why we need to process videos after upload to s3 or any other video platform
Processing videos after uploading them to Amazon S3 (or any cloud storage) is crucial for several reasons, all aimed at ensuring the best possible viewing experience for users across a variety of devices and network conditions, as well as optimizing storage and delivery costs. Here are the primary reasons why video processing is necessary:
1. Compatibility Across Devices and Browsers
Videos need to be encoded in different formats to ensure compatibility across various devices and browsers. A video format that plays smoothly on one browser might not be supported on another. Processing videos to convert them into multiple formats (e.g., H.264, VP9, HEVC) ensures wider compatibility.
2. Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
To provide a buffer-free viewing experience regardless of a user's internet speed, videos are often processed into multiple resolutions and bitrates. This technique, known as adaptive bitrate streaming, allows the video player to dynamically select the most appropriate stream based on the current network conditions and the device's capabilities. Processing videos for adaptive streaming involves creating several versions of the video at different quality levels.
3. Optimization for Bandwidth and Storage
Processing videos can significantly reduce their file size without noticeably sacrificing quality, through techniques like compression. This optimization helps in minimizing bandwidth consumption, which is particularly important for mobile users with limited data plans, and can also reduce storage and delivery costs.
4. Thumbnail Generation
Automatically generating thumbnails for videos is another common processing task. Thumbnails provide a visual preview of the video content and help users select videos of interest. Processing can involve extracting specific frames from a video to serve as thumbnails.
5. Accessibility Features
Adding subtitles or closed captions for accessibility requires processing videos to either embed these elements into the video or prepare them for delivery as separate files that can be selected by the viewer.
6. Content Moderation and Metadata Extraction
For platforms needing to moderate content or extract metadata, video processing can include analyzing videos for objectionable content, extracting text via OCR, recognizing faces, or identifying objects. This processing helps in categorizing content, enforcing content policies, and enhancing search and discovery.
7. Quality Enhancement
Video processing can also involve quality enhancement techniques, such as upscaling resolution, improving brightness and contrast, or stabilizing shaky footage. These enhancements can make older or lower-quality videos more enjoyable to watch.
Processing Tools and Services
AWS offers several tools for video processing, including:
- Amazon Elastic Transcoder: A highly scalable tool for converting media files stored in Amazon S3 into different formats suitable for various devices.
- AWS Elemental MediaConvert: A more advanced file-based video processing service, providing features for creating adaptive bitrate streaming packages, applying watermarks, and more.
- Amazon Rekognition Video: Allows you to analyze video content and extract information, useful for content moderation and generating metadata.