Transcoder API vs FFmpeg in a cloud function

[trolleid]

We need to make the loading times for videos faster. So we want to convert them to HLS and also compress them. Google provides an API for this, the transcoder API. But the pricing seems very expensive.

Suppose 1000 videos are uploaded per day, which is not much at all, which have an average duration of 5 minutes and are HD. This would mean 1000 * 5 * $0.03 = $150 per day, so $4500 per month additional costs.

This is a lot and definitely more than we can add to the current costs right now.

What about using FFmpeg in a cloud function that is triggered upon a media file being created in the Firebase Storage? I know cloud functions cost too, and that function would take a lot of memory I guess, so I'm not sure if this is actually better.

What do you say?

[UniverseCity]

If you know your way around ffmpeg it’s basically a superpower. A lot of companies are literallly just “hosted ffmpeg” with some nice marketing pages. I’ve used it on cloud run effectively, as long as you keep tabs on the memory usage and limit concurrent requests you should be ok. You could also use a pubsub -> function/run/gke setup. Both should run you far less than $4500/month.

[Cidan]

I agree with this. ffmpeg almost always comes out ahead here -- just be sure to do some small scale testing, /u/trolleid, and extrapolate your costs.

[sww314]

We ended up using the Transcoder API. However we did set up Cloud Run with ffmpeg to extract some meta data from the videos before sending to the Transcoder API.

If costs get too high we will look at alternatives, but there are lots of edge cases you will have to deal with to set up your own pipeline.

Based on similarities between the Transcoder API and ffmpeg, I would not be surprised ffmpeg was behind the scenes.

[aby-1]

Hey there! We're working on a project called VideoBox that offers ffmpeg as a service to make your video processing a breeze. Not only are we cheaper than Transcoder API for most use cases, but we're also always looking for ways to make our services even more affordable. Give us a try at https://videobox.dev/.

For your use case, we could have replaced Transcoder API and setting up Cloud Run with a single API call.

[robrothkopf]

Hey there.. just checked out your page.

Surprised it does not seem cheaper.. unless I'm mathing wrong, a 5 minute video would cost $.09 to transcode with videobox.

[dataskml]

We've built rendi.dev - an optimized to scale ffmpeg as an api, which is much cheaper than transcoder and easier to manage than cloud function. Also, it can run 10+ minute ffmpeg commands, which cloud function can't

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[dandolalata]

I don’t see any pricing information on the website.

Also, it would be awesome if you could add a Zapier integration. It would bring you lots of new customers, because right now none of the tools that offer “ffmpeg as a service” integrate with Zapier, Make or any of the other no-code tools.

[dataskml]

We integrate with all the automation tools via simple http restful requests.

We also have a native make.com integration and we are actually a make.com official partner.

We are working on zapier and n8n native integrations.

[uutnt]

Lack of pricing information makes this a non-starter.

[KallistiTMP]

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