api.video lets you quickly and securely deliver on-demand and live-stream videos directly from your website, software, or app. 

api.video

Glossary-Trimming.svg

## What is video trimming? 
Video trimming is where you take the beginning or end off a video clip. This can be useful for ensuring your video starts quickly, gets your point across, and grabs your audience's attention. Sometimes trimming is also referred to as removing the top or tail of a video.

## What's the difference between splitting and trimming? 
When you split a video, you're breaking the video into smaller chunks you also plan to use. If you trim a video you're removing frames you don't want to use in your clip from the beginning and end of your content. 

Today, many tools allow people to quickly trim their videos, there are downloadable mobile apps that focus on letting you edit using your phone. Many popular social media platforms like Instagram also provide the ability to shorten clips so you can edit and post without leaving the platform.

## What's the difference between cropping and trimming? 
If you crop a video, you're removing pixels from the content to make the frame smaller. Trimming doesn't affect what's kept per frame, instead it completely removes frames. 

## Trimming and api.video 
api.video offers the ability to trim videos using our API. You can trim content, clip it, copy clips, and more!

Glossary-360-degree-video.svg

## What is a 360-degree Video?
360-degree video, also known as immersive video or spherical video, is a revolutionary format that captures a complete 360-degree view of a scene, allowing viewers to freely explore the environment by panning, tilting, or zooming the camera. This innovative technology has transformed the way we experience and consume video content, opening up new possibilities for storytelling, entertainment, and education. 

## Understanding 360-degree Video
Capturing 360-degree video requires specialized camera rigs or omnidirectional cameras that can simultaneously record the entire panoramic view surrounding the camera. These devices use multiple lenses or sensors to capture a continuous and seamless 360-degree image, which is then stitched together and processed to create a spherical video file.

When viewed on a compatible device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or virtual reality (VR) headset, 360-degree video allows users to control the viewing perspective. By moving or tilting their device, users can explore the scene from different angles, discovering new details and perspectives that were previously hidden.

## Benefits and Applications of 360-degree Video
The immersive nature of 360-degree video has led to its rapid adoption across various industries and applications:
1. **Entertainment**: 360-degree video has revolutionized the world of gaming, film, and virtual events, providing users with a truly immersive experience.
2. **Education and Training**: 360-degree video can transport learners to remote locations, historical sites, or specialized environments, enhancing educational experiences and facilitating hands-on training.
3. **Tourism and Real Estate**: 360-degree video allows potential customers to virtually explore destinations, hotels, and properties, making it a valuable tool for the travel and real estate industries.
4. **Social Media and Marketing**: Brands and content creators are leveraging 360-degree video to engage audiences, showcase products, and provide unique, memorable experiences.

## Technological Advancements and Challenges
The rapid evolution of 360-degree video technology has been driven by improvements in camera hardware, video encoding, and content delivery. Advancements in stitching algorithms, high-resolution sensors, and stabilization techniques have all contributed to enhancing the quality and seamlessness of 360-degree video.

However, the adoption of 360-degree video also faces certain challenges, such as the need for specialized hardware (e.g., VR headsets) for optimal viewing, the higher storage and bandwidth requirements, and the learning curve for both content creators and viewers.

## The Future of 360-degree Video
As technology continues to advance, we can expect to see even more innovative applications of 360-degree video. Integrations with augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) technologies, advancements in live-streaming capabilities, and improvements in overall video quality and accessibility will likely drive the widespread adoption of this immersive format.  

&nbsp;  

At api.video, we recognize the growing importance of 360-degree video and its ability to captivate and engage audiences. Our platform is designed to seamlessly handle 360-degree video content, providing the tools and infrastructure necessary to upload, process, and deliver these immersive experiences to your viewers. Whether you're a content creator, marketer, or educator, api.video empowers you to share your stories and ideas in a truly captivating and interactive way. [Sign up now](https://dashboard.api.video/register)!

Glossary-video-alteration.svg

## What is Video Alteration?

Video Alteration refers to the process of modifying existing video content using AI and advanced digital techniques. This technology encompasses a wide range of manipulations, from subtle enhancements to dramatic transformations of video footage. It combines elements of [Computer Vision](https://api.video/what-is/computer-vision/), [Generative AI](https://api.video/what-is/generative-ai/), and traditional video editing to change, improve, or completely reimagine video content.

## Key Components of Video Alteration Systems
Video Alteration systems typically involve several key components working in harmony. At the core is video analysis, which aims to understand the content, structure, and motion present in the original video. This understanding then informs the object detection and tracking capabilities, allowing the system to identify and follow specific elements within the footage.

The content generation component is responsible for creating new visual elements that can be inserted into or used to replace parts of the original video. Seamlessly integrating these altered elements with the original footage is a critical challenge, requiring sophisticated blending techniques. Maintaining temporal consistency is also crucial, ensuring that changes remain coherent and natural across multiple frames.

These interconnected components form the foundation of video alteration systems, enabling a wide range of applications from visual effects and video editing to content manipulation and virtual environment creation. As the technology continues to advance, the capabilities and complexity of these systems will likely expand, offering new possibilities for creative expression and video production.

## Techniques Used in Video Alteration
Several AI and digital techniques are crucial for Video Alteration:
- Deep Learning Models: For tasks like object recognition, segmentation, and generation.
- Motion Estimation and Compensation: To maintain consistency of alterations across frames.
- Image Inpainting: Filling in areas where content has been removed or modified.
- Style Transfer: Applying visual styles from one video or image to another.
- Face Swapping and Reenactment: Replacing or animating faces in video footage.

## Applications of Video Alteration
Video Alteration technology has numerous applications:
- Film and TV Production: Enhancing visual effects, changing backgrounds, or altering actor performances.
- Content Localization: Adapting videos for different cultures or languages by altering visual elements.
- Historical Recreation: Colorizing and restoring old footage or creating historically accurate scenes.
- Virtual Try-On: Allowing users to see how products would look on them in video format.
- Privacy Protection: Blurring or replacing sensitive information in video content.
- Educational Content: Modifying videos to better illustrate concepts or adapt to different learning styles.

## Challenges and Considerations
Video Alteration technology faces several challenges:
- Realism and Seamlessness: Ensuring altered elements blend naturally with the original footage.
- Ethical Concerns: Addressing issues related to deepfakes and the potential for misinformation.
- Copyright and Ownership: Navigating legal issues around altering and repurposing video content.
- Computational Demands: Managing the intensive processing required for high-quality video alterations.
- Preserving Original Intent: Balancing alterations with the original creator's artistic vision.

## The Future of Video Alteration
We can expect several exciting developments for video alteration, such as: Real-Time Alteration, Enhanced Personalization, AI-Driven Creative Editing, Improved Detection of Altered Videos and Integration with Virtual and Augmented Reality.

As Video Alteration technology evolves, it promises to revolutionize content creation and consumption, offering new possibilities for creativity and personalization. However, it also raises important ethical questions about the authenticity of visual media and the responsible use of such powerful manipulation tools. Balancing the creative potential with the need for transparency and ethical guidelines will be crucial as this technology becomes more prevalent.

Glossary-Video-compression.svg

## What is video compression?
The process of video compression relates to encoding a video so that it becomes smaller in file size. Compression allows videos to be transferred across the Internet or between devices more quickly. It is considered the lifeblood of over-the-top services like Netflix and YouTube, which rely on compression in order to stream video.

Video compression occurs by removing repetitive frames or unnecessary data from the original video file. However, when compression is used on its own, it doesn’t usually produce the highest quality of video, which is why video compression is generally used hand-in-hand with video encoding.

## What are the different video compression formats?
After a video file has been encoded and compressed, it will typically be placed (or saved) into “containers” — more commonly known as “video formats”. You can tell what container a video file is in by looking at its file extension. Here are the most commonly used video formats:
* MP4
* MOV
* AVI
* WMV
* FLV
* WEBM
* AVCHD
* MKV
* MPEG-2

## What is video encoding? 
The term encoding is used to describe the process of converting content into a different form. (Like a spy will encode his message so that it cannot be read should it fall into the wrong hands.)

In the context of video - encoding *technically* only happens when the video is being recorded, and taken from the camera's raw format and saved into a codec.  Any further manipulations of the video file (say changing the format, or changing compression values) is [transcoding](https://api.video/what-is/transcoding/). But, in practice, these two terms are used interchangeably to describe the process of converting a video file from one format to another.

## Why encode a video?
Video files are inherently large, so using a [codec](https://api.video/what-is/codec/) to compress the video ensures that the file will be much smaller.  As codecs get better at compression, we are able to transmit higher quality video for the same amount of data. For that reason, there is a lot of research into new codecs.  

There are other considerations to undertake when choosing how to encode your video. The [H264](https://api.video/what-is/h-264/), while older and not the best compression, does support the highest browser support - making it a common encoding choice.  Newer codecs like [H265](https://api.video/what-is/h-265/), VP9, and AVIF have better compression, but suffer slightly in the realm of browser support for playback.

## Encoding settings
When using a tool like FFMPEG, you can set the video quality. This determines how much compression there will be/how good the video will look.  Higher compression leads to smaller files, but also higher [loss](https://api.video/what-is/lossy-compression/). FFMPEG uses the Constant Rate Factor for encoding quality (values of 0 are lossless, 51 is high compression.) The default value for CRF is 23, and generally creates a video that offers a high compression/quality ratio:

```
ffmpeg -i input -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4
```

## Encoding at api.video

Every video uploaded to api.video is encoded/transcoded into an H264 MP4 and an HLS video stream with up to 6 different sizes (240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 2160p).  This ensures that video playback can occur on any device (the MP4), and along with our video player (or any other video player that supports HLS), your video can stream to the web quickly and efficiently.

## Instant Video Encoding

We run all our own infrastructure in order to squeeze the best performance out of each stage of the video pipeline. Our [encoding times](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/api-video-encoding-times-2h-2021-edition/) are the fastest in the industry, so you'll never be waiting around for your videos to encode.

Glossary-Transmuxing.svg

## What is transmuxing?
Transmuxing is the process of changing the container and delivery format for video and audio without encoding or transcoding the original content. The benefit of doing this is it's less time consuming and requires less processing power. So long as your video and audio codecs are compatible with the container you want to change to, you can use transmuxing to put the same content into different containers for delivery to different sources that may require that particular container in order to work correctly. 

## What's the difference between a video container and a video codec?
Containers/formats and codecs are easy to confuse, and what makes it more complicated is they're often used interchangeably. A container is what contains all the packages of video, audio and meta data that are created by the codec. You can read more detail about this in [Every Video Format, Codec, and Container Explained](https://api.video/blog/product-updates/every-video-format-codec-and-container-explained/). The video format (part of the container) is described by the file extension and it describes the rules for how the container, compressed content, and codecs will be stored and handled.

## What are the most popular video containers/video formats?
Containers can often accommodate multiple types of video codecs, but it's important to determine which containers and codecs are compatible and which aren't. Some of the most popular video containers are: 
* MP4
* AVI
* MOV
* FLV
* WMV  

&nbsp;  

Hands down the most popular video format is [MP4](https://api.video/what-is/mp4/), which is short for MPEG 4. This format supports video, audio and data like subtitles, captions and images. This format is sometimes confused with M4A, which is short for the audio-only format MPEG 4 Audio. 

## What are the most popular video codecs?
There are lots of video codecs out there, optimized for specific use cases for anything from editing and doing special effects to storing or streaming. Currently the most popular [codecs](https://api.video/what-is/codec/) out there are: 
* H.264
* H.265
* VP9  

&nbsp;  

Currently, H.264 is the most widely used codec, but that will likely change. H.265 offers superior compression to H.264 with higher quality playback. You must pay to use it, so it's not as popular as it could be. VP9 and AV1 are free codecs with similar performance to H.265, but nothing has yet become the dominant replacement for H.264. We'll just have to wait and see what happens!

## What is transcoding?
Transcoding is the process of taking already encoded (or transcoded) content, decompressing it and then using different codecs to alter or recompress it. It's labor intensive because you are taking every part of your video and audio and recompressing it. During this process, depending on what codecs you use, you may lose data. 

## What types of transcoding are there?
There are three types of transcoding you will encounter: 

* **Lossy-to-lossy** - This is where you take a codec that is lossy and transcode to another format that uses a lossy codec. You will lose lots of data during this process, and transcoding will lower the quality of your video.
* **Lossless-to-lossy** - This is where you take a codec that preserves every detail of a video and transfer it to one that loses data. The trade off results in something useful like faster decompression for playback, or a smaller file.
* **Lossy-to-lossless** - You cannot regain lost quality, so when transcoding in this situation, you retain all the data that was in the lossy compression without further degradation of the file. 

## What are the goals of transcoding?
The goals of transcoding are dependent upon your use case. The main reason to transcode video is because you want to use it in a new scenario with a codec that's optimized for that new scenario. For example, say you want to edit a video. You would probably want a codec that's good quality, but which lets you easily move backwards and forwards through the video so you can quickly find the parts of the video you want to clip and edit. A great example of a codec for this purpose would be ProRes. This codec doesn't work for playback with a lot of devices though. So after you're done editing, you would want to transcode to another codec that works for playback. 

Other scenarios might be something like wanting to store a video for later use. When you store a video, if it's for a project, you might want to store the highest quality possible. Then when you get the video out later to edit again or use in a project, it's got as much information available as possible. Or, maybe you're storing a video just for reference purposes and you don't have a lot of space. Then you might want a codec that compresses efficiently but the video quality is lower. That would be enough for reference later. 

## Transcoding and api.video
api.video transcodes your video to HLS for fast, high quality playback across the internet. If you're interested in learning more about transcoding, check out our article [Encoding and Transcoding - What's the Difference?](https://api.video/blog/video-trends/what-is-the-difference-between-encoding-and-transcoding/). And if you want to give api.video a try, you can sign up [here](https://dashboard.api.video/register)

Glossary-Transcoding.svg

Glossary-Thumbnail.svg

## What is a thumbnail?
A thumbnail, sometimes referred to as a thumb, is a reduced in size image that acts as a preview of a video or image. For images, it's a small, compressed version of the image. However for video, it could be a frame from the video, or it could be a custom image that has to do with the video content in some way. Thumbnails are intended to make it easier for users to visually locate video clips or images they need for their work or viewing purposes. They can also, as with YouTube, be used to attract more viewers by showing an interesting scene from the video content. 

If you're looking for information about the HTML5 attribute, it's called poster and the details are posted at [poster](https://api.video/what-is/poster/).

Blog_MobilePlayer.png

## Origin of the term thumbnail
The term thumbnail came into existence for still images. It's a reference to the human thumbnail and is used to describe the small size of an image, as in it's so small it's the size of a thumbnail. This term was used in this way to refer to images back in the 17th century. However, people also applied it to anything where you were creating a smaller preview of something. It could be a painting or an essay. 

## Why are thumbnails important?
Thumbnails help people decide if they want to watch your content. If the thumbnail looks interesting or outrageous, people will sometimes click a video just to see what's going on and how that scene arose. Thumbnails can also give video content a completed, professional and polished look. You can choose a good image of the speaker in the video for example, or create a custom image that has to do with the content or is a title card. 

Great thumbnails convey what's going to happen in the video, set the tone of the video and include your brand. 

## Thumbnails and api.video
api.video provides two different ways you can add thumbnails to your videos, for a professional and polished look. You can either grab the thumbnail from a frame in the timeline and automatically have the api.video API add it to the front of your video, or you can add a custom image as the thumbnail. 

Learn how to [create a thumbnail for a video with Python and FFMPEG here](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/automatically-add-a-thumbnail-to-your-video-with-python-and-ffmpeg/). You won't have to do this with api.video's API. 

You can also see [how to pick a thumbnail using the api.video API here](https://api.video/blog/tutorials/choose-a-thumbnail-with-api-video-s-pick-a-thumbnail-endpoint/). 

## What is Text to Video?
Text to Video is an AI-powered technology that generates video content based on textual input. This cutting-edge application combines [Natural Language Processing](https://api.video/what-is/natural-language-processing/) with [Computer Vision](https://api.video/what-is/computer-vision/) and video generation techniques to transform written descriptions into visual narratives. It represents a significant advancement in [Generative AI](https://api.video/what-is/generative-ai/), enabling the creation of video content without traditional filming or animation processes.

## Key Components of Text to Video Systems
Text to Video systems typically involve several key components:
1. Text Understanding: Parsing and interpreting the input text
2. Scene Planning: Determining the sequence of visual elements
3. Asset Generation: Creating or retrieving visual assets based on the text
4. Video Composition: Assembling the assets into coherent video sequences
5. Audio Generation: Creating or adding appropriate audio elements

## Techniques Used in Text to Video
Several AI techniques are crucial for Text to Video technology:
- Natural Language Understanding: Extracting meaning and context from the input text.
- Image Generation: Creating individual frames or elements using techniques like [GPT](https://api.video/what-is/gpt/) for images or other generative models.
- Sequence Modeling: Ensuring coherence and continuity across the generated video frames.
- Style Transfer: Applying specific visual styles to the generated content.
- Temporal Consistency: Maintaining consistency in object appearance and movement across frames.

## Applications of Text to Video
Text to Video technology has numerous potential applications. In content creation, it can rapidly produce promotional videos, educational content, or storytelling visuals from scripts, accelerating the creative process. For prototyping, it can quickly visualize concepts for filmmaking or advertising, enabling faster iteration. The technology can also improve accessibility by converting text-based content into engaging video formats.

Text to Video can generate personalized video content based on user descriptions, opening up new possibilities for customized experiences. In virtual production, it can assist in pre-visualization for film and TV. Furthermore, it can create visual aids and animations to supplement educational materials, enhancing learning. As the technology evolves, its applications will likely expand, transforming how we create and interact with video content.

## Challenges and Considerations
Text to Video technology faces several challenges:
- Quality and Realism: Generating high-quality, realistic video content that matches the complexity of the input text.
- Temporal Coherence: Ensuring consistent object appearance and movement across frames.
- Stylistic Control: Providing users with fine-grained control over the visual style of the generated video.
- Ethical and Legal Issues: Addressing concerns about copyright, deep fakes, and potential misuse of the technology.
- Computational Requirements: Managing the intensive processing needs for real-time or near-real-time video generation.

## The Future of Text to Video
As Text to Video technology advances, we can expect several exciting developments. Improvements in quality and realism will enable the generation of increasingly photorealistic and complex video content. Enhanced user control through more intuitive interfaces will allow for greater customization of video characteristics and styles.

Real-time generation capabilities could enable near-instantaneous video creation from text input, opening up new applications. Incorporating multimodal inputs like voice, sketches, or images could lead to more nuanced and contextually-aware video generation. Seamless integration with video editing software and content management systems would further expand the reach and utility of this transformative technology. The future of Text to Video holds immense potential, revolutionizing how we create, manipulate, and interact with video content.

As Text to Video technology evolves, it has the potential to revolutionize content creation, making video production more accessible and efficient across various industries. However, it will also necessitate careful consideration of ethical implications and the development of guidelines for responsible use.

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Trimming

What is video trimming?

What's the difference between splitting and trimming?

What's the difference between cropping and trimming?

Trimming and api.video