Is there any way I can use same container for all the Assets I create in Azure Media Service instead of getting new container on each asset creation ?

Question

Is there any way I can use same container for all the Assets I create in Azure Media Service instead of getting new container on each asset creation ?

Akash Kadia 41

I am processing video in azure media service for streaming option from blob container of same storage account by passing blob url. But when ever i process any video with new asset a new container is added under Blob containers and I need to do this for large number of videos on daily basis. So is there a way to use single container for all asset generate in media service OR is there any other option I can directly stream blob video without using media service ? Also when ever I encode video using "StandardEncoderPreset" it generates files for 5-6 different resolutions for various screen size. is there way to generate only a single file with one mentioned resolution ?

2 answers

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Answer 1

Xavier Pouyat 591 Microsoft Employee

Having a single container for all output assets is technically possible, but I would not recommend it if you plan to stream your content from Azure Media Services (for performance reasons). Can you explain why you want to put all encoded files in a single container ? If your goal is to simplify the download of the encoded files, then I think you can do it. You have to make sure that each source file has a unique file name so the output files are unique too. I just did a test, a drawback is the fact that files like Thumbnail000001.jpg may be overwritten by the last encoding job. To use the same output asset / container for each encoding job, you can pass the same output asset to each job. The API supports it. But again, please explain why you want a single container.

With AMSE, here is the result with two encoding jobs :

Regarding a preset that generates a single stream and auto adapt, I think it will be possible in the near future. It will be possible to to customize the Content Aware Encoding preset. See https://github.com/Azure-Samples/media-services-v3-dotnet/issues/41

Akash Kadia 41 Reputation points

2021-08-26T09:35:39.38+00:00

I have azure storage where, on daily basis multiple video are uploaded from user in input-blob container and after some process we are generating 3-4 videos against each input video in output-blob container. We want all those video should be available to view on web and mobile devices with SAS url as streaming video. Based on user request any video form those will be available as streaming video in any kind of device. If we use separate container for each requested asset there will be hundreds of container in azure storage which we do not want.

Also is there any limit for number of video we can attach in same asset as there will be hundreds of videos I will be processing to make them streaming video ?

Also as I mentioned all videos are already there in two containers in same azure storage so is there way we can generate only output/input asset OR may be only ism or required file to generate streaming url for existing video without any transform ? As after encoding video for asset there will be two copies of same video one uploaded by user and one generated for streaming.
So either we need to perform periodic cleanup or need to remove original and keep streaming ones only. but again as we are encoding with fix resolution and in that case not sure if any data loss happens during encoding.
Xavier Pouyat 591 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2021-08-26T10:26:20.777+00:00

Using SAS Url is not streaming. The streaming URL delivered by Media Services (through the Streaming Endpoint and optional CDN) allows you to deliver the video content using HLS or DASH streams within a player. This is more performant than using a SAS Url. With HLS or DASH, the video content is fragmented, the player can dynamically switch to the right bitrate based on the end-user network conditions and will only download the needed fragments. As a consequence, if you publish a 1 hour video, and the end user plays the first 30 minutes, only 30 minutes of fragments will be downloaded. With SAS Url, may be the full hour will be downloaded by the player. At the end, you pay for more traffic. Random access is also more performant with streaming Urls.

If you use SAS Url, then I think you can use the same output container.
For streaming with Azure Media Services, I would recommend having a container per output asset. Having multiple containers is not a problem, you can track the container names in your database. I find it easier and safer to delete a container than deleting a set of files in a container.
Akash Kadia 41 Reputation points

2021-08-26T11:13:27.84+00:00

I have tried as you said. I passed same asset name in job and encoded files are generated in same container. Also two streaming locator are added but none of them works not sure if preset I used for encoding H264SingleBitrate720p corrupted video files in output or same container cause it ?

By the way just to confirm if I go with this approach same container for all asset output, can I get separate streaming locator for each video or will be common for all as while generating locator in parameter there is no option to specific file, only asset name is passed which will be same for all files.

And yes SAS url is not suited for streaming I was looking for media file links directly played in browser but I found for DASH and HLS there are media player also need to add some code in frontend to support that. silly mistake :-)
Xavier Pouyat 591 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2021-08-26T12:14:55.9+00:00

You have to make sure the default streaming endpoint is started (by default, it is stopped). You can start it from the Azure portal.
If you put all output files in the same asset, the same locator will apply to all (to all manifest .ism files). The streaming locator is per asset. A good reason to have multiple assets/containers is to set different locators (to use different expiration time for example). It's even more true if you use DRM. You may not want all your streams to use the same key and key policy.

Answer 2

Xavier Pouyat 591 Microsoft Employee

Azure Media Services require a storage container per asset. Please note that you can control the name of this container if you wish.
If you don't want to create a source asset, it is possible to pass a https URL as a source for an encoding job. So you can put all your source files in the same container, at least.

If you want to generate only one bitrate, you can use a built-in preset like "H264SingleBitrate1080p", "H264SingleBitrate720p" or "H264SingleBitrateSD" in the transform, or create your own preset too.

built-in presets : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/media/transforms/create-or-update#encodernamedpreset

Creating a custom preset : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/media-services/latest/transform-custom-preset-cli-how-to

Akash Kadia 41 Reputation points

2021-08-25T15:10:41.36+00:00

Hi @Xavier Pouyat

For source asset I am passing Blob URL as mentioned in description so no issue in that .
I want single container for all output Assets where all output videos are generated. For each asset it is creating separate output assets. is there possibility to achieve that ?

Also for presets I have checked inbuilt preset but I Didn't find any Single Preset which auto adapts from original and generates with original framerate and video size , and for custom I think I need to generate new preset every time for each video if I want to adapt from original. Any suggestion on that ?

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Is there any way I can use same container for all the Assets I create in Azure Media Service instead of getting new container on each asset creation ?

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