Watermarking Video

[jfreak53]

I have some WMV videos that I stream off my site in my page and I would like to add some sort of watermark to them at runtime, although I've been told that this can only be done on server side in PHP or some other SSL, does anyone know how to do this in any language? Or if there is some way to do it in a flash type player?

Thanks in advance.

[Medyman]

I have some WMV videos that I stream off my site in my page and I would like to add some sort of watermark to them at runtime, although I've been told that this can only be done on server side in PHP or some other SSL, does anyone know how to do this in any language? Or if there is some way to do it in a flash type player?

Thanks in advance.

Flash would be the only thing I would think that can handle this sort of thing. If you're using an embed player like Quicktime, WMP, Real Player, etc..., you're working with a prebuilt application with a finite set of parameters.

Flash players, aren't bound by the same code/design architecture of those basically desktop apps.

What makes flash perfect for this kind of application is that you're basically just adding an image overlay on the image. So, no need to alter the video as you would have to do with the other technologies.

So, my recommendation would be to covert your files into FLV format and get yourself a flash video player. There are a ton available for free. Just google FLV player.

Now, if you don't want to convert, there is one alternative. Microsoft has begun pushing Silverlight -- it's version of Flash. I've had to make a few Silverlight applications and I don't find it as powerful as Flash but that's a discussion for another topic. Anyway, if you want to burden your users with downloading Silverlight (they would only have to do it once) to view your videos, you can use that.

I'd recommend you check out Jeroen Wijering's website (jeroenwijering.com). He has a flv media player as well as a Silverlight WMV player for download (for free). He also had added a "logo" variable to allow you to add watermarks.

Seems like a perfect fit for your needs :D

[jfreak53]

Great idea thanks. I've posted in the past month on 4 forums and no one has responded, so thanks it's a great idea. I looked into the program and it does exactly what I want. I was actually thinking about re-encoding the video to flv but it's 600MB of WMV and I have it on 3 different servers and a lot of database code that I would have to update and systems and a whole lot, plus the original files were flv and a lot bigger in size so I would rather not go down that road if I don't have to. Question though, does FLV player support watermark? I've never really played with it, but if it does I'll just start encoding all my new video in FLV and just cut to the chase?

[Medyman]

Question though, does FLV player support watermark? I've never really played with it, but if it does I'll just start encoding all my new video in FLV and just cut to the chase?

Glad I was able to help. Next time, start at DD first :p. lol

Which FLV player are you talking about? If you're talking about the one I link to, Jeroen Wijering's FLV Media Player... then, yes, it does support a watermark.

I believe the parameter is called "logo" or something like that. The watermark isn't actually placed in the video, it just overlayed it. I mention this because if you're offering the video for download or something, the raw flv won't have the watermark. It just appears in the player on playback.

For the parameter, you have to pass in the path to a .png file that has your watermark. It's as simple as that :D

[jfreak53]

lol yes I'll keep that in mind next time. Yes the watermarking does work on the link you gave me for flv. Although I am noticing something, that no matter what I do I can get the WMV's to smaller size and still keep good sound and great video quality compared to flv's. I can convert flv's to 100kbps wmv's with standard stereo sound and keep them at 2 to 4 meg for a 6 meg flv file. Where as converting flv's down the smallest I can get it is 11khz sound (which is really crappy sound) and 208kbps video and this makes my 6 meg file 5megs compared to wmv's 2.15 megs with great sound and video quality. I hate to say it since I'm not a microsoft man, but i think they have my vote and I'll just use the new player. WOW I CAN'T BELIEVE I SAID THAT lol

[Medyman]

The conversion quality might be a product of the video converter that you're using and the initial quality rather than the format.

I've always been able to get great results with flash video when encoded properly.

[NVTRicc]

You can try to draw watermark on each your video a clip with Watermark Master (http://www.videocharge.com/).

It have SDK, (for windows server only :-() and create video with watermark in auto mode.