AWS for M&E Blog

Part 2 – Streaming video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect using Zixi SDK

Introduction

Video-on-demand (VOD) assets can be streamed to end-user mobile devices by using a local encoder, AWS Elemental MediaConnect (EMX) service, and Zixi Player.

In Part 1 of this blog series, we demonstrated how to install and configure Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio and Zixi SDK for AWS Elemental MediaConnect (Zixi-MediaConnect) Feeder on a local system, create an AWS Elemental MediaConnect flow, and stream a local VOD asset to end-user mobile devices.

In this document, we demonstrate how to configure a local encoder (either AWS Elemental Live or FFmpeg) and AWS Elemental MediaConnect to encode and stream VOD assets from Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) or a local system to end-user mobile devices.

A description of Zixi-MediaConnect Feeder/Receiver, supported protocols, latency considerations, and limitations are available in part 1 of this blog.

Pre-requisites

This post requires access to an encoder (either an AWS Elemental Live encoder or a host system such as Ubuntu Focal Fossa, capable of running FFmpeg).

Cost of provisioning resources used in this post

  • There is no charge for FFmpeg, Zixi-MediaConnect Feeder/Receiver, or the Zixi Player app.
  • MediaConnect is billed at an hourly rate for each running flow, plus either a per-gigabyte charge for data transferred using the flow or, with reserved outbound bandwidth pricing, a per-hour charge based on bandwidth for video sent to the internet. A flow that is in standby mode is not an active resource, and does not incur active resource costs even if it has outputs or entitlements configured. See https://aws.amazon.com/mediaconnect/pricing/ for more information.
  • AWS Secrets Manager comes with a 30-day free trial. After the trial is over, Secrets Manager is billed $0.40 per secret per month. For secrets that are stored for less than a month, the price is prorated (based on the number of hours). See https://aws.amazon.com/secrets-manager/pricing/ for more information.
  • To keep charges to a minimum, be sure to clean up resources once you are finished testing by following the tasks in Step 13 of this post

 

*Download Guide (Part 2) Here* 

 

This is the second in a 3-part blog series

Part 1  – Streaming video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect using Zixi SDK
Part 2 (this post) – Streaming video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect using Zixi SDK
Part 3 – Streaming video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect using Zixi SDK

 

If you have questions, feedback, or would like to get involved in discussions with other community members, visit the AWS Developer Forums: Media Services.