Experience the ease of using Castr VOD Hosting, which allows you to upload MP4 files and receive an HTML5 player along with the embed URL for seamless video streaming on various OTT delivery platforms such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and many more.
In This Article:
Settings
Advertising
Paywall
Hosting Video on Demand on Castr
1. Log in to the Castr Dashboard.
2. From the sidebar navigation, go to the 'Video Hosting' tab.
3. Create a 'New Folder' as shown below.
To create extra folders, just tap on the "ellipsis" symbol to open the dropdown menu.
4. In the newly created folder, choose the "New Video" option to initiate the process of adding videos. As another option, you have the flexibility to use the 'drag-and-drop' feature for added convenience. Other available options include:
"Upload new video": This allows you to upload a video file directly from your device.
"Cloud import": This enables you to import a video file from platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Global Settings
In this perspective, you have the capability to adjust 'Global Settings' that are applicable to all videos stored within the designated folder.
These include the following global settings:
In the 'Settings' tab, you will find two options for your player.
Player Settings:
Player Theme Color: Adjust the stream player's theme color: Change the color scheme of the player used for streaming.
Enable Google Analytics: Activate Google Analytics integration: Enhance your understanding of the stream's performance by connecting Castr with Google Analytics. Discover more about this feature. Learn more
Publish this Folder on the OTT app: Include this folder in the OTT app: Once we have successfully processed your request to publish your OTT app, you can include and make your stream accessible through the app. For more details about this process, you can refer to this resource.
Security: The security settings are applied to all videos that are uploaded to the same folder. In this section, you have the option to activate password protection, apply geo/country blocking, define geo/country whitelisting, and enable domain whitelisting for the HTML5 player.
Advertising: Set up your in-stream ads and add them to your VOD files on Castr here. You have the flexibility to upload the video and decide the precise timing for the advertisement to appear during your stream. For further details on the advertising feature, refer to this resource.
Paywall: Castr's Paywall feature empowers you to generate revenue from your VOD content by implementing viewer charges. For additional information, please refer to this resource.
Video Settings
In this view, you have the capability to obtain the URL for the embedded player, along with the iframe code snippet, and perform various additional actions. The features are:
Embed Player Controls and URL
Embed URL and iFrame Snippet: You can easily grab the embed URL and iFrame snippet by clicking on the designated buttons indicated below.
HLS URL: Shareable HLS URL for the video. This option is available upon request and is limited Ultra plans only.
MP4 URL: Shareable MP4 URL for the video. This option is available upon request and is limited Ultra plans only.
Audio Only: This option is exclusively available for Live-to-VOD files. Enabling it will generate a URL for a player that exclusively plays audio.
Responsive: Enabling this will generate a responsive iframe snippet. Disabling it will generate a fixed iframe snippet.
Autoplay: Enabling this will make the player start playing the content right away upon loading.
Loop: Enabling this will restart the video once it reaches its conclusion.
Muted: Enabling this will load the video in a muted state, allowing the viewer to unmute it later.
Hide Controls: Enabling this will hide all player controls.
Chapters: This feature will enable you to create chapters within your video, providing viewers with a seamless navigation experience to jump directly to desired sections. Learn more
Captions: By activating this feature, automatic captions will be generated and seamlessly integrated into your video. Learn more
Schedule: This will allow your video to be available for certain time making it exclusive. Learn more
Analytics: This feature will grant you comprehensive insights into the performance and engagement metrics of your video. Learn more
Meta: Title, descriptions, thumbnail, end embed poster and watermark for the video can be added here.
Title: Set title for the video
Description: Set description for the video
Thumbnail: It will show up at the beginning of a video. It will not show up if Autoplay is enabled.
End Embed Poster: This will show up once the video has ended
Watermark: Upload watermark image for the video and set the placement for the watermark
Social Sharing: Allow your viewers to easily share the content to social media.
Tags: Add the necessary tags for each video so that they can be quickly filtered later.
Playback Speed Rate: Enabling this will allow the viewer to set the playback speeds so that they can enjoy the video at their preference.
Stream as Live: This feature will allow you to convert the VOD to a pre-recorded stream which can be streamed as live. Read more here.
Replace: This feature allows you to effortlessly substitute the current video with another while retaining the same embedded URL, eliminating the need to update your website with a new URL. This is only available for Ultra Plan.
Clip: This will allow you to trim the most important part of your video and save it as a separate video file. This feature permits you to trim the most crucial parts of your video, creating and saving it as a separate video file.
Move to: Move videos between folders easily using this feature.
Note: To enable HLS URLs for your account, kindly reach out to our support team via Live Chat. HLS URL support is available and accessible starting with the Premium plan.
What's Next?