Streaming Platform Development Company

Multi-bitrate transcoding pipeline for uploaded video files using AWS Elemental MediaConvert or FFmpeg-based processing, producing H.264, H.265 (HEVC), and AV1 output tracks depending on your device target range and bandwidth cost targets. A multipart upload pipeline using S3 presigned URLs handles large source files reliably -- uploads are chunked in 5 MB to 100 MB parts, and a failed part is retried without restarting the full upload. The pre-processing queue validates the source file before the transcode job starts: codec, container, audio channel count, and resolution are checked so malformed uploads are rejected early rather than producing broken output after a long transcode run.

Once the transcode job completes, MediaConvert or Zencoder writes the output renditions and HLS/DASH manifests to S3. Automated thumbnail generation extracts frames at configurable intervals and at scene-change boundaries for richer preview images. Subtitle and closed caption processing handles SRT and VTT inputs, converting them to WebVTT for HLS delivery. Audio normalisation to the EBU R128 loudness standard is applied at transcode time so volume levels are consistent across your catalogue. Webhook notifications fire on job completion so the publishing workflow can advance automatically without polling.

schema.org VideoObject structured data is generated for each asset from the metadata record -- title, description, thumbnail URL, upload date, and duration -- making individual video pages eligible for rich results in Google Search. The ingest pipeline that takes a raw video file and produces a streaming-ready, SEO-annotated asset without manual processing steps at any stage.

HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) delivery are both supported, with the protocol chosen per device: HLS for iOS and Safari, DASH for Android and Chrome, with a fallback chain for browsers that don't support the preferred format. The ABR ladder is configured specifically for your content type -- a sports platform with fast motion and 1080p source material requires different bitrate rungs than a documentary or course platform where lower-bitrate tiers are more acceptable.

CDN delivery is configured via Cloudflare Stream, AWS CloudFront with an S3 origin, Akamai, or Fastly depending on your geographic distribution requirements and cost model. Origin shielding is enabled so CDN cache misses hit one regional shield node rather than your origin directly, protecting the origin under traffic spikes. Cache TTLs are tuned per asset type: long TTLs for VOD segments, short TTLs for live manifests.

For live streaming, the ingest pipeline accepts RTMP from streaming software (OBS, Wirecast, hardware encoders) and passes it through a cloud transcoding layer -- AWS Interactive Video Service (IVS) or Wowza Streaming Engine -- to produce the multi-bitrate HLS output. Standard live latency is 6 to 10 seconds. Low-latency HLS (LL-HLS) achieves 2 to 5 seconds for sports and event content where near-real-time delivery matters. Multi-region ingest points reduce transcoding latency for broadcasters in different geographic locations.

Branded web player built on Video.js or Shaka Player with your design system applied. Shaka Player is preferred for platforms requiring MPEG-DASH and Widevine DRM on Chrome and Android, while Video.js with the videojs-contrib-hls plugin covers HLS delivery across a broader device range. The player is skinned to your design system -- colours, typography, controls layout, and loading animations all match your brand rather than the library's default chrome.

Quality selector, subtitle toggling across multiple language tracks, audio track selection for multi-language audio, and picture-in-picture support are all included. Playback resume reads the last watched position from the user's profile so a viewer returning to a title resumes rather than starting over. Auto-play of the next episode in a series uses a configurable countdown overlay.

Analytics instrumentation fires events to your analytics pipeline on play start, buffering events (with buffer duration and bitrate at the time of the stall), quality switches (up and down), and watch-through percentage at segment boundaries. These metrics feed the content operations team's understanding of which titles have poor watch-through and which network conditions are causing quality degradation.

Offline download for mobile apps uses the DRM system's offline license mechanism -- Widevine offline on Android, FairPlay offline on iOS -- with configurable license expiry so downloads respect your distribution window rules. iOS and Android native SDKs integrate the player into your app's navigation and analytics rather than embedding a web view.

Subscription tier management with configurable content access rules per tier: a basic tier might access the standard catalogue while a premium tier unlocks 4K, offline downloads, and early access content. Pay-per-view with purchase (permanent access) and rental (time-limited access, typically 30 days to start and 48 hours to finish once started) windows. Free trial periods with trial-to-paid conversion tracking. Promotional pricing via coupon codes with redemption limits and expiry dates.

Payment processing via Stripe or Braintree with full subscription lifecycle management -- renewals billed automatically, cancellations that respect the current billing period, upgrades that prorate the remaining term, and downgrades that take effect at the next renewal. Failed payment handling uses Stripe's smart retry logic (or a configurable retry schedule), with a grace period before access is suspended and recovery emails triggered by the payment lifecycle webhook.

Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) is supported for ad-supported tiers using the VAST and VMAP ad response standards. SSAI stitches ad breaks into the HLS or DASH stream at the server before delivery, so ads play at broadcast quality without buffering between content and ad segments, and ad blockers cannot intercept the ad content. Ad break markers are defined in the content metadata or in the live stream timeline. Revenue reporting by tier, content type, geographic region, and ad inventory for the finance and content teams is generated from the subscription and ad event data.

Multi-DRM is a hard requirement for cross-platform content protection -- no single DRM system covers all devices. We implement the three major systems: Widevine L1 (hardware-backed, required for 1080p and 4K on Android devices and Chrome with secure hardware) and Widevine L3 (software-backed, for older devices without a Trusted Execution Environment), FairPlay Streaming for Safari on macOS and iOS, and PlayReady for Microsoft Edge and Windows-native applications.

DRM integration works through a multi-DRM license server provider -- Axinom, EZDRM, or BuyDRM -- that handles encryption key management, key rotation, and license issuance at scale without requiring you to operate key infrastructure. Content is encrypted at transcode time using Common Encryption (CENC) for DASH or HLS sample encryption for HLS, so the same encrypted content file can be served to all three DRM systems.

Token-based access control sits between the player and the license server. Before issuing a DRM license, the license server validates a signed JWT that encodes the user's subscription status, the content ID, the allowed playback resolution, and the license expiry time. The token is generated by your backend on playback request and cannot be reused after it expires. Geographic restrictions are enforced at both the CDN level (blocking requests from disallowed IP ranges) and at the license level (the token includes allowed territory codes) so territorial rights hold even if CDN restrictions are bypassed.

Offline download uses the DRM system's offline license mechanism: Widevine offline on Android and FairPlay offline on iOS. License duration and renewal requirements are configurable per content tier to match your distribution window rules.

CMS for video metadata -- title, description, cast, genre, tags, and SEO fields including schema.org VideoObject properties for search visibility. Episode and series management with season structure: series contain seasons, seasons contain episodes, and episode ordering and numbering is maintained across edits without manual re-sequencing. Scheduled publishing with go-live and expiry timestamps per content item and per territory so regional availability is managed from one record rather than per-territory duplicates.

Editorial workflow with draft, review, and published states keeps the content operations team in control of what goes live and when. Bulk import handles large catalogue migrations from CSV or existing CMS exports, with a validation pass before import so records with missing required fields are flagged before they enter the system rather than creating broken entries.

Recommendation engine integration with a collaborative filtering model (ALS -- Alternating Least Squares) allows the platform to surface content based on viewing history and behaviour patterns across the user base. The recommendation service reads from the unified viewing event log and updates its model on a scheduled basis, returning ranked content lists for the home screen and end-of-video recommendation cards. Search and filtering across the catalogue for the content operations team is powered by an indexed search backend so large catalogues are navigable without full-table scans. The publishing interface that lets your content team manage a catalogue of any size without needing engineering support for each update.