云计算Vs. 预置编码困境

If you have adult or even teenaged children, 你看看你的孩子们, thought back to when they were infants, and wondered when they turned into grown-ups. I have that feeling about on-demand cloud encoding. Cloud encoding entered this world awkward and ungainly, 这是一个不太可能的解决方案，它实际上可以比本地编码更好地解决问题. 今天, 特别是对于为云或第三方分发编码大文件的公司, cloud encoding has blossomed into a mature, comprehensive solution that many companies are using to supplement, 甚至是替代, 他们的内部部署系统.

在本文中, I’ll describe three types of companies: those that started with (or should have started with) the cloud and never used on-prem; companies that use the cloud to supplement their on-prem encoding; and companies who have abandoned their on-prem encoding capabilities and moved exclusively to the cloud. 在每个部分, 我将探讨这些应用程序, the reasons why cloud encoding was attractive, and some of the considerations used to choose their respective vendors.

请允许我提前为本文中提到的云供应商的集中表示歉意. Only three -- Anvato, Heywatch, and Zencoder -- are mentioned. I reached out to several other vendors, but getting clients to talk on the record is often challenging. 在这方面, I’d like to thank all the people who shared their stories and insights, which are obviously the value in this article. For other cloud vendors who didn’t get mentioned, in the interest of fairness and full disclosure this article has been 在编辑日历上 in the works for months; sorry I didn’t reach out, but it’s a two-way street.

最后，本文关注的是按需应用程序，而不是实时应用程序. 现场的画面至少同样生动，但我无法在一个故事中讲述这两件事.

让我们从应用程序开始，这些应用程序应该带有纹身，宣称“为云而生”.”

显而易见的云应用

在与这一类别的一两家公司的代表交谈之后, it became obvious that some applications were simply born for the cloud. 这是, 如果1)你正在处理的大部分视频是从外部来源上传给你的, 而不是由你创造的, 2) you’re deploying your videos from the cloud, and 3) video processing is not your company’s core function, 你应该在云端进行编码, 不是on-prem.

第一个标准, videos uploaded from outside sources, 关键是因为它消除了与按需编码相关的上传延迟. 如果第三方向你上传视频，他们也可以轻松地将视频上传到云端. If you’re deploying your videos from the cloud, the video is going to live there anyway, why bring it on-prem in the first place?

第三个标准, video processing is not your core function, is what I heard most loudly from several companies. 例如, FieldLens is a collaboration and workflow tool for the construction industry, 在哪里, 作为系统的一部分, users can upload videos to document issues or construction status. 据首席技术官大卫·斯莫尔说, FieldLens没有考虑内部编码，因为它需要“一定程度的专业知识，而他们不需要或不想拥有内部编码。. Offloading transcoding is cheap and saves us a bunch of headaches.”

同样的, 不守规矩的媒体 是一家营销技术公司，与顶级品牌及其代理商合作，在互联网上推广他们的视频. According to CTO and founder Matthew Cooke, 生意刚开始的时候, Unruly使用FFMPEG和一些商用编码程序在本地进行编码. 随着体积的增长, the company pondered whether to build or buy their own encoding platform, or move their encoding to the cloud.

“We looked at the work involved with doing it ourselves,库克说。, 并决定将我们的投资和开发工作集中在我们的核心业务上, 哪一个是将大量视频分发给可能观看的观众, 分享和推广视频.”

库克表示，Unruly公司的大部分运营基础设施都在云端:“我们通常倾向于按需付费的定价模式，注册简单，无需承诺. 你只要把你的信用卡放进去，开始使用，如果它有效，你就继续使用它.”

选择云供应商

All the companies in this category use Heywatch, though they all got there in different ways and for different reasons. 例如, 不过.com provides captioning and translation services. 该公司的客户将视频上传到不过, 不过使用Heywatch进行所有相关编码. 根据Brooks Lyrette的说法, the company’s director of technology, 不过早在2008年就开始与两家云供应商并行，以实现冗余, and later went solo with Heywatch for several reasons.

第一个, Heywatch在处理客户上传的一些不同的相机格式方面做得更好, 保持准确字幕和翻译所需的同步. 其次，Heywatch还使其更容易与不过的CDN接口，以部署编码文件. 第三, Heywatch’s API has been extremely stable, and the core integration performed in 2008 is still in service. “基本上，”Lyrette说，“我们对Heywatch非常满意，所以放弃了其他服务.”

Spanish photo and video journalism site Neupic had its own unique selection criteria. 简而言之, neupic接受来自叙利亚和埃及等地记者的现场视频，并将其出售给西班牙的新闻机构和企业集团, 包括埃菲社, Atresmedia和Unidad社论. The company originally used a different cloud vendor, 但后来改用Heywatch，因为之前的供应商不提供水印功能, and was more focused on serving video rather than encoding.

切换前, neupic工程师Abel Muino Vizcaino比较了各种云供应商的在线评论, 扫描它们的api. Vizcaino found nothing but good reviews for Heywatch, and judged Heywatch’s API as very development friendly, 事实证明，该公司仅用了一天时间就将Heywatch整合到现有系统中. 在使用, Heywatch is encoding about 500 videos a month for neupic, and Vizcaino is pleased with quality and turnaround time, the latter obviously critical for breaking news stories.

混合编码

If you encode lots of media for your own, 或者第三方分销, 你的生意也在增长, sooner or later your on-prem encoders will run into capacity issues. 这一类别的两家公司, Scripps Network Interactive and T3 Media, 最初，他们把云计算看作是内部无法有效处理的工作的安全阀. 这次经历是如此的积极, 然而, 这两家公司都升级了他们的基础设施，以实现(或很快实现)云和本地编码之间的完全对等. Both companies continue to invest in on-prem encoding, 发现对于某些类型的编码，本地和云编码都具有明显的战术优势.

短暂的, Scripps Network Interactive is a leading developer of high-profile, lifestyle-oriented content distributed over television, 网络和传统出版, with a media portfolio that includes HGTV, DIY网络, 美食网, 烹饪频道, Travel Channel and Great American Country. 在斯克里普斯, the tipping point came when David Zebroski, 数字视频运营副总裁, 在2011年左右，他们注意到他们的网站上有很高的iOS流量. 由于斯克里普斯当时只提供Flash，这些苹果设备对其内容“一无所知”.”

斯克里普斯 Zencoder 将50,000个文件转码为HTTP 在线直播格式(HLS)，这被证明是非常有效的. “We originally thought the cloud would be a one-off operation, 但它工作得很好，我们继续将其用于其他突发操作和某些正常的生产编码,泽布罗斯基说.

Explaining the burst operations component, 斯科特·科鲁兹, 斯克里普斯的非线性内容分发经理(本质上是不通过有线电视分发的内容)说, “When we onboard new distribution partners, we typically provide them a launch load of content, 像1,000小时左右, 必须尽快编码. Since the source is all in the cloud, 我们可以轻松地将其推到Zencoder上，而不会中断正在进行的内部编码.”

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