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I am in the process of putting together a video based subscription site and have been researching options for a while now. It seems as if I can go with a video hosting platform such as Brightcove, Ooyala, Viddler, Wistia, etc. or go with a CDN like MaxCDN and use their streaming service with either Flowplayer or JW Player.
Now then, it would seem going the CDN/Player route is much less expensive than the hosted solution. So what would I be missing out on? What makes the hosting platforms worth so much more?
Ultimately, I need a video solution that provides fast streaming, html 5 roll over for iDevices, analytics, and some measure of security (ie RTMP for non-iDevice streams, we are trying to sell access to this stuff after all). Which solution would you suggest and why?
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The use of a CDN for streaming video helps a stream reach viewers around the world, minimizes latency and buffering time, and ensures that the stream's source or origin server are not overwhelmed with requests.
The term CDN or Content Delivery Network simply describes different types of content delivery services — including website or mobile content acceleration, video streaming, software downloads, transparent caching, load balancing, multi-CDN switching, and related analytics.
Content Delivery Network is a technology that contains a network of servers placed in different regions globally. These are proxy servers that can store different types of content such as images, audio, & video files.
You would miss out on convenience if you are non-technical. Brightcove, bits-on-the-run etc...have all the tools available, including conversion of videos to several formats for bitrate change. While if you go on S3 Amazon on your own, you will either have to buy plugins or create them yourself to accommodate your needs. It depends largely on your temperament and how big you see this.
For huge video portals, I would go with a service because the workflow is optimal. Doing it on your own is more time consuming and keeping up with latest developments is important. Those services follow up on that, while if you are on your own, it's an extra burden you carry. But there is a serious price tag, there is little flexibility and you are dependent on the service, which can be tricky.
If you have a modest membership site in mind with 1,000 members or so, you might want to install a wordpress or Joomla and work with a plugin to handle the videos via S3 Amazon. (FYI: most of the services you mention use S3 Amazon)
With JW player, you can add a range of plugins for analytics and so on, and there are analytical tools on S3 amazon available as well.
Hope this helps?
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