Vidzapper

iPhone Video Apps Made Easy

2011-11-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest frustrations we've come across recently is how difficult it is to develop and deliver applications for Apple's App Store.

Well, we think that we've come up with a solution, especially if you want to launch a video service for the iPhone. Our team has released into beta a fully configurable iPhone App that's ready to submit to the App Store in seconds.

All you have to do is to specify what Channel and Playlist you wish to add and then add the graphics for the App icon and launch screens and you're done. It really is as easy as that.

If you want any customization, then our team can also take care of that by adding additional functionality according to your brief.

Going Social

2011-09-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

When we first designed VidZapper, we added a number of social features, including user generated content and the ability to create content groups, but these features have become sadly neglected since, largely due to the fact that they were sparsely used by our customers.

However, we believe that these features are going to be increasingly important for some of the services that we'll be powering in the future so we've dedicated time and resource to add in more social features.

The Player Builder now boasts integration with ShareThis and the ability to share an individual video link by email, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo! etc..

At the same time, we've resurrected an original VidZapper feature and added in the Manage Groups function, so now it's possible to create Groups (and Groups within Groups):

This will be added to the API and will enable complex functions like the ability to share videos with permanent or temporary Groups. We also intend to use it in forthcoming launches of a specialised version of VidZapper that features workflow at its core and should appeal to production companies and broadcasters.

Of course, VidZapper also boasts a wide range of other social functions such as the ability to easily build Facebook video apps and share them, creating and sharing embedded videos on blogs and publishing feeds out as RSS, MRSS, Atom, iTunes, etc..

New, Improved Player Builder

2011-08-10T01:29:00.000-07:00

We've been working hard to improve the Player Builder in VidZapper, and we've just released the latest version.

We think that it's not only easier to use, but boasts a range of new features, including:

Search
Share, including Twitter, Facebook and Email
Change channel logo
Add title
Better resizing and drag and drop
Add background colour
Set background transparency
Add background image

This should now make it possible to build much more sophisticated players without writing a line of code.

You can also generate Flash, HTML5 or dynamic versions of the Players and simply cut and paste the code into your website or into your content management system.

VidZapper v3 Is Here

2011-03-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

This week we launched the new version of VidZapper with a huge number of improvements and enhancements. Here are some:

Improved Navigation – navigation has been improved and simplified; views are more consistent.

Improved Grids – grids now sort over the whole data set and it is possible to sort by columns.

User Management – the user management and permissioning has been improved and extended.

New Search Function – most views now have a filtered search function that enables all content in the data set to be searched dynamically; the search covers all main metadata fields.

Keyword Management – it is possible to centrally manage the keywords used on a channel by channel basis and there is an auto-suggest to prevent duplication in the metadata view field.

Custom fields – it is now possible to add custom fields to the metadata.

Improved Category Management – the category management has been enhanced and improved.

Multiple CDN & Cloud Support – it is now possible to set up accounts on multiple sources and directly import content into the system from any repository.

New Upload Tool – StreamZapper is being discontinued and the ability to access and upload content is now integrated into VidZapper. Multiple accounts on different CDNs can be supported:

Improved Security – the security model for the application has been overhauled and improved with the introduction of session management.

Player Builder Enhancements – the player builder features new skins, additional fields and configurations and the ability to generate cross-platform code that will automate delivery to mobile, tablet and PC platforms. The base code to VZPlayer has been updated.

iTunes Export – it is now possible to export playlists directly to an iTunes account; there have been other improvements to the Distribution function, including the addition of Atom support.

Facebook Player – the system now supports a Facebook Player app.

VAST Support – VidZapper now supports video advertising standard templates as specified by the IAB, bringing direct support for the latest ad serving software such as Tremor, Liverail and systems such as DART, Adtech and Atlas. A new Content type ‘VAST’ has been added.

Pre-roll Improvements – the pre-roll function now forces a pre-roll anywhere an ad is placed in front of a content item.

Live Mobile Support – a tool has been developed to enable live events to be distributed over a wide range of mobile networks concurrently by implementing real time transcoding of the rtmp stream into formats such as rtsp, m3u8 and sure streaming.

Previews – the system now features video and player previews throughout the system, including at CDN level.

Audio Support – the system now supports audio content, with the player able to play MP3 files and combine MP3 files with video content; audio pre-roll ads can also be included and support for live audio streams.

API – the API has been improved and extended.

Distribution To Third Party Video Services

2011-03-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

You can submit your videos to a wide range of search, portal and aggregation sites using VidZapper's inbuilt distribution function:

Blinkx - http://www.blinkx.com/rssupload

Truveo - a video distribution engine - http://developer.truveo.com/

Yahoo! Video - http://video.search.yahoo.com/mrss/submit

The abilities to submit to YouTube (http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=80472) and iTunes are natively supported by VidZapper.

Setting Up A Facebook Channel with VidZapper

2011-01-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a guide to setting up a Facebook channel with VidZapper using VZFBPlayer v 0.1.

1. Files Setup

a. Install the files in the provided folder on an accessible web server.

b. Make a note of the URL and file paths that will be required for the Facebook app below.

c. Edit channelid, clientid and playlistid values in config.php to reflect the client, channel and required playlist (only one playlist is supported in the initial release) and set the path for your application:

2. Create The Facebook Application

a. Go to http://www.facebook.com/developers

b. Select the ‘New Application’ option on right hand side of page:

c. Where you can enter your Apps name please enter your required Channel name:

d. Click on the ‘Agree’ tickbox and save.

e. Then complete the security check:

Congratulations! You’ve created your Channel on Facebook. Now you need to configure it.

3. Configure You Application

a. You will see four links on the left hand side of the page:

About
Web Site
Facebook Integration
Mobile And Description
Advanced

b. First of all, click on the About and complete the contact details and provide a name for your application – usually this will be the channel name:

c. Then click on ‘Facebook Integration’ and enter the appropriate values:

i. Canvas Page : http://apps.facebook.com/vidzapper (this link goes outside odesk.com) // change to the name of your channel

ii. Canvas URL : http://fblogics.com/canvii/facebook/vidzapper/ (this link goes outside odesk.com) // this is where you set the path to the files referenced above

iii. Canvas Type : FBML // set fbml

iv. iFrame Size : Click on the tickbox for ‘Show scrollbars’

d. Page Tabs :

i. Tab Name : <> // set the tab name to the name of your Playlist here

ii. Tab URL : index.php

iii. you have to copy Tab URL :- http://apps.facebook.com/vidzapper/index.php (this link goes outside odesk.com) // change to reflect your channel name

e. Finally, click the ‘Save’ button

Submitting Videos To Search Engines

2010-11-24T01:52:00.000-08:00

We've long had all the tools for video search engine optimisation built into VidZapper.

Here's a quick guide on how to use them.

First of all, you will need to open an account at www.google.com/webmasters/tools and register and verify your account.

Next, you go to VidZapper and select Distribution > Export.

Select your Channel and Playlist, then the MRSS format and add your Player Base URL and DirectLink URL so that the resulting video in played in your website and not the video player directly.

Then click 'Generate'. You can then cut and past the resulting file on the right hand side into a notepad file. This is your MRSS sitemap for this playlist. You can repeat the exercise for any other playlist you wish to submit.

Finally, there's a detailed guide on how to submit your sitemap to Google here.

VidZapper Integrates With WordPress

2010-11-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

We've been launching more and more channels using WordPress as the content management system, including Control TV, and have launched a demo site to show how easy it is to set up quite a comprehensive site in an hour or so without writing a line of code.

You can spend a lot of time replicating what is by today pretty basic functionality such as contact forms, forums, ecommerce and even more specialist functionality such as requiring logins, or use the vast array of freely available plugins and widgets for WordPress.

And since building players is now a cinch using VidZapper's Player Builder, you can be up and running in no time.

Simples!

VZLive Sneak Preview

2010-09-15T12:35:00.001-07:00

We do an awful lot of live events here at VidZapper. The last couple of weeks alone has seen the usual simulcast of TV stations, live world championship boxing, political party rallies, government announcements and religious services. Now we're gearing up to a six week major live event with 24 x 7 streaming from multiple feeds in the US sponsored by the biggest names in US business.

It's resulted in work on developing something we think is quite unique - the VZLive Mixer.

The Mixer allows you to select any file from your archive, along with any live feed and place it in your playlist queue and then select the order in which it is seen. We've set this up so that it can take feeds from multiple live publishing points and output to rtmp and m3u8 - i.e. web and mobile. We're also building in a feed delay in case anything 'untoward' happens.

On top of our unique scheduling application, VZLive is another step onwards from the run of the mill video management systems out there...

Creating an iPad Player With VidZapper

2010-09-01T10:36:00.001-07:00

One of the exciting new features we've added to VidZapper is the ability to build iPad and iPhone players without writing a line of code.

We somewhat disingenuously call this the HTML5 version of VZPlayer. Here's how:

1) Go to your Channel and click on Player, then click on Add Player:

2) This will open up the Player Builder:

3) Now you can select and add components such as the Video, Controls and Playlist from the drop down list.

4) Select a playlist from the dropdown on the left and you're done!

5) You can preview your Player by clicking Code and selecting the HMTL5 option, opening it in a HTML5 compatible browser such as Google Chrome or Apple Safari. You can also view it on an iPad or iPhone of course.

VidZapper Upgraded

2010-08-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

We've just released a major new upgrade of VidZapper. Version 2.6 has a whole host of exciting new features and improvements.

Scheduler v2 – the new release of the scheduler enables drag and drop scheduling against a timeline and also supports overlays. Therefore it is possible, for example, to schedule a simulcast for 24 hours and then to overlay particular programmes, slots or ad breaks. Schedules can be pre-prepared for a limitless amount of time in the future.

Player Builder v2 – the latest version of the player builder enables sophisticated players to be built with no coding at all. A new scheduling component has been added, along with a considerable enhancement over the settings and controls for the player, which can only be exported in Flash/Flex at present. The Player Builder is fully compatible with VZPlayer 3.0.

HTML5 Support – you can now generate HTML5 players that will work on any HTML5 compatible browsers, provided you use compatible video. These players are ideal for iPhone and iPad distribution.

Previews – players and videos can now be directly previewed.

Faster Searching – in all views a new, faster search algorithm has been implemented; this particularly helps clients with large data sets. Also, search queries now paginate.

Expiry Date – a stamp is now placed on expired content.

Statistics Enhancements – the speed of lookup has been considerably enhanced and stats can now be filtered by the hour.

Content IDs – meaningful names can be given to metadata content ids, e.g. SD/HD, or Web/iPhones/Blackberry so that it is easy to manage different content types; also it is now possible to search by All content ids. This feature can also be used for supporting multiple language players.

VZPlayer 3.0 – a new version of VZPlayer is available with far greater customisation, enhanced performance and control and a smaller footprint.

API – the API has been considerably expanded.

Please contact us if you'd like a demo of the new system.

VidZapper On The iPad

2010-06-17T11:21:00.001-07:00

Despite being Flex based, it was pretty easy getting VidZapper to work on the iPad:

I simply loaded an app called Desktop and then connected to a remote server, pointed the browser to the VZAdmin console and then logged in. Now I can get into it with two taps on the iPad, or indeed my iPhone.

Sportzzone's Up And Running

2010-06-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

Great to see the multichannel Sportzzone TV up and running in time for some major sailing action from Korea. The internet still lacks great destinations for sports content, so we hope this will be a great success, especially since the team behind it have a ton of experience in this field.

Going Live and Scheduled

2010-06-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

We do a very large number of live events on VidZapper. This week, for example, sees addresses by the Spanish Prime Minister, live European Speedway and live World Match Racing Tour sailing from Korea.

Setting up live events takes seconds on VidZapper and now we're also introducing new simulcast technology that enable live broadcast streams to be shown online at the same time as live telly. Actually, we've had basic technology to enable simulcasting for a long time, used by broadcasters such as Spain's Giralda TV, but now we've introduced the ability to 'over schedule', or drop in new or different content via our new VZSchedule tool.

You can now create schedules for any date and enable 'cut outs' by placing on demand or local video content within the schedule:

For example, you can replace ad breaks with your own ads, or change content that you don't have rights for online.

VZ Goes Mobile

2010-05-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

With the latest release of VidZapper we're now supporting a wide range of mobile devices, including Android devices, iPads and iPhones.

Here's an example iPhone app built by our partners at Vivocom for leading European bank BBVA:

Here is the landscape view with a video carousel and the portrait view with the playlist, both managed from VidZapper:

VidZapper v 2.5 Is Here!

2010-05-05T05:45:00.000-07:00

We’ve been gradually extending VidZapper’s capabilities and are delighted to announce that the new version is ready for release. We’re already rolling out our new configurable VZPlayers for multiple platforms, along with VZPlugins and the ability to create widgets for a wide range of social networking sites and portals.

New Interface

We’ve revamped the interface for VZAdmin, making it easier to use and navigate.

Detailed Statistics

The system has a new statistics system which is based on a player ‘heartbeat’, providing second accurate metrics on all aspects of playout. This is also used for VZSync (see below). You can also query the bandwidth and storage you’re using in real time.

Extended Character Support

Special characters are now supported in metadata fields, including support for Unicode 8 and Unicode 16 characters.

VZFeeds

You can now create sophisticated RSS and MRSS feeds to distribute your content to third party systems, including deep linked content.

iPhone and Android Support

There are new players for the iPhone and Android cellphones.

Ecommerce

You can now add values to content items so that they can be placed into a shopping basket or ecommerce system such as Paypal or Ecwid.

Extended Content Search

Content can now be searched by id.

Improved User Generated Video Capabilities

We’ve considerably enhanced the user generated capabilities of the system and added them to the API.

VZSync

VZSync enables in and out points to be defined for content and for events to be associated with these points. These events can then be targeted to areas of the video player. For example an overlay on the video can be triggered, or the changing of a banner ad.

Extended API

We’ve considerably extended the API to make the system far more powerful for developers. The API has now been broken down into a number of interoperable web services.

VZPlayer 2

A new Player framework has been introduced that is very configurable. A Player can be built from scratch in a few minutes using an XML configuration file. Designers can also totally redesign the Player by using the built in skins.

Two Million For Easter

2010-03-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

We're seeing extraordinary traffic for the Easter celebrations being broadcast by Giralda TV using the VZPlayer designed by vivocomtech, and using VZPlugins to integrate a live chat feed from Facebook.

We're estimating up to 2 million viewers over the course of the week building up to and over Easter.

New Interface for VidZapper

2010-03-27T16:40:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick sneak preview of our new v2.5 interface. Feedback gratefully received:

Going Mobile

2010-03-22T01:21:00.000-07:00

Hot on the heals of the VidZapper iPhone app developed by our colleagues at vivocomtech in Spain we've just begun testing the beta version of our new Android app. It works well on WiFi and we'll see how it fares on Vodafone's 3G network later today.

One thing that particularly impressed me was the quality of the video: this was encoded using Handbrake, which is well worth investigating if you're preparing video for mobile distribution.

We'll post a trial app with instructions in due course.

Ten Steps To Creating Widgets With VidZapper

2010-03-01T01:22:00.000-08:00

Widgets are becoming more and more popular and VidZapper gives you a very easy way of creating widgets for a wide range of outlets including Facebook, Beebo, Blogger, WordPress and iGoogle. It only takes a couple of minutes in each case.

Here's how:

1) Go to www.widgetbox.com and create an account ( if you don't already have one)

2) Click on the green 'Make a Widget' button

3) Select HTML/JS

4) Next you'll need to name the widget and then click onto the next screen. Now, get the embed code for your VZPlayer, e.g.:

5) You can then set the size of your player (these should match the size of the iframe and the VZPlayer itself if possible).

6) Once you've entered the parameters above you should now be able to preview and save your widget.

7) Once you have your widget saved you can access it by clicking on 'Widgets Made' in the top navigation bar:

8) Then click on 'Test & Get Widget' from the left hand menu:

9) This will then show you the code you need to create widgets on a wide number of platforms:

10) Finally, just follow the instructions on the Widgetbox screen for the plugin you want to create!

You'll have noticed that Beebo works in a slightly different way - again just follow the instructions on the screen.

VidZapper Integrates With Amazon CloudFront

2009-12-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

We've now launched a version VidZapper that's fully integrated with Amazon’s S3 and CloudFront cloud computing network. The launch follows yesterday's news that the Amazon cloud computing service now supports Flash Video streaming.

The VidZapper integration includes support for http progressive downloads of WMV, MOV andFLV video formats as well as RTMP, or streaming Flash Video.

Detailed statistics are available via S3Stats, the long established statistical package for the cloud service.

This should be ideal for anyone wanting a low cost video platform based on a highly scalable and flexible CDN solution.

How To Set Up An Internet TV Channel

2009-10-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

Introduction

The internet has opened up extensive new business opportunities and is currently transforming the way television works. This guide takes you through setting up a commercial Internet TV service using TV Everywhere’s VidZapper enterprise video management system.

VidZapper was specifically developed as a platform to enable the rapid development of commercial TV services over the internet and it should be possible to launch a simple service in minutes using the system.

Of course, a more comprehensive and customised service may take a while longer to established, with a typical time to market of a couple of weeks.

Revenue Streams

There are a number of ways to make money from Internet TV. Some of them are listed below:

Banner advertising – traditional banner and MPU adverts

Video advertising – pre-roll and instream, but the system also supports overlays; you can also consider advertorials

Sponsorship – the above can be combined into sponsorship packages

Syndication – you can charge for your content or revenue share with third party publishers

Affiliates – earn money by referring customers to ecommerce websites

Ecommerce – is surprisingly effective for online sites – the propensity to buy from online video sites is very high

Text advertising – it’s unlikely to make you rich on its own, but systems such as Google Adwords are worth putting into the mix

Below is an example of some a channel combining many of these revenue opportunities into a highly profitable channel:

Below is a typical channel income model:

No of Viewer Visits			35000	70000	80000	90000	100000	110000	120000
Length of Visit			12	10	10	10	10	10	10
Ads seen	$28	net CPM	2.4	2	2	2	2	2	2
Banners seen	$3	CPM	48	40	40	40	40	40	40
Adwords	$2	CPC	$560	$1,120	$1,280	$1,440	$1,600	$1,760	$1,920
Affiliate	$8	CPA	$2,800	$5,600	$6,400	$7,200	$8,000	$8,800	$9,600
Vid Ad Rev			$2,352	$3,920	$4,480	$5,040	$5,600	$6,160	$6,720
Banner Ad Rev			$5,040	$8,400	$9,600	$10,800	$12,000	$13,200	$14,400

			$10,752	$19,040	$21,760	$24,480	$27,200	$29,920	$32,640

The success of the model above is based on two key drivers, namely the ability to:

· attract the audiences figures and viewing times indicated

· sell all ad inventory at the indicated rates

Another key performance indicator is the revenue per viewer visit. In the above model it’s around 28c. However, we’ve seen some ecommerce channels manage $1 per viewer visit.

Costs

There are three main cost areas related to operating an internet TV business:

Technical – VidZapper takes care of all of the technical costs in one competitive package, including storage, bandwidth and content management;

Content –producing original content can, of course, be very expensive, but repurposing content that has already been produced can be an effective strategy. VidZapper supports access to third party content anywhere on the web, supports moderated user generated content, in addition to enabling you to upload and manage your own professionally produced content;

Audience Building – just building a service isn’t enough, building and retaining an audience is essential; there are a wide range of ways to do this, but VidZapper can help with its MRSS distribution tools and syndicated players. We can also advise you on other ways to promote your channel.

Naturally, you will also have the usual costs of running a business, and it’s worth bearing in mind that a percentage of ad sales will need to be paid to a sales house if you’re not selling the ads yourselves (the figures in the illustration above are after the commission has been deducted).

VidZapper can provide you with a detailed channel income model where you can model at the costs and revenues of your proposed service.

Stages of Development

Developing a commercial service couldn’t be easier with VidZapper; a basic channel can be built in minutes, with a highly customised service taking little more than a couple of weeks to deployment, reducing time to market and optimising revenue opportunities.

The typical stages for developing a service are:

Business model and business case

First of all, we will work with you to build a business case for the service, ensuring that the project is viable and establishing key performance indicators for the project

Player design & development

Next comes the fun bit – designing and specifying the player (or players if you are syndicating your channel); there may be a need to develop some additional functions depending on the player specification

Content production

This is the part we can’t help you with, but we presume that you’re already pretty good at producing content or know people who are!

Content encoding and uploading

Next you’ll need to prepare your content for playout by encoding it; our system can do this for you, or we can help you do this locally

Scheduling

Finally you can make the content available by scheduling it or placing it in playlists

Once you’ve deployed your service we can help you with the statistics and feedback: VidZapper supports most common statistical services including Google Analytics.

Sneak Preview Of New Syndicated Players

2009-10-16T06:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak preview of one of our new range of syndicated players. This one is written in PHP using the VidZapper API and features content item details pulled from a third party CMS and a playlist as well as an area for an MPU. You'll notice that there's also a not-clickawayable pre-roll ad.

Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.

Content Publishing Windows Added

2009-10-15T16:03:00.001-07:00

A number of new features have been added to VidZapper, including the ability to set a publish and expiry date for content so that the video does not appear either in timelines nor in search unless it is within the publishing window. The system's drag and drop capability has also been significantly improved.

New Moviebeat Film Portal Launches on VidZapper

2009-09-22T03:02:00.000-07:00

Moviebeat has launched its new video channel, Moviebeat.tv on TV Everywhere’s VidZapper enterprise video platform.

The new portal features exclusive interviews with stars and directors, exclusive red carpet premier coverage and all the latest movie trailers, as well as competitions and opportunities to attend screenings.

This weeks’ exclusives on Moviebeat TV include an interview with director and cast of gritty London drama, The Firm, as well as a red carpet report from the film’s premier; a behind the scenes look at the saucy playboy comedy Miss March, and interviews with Julie and Julia stars Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Nora Ephron. Viewers can also catch sneak previews of over twenty movies set for release over coming months.

“Moviebeat will bring the best exclusive reports, interviews and premiers from around the world,” says channel boss Nick Adams. “VidZapper has been instrumental in enabling us to build and manage this service. They integrated with our existing content management system and transformed our site from a flat, information based service to a fully functional video portal.

“They also extended this to our newsletter service, which has now become a video newsletter sent to nearly 70,000 registered users and have built tools to meet the needs of Microsoft, Coolroom and other syndication partners.”

The channel is monetized through VidZapper’s network of ad sales houses and affiliate schemes. The platform supports standard advertising delivery platforms such as DART and Atlas.

“We ran a three month trial earlier this year and the channel was profitable from the outset,” reveals TV Everywhere’s Iolo Jones. “Moviebeat TV is a real model of how Internet TV channels can make money.

“The combination of TV Everywhere’s consultancy services and the low cost VidZapper platform means that Moviebeat will be running a profitable service from launch and establishing a model other internet tv channels can follow.”

VidZapper Insider - Extensibility

2009-09-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

VidZapper has come a long way in a very short time; after just a year on the market it's overtaking the established players and winning major deployments. But we're not complacent. We know that we need to keep on developing. Indeed, we have a two year development cycle worked out, which is adjusted to the needs and demands of our resellers and their clients.

But sometimes some substantial changes in approach are called for and we are constantly looking at the core architecture underlying the application.

After recently introducing an API, two fundamental elements of the platform we're currently looking at are the player (or, as old timers would call it, UI or GUI) and what we call the VidZapper Component Framework, or, as they are now called, plug-ins, or apps.

Over the next few months we will be releasing a new player builder for non-technical developers, and will also introduce the VCF, to enable anyone to develop new apps, or to integrate VidZapper with existing applications.

Introducing Parallel Streaming

2009-09-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

Parallel streaming has been added to VidZapper v2 enabling a range of new features, including:

Multi-lingual players
Multi-terrirory players
Support for multiple data streams
Support for multiple players with the same content but different metadata

Content can be tagged and grouped and then called via the VidZapper API.

New Website for VidZapper

2009-09-11T05:14:00.001-07:00

You can find VidZapper's new, revamped website here.