What is VOD playback in Wowza Video?
VOD streams can be configured through the live stream or transcoder workflow and only work with Fastly stream targets. After the broadcast is over and the live stream or transcoder is stopped, Wowza Video creates the VOD stream and generates a URL that you can use to configure playback in an HLS-compatible player or device.
VOD streams capture up to eight hours of content. If a live stream or transcoder runs for longer than eight hours, the most recent eight hours are recorded.
Q: Now that the event is over, how do I embed the VOD stream into my website?
A #1: Use the live playback URL for the VOD stream.
Wowza Video creates a VOD stream and provides a VOD playback URL, found on the VOD stream details page, which you can share with your viewers. If you want your viewers to access the VOD stream using the same playback URL they used to view the original stream instead, enable the transcoder property and enable live to VOD. Set this property before the stream begins.
- Click Advanced on the menu bar, and then click Transcoders.
- Select the transcoder. Transcoders created through the live stream workflow appear as [Live stream name] / Transcoder.
- Click the Properties tab and then click Edit.
- Select Enabled for Enable live to VOD and then specify the value as True.
- Click Save.
When the live stream ends, Wowza Video replaces the live playlist with the VOD playlist. Viewers can watch the VOD stream without modifying the URL the player used for the live stream.
Warning
When you start the live stream again, this will overwrite the VOD playlist and create a new "live" playlist. Once this happens, you will not be able to use the provided Wowza Player for the original VOD playback.
A #2: Use a recommended 3rd party HTML5 player to embed the VOD playback on your site.
Step 1: Find and sort VOD streams
- Click Advanced on the menu bar, and then click VOD Streams.
The five most recently used or edited VOD streams appear in the Recent panel of the VOD Streams page. Use the Search box to find an older VOD stream to view or edit.
- You have the following options:
- To search for a VOD stream, enter a complete or partial VOD Stream name or VOD stream ID in the Search field, and then press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon.
Searches return 15 results per page. By default, results are sorted from newest to oldest.
Note: Wowza Video assigns a unique eight-character ID to every VOD stream. The ID appears under the VOD stream name in the search results table. If you don't know the ID, search by VOD stream name to find the ID. You can also get the ID by using the Wowza Video REST API.
- To change the sort option or direction of the table, click the VOD Stream, Time, Size, or Status column header.
- To search for a VOD stream, enter a complete or partial VOD Stream name or VOD stream ID in the Search field, and then press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon.
Step 2: Choose a 3rd party HTML5 player to embed in your site with the VOD URL.
We suggest 6 different HTML5 players in this article that we know to work with the Wowza Video platform live and vod playback. Best HTML5 Video Players for 2021