Nostr Web Client

I am not sure if you have experience encoding many videos on a server, but I assure you that it is a very costly operation. You’ll need a whole farm of GPU fitted servers to handle the load.

If you expect small number of uploads, then external service like Qencode, mux, etc. might be within reason from cost perspective, otherwise it can be prohibitive.

Scripting ffmpeg can be done, but diversity of source media can be a huge challenge, if you expect good results!

🐶🐾🫡

Pablo Xannybar 2y ago

I've only done this kinda thing on a small scale before but I do have experience encoding videos including on servers.

I'm not gonna be hosting 4K HDR here. I'm thinking 720p max. And the upload will be limited by file size so I wouldn't need to worry about the expensive task of transcoding 4K down to 720p for example.

In my experience working with videos in the 720p range is no problem for a modern CPU VPS.

As the service grows we may see demand for higher resolution but by that point the money would be rolling in.

But realistically most people will view this content on their phones. I don't anticipate huge demand for high res video. 720p is the sweet spot where it can be compressed sufficiently to minimize storage and bandwidth usage and not make any difference in viewing experience on a phone.

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

The Fishcake (nostr.build) 2y ago

Fair. But you’ll also need to consider using HLS and adaptive quality, if phones is your target. Also, relay and encoder should never be on the same system (security and performance). And synchronizing all of that between relays will be a challenge, once you want to go beyond 2-3.

Solved problem with CDN and object storage! 🐶🐾🫡

Pablo Xannybar 2y ago

I'm definitely planning on using object storage. I mentioned S3 earlier. Ideally wouldn't wanna use AWS, but obviously a lot of other hosts have adopted the standard nowadays.

Like I said from the start I'm only planning to store images or maybe small short clips on the actual relay. Any videos would be on a separate server.

Yes I'd have another VPS dedicated to encoding videos, then it would fling them to object storage once they're ready and they get served from there so I only pay proportionally to how popular the content is.

And at this point I'm really just building something experimental for the fun of it. If I get to the point where my biggest problem is keeping up with the sheer volume of high demand for my service I'd be pretty happy to say the least! At that stage I'll have enough subscriptions coming in I can scale up, pay staff if needed.

Not even thinking that far ahead yet though this is just a hobby project to try building something new on new technology. If it happens to actually take off that's a bonus.

The Fishcake (nostr.build) 2y ago

Understood! It was a pleasure discussing this with you, thank you! 🐶🐾🫂🫡

Pablo Xannybar 2y ago

Likewise, you made me think through some details I hadn't considered. And if it does come to the point where I need a video expert I know who to ask 👌

The Fishcake (nostr.build) 2y ago

Always happy to help and contribute! 🐶🐾🫡🫂💕