I have a client who wants to host a large series of video classes and then have my app access their account on the hosting platform via an API, to set up their client’s access codes / passwords depending on the length of time or number of views they have purchased through my app.
Any recommendations of platforms for them to look at would be much appreciated!
Vimeo!
Hey thanks for that @otavionestares… can you limit access by number of viewings and by a time window you are allowed to watch it?
I never need to use this kind of feature, sorry. But they offer a domain-lock, in other words, a video can be seen only in a specific domain.
Brilliant, I will take a look. Thanks! 
You could run your own @Antony
Or they’ve teemed up with 8x8 for a paid service - https://meet.jit.si/
Thanks for that idea @max_gb!
However this application is hosting of existing video files, rather than a live and interactive video conferencing app.
So like vimeo or youtube but with a login that allows a certain number of viewings of a specific video or to be able to view it any number of times for a fixed timescale e.g. 1 month.
And an API where my app can talk to it to set up the login and get back the access code. So my app will be the payment front end as I’m an integrated booking and accounting system.
Maybe something like @mebeingken uses? 
Why don t simply use a S3 storage like wasabi.com?
You have S3 storage at good price good service and no egress fees …
And you build your own application
Thanks for your thoughts @updates… but I’m busy building my main application and don’t want to dilute my efforts building something that already exists!
I suppose that time to make api to interface is more or less same to make little system to store and retrieve video… anyway you know better than me expectation from client
Hey Antony,
I currently have 2 platforms in play, which is not ideal but I figure it will work itself out as time goes by!
Thinkific is hosting my full courses, and Uscreen is hosting my ad hoc videos.
Thinkific is much more like a Udemy platform, while Uscreen is more like vimeo. It sounds like Uscreen might come close to meeting your needs. It allows for free content, one time sales, subscriptions, pay per views, and rentals...and you can bundle videos into a playlist, etc. You have to get the Enterprise version for full API access, but the mid-tier plan has integrations built in, so something like Zapier might fit the bill if the Enterprise pricing doesn't make sense. And the Enterprise version comes with White label mobile and TV apps...Too rich for my blood, but I don't know your situation.
There are obviously others. Start your search for vod platforms.
Good luck!
Hey Ken, thanks sooo much for taking the time to summarise your experience!
I’ll take a look in some more detail…
So @updates, you’ve got me thinking whether your idea is something I should consider. To build my own VOD storage where I can integrate the user/client experience into my existing app.
now you put too much responsibility on me 
To me the value prop of that part of my life is the content I create, not the hosting, so my time is better spent creating content.
That will teach you not to propose wild ideas! 
But you said
There are open source VOD solutions out there but you need one hell of a infrastructure to cope with streaming/VOD traffic
I’m guessing rather than just S3 type storage, I’m going to need a platform that already manages all data quality etc you see in a Youtube video’s settings area…
Thanks for your thoughts @max_gb!
Do you know anyone who provides "one hell of an infrastructure"?
I guess I only need to VOD optimised servers, and not all the payment and marketing interface that comes with the main players...
Storage can be solved like you suggest with S3, or alternative block storage providers.
If you push the VOD traffic through a CDN then you won’t need highly optimised servers, beware though traffic can get expensive quickly.
I built a similar application but for live streaming. Integrated with Livepeer (Great team btw, they’ve built a pretty reliable network built on ETH blockchain). At the time they didn’t offer the paid service which is currently in Beta) for the transcoding and then the most cost effective CDN I found was Beluga CDN for video delivery.
Works a charm