This topic describes the differences between using the API and the ApsaraVideo Live console to manage the production studio service.
You can use the API to build the production studio service or directly use production
studios in the ApsaraVideo Live console based on your business requirements. Scenarios:
- If a company wants to live stream a cross-site meeting, the company can use production studios in the ApsaraVideo Live console without extra development.
- If a company wants to build a SaaS production studio platform for its customers, the company can use the API to build the platform in a more flexible manner.
Feature category | Feature | Specification | ApsaraVideo Live console | API |
---|---|---|---|---|
Input content | Video sources | Number | ≤ 6 | ≤ 6 |
Live streams | Supports live streams that are accelerated by Alibaba Cloud CDN nodes. | Supports live streams across the network. | ||
On-demand videos | Supports videos from the media library of ApsaraVideo VOD. | Supports on-demand videos across the network. | ||
Resolution | 360p, 480p, 720p, and 1080p | 360p, 480p, 720p, and 1080p | ||
Stream pulling protocols | Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) | HTTP and RTMP | ||
Video formats | 3GP, ASF, AVI, DAT, DV, FLV, F4V, GIF, M3U8, M4V, MJ2, MJEPG, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, OGG, RM, RMVB, SWF, TS, VOB, WMV, WEBM, and AC3 | 3GP, ASF, AVI, DAT, DV, FLV, F4V, GIF, M3U8, M4V, MJ2, MJEPG, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, OGG, RM, RMVB, SWF, TS, VOB, WMV, WEBM, and AC3 | ||
Encoding formats | MP3, AAC, HE-AAC, WAV, H.264, VP8, and VP9 | MP3, AAC, HE-AAC, WAV, H.264, VP8, and VP9 | ||
Text | Number of text boxes | ≤ 4 | ≤ 4 | |
Fonts | KaiTi | KaiTi | ||
Layouts | Horizontal | Horizontal | ||
Colors | RGB | RGB | ||
Characters | ≤ 1,024 | ≤ 1,024 | ||
Images | Number | ≤ 4 | ≤ 4 | |
Resolution | 360p, 480p, and 720p | 360p, 480p, and 720p | ||
Image formats | PNG, JPG, APNG, and GIF | PNG, JPG, APNG, and GIF | ||
Output content | PVW and PGM output | Channels | 6 | 6 |
PVW | 1 | 1 | ||
PGM | 1 | 1 | ||
Third-party output | Number | 1 | 1 | |
Stream pushing protocols | RTMP | RTMP | ||
Encoding formats | H.264 and AAC | H.264 and AAC | ||
Resolution | 360p, 480p, and 720p | 360p, 480p, and 720p | ||
Third-party latency | 0-300s | 0-300s | ||
Third-party URL | Custom URLs are not supported. | Supports third-party stream pushing URLs. | ||
Standby playback | Standby videos | Supports custom videos whose resolution is 1080p or lower. | Supports custom videos whose resolution is 1080p or lower. | |
Switching to standby videos | Allows you to switch to standby videos, switch back to live streams, and clear third-party videos. | Allows you to switch to standby videos, switch back to live streams, and clear third-party videos. | ||
Media processing | Video layouts | Number of screens in a layout | ≤ 4 | ≤ 4 |
Layout styles | Supports multiple styles such as single screen, picture-in-picture, left-right split-screen, three screens, and four screens. | Supports custom layout styles. | ||
Number of layouts | ≤ 12 | Unlimited | ||
Playback control | The pausing and seeking operations are not supported. | Supports pausing and seeking operations on on-demand videos. | ||
Audio mixing | Number of audio tracks | ≤ 6 | ≤ 6 | |
Volume adjustment | Supported. | Supported. | ||
PGM audition | Supported. | Allows you to implement this feature based on your business requirements. | ||
On-premises audition | Supported. | Allows you to implement this feature based on your business requirements. | ||
Audio gain | 0-2.0 | 0-10.0 | ||
Audio channel control | Not supported. | Supported. | ||
Audio follow video (AFV) | Supported. | Supported. | ||
Speech recognition | Voice subtitles | Not supported. | Supported. | |
Live stream transcoding | Third-party transcoding | 360p, 480p, and 720p | 360p, 480p, 720p, and 1080p | |
Cloud-based recording | Recording formats | M3U8, MP4, and FLV | M3U8, MP4, and FLV | |
Third-party recording | Supports recording of third-party live streams that are accelerated by Alibaba Cloud CDN nodes. | Supports recording of third-party live streams that are accelerated by Alibaba Cloud CDN nodes. | ||
Synchronization mode | Synchronization areas | Channels, PGM, and PVW | Channels, PGM, and PVW | |
Latency during playback | Switching latency | ≤ 700 ms | ≤ 700 ms (RTS integrated) |
Note
- The channels for previewing programs are the channels that are used to add input sources to a production studio. The number of channels equals the number of input sources.
- The latency of a production studio depends on the latency of processing tasks and live streaming latency. The latency of processing tasks ranges from 800 ms to 6800 ms. For more information about how to reduce live streaming latency, see How to reduce live streaming latency.