Our current site on Drupal 6.22 uses the "URL Video" function in the Video module v6.x-2.9. I am trying to upgrade to Drupal 7 and have spent considerable time searching for the same functionality.
Use case: We have a video conference system that records content and we have developed processes to convert recordings to FLV format and FTP them to a web server. We then create nodes in the Drupal web site, running on a different web server, and specifying the URL to the content it plays in FlowPlayer embedded in the node.
This works very nicely, and I am hoping this functionality has made its way to D7...it seems pretty basic, but I am getting the impression that the prevailing assumption is that all video is now hosted at some third-party such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
Does anyone else have a similar use case to ours, and if so how are you addressing?
Comments
CDN?
One issue you're likely going to have is that you are uploading videos to an HTTP server, and not an RTMP server. It's definitely suggested that you do not try and do this, especially if your videos are very popular or have global viewership. You really need some sort of Content Delivery Network and RTMP back end to power your video needs. Obviously, you technically can watch videos via HTTP via progressive downloading, but since it's not ideal, this is why everything is moving toward a thrid-party type of solution. YouTube and Vimeo are your free options for CDN streaming. Amazon S3 + EC2 is what I usually suggest for a more controlled and "owned" solution, but be careful, because you pay based on computer cycles, so a viral video can suddenly become very expensive.
HTTP servers do not technically stream. It's called "progressive download video, RTMP-delivered Video is called streaming video" for a reason. (http://www.adobepress.com/articles/article.asp?p=1014968&seqNum=2)
See also: http://drupal.org/project/cdn and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_network
Very simple use case
Thanks for the feedback.
Ours is a very simple use case. These are class recordings we make available to student and they are only watched a handful of times, and are only available to students registered in the class. The current solution is very simple and meets our needs nicely.
I will explore CDN but I suspect the "free CDN" options do not allow controlled access to content. We are a non-profit so cost is a real consideration. I suppose we could look at implementing our own streaming server but that seems an unnecessary level of complexity for our use case and then there is still the issue of linking to that provider.
Thanks for the direction...looks like I have some homework to do....
PodCasts
You probably don't want to setup your own streaming server. It's time intensive, and expensive (both for the personnel as well as computer equipment).
Take a look at http://blip.tv and into their Terms of Service. Also, look at YouTube's new "unlisted" feature, but don't forget to look at their TOS either.
With Drupal, it's easy to upload videos via the "File" and "Media" modules in Drupal 7.
Go into Views and create an RSS feed out of these uploads. RSS of .mov's (h.264 codec) should be viewed by iOS as podcasts --> research how to get these feeds to be seen by iOS as podcasts, and non iOS users can then just grab the .mov's as downloads from the RSS. You could quickly enable automated email notifications too that would email your constituents when you upload something new and alert them that the new video is up and available.
This might help: http://mustardseedmedia.com/podcast/episode19
check: Media with Media Front
have a look at
Media with Media Front
you may still need to stitch the two server together a bit, but I know you can upload and run media on your own server
let us know,
thanks
rains
Kaltura
Does anyone have any experience with the self-hosted Kaltura solution?
Is there a solution if you do
Is there a solution if you do have an existing flash (rtmp) server with videos on it for Drupal 7? Some organizations do have the resources for these servers and, for privacy reasons, will not use any of the corporate players.
Solution finally
I was well-down the Kaltura path; really nice system BTW. We really don't have the resources to self-host but the functionality made it more than worth the effort.
Anyway, got sidetracked for a bit and when I returned I did a little searching to see how the landscape had changed and discovered the Mediafront module...or more specifically the fact that you can create a content type with a media url link which is exactly what I was looking for.
Plus the added benefit that the OSM player makes it much easier to host video for mobile devices.
So: Mediafront and Handbrake; I am good to go!