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Cloud 2024

Video Streaming Demo

FFmpeg + HLS + WebRTC

Developed video streaming platform demo showcasing modern video pipeline architecture. System handles RTMP/WebRTC live stream ingestion, FFmpeg transcoding to adaptive bitrate HLS/DASH formats (240p to 1080p), S3 storage with CloudFront CDN distribution, low-latency playback. Implements WebRTC for <500ms latency live streaming vs traditional HLS (3-5s). Video.js player with adaptive bitrate switching. Creator dashboard for uploads and analytics. Demonstrates production-ready streaming patterns for education, entertainment use cases.

5 tiers
Qualities
<500ms WebRTC
Latency
HLS + WebRTC
Formats
CloudFront
CDN
Video.js
Player
10+ viewers
Tested
01

The Challenge

Video streaming requires complex pipeline: RTMP ingestion, transcoding to multiple qualities, adaptive bitrate delivery, low-latency playback. FFmpeg transcoding CPU-intensive. HLS has 3-5s latency unsuitable for interactive streaming. WebRTC reduces latency but complex signaling. CDN costs high without caching strategy. Need creator dashboard for uploads and analytics.

02

The Solution

Built streaming demo with Nginx-RTMP for ingestion, FFmpeg for transcoding (240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p), HLS for adaptive bitrate, WebRTC for low-latency streaming. S3 storage with CloudFront CDN. Video.js player with quality switching. Node.js creator dashboard. Redis for session management. Demonstrates production streaming architecture.

Technology Stack

FFmpeg 6.1
Nginx-RTMP
HLS
WebRTC
Node.js 20
React 18
TypeScript 5.x
Video.js
Redis 7.2
PostgreSQL 16
AWS S3
AWS CloudFront
Docker 24.0
Docker Compose
Socket.io
Express.js
03

Architecture

  • Nginx-RTMP ingestion server for live stream input
  • FFmpeg transcoding pipeline: 5 quality tiers (240p to 1080p)
  • HLS adaptive bitrate streaming with m3u8 manifests
  • WebRTC signaling server for low-latency streaming
  • S3 storage with CloudFront CDN for VOD delivery
  • Video.js player with HLS.js adaptive bitrate switching
  • WebSocket + Redis Pub/Sub for live chat
  • Node.js creator dashboard with upload queue management
  • PostgreSQL metadata storage: videos, users, analytics
  • Docker Compose orchestration: Nginx-RTMP + Node + Redis + PostgreSQL
04

Key Features

01
Nginx-RTMP module for RTMP live stream ingestion
02
FFmpeg transcoding to 5 qualities: 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p
03
HLS adaptive bitrate streaming with m3u8 playlists
04
WebRTC low-latency streaming (<500ms glass-to-glass)
05
Video.js player with adaptive bitrate quality switching
06
S3 storage for VOD content with lifecycle policies
07
CloudFront CDN distribution for global delivery
08
Live chat via WebSocket with Redis Pub/Sub
09
Creator dashboard built with React 18 and Node.js
10
Upload queue with progress tracking and retry logic
11
Basic analytics: view counts, watch time, viewer locations
12
Docker Compose deployment for local testing
05

Results & Impact

  • RTMP live stream ingestion via Nginx-RTMP module
  • FFmpeg transcoding to 5 quality tiers: 240p to 1080p HLS segments
  • WebRTC streaming achieving <500ms latency vs HLS 3-5s
  • CloudFront CDN distribution with S3 origin storage
  • Video.js adaptive bitrate player with quality selector
  • Creator dashboard: upload, transcode queue, analytics
  • Tested with 10+ concurrent live viewers and 100+ VOD views
  • Docker Compose deployment: Nginx-RTMP + FFmpeg + Node.js + Redis

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