ApsaraVideo VOD:Overview

Introduction

Video generation is important throughout the video production process, which includes collection, generation, playback and interaction, and media asset management. After videos are generated, the generated videos are available for distribution and playback. The production center of ApsaraVideo VOD provides the online editing feature. This feature allows you to cut and merge videos, mix audio, add subtitles, overlay images, mask videos, and apply transition effects.

Online editing is a cloud-based feature that integrates frontend UI components with backend services.

• Frontend UI components

  You can cut and merge videos, mask videos, add text, modify the sequence of clips, and perform other operations on the UI. For more information, see Use online editing.

• Backend services

  Backend services include media production and online editing project management.

  • You can use online editing tools to edit the materials that are uploaded to the media asset library of ApsaraVideo VOD and submit the generated timeline for video production.

  • You can also arrage timeline data and submit the timeline for video production.

  The generated videos are stored in the media asset library of ApsaraVideo VOD. You can directly distribute and play the videos without the need to download or upload the videos.

Architecture

Features

Basic editing

Advanced editing

Billing

ApsaraVideo VOD supports basic and advanced editing. For more information about the unit prices, see Editing and production.

Limits

The online editing feature is not supported in specific regions. Make sure that the feature is supported in the region where ApsaraVideo VOD is activated before you use the feature. For more information, see Regions.

Process

The online editing process consists of the following phases: input, processing, and output.

• Input

  Add original materials that you want to use for editing to the material library. The original materials that you want to use for editing must be stored in the media asset library of ApsaraVideo VOD. You can upload materials or recordings of live streams.

  Materials are classified into three types: video, audio, and image. The following table describes the supported formats for different types of materials.

  Material type	Supported format
  Video	Container formats: 3GP, AVI, FLV, MP4, M3U8, MPG, ASF, WMV, MKV, MOV, TS, WebM, and MXF Encoding formats: H.264/AVC, H.263, H.263+, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MJPEG, VP8, VP9, Quicktime, RealVideo, and Windows Media Video
  Audio	Container formats: 3GP, AVI, FLV, MP4, M3U8, MPG, ASF, WMV, MKV, MOV, TS, WebM, and MXF Encoding formats: AAC, AC-3, ADPCM, AMR, DSD, MP1, MP2, MP3, PCM, RealAudio, and Windows Media Audio
  Image	JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and APNG

  Note

  Materials in the material library are added from the media asset library in ApsaraVideo VOD. Files in the media asset library are classified into source files and transcoded files. To improve the quality of output resources, the source files are used for online editing and production.

• Processing

  The timeline is the key object in online editing and production. A timeline consists of multiple tracks (layers) and each track consists of multiple clips. You can specify the start time, end time, and effect for each clip, and arrange the sequence of the clips.

  You can obtain the timeline data by using one of the following methods:

  • Use the frontend components to edit media resources and save the data to generate a timeline.

  • Call API operations or use SDKs of the media editing component to directly submit a timeline.

  The media production component is the key component of online editing and is used to generate output resources. The media editing component runs in asynchronous mode. After you call the ProduceEditingProjectVideo operation, the media editing component returns the ID of the generated resource and starts an asynchronous production task based on the specified parameters.

  • You can listen for the ProduceMediaComplete event to obtain the status of the production task. When you receive the callback, a new resource is generated based on the source files.

  • You can also query the status of a resource based on the resource ID. If a resource is in the Uploaded state, the resource is generated based on the source files.

    Note

    The efficiency of manual queries is low. We recommend that you configure the callbacks to obtain the status of resources.

  Online editing project management allows you to create, modify, delete, and query online editing projects and configure materials for the projects. This way, you can manage your online editing projects in depth.

• Output

  Generate the output resources. All output resources are stored in the media asset library in ApsaraVideo VOD. The following types of output resources are supported: video, audio, and GIF image.

  Online editing uses source files for production and saves output resources as source files in the media asset library of ApsaraVideo VOD. The following rules apply when output resources are generated:

  • The resolution of the output resource is determined by the maximum width and height of the source files that are used to generate the output resource. For example, you use 3 materials to generate the output resource and the resolutions of the source files are 1280 × 720 pixels, 1920 × 1080 pixels, and 720 × 1280 pixels. In this case, the resolution of the output resource is 1920 × 1280 pixels.

  • The bitrate of the output resource is determined by the maximum bitrate of the source files that are used to generate the output resource.

  • By default, H.264 videos are generated as output resources. The container format of the videos is MP4. To change the type of output resources, specify the output parameters in the production template on the configuration page or in the API request. You can change the type of output resources to audio or GIF image.

  The following table describes the supported formats for different types of output resources.

  Resource type	Supported format
  Video	Container format: FLV, MP4, TS, M3U8, and MPD Encoding format: H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC
  Audio	Container format: FLV, MP4, TS, M3U8, and MPD Encoding format: MP3, AAC, VORBIS, and FLAC
  Image	GIF

  After the output resources are generated, you can specify whether to automatically transcode the generated source files and capture snapshots based on your business requirements. This facilitates content distribution.

  • You can specify the TemplateGroupId parameter in ProduceConfig to configure transcoding for output resources that are generated. If you do not configure this parameter, the system transcodes output resources based on the default transcoding template group after output resources are generated. For more information about how to configure a transcoding template group, see Configure regular transcoding template groups.

  • You can initiate transcoding tasks and capture snapshots only after the output resource is generated.

References

• Use the ApsaraVideo VOD console for online editing

• Use the ApsaraVideo VOD API for online editing