We’re serious about security at SproutVideo, which is why we are excited to announce a new way to protect your hosted videos with dynamic watermarking for videos. 

A dynamic watermark displays the viewer’s email address, IP address, and session ID over your video and continuously changes position. This makes it nearly impossible to crop out of a screen recording. You can also customize the opacity of the watermark, restrict its position, and more.

What is Dynamic Watermarking?

Watermarking, in general, is the process of overlaying an image or text over a piece of content to identify the content’s owner, authorized user, or validity. 

There are various methods for watermarking different kinds of content; we’ll focus on static and dynamic watermarking of videos today. We are SproutVideo, after all.

A static watermark is a watermark that is the same for all viewers. Dynamic watermarks change based on various factors, such as where the video is played or who is watching it.

Static Watermarking

Static watermarking adds a visible mark on a video. It’s a great way to brand content and deter theft. When used for branding purposes, these watermarks can commonly be seen on videos or photographs as a logo, name, or phrase that typically appears along the edges, so they aren’t too distracting. 

The creators of a television show, for example, may watermark a video clip or GIF on social media to grow brand awareness. When attempting to deter theft, a content creator might have the static watermark cover the entire photograph or video. 

Even if someone were to download or screenshot the content, the watermark would still be present; therefore, everyone would know who created the content. Static watermarks are easy to incorporate since they only have to be added once and can be done before uploading to a video hosting platform.

Dynamic Watermarking

Dynamic watermarks, on the other hand, change from viewer to viewer based on different factors. For instance, a video could have a different watermark based on what site it’s been embedded in, or each video viewer might get a unique watermark that identifies them. 

While dynamic watermarks don’t prevent screen recording, they can be excellent at discouraging viewers from recording and redistributing content because their personal information is burned in and can easily be traced back to them.

You’ll generally want to use dynamic watermarking on content intended for a narrow audience, such as quarterly reports, employee training videos, or content containing intellectual property or trade secrets.

4 Ways to Customize Dynamic Watermarking on a Video

Dynamic watermarks offer superior security to static watermarks. While static watermarks can easily be cropped out, dynamic watermarks are difficult to hide and reveal the thief’s personal information.

However, to minimize its prominence while providing security, the SproutVideo platform allows you to customize the dynamic watermark on your videos. 

Background Transparency

Set the watermark’s background to be more or less transparent. We recommend a “semi-transparent” watermark for a balance of readability and strong security. The more opaque the watermark background, the more prominently it is featured. 

Position Change Time

By default, the dynamic watermark changes positions on a timed interval to prevent thieves from being able to crop out one section of the image in order to avoid being identified. 

We recommend a 20-second interval. This provides strict anti-theft protection without being distracting to the viewer. Available options include 10-second and 30-second intervals as well. 

Intermittent Visibility

This feature allows you to display the watermark intermittently. The watermark will display every other interval, meaning the watermark is hidden for roughly half the video. 

The frequency of interval change corresponds to the position change time you’ve selected for watermarks. Keep in mind that enabling this setting makes it easier to grab screen captures. 

Restricted Positioning

The placement of the dynamic watermark is random by default. Restricted Positioning prevents the watermark from displaying at the center of the video, which is generally the main focus of the video content.

When this setting is enabled, the watermark will stick to the edges of the video as much as possible. Once again, remember that this creates less variability in the watermark placement, making it easier to crop the watermark out.

Dynamic Watermarking for Videos with SproutVideo

Our dynamic watermarking feature provides a strong theft deterrent by sharing personal details like the viewer’s email address, IP address, and session ID. If a viewer chooses to pirate your content and share it without your consent, their personal information will also be shared. 

Changing the placement of the dynamic watermark throughout the video adds another layer of protection, making it extremely cumbersome for any screen recorder to crop out or conceal without needing to display the watermark over the entire surface area of the content.

Our platform also gives you the flexibility to enable dynamic watermarks for all of your videos account-wide, on a per-video basis, or per viewer login access grant — making it an excellent option that can adapt to your needs. 

Dynamic watermarking is an essential tool for preventing video content from being stolen and redistributed. It is ideal for protecting intellectual property and keeping trade secrets, well, secret.

Ready to get started? 

• Try it out completely free with a 30-day trial to the platform.
• Learn how to set up dynamic watermarking on SproutVideo. 
• Discover the best practices for sharing private videos.

The post Product Update: Dynamic Watermarks for Videos appeared first on SproutVideo.

We’ve divided this release into two categories: Player Customization and Video Management. Player features govern how your content looks and how your viewers can interact with it. Video management features are used to organize and manage your content on our platform. Check out the video below for a walkthrough of our newest features:

Player Customization Features

ANIMATED POSTER FRAMES

As a SproutVideo customer, you already have the flexibility to customize your poster frame, or video thumbnail, by selecting an auto-generated still from your video, uploading an image, or designing your own using our Canva integration. Now you also have the option to use our new animated poster frames feature for both live streams and on-demand videos. You can create your own animation from your video, or upload a custom GIF up to 10 MB. 

This feature can be useful for sales teams, realtors, or even internal communications. A video thumbnail in motion is more dynamic than a still image, and probably better at grabbing a viewer’s attention on a page or in an email. So give animated poster frames a try to see how they impact your viewer engagement. 

AUDIO CONTROL OPTIMIZATION

The SproutVideo platform can now detect whether or not your video has an audio track and remove all volume controls accordingly. This creates a cleaner player that allows your videos to seamlessly integrate with the design of your site. If you have a retail site, for example, this feature will allow you to regularly feature autoplay videos without player controls on your product pages.

LIGHT BOX & EMAIL EMBED POSTER FRAME ENHANCEMENTS

This feature allows you to remove the play button from your poster frame in either the light box or email embeds. This is a really handy improvement, especially if you’re using our new animated poster frame feature! If you’re designing a custom poster frame, you can integrate a play button into that design to create a thumbnail that matches better with your own style and branding.

LEAD CAPTURE PROMPT CUSTOMIZATION

In addition to the ability to customize the lead capture prompt message, you can now customize the background and text color of your lead capture forms. This lets you tailor your lead capture forms to match the look and feel of your branding and player. You can also now edit the lead capture message on our hosted video sites, in addition to inline embed and lightbox embed so your message for lead capture can stay consistent no matter where it’s embedded. 

AIRPLAY SUPPORT

Airplay was always available for live streams on our platform, but now you have the option to allow airplay for your on-demand videos as well. You can allow this account-wide, or on a per-video basis. Keep in mind, if you allow airplay, you do open yourself up to the slight risk that someone could potentially download or watch your videos without your permission, so make sure you consider the risks.

Video Management Updates

CLONE VIDEOS, LIVE STREAMS, AND PLAYLISTS

This update can make your workflow more efficient and give you more options when it comes to sharing your content. With a few convenient clicks, you can clone a copy of any video in your account along with that video’s settings. For example, you could A/B test different poster frames, or separate the analytics for two different placements of the same video. For live streamers, cloning also makes setting up a live stream series easier because you can quickly copy all your settings for future episodes. You also have the option to duplicate playlists in order to create more sharing options. If you use a playlist to frequently share your work, you may find yourself constantly modifying it based on who you’re sharing it with. Now you can simply duplicate the playlist, make minor tweaks, or remove or add videos to focus a playlist for a specific client.

VIDEO TITLE CLEANUP

Prior to this release, video titles were generated from the entire file name, including .mov, .mp4, or whatever extension your video had. Now, those file extensions are automatically deleted when you upload. In addition to the file extension, the platform will also remove underscores, split camel case, and capitalize for title case, so a project filename results in a video with a title that’s much more presentable. For example, If your file name is “WeLoveVideoHosting_2022.mov” the new file name in your video library would read “We Love Video Hosting 2022” once you upload. If for any reason you want to retain your video file’s original title, you have the option to disable this feature in your account settings. 

FLEXIBLE EMAIL EMBED OPTIONS 

We’ve always made it simple to customize your email embeds for marketing platforms such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact, but now if you want to send an email straight from Outlook, Gmail, or any other email client that allows for rich HTML emails, you can select that option, and paste your linked poster frame directly into your email. 

LIVE STREAM TAGS

Your live streams will be even more organized on the SproutVideo platform with our tags update, which gives you the ability to tag and filter your upcoming streams. Previously, you could group your live streams into categories on the video website, but now you can tag and organize your videos accordingly in the index view as well.

HTTPS SUPPORT FOR VIDEO WEBSITES USING CNAMES

With this new update, your videos will stay secure even on your custom domains. If you’re using a custom domain name on your video website hosted on SproutVideo, the platform now automatically provides SSL certificates. An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates your website’s identity and enables an encrypted connection, allowing for more security between the web server and a web browser. 

All of these features were implemented in response to suggestions from our customers. We appreciate the feedback and look forward to continuing to improve and grow with you. If you’d like to test these out for yourself, start a free trial today! If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact our support team.

The post Summer 2022 Product Updates appeared first on SproutVideo.

And there’s good news—you don’t need to be a skilled web developer to optimize your videos for mobile users, just follow these simple tips for mobile optimization success!

Why Mobile Video Optimization is Important

So why is video optimization for mobile viewing so important? As a marketer or video creator, you’ll want to consider the following points: 

• Boosts engagement – Videos are inherently more engaging than static images and text, so they strengthen the relationship between your audience and brand more effectively. Today’s mobile viewers are now more likely to watch longer videos and absorb their content, including any calls to action. Higher viewer engagement on mobile devices can translate directly into higher clickthrough rates for calls to action in or around your videos.
• Improved SEO – Mobile-optimized video can improve SEO and boost your site’s position in search results. Search engines are designed to seek out the most relevant and user-friendly results for any search query, so higher priority has been placed on displaying mobile-optimized content as mobile traffic has taken over. Google uses mobile-first indexing, so failing to optimize your videos for mobile can actually negatively impact your search rankings across the board.
• Mobile video traffic is steadily increasing – Mobile traffic has overtaken desktop traffic, and this trend shows no sign of stopping. Around 50% of US mobile users report watching more video content this year than they did in the past. More and more people are also choosing a smartphone over a computer if their budget only allows for one device.  So, you may be missing out on a large portion of your potential audience if they rely heavily on their mobile device to consume content. 

8 Ways to Optimize Videos for Mobile Devices

The post How to Optimize Your Videos for Mobile Devices appeared first on SproutVideo.

So how can you stay ahead of the curve, bypass potential challenges, and secure the future of your business? Build your own live streaming website. Trust us, it’s not as hard as it seems; In this brief article, we’ll explain how.

Why Create Your Own Live Streaming Site? 

A steadily increasing number of people are opting to stream education and entertainment from the comfort of their own homes. This is why live video is such a great tool for marketing and monetization. Live streams are also a great tool for corporate communications that need to be timely or interactive.

If you’re looking to monetize your video content, using a third-party streaming platform can have drawbacks and subject you to unwanted fees or structural changes that are out of your control.

Having a standalone website that you own gives you:

• Unparalleled freedom and creative control
• Customized branding opportunities
• More robust security options 
• More control over your income
• Less distraction for viewers (people who come to your site will only be exposed to your content)

By creating your own live streaming website, you can build an engaged community around your topic and really take control of your content.

Which Method is Best?

There are a few common methods for creating a live streaming website. Highly customizable options typically require lengthy time commitments and a higher price tag. The method you choose will ultimately be based on convenience, price, and the ability to customize.

Build it yourself: Hiring a full-stack developer affords you complete control over your project. However, this does require a lot of time, money, and collaborative maintenance. 

Social streaming sites: While big-name streaming platforms can save you time and effort early on, you’ll have to play by someone else’s rules to monetize. You may also lose a slice of your income to unnecessary fees and will have less control over your site’s functionality and appearance. 

Use a video hosting platform: If you’re looking to save both time and money, and maintain the freedom to customize, a video hosting platform like SproutVideo is the best option. You’ll have access to customer support and a built-in toolbox of features.

For this article, we’ll focus on the third option: building a live streaming website using a video hosting platform. While we hope that you’d choose SproutVideo, there are a few other platforms to choose from. The information you gain in this example will be applicable to any platform you choose.

How To Create a Live Streaming Website: 

1. Build Your Website (or Update Your Current One)

First, you’ll need a central place where visitors can view your content. You can choose a service like Squarespace or Wix to build a website, or create a video website on SproutVideo in just a few clicks. Our hosting platform offers the ability to create a site specifically catered to streaming and hosting your videos. Here is a quick video to show you just how simple it can be to build a video website with SproutVideo:

2. Look for Key Functions You’ll Need

If you’re using SproutVideo as a host, you’ll have access to custom video players and embeds, powerful marketing tools, and privacy features. These key features lay the foundation for your site to operate smoothly:

• Viewer Login: User-friendly functions like password and account recovery should be expected. 
• Settings and user preferences: Control over your personal notifications, privacy, and blocking. 
• Organization: Make sure you have the ability to organize your content so viewers can search or access your videos easily.
• Security: Make sure your host has extensive security measures to protect your content. Ideally, you’ll want your host to offer multiple security options that can adapt to your current and future needs. This is especially important for content like quarterly reports or internal corporate communications, and any content you want to monetize.
• Sharing: Your host should offer sharing capabilities that allow you to embed onto other sites and allow viewers to easily share with each other. 
• Post-Stream Management: After your stream, your content should be automatically available for on-demand viewing and give you the ability to download the video, make edits if necessary, and generally manage your stream after it’s over.
• Real-time Analytics: This feature gives you the ability to see how many people are viewing, where they are watching from, and similar metrics that allow you to keep tabs on your performance.
• Support: Consider whether or not technical support is a must-have for you based on your experience with video hosting.

Our platform also gives users the freedom to add logos, customize video players, and access special integrations like lead capture and analytics. These are great features to consider utilizing for the growth of your live streaming website.

3. Add Special Features

Interactive features are what will truly make your live streaming experiences engaging and unique. Calls-to-action or downloadable materials can make viewers feel more involved. Live chat is a particularly effective tool to create engagement and build relationships with your viewers. 

There are various chat platforms that serve a variety of needs, such as:

• Chatroll integrates easily with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify 
• Arena is made for enterprise companies and large group chats 
• Pigeonhole offers Q&A, polls, and quizzes 
• Tlk.io is a simple, easy to install chat that you can use on your site for free 

Integrating a live chat tool into your website is fairly simple. On your site builder, just embed the chatbox code as a widget adjacent to your video player. If you’re using a SproutVideo website to stream, check out our help article on adding live chat to a live stream. 

4. Plan to Monetize

Clarify your costs, budget, and streaming goals. Once you determine these, you can consider what kind of business model you’ll use. Will viewers pay per stream, via subscription, or pay for membership access to your site? If you have the capability to produce ongoing events and consistent content, a subscription-based model may be for you. These models can be beneficial and generally help to increase viewer retention, provide you with stable, predictable income, and build trust with your viewers. If you don’t plan to produce events as frequently, it may be best to have viewers pay per stream. If viewers tend to rewatch or access content frequently, it may be best to consider having viewers pay for membership to access your content.

5. Centralize Your Content

Make sure all of your content can live in one place on your streaming website. This will cater to users that like to go back and engage with past streams, and give you the ability to gather accurate analytics on your content’s performance. SproutVideo saves past live streams on our server and makes them available to you automatically once your stream is complete. You can have a mixture of live streams and pre-recorded content, which is a unique feature compared to streaming sites like Twitch. If you are migrating your streams to SproutVideo or another host, make sure to upload and organize them before you make your new site live. Having a full library of previous streams adds a sense of depth and dependability to your site.

6. Go Live

And that’s it! You’ve completed your streaming site. Now you can gather any additional equipment you may need and prepare to go live. Not sure if you have everything you need to start live streaming? Check out our article Six Steps to Live Streaming for tips on choosing the right equipment and getting started with your own live streams.

The post How to Build Your Own Live Streaming Website  appeared first on SproutVideo.