Cloudinary URL not loading for large video

dalusel

I have an issue loading the Cloudinary URL and upon investigation, this is what I found

1. Video size less than 100 BM

• with file extension + media transformation applied ⇒ media loads and plays

2. Video size greater than 100 BM

• with file extension + media transformation applied => video does not play
• media transformation applied but no file extension=> video loads and plays

Can you suggest me why the Cloudinary URL with media transformation and upon appending the file extension, the video does not play if the video size is greater than 100 MB?

Tamara

Hi @dalusel,

I noticed that you have the auto-upload feature enabled. Any content within the mapped folder will be automatically re-uploaded each time you delete a file and access it. However, if the original file is not in that S3 folder, deleting the asset will result in a 404 error for the user. 
 
You can find this setting in your Settings page -> Upload.

I shared more details that are specific to your account in a private support ticket I opened. You can find it in your email.

Best,

Tamara

dalusel

Thank you for the clarification.

Tamara

Hi @dalusel ,

There are some limits according to your plan. Are you on the free plan?
If you are on a free plan, the maximum file size for videos is 100 MB. On paid plans, the limits go up to 2 GB. When you upload a video bigger than 100MB, you must use an eager transformation and specify it at the time the video is uploaded.

Is the video without an extension delivered as a video or as an image? Could you please provide an example for clarification?

Best
-Tamara

dalusel

This is the plan we are currently at which I believe is just 100 BM for video transformation

We used eager transformation without file extension earlier and that was the reason why appending file extension on those videos with size greater than 100 BM didn't work. If we increase the manipulation size to let's say 500 MB and don't use the eager transformation for videos less than 500 MB, will it load/transform on-the-fly as it does for videos less than 100 MB?

Another question is if we delete the video from Cloudinary and try to access it later using the Cloudinary url stored in our DB, is it going to restore the video to Cloudinary from the backup which is S3 Bucket?

Cloudinary Team

Hi,

It looks like your Cloudinary account is not associated with this email. Can you tell us the email id that is associated with the Cloudinary account?

The maximum we can extend it to is 300MB for paid accounts. This is not a limit on the size of videos you can upload to your account but is the maximum size of a video that can be transformed synchronously/on-the-fly.

Part of the reason that this limit exists is that transforming/transcoding large videos can take significantly longer than smaller videos and there can be a long delay before the first request for the video receives a response, and requests may time out before it finishes processing. If your application needs to know when the derived video is ready, you can use the 'eager_notification_url' parameter and we'll send a request to your server when the requested transformations have been completed, and you can use this to update your system state and start using the newly transformed/derived video.

If you have it set to auto upload by linking your S3 bucket to it, it will be uploaded again. If you upload it to Cloudinary using API or DAM upload it would not be restored automatically.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Akshay

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dalusel

Hello,

Thank you for getting back to me promptly.

As we are on the paid plan, can you please increase the video transformation to 300MB? The email linked to our Cloudinary account is xxx@example.com <edited>.

Additionally, I have a question regarding the deletion of old video files from Cloudinary. We have some very old videos stored there that are no longer needed, and we're considering cleaning them up. However, there may be instances where a client requests to restore them.

My question is: if a video is deleted from Cloudinary, will it be restored from the backup (S3 Bucket) when someone accesses the Cloudinary URL of the deleted video?

Thank you for your assistance.

Vdeub

Hi @dalusel,

The tribegroup account is effectively on a Pro paid plan so I have raised the online video manipulation limit to 300MB.

Regarding your question, if the video is deleted and then accessed, it will still return a 404 and it can't be automatically restored. You will have to restore it on your side and then it will get accessible. Maybe you can create a mechanism so that if the asset is deleted and then accessed, the client can request to restore the asset and an API request can be sent to restore it (cf https://cloudinary.com/documentation/admin_api#restore_resources ).

Hope that helps.

Best,

Loic

dalusel

Hello,

I wanted to express my gratitude for increasing the online video manipulation limit to 300MB.

I still have some questions regarding the process of accessing deleted videos using Cloudinary URLs.

In one of my previous inquiries, I asked if a video deleted from Cloudinary would be automatically restored when accessed later using the Cloudinary URL stored in our database. One response suggested that if auto-upload is enabled by linking our S3 bucket, the video would be uploaded again. However, another response contradicted this, stating that accessing a deleted video's Cloudinary URL would result in a 404 error, with no automatic restoration.

I recently tried accessing a deleted video's Cloudinary URL and observed that the video was indeed restored automatically. Despite this, I remain hesitant to delete old videos, fearing they might not be restored automatically when their URLs are accessed later.

I kindly request clarification on this matter and confirmation regarding the automatic restoration of deleted videos when their Cloudinary URLs are accessed.

Thank you for your assistance.

dalusel

Hello,

I wanted to express my gratitude for increasing the online video manipulation limit to 300MB.

I still have some questions regarding the process of accessing deleted videos using Cloudinary URLs.

In one of my previous inquiries, I asked if a video deleted from Cloudinary would be automatically restored when accessed later using the Cloudinary URL stored in our database. One response suggested that if auto-upload is enabled by linking our S3 bucket, the video would be uploaded again. However, another response contradicted this, stating that accessing a deleted video's Cloudinary URL would result in a 404 error, with no automatic restoration.

I recently tried accessing a deleted video's Cloudinary URL and observed that the video was indeed restored automatically. Despite this, I remain hesitant to delete old videos, fearing they might not be restored automatically when their URLs are accessed later. Please access the video link of my findings below.

I kindly request clarification on this matter and confirmation regarding the automatic restoration of deleted videos when their Cloudinary URLs are accessed.

Thank you for your assistance.

https://res.cloudinary.com/tribegroup-test/video/upload/v1713696486/dev/store/media_objects/Accesing_deleted_video_in_Cloudinary.mp4

Cloudinary Team

Hi there,

Well, they are both correct. It depends on what you have set up. If you are using the auto-upload feature, you can delete the file from your Cloudinary account without worry. The next time it is requested, it will be delivered from the remote location and simultaneously (re)uploaded to your Cloudinary account.
You can find additional information on the auto-upload feature in our documentation here:
https://cloudinary.com/documentation/migration#lazy_migration_with_auto_upload

Another way that you can recover a deleted file is by using backups. You can either apply automatic backups to the entire account, or you can do it on a file-by-file basis at the time of upload by passing the backup parameter to the upload call. You can find the backup parameter mentioned here as one of the optional parameters:
https://cloudinary.com/documentation/image_upload_api_reference#upload_optional_parameters

You can find the documentation on backups and version management here:
https://cloudinary.com/documentation/backups_and_version_management

If you are not using auto-upload nor did you back up the file, then deleting the file will indeed return a 404.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to ask.

Kind regards,

Tia

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dalusel

Thank you for the clarification, much appreciated.

Cloudinary Team

Hi there,

Pleasure 😊

Kind regards,

Tia

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dalusel

Hello,

When accessing the Cloudinary URL of deleted videos with the auto-upload feature enabled, the video is restored in Cloudinary immediately. However, the image transformations applied to the video to generate thumbnails may take some time (approximately 15 to 30 minutes) to restore and load. These transformations typically include parameters such as (c_fit,f_auto,h_700,q_auto,w_700).

Q1. Is there a better way to restore the image transformations of the video so that the thumbnail starts displaying immediately?

Q2. Which extension (png or jpg) is faster and more optimized for fetching thumbnails of videos?

Tamara

Hi @dalusel,

Q1. Is there a better way to restore the image transformations of the video so that the thumbnail starts displaying immediately?

To expedite thumbnail display upon restoration, we recommend pre-generating thumbnails for your videos with the desired transformations and storing them alongside the original videos. This proactive approach eliminates the need for reapplying transformations upon restoration, ensuring immediate availability of thumbnails for display.

Q2. Which extension (png or jpg) is faster and more optimized for fetching thumbnails of videos?

Ultimately, the choice between PNG and JPG depends on your specific use case and requirements. Consider factors such as image quality, file size, and transparency needs when selecting the appropriate format for fetching thumbnails of videos.

If you have any further questions or require assistance, please feel free to reach out.

Best regards,
Tamara

dalusel

Noted, thank you.