only upload once to a container, so make sure you have everything set up correctly. Otherwise you'll have to start over with a new container. 

3. We set a variable **CHUNK_SIZE** to represent the size of each chunk of video we'll send. You can make this bigger if you like to speed up the process. 

4. We write a little function **read_in_chunks** that breaks a chunk of data off our video file to send, then remembers the spot it was in so when we come back to the function again, it gives us the next chunk of data. This is accomplished by using **yield** in the function.

5. In the **upload** function, we get ready to loop through our video file, sending a chunk of data each time with the appropriately labeled header. For Content-Range we just increase the part number by 1 each time, and leave it set as unknown, like: `part 1/*` If you know your video size ahead of time, you can change the asterisk to the final part number. This code sample assumes you don't know the size. What you do per chunk is check if it's smaller than 5 MB, since this will signify we've reached the final piece of the video. For this last piece of video, we change the total number of parts to match the part we're on. This signals to api.video that we aren't going to send any more chunks and that the upload is complete. 

And we're done!
To start building right now, check our [docs](https://docs.api.video/reference/api/Videos#upload-a-video) and [sign up for a free account](https://dashboard.api.video/register).

Upload large video files without compromising on speed

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Progressively upload large video files without compromising on speed

live - create

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Doug Twitter

Doug Sillars

Frequently asked question: How many live streams can I use simultaneously with api.video? 
Answer: How many cameras do you have?

That sounds like a snarky response (and perhaps it is *a little bit* snarky). Some platforms - like YouTube Live or Twitch - allow just one live stream per account at a time. But, with api.video there is no such limitation - as long as you have cameras (and available bandwidth), you can stream to your heart’s content from every single one of them.

## Why would I stream more than once?

There’s no reason to limit your viewers to just one view - stream from every angle (or stream from every angle that you have a camera for!).  Or if your client needs video from a number of locations at once - api.video can support you.  Here are some example use cases:


Are you running a multi track conference?  Stream each room from the same api.video account. Add a hallway cam to show the social interactions.  
Do you support more than one client?  Don’t drive yourself crazy scheduling to fill the one slot - let everyone have their own live stream(s).
Sporting event - multiple angles.  Does the coach want a stream from the opposite side?  From behind the goal/end-zone? From the top of the stadium?

## Create your live streams


The first step in having multiple live streams is to create your live streams.  You can create as many streams as you’d like. 

Creating [live streams](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/live-stream-tutorial/) is easy with our [API](https://docs.api.video/reference/api/Live-Streams#create-live-stream).  

Once you’ve created your live stream you (or your clients/users) can re-use each livestream over and over (like a Space-X rocket). 

* Stop the stream after each conference talk, and restart before the next. If you have ```record:true``` set for the live stream, you’ll get VOD versions of each video saved into your account.  Each recording will have the livestream name, and the time (in GMT). 
* Assign live stream(s) to your clients, and let them use them to their heart’s content. No more work is needed on your part.
* Name each livestream for easy recovery of the videos:  “50 yard line”  “Client X” “Conference Fizz 2021: Buzz track”




## A wildly absurd demo 


As an example of using live concurrent live streams, I hooked up all the cameras I could find (and that were charged up) to my laptop/wifi. In the example below, I was able to run 5 concurrent live streams - showing the capabilities of api.video, but also pushing my computer (and my internet connection) to their limits:



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* [https://Livestream.a.video](https://Livestream.a.video) - using an USB webcam (mounted on monitor)
[https://Record.a.video](https://Livestream.a.video) - using Mac webcam
[OBS](https://api.video/blog/no-code/start-and-record-a-live-stream-with-obs/) - using Iriun and a phone - this app connects your phone to a computer via Wi-Fi (on right of photo on a stand)
[Android livestream](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/livestream-from-your-android-phone/) - phone using Larix Broadcaster to stream (leaning on laptop)
[Pi livestream](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/video-streaming-with-a-raspberry-pi/) - my raspberry Pi camera (pointed out the window)





This was a fun demo to try out, but it did push my laptop to the limit. What it does show is that with a few computers & cameras and an api.video account, it is really easy to simultaneously live stream as many views, angles, rooms as you desire.



How many live streams can I run at once?

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codec

video create

Huge pricing update: Introducing video encoding at no cost

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api.video team

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/encoding/) that allows companies to add on-demand videos to their websites more efficiently.

Using [api.video](http://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](http://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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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)!_

Encoding and transcoding: what's the difference? 

Encoding and Transcoding - What's the Difference?

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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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Huge pricing update! Introducing video encoding at zero cost

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Huge pricing update! Introducing video encoding at zero cost