Abstract: Alibaba Cloud Video on Demand (VoD) is a one-stop audio and video on demand solution that integrates audio and video collection, editing, uploading, automatic transcoding, media resource management, distribution acceleration, and video playback. Users can perform basic and advanced VoD configuration and operations through the Alibaba Cloud management console, and can also perform basic and advanced VOD tasks through the video-on-demand development kit (SDK) or by making RESTful API calls directly in the application.
Alibaba Cloud Video on Demand (VoD) is a one-stop audio and video on demand solution that integrates audio and video collection, editing, uploading, automatic transcoding, media resource management, distribution acceleration, and video playback.
Users can perform basic and advanced VoD configuration and operations through the Alibaba Cloud management console, and can also perform basic and advanced VOD tasks through the video-on-demand development kit (SDK) or by making RESTful API calls directly in the application.
In order to make it easier and faster for users to activate the VOD service, this article will introduce the VOD function, how to activate it, initial settings, and an overview of the console. It is hoped that users who have finished reading this article can quickly access and go online with the VOD capability.
1. Understand the on-demand function
The video-on-demand service provides the following features including:
It can be seen that VOD includes functions such as video uploading, material management, video editing, video transcoding, video management, video review, video playback, and data statistics.
- Video upload: Provide basic editing and upload task process management functions such as video upload, title watermark, etc.
- Video review: It can effectively avoid content risks, provide video content review and disposal functions, and support image-based intelligent pornography services
- Video management: comprehensively control the video content uploaded by users, support video content query preview, video status, offline download settings and editing management
- Video editing: An online video production tool that provides users with video editing and creation capabilities, supports video material management, editing and processing functions such as splicing, cropping, and graphics and text, and one-click synthesis
- Data Statistics: The usage data is at a glance, and the traffic, bandwidth, and storage data are presented by time.
- Global settings: For transcoding, domain name, watermark, video classification, offline download can be set and managed according to business needs, and provide message callback service to respond to service status in a timely manner
- Security management: ensure the security of video content, support playback authentication and anti-leech function settings
- API Service: Provides API operations supported by VOD services and related example descriptions
- SDK: development operations and related examples of mainstream language SDKs that provide functions such as uploading, playing, and short video
In addition to these features, VOD provides users with more value-added services:
- Video AI: Provides video AI services for multiple application scenarios such as video video fingerprints, smart covers, tag prediction, and smart auditing (anti-violence and terrorism detection).
- Short video SDK: powerful, easy-to-use, and excellent performance, helping developers quickly realize short video recording and editing functions on their own APPs
2. Get 9.9 yuan experience package
In order to support more entrepreneurs and lower the entry threshold, VOD has launched a premium experience package based on the five original VOD service packages.
Click to enter the event page, purchase immediately, and complete the payment
3. Open on-demand service
1) Visit the Alibaba Cloud official website and complete the account login through the login portal in the upper right corner. If you do not have an account yet, please register first.
Enter the video-on-demand product details page on Alibaba Cloud's official website to quickly learn about product descriptions and price details.
Click Activate Now, select the billing method on the order page, and after confirming the order, the video-on-demand service can be activated.
4. Initialize settings
When you enter the VOD console for the first time, you need to initialize the domain name.
- Please fill in your own domain name for video distribution and acceleration, and verify it with your mobile phone number.
Note: Please make sure that the domain name has been filed and has the right to use it.
- If both the domain name and mobile phone verification are passed, the CNAME address of Alibaba Cloud's accelerated domain name will be obtained. Please go to your domain name resolution provider to complete the domain name binding according to the prompt information.
The detailed binding scheme is as follows:
Why do you need to bind a domain name?
To use your own domain name in VOD, you need to point your domain name to the acceleration domain name, and then the acceleration domain name will provide the IP address. Therefore, after you add your own domain name to VOD, we will automatically generate a valid CNAME address for you; next, you need to add a CNAME record for the domain name at the DNS service provider where your domain name is located, so as to achieve the effect of accelerated distribution .
Operation steps for domain name binding
1. Obtain the accelerated domain name
In the VOD console,
- During initialization, you can view the assigned CNAME domain name.
- In Global Settings - Domain Name Management, find the CNAME domain name corresponding to the domain name that has been enabled or you want to use, and copy the CNAME item for subsequent setting and resolution.
2. Change DNS resolution and access CDN
- Log in to the Alibaba Cloud console
- Click [Domain Names and Websites (Wanwang)] - "Cloud DNS" in the left navigation to enter the home page of the DNS console console
- Enter the domain name resolution list page, find the domain name you want to resolve, and enter the resolution setting page
Select Add Resolution to add the CNAME record:
- To set the CNAME resolution record, please follow the instructions below to set
- Please select record type as CNA>-ME;
- The host record is the acceleration domain name prefix:
- For example, if your acceleration domain name is testvod.aliyun.com, the prefix is testvod
- The acceleration domain name is www.aliyun.com, then the prefix is www
- If the acceleration domain name is aliyun.com, the prefix is @
- Generic domain name .aliyun.com, the prefix is
- The record value is filled in the CNAME copied in the domain name list of the video on demand console - global settings;
- Parse the line, TTL is default.
- After filling in, click the Confirm button to complete the parsing settings.
Precautions
- The resolution will take effect soon. If the newly created domain name resolution does not have the DNS refresh problem, it will take effect in real time. If the CNAME is modified, there is cached data on different DNS, and it may take up to 72 hours to update.
- After a few minutes, ping the resolved domain name address. If the ping is successful, the CNAME configuration is successful. If the ping fails, please check according to the previous steps.
- If you encounter a conflict when adding, you can consider changing another accelerated domain name, or adjust the conflicting records by referring to the mutual exclusion rules of resolution records.
Note: If you skip the binding, you need to make sure to complete the binding before the video plays, otherwise it will affect the normal playback of the video.
4. After the above steps are completed, click Experience Now to enter the overview page of the VOD console.
5. Console overview page
The VOD overview page includes the following parts:
1. Current billing method, that is, the currently effective billing method.
2. Current usage information, including:
- Data consumption for playback in this month.
- Peak bandwidth from playback during the month.
- Cumulative total of all videos uploaded.
- Storage space occupied by all video files (raw and transcoded).
Note: Video statistics are limited to videos viewed by users in video management, excluding deleted videos.
3. Traffic trend graph: View the traffic trend in the last 7 days and 30 days.
4. Storage space trend graph: View the storage space change trend in the last 7 days and 30 days.
Through the console, users can also perform settings such as transcoding, audit, domain name, callback, watermark, download, classification, etc. For the specific setting method, please refer to the console practical document: