Uploading videos on the SpotMe platform goes beyond file transfer—it's a very important process that ultimately shapes the user’s experience. Whether you're showcasing videos in the feed or embedding them in pages, understanding SpotMe's adaptive streaming format is key.
This process encodes videos into various resolutions and bitrates, adapting to network conditions. In this knowledge base article we will explore several very important aspects when it comes to publishing videos on our platform so that they really stand out and create impact. This goes from video aspect ratios to thumbnail choices and resolution decisions based on your event type, as well as optimizing for the fastest TTFF (time to first frame).
Understanding SpotMe's adaptive streaming includes how participant devices pick the best bitrate based on connectivity and screen size.
This article covers the importance of a 16:9 video aspect ratio, the available resolutions, and considerations for posting on the SpotMe feed. Thumbnail tips, like size and using the first video frame, are crucial.
Additionally, it is important to understand video resolution choices for the source video you want to upload based on your event type—smaller formats for faster mobile playback and higher resolutions for quality on larger screens.
Video aspect ratio
While any video resolution can be uploaded, it's highly recommended to use a 16:9 aspect ratio for optimal display within the application. Special non-standard aspect ratios may lead to unexpected results and potential issues.
Video audio sample rate
We recommend that videos are encoded with an audio sample rate of 48kHz.
Video bitrates and resolutions
Upon uploading a video, keep in mind that the SpotMe platform encodes it into various bitrates and resolutions for participants to choose from via the app:
For instance, if the original resolution is 1080p (1920x1080), the available choices for the participants will be:
- 640x360
- 768x432
- 960x540
- 1280x720
- 1920x1080
If a lower resolution video was uploaded to the platform, let’s assume 720p (1280x720), then the higher 1080p resolution will not be available for participants to select.
This means that, if for example a video of 432p (768x432) is uploaded to the platform, only two variant bitrates and resolutions shall be available for the participants to choose from:
- 640x360
- 768x432
Other things to consider when posting a video
When sharing a video on the SpotMe feed, it's strongly recommended to publish it in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Once the video is uploaded to the video library, and providing you do not upload a thumbnail image, your video will be rendered within the feed in a square, large format, in the same way as other popular social media platforms:
To ensure that this feed displays rendering from a 16:9 aspect ratio video, cropping of the left, right, top and bottom of the video is performed, as well as a zoom in. When played in the feed, the video will be played out with these crop settings. However, when clicking on the video to view it in the pop-up player window, the video will be rendered in its full original aspect ratio.
If a thumbnail is provided, the video will appear in the post in 16:9, that is a rectangle format, and is smaller than when provided without the thumbnail:
Creating and using thumbnails
Thumbnail size and aspect ratio
Ensure that your thumbnail matches the 16:9 aspect ratio of your video. This consistency enhances the overall visual appeal.
Thumbnail generation
Generating a thumbnail from the video's first frame provides a seamless transition from the thumbnail image to the video itself, enhancing the viewer's experience. Extracting an image from the first frame of a video can be easily achieved with free tools such as VLC (videolan.org) or FFMPEG (for more advanced users).
With VLC on OSX:
- Open your video in VLC
- Press the pause button and bring the seek bar to the beginning
- Press Command+option+S
With VLC on Windows:
- Open your video in VLC
- Press the pause button and bring the seek bar to the beginning
- Press Shift + S
With FFMPEG:
Launch the following command (replace "input.mp4" with the name of your video):
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vframes 1 thumbnail.png
Considerations for playing videos on mobile versus web app
Mobile app playback
For faster playback on mobile devices, consider providing a smaller format video, typically 768x432 that will require a lower bitrate. This ensures close to instant playback during feed scrolling and reduces the required bandwidth; this is ideal for in person events that only require the SpotMe mobile application and that are sometimes run in venues where internet bandwidth consumption needs to be optimized as much as possible.
Web app playback
If your event is accessed via the SpotMe web application, opt for higher resolution videos (720p minimum, 1080p for full resolution) to ensure optimal quality on larger screens.
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