Can't streaming Youtube video

I’m really new here.

I’ve already read the step-by-step tutorial in this website ( https://docs.zap.works/studio/projects/step-by-step-streaming-video-in-the-3d-view/ ) and successfully streamed the video that linked in the tutorial page.

Next, I’ve tried to streaming my own Youtube video using the same method but when I scaning with ios app, the only thing I get in the video window is this ‘!’. Furthermore, I’ve tried the video I’ve uploded to Google Drive with the link sharing on. It’s still dosen’t work too.

Is there anything I missed?

1 Like

Hi There,

Videos streamed using the video player symbol need to have their URL link directly to the video file (e.g. ending in .mp4) for them to work. YouTube and other video hosting websites will not work, Google Drive is another one that does not create a URL ending in mp4. AWS, CloudFront or CloudFlare are ones we suggest but there are others too.

Thanks,
Mark

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Hi Mark.

Does that mean zapworks does not support streaming video from sites like youtube/vimeo at all? Or just that it wont work using that particular video.player symbol. If there is another method to stream video like youtube is there documentation or a tutorial for that?

Hi there,

There’s no functionality available to stream videos directly from YouTube or Vimeo, as the video URL has to link directly to a hosted file.

An alternative would be to use the launchUrl() function and pass in the YouTube video’s URL.

Using this function within a pointerdown script would launch an external browser and send the user to the link provided.

Hope this helps.

All the best,
Seb

ah so that will launch the browser which plays the video but it can’t be played within the AR environment. Pity… being able to stream a video directly from a site within a holder would be very useful.

If you’d like to avoid sending the user to an external link you could host the video online (using Amazon S3 for example) and then stream the video directly to your AR experience using the tutorial mentioned above.

Thanks,
Seb

Just found this, but out of curiosity, why does a link to an MP4 in my drop box not work?

Example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9hni32l8a8gwl72/zzzTest.mp4

This works in my browser, but this won’t work in my zappar app when I plug in the link. I get spinning dots, and then a triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle.

Also, that symbol for “video streaming.” (Which BTW, has a typo when you add a symbol and look at that option. It says steaming, not streaming XD ) can I use this symbol for playing a video from my media list? Or does it have to be a URL? If so, how do I do that?

Hey there,

Unfortunately videos on DropBox won’t work as the URL needs to link directly to the video file itself, rather than a video embedded in a separate playback engine, which it seems is what DropBox and a few other hosting websites do (you can see DropBox’s controls and UI in your linke for example).

Hope this helps.

All the best,
Seb

Above it was stated that AWS, CloudFront or CloudFlare are sites with videos ending in .mp4 but there are others too. Can someone suggest others to check out?

Hi @robinC,

This isn’t entirely accurate. The websites you mentioned are actually content delivery networks that allow the distribution of videos, data etc, and work differently to video hosting sites such as YouTube/Vimeo.

Video files on a CDN are hosted, so their URLs point directly to the file itself (hence why the URL ends in .mp4). This means you’ll need to upload your own video to a server that will host it and link through to its URL within ZapWorks.

Hope this helps.

All the best,
Seb

Hi @Seb,

Will a video hosted in a Learning Management System (LMS) such as Moodle or Absorb work?

I’m trying to see how we can use ZapWorks as a learning solution, but we need to understand if there is a secure system we can use to store information sensitive data. LMS would be perfect for this, however, do you know if there’s a way we can find out if it’s compatible with ZapWorks?

Thanks for all your help team!

Ben

Hi @ensheneme,

We have not previously used a Learning Management System (LMS) to host our videos so have not tested this, however, it seems though Moodle uses a hosted server that will link directly to the video.

Much like what was mentioned before, as long as the link to the video ends with .mp4 and does not link to an internal playback engine with its own controls, then it should work perfectly. :slight_smile:

If you have a link to a hosted video on Moodle or Absorb that you would like us to test, please send it through to support@zappar.com and we can do this for you.

Hope this helps,
George

Hi I have tried to upload a 360 Video onto Ckloudfront but the process seems to be extremely complex with coding involved. I have tried to follow some tutorial on YouTube but the video will not load at all in Zapworks. Could you show us how to upload a 360 video on CloudFront?

Broadcast is quite possible just need to use the video player symbol.That is, you must have a URL link directly to the video file.For example, use MP3.

Well, that’s no problem, all the videos that have been made already will be uploaded the way they are If you want to improve the quality of your videos then you should record in 1280x720 because youtube will resize the videos if you don’t upload it in the correct resolutions, I have been testing around with all kinds of settings but youtube will always mess up the quality if the resolution is not right.