Tech Brief
Video has become the premier method of sharing ideas, content, and events. Many different types of organizations have a need to manage and deliver video streams in a reliable, scalable and secure method. What is needed is a video platform that can bring together all of the critical workflow tools needed to manage video content and the capacity to deliver quality video at scale to any device. The Limelight Video Platform (LVP) provides a fast and intuitive way to manage and distribute on-demand video content. LVP is integrated with Limelight’s global CDN to deliver the quality viewing experience audiences expect.
Video audiences expect broadcast quality experiences on any device, anywhere they are viewing. However, managing, publishing, syndicating, measuring, and monetizing your online video content can be complex and expensive and takes planning. You need tools that simplify the process of managing your growing library of VOD files while ensuring you have the capacity and coverage to provide all of your viewers with the best possible online viewing experiences.
The Limelight Video Platform simplifies the process of ingesting, transcoding, managing, measuring and distributing online video content by integrating video asset management with Limelight’s global content delivery network.
LVP has several methods to ingest video. Video can be uploaded through a browser-based console, FTP, Aspera, Media RSS or a REST API. LVP accepts a range of video CODECs and containers.
Supported Video Codecs:
The recommended video codec for ingesting a source file is H.264, Additional supported codecs include MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VP6, VP5, H.263, Windows Media Video 7 (WMV1), Windows Media Video 8 (WMV2), and Windows Media Video 9 (WMV3).
Supported Video Containers:
The recommended container for source files is MP4, howeverMP3, MOV, FLV, AVI, ASF, WMV, MPG, MXF, and WAV are also supported.
The Limelight Video Platform is a turnkey solution that delivers a quality experience for your viewers, no matter what device or location. LVP uses a distributed cloud infrastructure to automatically transcode source video files into multi-bitrate and multi-resolution files needed to support adaptive bitrate delivery on different viewing devices. HLS and MPEG-DASH are the most popular delivery methods for online video. HLS is required to support video playback on Apple IOS devices, while DASH can power windows desktop and Android experiences. As a convenience, Limelight has created ready-to-use HLS and DASH encoding profiles that will meet the needs of most publishers. Additional encoding profiles including HDS and MSS delivery formats are available if required.
LVP has easy-to-use workflow tools that make it simple to manage and distribute your on-demand video. A browser-based management console lets you access and manage content from anywhere with an internet connection. Use the browser-based console or the API to add video tags or custom metadata to describe your video. LVP includes a powerful search tool that can be used to find and sort media. LVP helps you manage media by organizing it into channels and channel groups. Use channels within LVP to create playlists or sync media on external sites, such as iTunes, YouTube or Roku. Channel groups can be leveraged to create a single player with multiple channels attached, each channel represented by a tab that can be selected by the viewer.
Video advertising allows content producers to monetize content by integrating advertisements into content streams. LVP provides multiple mechanisms to help you serve ads, including integration with major third-party advertising networks and servers. LVP supports both VAST and DART ad standards. Simply set the ad cue points in your video content and indicate your ad-provider. LVP’s cue point editor can be used to configure pre-roll, post-roll and mid-roll ads. Also, the cue point editor can be used to insert content overlays that contain links to webpages or videos. Some popular overlays include “click here” or “buy it now'' buttons.
LVP has security features built-in to protect your content from unauthorized access including geography-based restrictions, domain-based restrictions, authenticated APIs, secure streaming protocols and media library password policies.
LVP includes a customizable HTML5 video player that can be used for playing videos on your website. The LVP video player automatically tracks video playback and performance metrics including viewer engagement and content consumption. Analytics and reporting are available including a geographic report, average time played, total time played, the Operating System of the viewing device, browser used to play the video and more! Analytics are available from within the browser-based console or can be downloaded as a CSV report to examine and store reports locally.
One of the most expensive parts of building a video workflow is scaling for peak usage and global delivery. LVP is the only major video platform that is integrated with a global CDN, allowing for video delivery at scale with the lowest re-buffer rates in the industry. Manage, organize and deliver video from one easy to use platform.
Social media has become a powerful tool and destination for video content. LVP supports publishing and syndication to social media platforms, gaming platforms and OTT devices including Facebook, iTunes, YouTube, ROKU and Twitter.
The Limelight Video Platform includes an HTML5 video player that can be used to play HLS and DASH video on all major desktop browsers and mobile devices. The embed code supplied in LVP automatically detects the capabilities of the viewing device and configures the video player and delivery format accordingly. Your viewers will not be required to download or update the player before enjoying videos. The video player can also be easily customized to match the look, colors, and style of your website.
■ Upload media using drag and drop, upload button, or API calls
■ Filter, sort, and search metadata
■ Add custom metadata
■ Create sub-clips from existing videos with the Snippet Tool
■ Upload preview and end of video images
■ Syndicate to Youtube and Roku
■ Build channels and playlists
■ Create Scheduling
■ Publish/unpublish media
■ SmartEmbed determines what playback encoding to use based on the user’s device
■ Embed HTML5 videos compatible with all major browsers, operating systems, and mobile browsers
■ Automatically play a video when a web page is rendered
■ Open Source community support for function customizations
■ Easy to change player themes to match the look and feel of websites
■ Integrated analytics provide viewer insights
■ Video Player supports HLS, MPEG-DASH and MP4 fallback
■ Local ingest points worldwide
■ Upload, manage and track changes to media through the graphical UI
■ FTP upload for large media files and metadata
■ IBM Aspera support for secure high throughput ingest
■ API Upload for programmatic upload from CMS or asset management system
■ Create custom encoding profiles
■ Automatic conversion to multiple bitrates and resolutions for ABR
■ Multiple audio track support
■ Up to HD quality
■ Apple IOS and Android device support
■ Transcode to HLS, MPEG-DASH, HDS, and MSS
■ REST-based content API—Gives developers programmatic access to media and supporting metadata for the creation of fully integrated apps and sites
■ Player API—Allows control and customization of video player theme, size, and playlist behavior
■ Analytics API—Allows for download of viewership metrics
■ Closed Caption API—Upload of DFXP closed caption files
■ Callback API—Notification when media or channels are created, modified or deleted
■ Referrer Domain Info—Number of plays, number unique viewers, average time viewed
■ iTunes RSS API—Set categories and languages per Apple spec
■ What videos are trending
■ Total number of plays and replays
■ Average and total time played
■ Geography analytics with an interactive map
■ Viewer data by operating system, browser, traffic source and platform
■ Usage analytics for storage and bandwidth
The Limelight Video Platform simplifies the challenge of managing and distributing on-demand video content. LVP provides tools to easily ingest, transcode, manage, and measure video content, and by integrating Limelight’s global content delivery network, it ensures your viewers receive the highest quality only viewing experience on any device anywhere in the world.
To learn more about how Limelight’s video delivery solutions can help you solve any online video delivery challenge, contact us at: info@limelight.com.
Contact Limelight to learn more about how we can help you solve your content delivery challenges.
