Recording Video Sessions Using WebRTC

Posted By : Anirudh Bhardwaj | 07-Oct-2016

WebRTC is a worldwide standard developed by W3C consortium which mainly focuses on enabling Real Time Communications over the web. Perhaps, the best part about WebRTC is that it is free, open-source and follows a P2P functionality. All the real time communications carried out by webRTC take place over Peer-to-Peer connections. Besides that, WebRTC makes use of HTML5 for establishing these connections.

 

The use of HTML5 rescinds the requirement of any internal or external plugins thereby making it even more superior than its peers. Although WebRTC is mainly used in voice/video calling, video conferencing and P2P file sharing, it can also be used for recording client side or server side videos. This guide will show you how the video sessions (server-side and client-side) are created using WebRTC. So let’s begin!

 

Also read How IoT Influences The Manufacturing Process.


 

Recording Server-side Videos

In server-side recording, media isn’t sent from browser to browser. Instead, it is sent directly over the media servers. However, the packets sent over the media server aren’t always encrypted. So the question is how the media is encoded before the transmission? Well, actually it’s not encoded before the transmission but the other way round.

 

When the media is ready to be transmitted, what developers generally do is, they terminate the WebRTC session over the server on both ends. During this period, the media is routed to the receiving end via the server and the decoded media is simultaneously sent for recording and post-processing.


 

Post Processing of Server-side Media

Before the final transmission, the post-processing of media is done. The processing involves following steps:

 

  • Multiplexing of data is done. I.e the media inputs from multiple users are combined to form a single media file which is then transmitted over the server to the end-users.

  • Changes in format take place. I.e after creating the media file which is to be sent over the server, media conversions can be done to give a desired format to the media file.

  • File compression takes place. I.e before transmission, the data can be compressed to reduce the file size.


 

Recording Client-side Videos

Client side recording is mostly done by the developers who do prefer it over server-side recordings. This is because the client side processes generally require JavaScript programming which is known to all the developers. On contrary to this, the server-side processes require full stack developers who work in backend.

 

The Client-side recording involves following steps:

 

  • First of all, the videos are recorded and stored in local storage since WebRTC allows recording and storing video streams locally.

  • The recorded media is then uploaded to the servers.

  • Before uploading it to the server, the stored video file may be passed through the post-processing as done in case of server-side videos.

 

So, that was all about recording client-side and server-side video sessions. But there’s also much more to take care of. For instance, as a developer, you might have to deal with a lot of meta-data and playback issues. So, it is necessary to imbibe as much knowledge of webRTC as you can before stepping into it.


 

Oodles Technologies is a leading WebRTC Software Development Company with an extensive experience in Video Streaming and Web Development. Not only webRTC, our SaaS Development Services are inclusive of all the latest mobile and web development solutions.   

 

About Author

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Anirudh Bhardwaj

Anirudh is a Content Strategist and Marketing Specialist who possess strong analytical skills and problem solving capabilities to tackle complex project tasks. Having considerable experience in the technology industry, he produces and proofreads insightful content on next-gen technologies like AI, blockchain, ERP, big data, IoT, and immersive AR/VR technologies. In addition to formulating content strategies for successful project execution, he has got ample experience in handling WordPress/PHP-based projects (delivering from scratch with UI/UX design, content, SEO, and quality assurance). Anirudh is proficient at using popular website tools like GTmetrix, Pagespeed Insights, ahrefs, GA3/GA4, Google Search Console, ChatGPT, Jira, Trello, Postman (API testing), and many more. Talking about the professional experience, he has worked on a range of projects including Wethio Blockchain, BlocEdu, NowCast, IT Savanna, Canine Concepts UK, and more.

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