AWS Blog | Upload and transcode video with AWS Elemental MediaConvert & Magine Pro
Magine Pro Software Engineer, Mateusz Herczka recently outlined the design of a simple but effective API and its mapping to an AWS Elemental MediaConvert job on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) blog. In the post, Mateusz presents three customer use cases that require an intermediate transcoding step before submission to an automated transcoded pipeline, including:
- A single container file contains several audio tracks. The file includes final downmixed stereo audio as two mono tracks. Other audio tracks are also present, for example, “music/effects” and “foley.” The customer wants to only keep the main downmixed audio and ignore the rest.
- A sports event is edited live with a multi-camera setup, and the resulting stream is recorded with a hardware device. The output is an external reference MOV file. Several media container files are stored in a separate folder. Again, some of the audio tracks are extra commentary and are not used. The customer wants to select one video and one stereo audio file.
- A single container file contains one video and one audio track. The left and right stereo channels are flipped in the audio track. The customer wants to correct the stereo image.
Find out how Mateusz applied a UX mindset to the design of a simple API that uses the capabilities of MediaConvert to address these three unique use cases. Read the post in full over on the AWS blog.
Learn more about the latest OTT video delivery trends and solutions by joining our CEO, Matthew Wilkinson and a panel of industry experts for the on-demand webinar, “OTT Video Delivery: Industry experts share experience & best practices.”
To find out more about Magine Pro’s flexible OTT platform, video streaming solutions and experience, head here. We would love to hear from you if you would like to discuss our technology or OTT solutions with a member of the team, get in touch here.
The importance of UX/UI for Film OTT
It can be challenging for online streaming services to keep audiences engaged when it comes to content discovery. The paradox of choice means Film OTT services in particular (that offer vast libraries of VOD) require flexibility and the tools to curate a service that enables film fans to dive in effortlessly and discover what they want to watch.
At Magine Pro, we enable content owners to effectively engage their viewers by offering a customisable UX/UI that meet their business needs and user expectations.
User Behaviour & Content Discovery
User experience and behaviour differ considerably between linear TV and VOD services. Linear TV services, for example, are low friction as users get instant access to live content; only needing to interact when actively choosing to change channels. Finding content on a video-on-demand service doesn’t require the same level of urgency as live TV, but browsing a big library of content without any context can be overwhelming.
Video-on-demand services require more interaction as users need to browse the content catalogue in order to find what they want to watch. At Magine Pro, we focus on building services that make it easy for all users to discover content that appeals to them. VOD content is presented in customisable modules (movies/genres/series etc), enabling users to interact and explore further details such as trailers, synopses, and casts etc. This gives the user a deeper understanding of the content and allows them to make an informed decision when selecting something to watch. Curated recommendations/related content also make it easier for new and returning users to discover great content.
Service Curation
At Magine Pro we give our partners access to our powerful CMS Console. The Console enables our partners to independently curate their service, including hero select content, create unique content categories, input custom metadata and adjust the sizes of displayed posters.
Our Approach
Our design approach is focused on creating true value for users and service providers. We leverage our experience and understanding of good UX to build services that successfully fulfil our partner’s needs and provide exceptional experiences for viewers around the world.
We have several OTT film partners, including PassionFlix, an SVOD film service dedicated to romance films, FlixOlé, which is home to Spanish cinema and Draken Film, an online film festival, and many more. You can find out more about these partners and others on our experience page.
To learn more about Magine Pro’s professional video streaming solutions for film, head here. We would love to hear from you if you would like to discuss our services and solutions with a member of the team, get in touch here.
The Future of Film: OTT the New Home of Cinema?
The pandemic has had a devastating effect on many industries, film included. From production through to distribution, the entire chain has been disrupted. For the film industry though, cinema has undoubtedly been one of COVID’s biggest casualties, with big names and independents around the world closing their doors in March and many still uncertain as to when they can safely reopen.
Because of this, many studios have opted to delay their big blockbuster releases until next year. Such is the case with MGM and Universal with the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, now expected for theatrical release in 2021. The same goes for Disney’s Marvel Studio’s, Black Widow, which as a result will push back other Marvel film releases next year, including The Eternals.
Disney Pixar however, recently announced that instead of delaying the release of their latest animation, Soul, any further, they would instead make it available on Disney+ this December for no extra charge to its subscribers. Nothing entirely new, as Disney also chose to premiere their live-action remake of Mulan back in September on Disney+ but for a premium fee. Universal Pictures also broke the theatrical window this year by releasing Trolls World Tour, Invisible Man and others straight onto mainstream TVOD streaming services.
The theatrical exclusivity window is certainly shifting in light of the pandemic. During the summer AMC Theaters and Universal reached an agreement that meant their films would only need to play in U.S theatres for 17 days (as opposed to 90 days) before they can be made available to U.S home audiences through streaming providers. For cinema to survive, we may soon start to see them pivot or expand into OTT (as AMC did prior to the pandemic with an on-demand service), or at least partner with established streaming services.
Gothenburg Film Festival’s streaming service Draken Film, a Magine Pro partner, is a great example of potential OTT and cinema partnerships. Earlier this year in response to the pandemic, they partnered with Swedish arthouse cinemas, enabling arthouse film fans to sign up to their service and to stream arthouse films at home. New subscribers to Draken Film could also opt to donate half of the subscription revenue to an arthouse cinema of their choice over six months as a way of supporting the cinema industry during the pandemic.
Draken Film, Magine Pro partner
The financial success of some films that have been made available through streaming services during 2020 is promising but it doesn’t replicate the cinema experience for consumers. At Magine Pro, we firmly believe in the future of cinema, even if theatrical exclusivity windows shorten long term. In our opinion, expanding into OTT is a smart way for cinemas to withstand the current uncertainties and also bolster their business long term, once the world returns to some form of normalcy.
To find out more about our flexible end-to-end OTT solutions for film, head here. Our professional video services can be tailored to your brand and content, and are secure, scalable, and available on multiple devices. You can also find out more about our experience with film OTT and discover our partners, including Draken Film on our experience page, here.
Thematic OTT Services: THE FACTS
DTVE survey respondents share what they think about the relative appeal of specialist streaming services and what elements, in particular, are likely to go into making them a success…
paus Collaborates with Magine Pro
paus, the streaming app for independent films, is collaborating with Magine Pro to expand paus in a secure and scalable way leveraging Magine Pro’s OTT platform. Working with Magine Pro will support the growth of paus, bringing a greater library of quality independent film to many more Android or iOS devices.
“Since we introduced the paus app earlier this year, the response has been both encouraging and exciting and our community is growing quickly, especially with the recent launch of our crowdfund campaign. As a result, we’re looking to accelerate our growth plans and bring paus to more users, as quickly as we can,” says Rishi Kapoor, CEO and founder of paus.
“Partnering with Magine Pro means we can focus on curating more incredible content and supporting filmmakers, in the knowledge that we have a proven OTT tech partner to help ramp up our platform. We look forward to working with the Magine Pro team to bring paus to a greater audience of people that share our passion for independent film.”The paus community will be able to watch more than 250 short films from comedy to documentaries to horror and SciFi on the mobile device and platform of their choice. Platform developments will maintain the familiar tipping feature on paus, which enables audiences to financially reward and support filmmakers.
“It’s great for Magine Pro to be working with paus to bring its streaming service to more film lovers across more devices,” explains Matthew Wilkinson, CEO of Magine. “The demand for streaming services has increased as a result of the pandemic and paus is a prime example of the innovative new services that are now available.”The upgraded paus streaming platform will launch within the next six months.
About Magine Pro (www.maginepro.com)
Magine Pro is the platform for b2b managed services for OTT, which enables global content owners, broadcasters and telcos to build thriving OTT businesses with live TV and Video-On-Demand platforms. Magine Pro’s customers are located in Europe and the United States, as well as in emerging markets.
About paus
paus (www.paus.tv) is a streaming platform where independent films can thrive. It’s ad-free and subscription-free. Once films are live on the paus app, audiences and supporters from around the world can show their appreciation and reward filmmakers by leaving a tip – any amount they want from 30p to £1000+, at any time. Best of all, the filmmaker keeps 80% of every tip. Follow paus on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
For more information please contact
Håkan Tranvik, Corporate communications, Magine +46709383293 hakan.tranvik@magine.com
Matthew Wilkinson, CEO Magine matthew.wilkinson@magine.com
Introducing OAFF by Magine Pro
Introducing OAFF (Online African Film Festival), the world’s first online streaming service dedicated to African & Diaspora film.
In 2015, Cinewax set out to make African culture accessible through cinema by promoted African and diaspora films through original programming, premieres, and festivals. After launching the OAFF service and a successful round of crowdfunding, Cinewax partnered with us at Magine Pro to improve and expand the streaming service’s reach.
The OAFF was required to house their existing VOD movie library, champion the OAFF brand, and launch on web, iOS, and Android platforms. It was also required to be globally accessible, with the ability to be localised to suit international markets with multi-language, multi-currency, and geo-block capabilities.
Check out our case study to find out more about the OAFF service build and our partnership with Cinewax here. You can also download the OAFF service now on web and mobile devices.
Take a sneak peek at the new OAFF service…
If you want to find out more about Magine Pro solutions and services, get in touch! We can help you enhance your existing services and/or launch something entirely new. You can also check out our experience and more of our case studies here.
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Cinewax partners with Magine Pro for African films service
Cinewax partners with Magine Pro for global African films service OAFF Cinewax has entered an agreement with the OTT platform Magine Pro for their Online African Film Festival OAFF .
Since 2015, Cinewax has been promoting African films through original programming, premieres, and festivals. With original media and event formats, they have promoted African cultures accessible through cinema. After a number of earlier online one-month festival events and a successful crowdfunding on Kickstarter to establish and launch an ongoing online service, Cinewax selected Magine Pro to expand the OAFF service further on a platform built for global scaling.
By entering a long-term partnership with Magine Pro, they are now ready to scale the service, addressing the large African diasporas in France and Europe, and also reach new audiences across the globe.
“We are proud to be the OTT partner for this great film service and to make African films easy accessible all over the world”, says Matthew Wilkinson, CEO of Magine The new service houses OAFF’s full VOD movie library and is available on web, iOS and Android platforms. It is built to be globally accessible, with the ability to be localized to suit international markets with multi-language, multi-currency and geoblock capabilities.
“Our agreement with Magine Pro means a big step forward for us in our aim to be the global focal point for African and diaspora films, and to maintain a high-level quality for our new streaming services” says Jean FALL, President of Cinewax.
About Cinewax and OAFF
Based in France, Cinewax is a cultural association that promotes African Cultures.OAFF (Online African Film Festival) is the new global online on-demand service for African and diaspora films launched by Cinewax. (https://oaff.cinewax.org, www.cinewax.org)
About Magine Pro (www.maginepro.com/about)
Magine Pro is the platform for b2b managed services for OTT, which enables global content owners, broadcasters and telcos to build thriving OTT businesses with live TV and Video-On-Demand platforms. Magine Pro’s customers are located in Europe and the United States, as well as in emerging markets.
For more information please contact
Hakan Tranvik, Corporate communications, Magine +46709383293 hakan.tranvik@magine.com
Matthew Wilkinson, CEO Magine matthew.wilkinson@magine.com
Top 5 service features for sports OTT
OTT services can offer sports fans more opportunities to engage with content and their teams than is possible through traditional TV. For sports content owners, OTT services give greater access to the fans, enables them to capture more data and generate greater revenues.
At Magine Pro, we believe there is real value in creating an OTT service that offers more than just live sports streaming. In this post, we share our top 5 product features and capabilities for a successful sports OTT service.
The top 5 things you need to consider…
Engaging the fans
An interactive OTT environment enables viewers to engage more with your content and can help build community and customer loyalty. Boost fan engagement by integrating sports data feeds into your service, host interactive games or quizzes, add exclusive editorial content or even offer a targeting e-commerce experience for merchandise.
The bigger picture
The ability to stream content on the go is a huge benefit of OTT and particularly for sports where fans don’t want to miss a game or an event. However, there are some sporting events that just HAVE to be seen on the big screen. The challenge for OTT players now being able to offer a high-quality mobile streaming experience AND big-screen viewing via smart TV apps and/or media player support.
Sports on-demand
As the sporting calendar fluctuates, entice users back into your service during downtime with engaging VOD libraries. You could even create dedicated categories of content that relate to great sporting moments or that celebrate great sportsmen and women. The key here is to keep communicating with your users via push notifications and email so that they are aware when new content and features are available.
Exclusive content, promos & partnerships
When the live sporting events you’re hosting are also available elsewhere, supplement with value-add content such as behind-the-scenes editorial or unique VOD to stand out from the competition. You can even extend marketing efforts with exclusive promo codes or by partnering with relevant brands to create offers that will draw a much larger audience.
Localisation for global markets
Sports can appeal to fans across the world. If you’re planning to scale your OTT service, you will need to meet the needs of a global audience. Consider flexible business and pricing models (consumers in one country may be less likely to commit to a subscription model or price than others), ability to receive and settle in local currencies and service localisation and language (audio/subtitles) for select markets.
At Magine Pro, we provide our partners with the support, tools and technology they need to build a sports OTT service that includes all the features and functionality listed above. To find out more about our OTT streaming solutions, head over to our website or get in touch with a member of the team to learn more and try a demo.
WEBINAR | OTT Video delivery: Industry experts share experience & best practices
In our latest webinar ‘OTT Video Delivery: Industry experts share experience & best practices’ we are joined by AWS and a number of Magine Pro partners to openly discuss the opportunities and challenges they face building and operating an OTT business. The webinar is available for free now, here.
What you’ll learn:
- AWS perspective on the OTT market
Chris Ticknor from AWS joins us to kick off the expert panel discussion with a presentation on the OTT industry’s direct-to-consumer business drivers from AWS’s perspective. - Hear from the experts
We’re joined by our partners at, Sappa, Draken Film and FlixOlé and learn more about the origin of their OTT services, the realities of operating an OTT business and their objectives. - Direct-to-consumer business drivers
Hear from the panellists on what it takes to delight and engage audiences, increase life-time value per user, drive engagement, reduce churn and accelerate outcomes. - Why partnerships can be imperative to sustainable growth
Panellists share their partnership experiences and discuss how they have the potential to positively impact OTT subscriber growth and market share. - Outsource vs In-house OTT development
Learn from the experts why outsourcing the build of an OTT service to a platform provider is preferable to developing one in-house and how doing so can enable subscriber growth and ensure a quicker return on investment.
Webinar speakers:
Watch OTT Video Delivery: Industry experts share experience & best practices
Run time: 33 minutes
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To find out more about Magine Pro’s partners, including FlixOlé, Sappa and Draken Film head to our experience page. You can find out more about our flexible OTT solutions and how we can help you build and launch a successful OTT business here.
Subscribe to the Magine Pro e-newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news, partners, products, and to find out which industry events we’ll be attending next and download our latest white paper, Thematic services: the future of OTT? here.
Q&A: FlixOlé’s, María José Revaldería on the realities of running a video streaming service
Director-General of FlixOlé, María José Revaldería provides an insight into the conception and growth of Spanish Cinema streaming service, FlixOlé.
Director-General of FlixOlé, María José Revaldería provides an insight into the conception and growth of Spanish Cinema streaming service, FlixOlé.What inspired the creation of FlixOlé as a video streaming service?
One of the objectives of FlixOlé’s launch was to give young people access to the best films that Spanish cinema has created in its entire history, with the idea of promoting curiosity and knowledge to new generations on the national cultural heritage throughout the movies.
From an operator’s perspective, how big is the market opportunity for a thematic streaming service like FlixOlé?
FlixOlé has the most extended Spanish film catalog in the world; we believe the market is wide enough with ante extended to all Spanish film lovers around the world.
What opportunities or challenges have you faced as you’ve built the brand?
Our biggest challenge was the film restoration process. Recovering movies, we had to ensure the highest quality sound and images. At the same time, the platform had to have a sensitive price to be affordable to all pockets.
How important was it to understand your launch market and target audience prior to launch?
We as a company have been dedicated to film distribution and production for several decades, we were aware of consumer taste and viewing habits, which helped us to create an appealing content environment.
What positive early traction did FlixOlé achieved after launch? And have promotional partnerships played a role in this?
The alliance with a partner that distributes TV ́s, which included a FlixOlé subscription in its final price, was decisive to the growth of subscribers and income.
Later on, we launched FlixOlé with the third-largest telecom TV operator in the country, which was a determinant of continued growth.
What are FlixOlé’s long-term growth plans? And how does a platform provider like Magine Pro enable you to meet those goals?
We are currently dealing with several telecom operators to offer our service, and thanks to our partner Magine Pro the integration of our service is possible in the best conditions.
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Read the Q&A in full in our latest white paper, Thematic Services: The future of OTT? and find out what advice Maria offers those considering starting their own streaming service.
To find out more about FlixOlé, a streaming service offering unlimited access to the world’s largest library of Spanish movies on multiple devices, check out our case study. For more information on Magine Pro’s OTT solutions and services, head over to our website.