June 2021 Summaries

Mux has introduced live audio support for its platform, allowing users to stream live radio stations, podcasts, or other live broadcasting content. The new feature simplifies the workflow by using the same API call for both audio and video streaming, with a flag set for audio-only mode. This feature is available for all Mux Video customers at 1/10th of the cost of video encoding, storage, and streaming. However, there's a 12-hour live streaming limit for both video and audio content.

Mux Data introduces Engagement Metrics to help track the success of videos by providing information on Views, Unique Viewers, and Playing Time. These metrics can be used across various industries and teams for purposes such as KPI tracking, capacity planning, maintenance, lifecycle management, and understanding content that drives engagement. The new metrics are available for all Mux Data customers in every plan without charge.

The blog discusses the advancements in affordable video hardware solutions, such as ATEM Mini line from Blackmagic Design, Pearl line from Epiphan, and Yolobox. It specifically focuses on setting up an ATEM Mini Pro for live streaming to Mux Video. The initial setup of the ATEM is quite intuitive, but adding Mux Video requires creating a new XML file with specific contents. Once added, users can obtain a streaming key from Mux Video API and paste it into the Key field in ATEM Software Control to start live streaming.

A bug has been reported in Mobile Safari's default HLS implementation when looping short-form videos. The issue occurs at the start of the third loop and affects only short videos, looping, HLS, and iOS Safari. Possible solutions include skipping the `loop` attribute, using Hls.js instead of native HLS support (which is not feasible due to lack of Media Source Extensions), or falling back to mp4 format for short videos. The fallback to mp4 seems like the best option currently, but users on low bandwidth connections may experience slower startup times.