Cloudinary: video won't kill the web developer star (AI will save the day)
We live in a world of data, this much we already know.
But in that world of data, some of it is structured well-ordered [database] information, some of it is semi-structured information that falls into some degree of order [identified, classified and parsed data relating to emails, voice and video data]… and some of it is messy unstructured data that may still be sitting in the so-called data lake.
It is this middle ground of semi-structured information that we’re concerned with now… and, in particular, video.
Web developers are now being tasked with video management to serve the pages that many of us access every day and Cloudinary insists that this task could benefit from an additional degree of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The media management platform company offers a dedicated video management tool that now includes new AI capabilities to speed the video workflow process and improve user experience and engagement.
Brands have long favoured video for its power and effectiveness, but why?
Nearly 90% of consumers rely on videos to help make purchasing decisions; landing pages with video achieve conversion rates of 80% or more. However (as a general reality) older platforms weren’t built to support the high volume of video currently being published, nor the range of browsers and platforms currently in use.
In short: video can create massive headaches for web-centric developers.
Cloudinary capabilities
Cloudinary’s new video capabilities claims to be able to allow web developers to automate for format and quality at scale. The company’s software uses AI to shoulder the time-consuming work traditionally required to select the right codecs, formats and quality.
This video management platform is also capable of optimising video content for mobile and social. Deep learning capabilities dynamically re-frame landscape mode videos to any aspect ratio requested on-the-fly, and intelligent content-aware cropping uses machine learning to focus on the most engaging story in the frame.
“The exponential growth of online video content calls for an entirely new approach to video management. Video bandwidth on the Cloudinary platform has trebled over the last few months, underscoring the increased demand for video-rich experiences,” said Nadav Soferman, co-founder and chief product officer, Cloudinary. “Companies understand the power video holds, yet most continue to face obstacles when it comes to creating and delivering engaging video content at the pace and scale required to compete. Developers deserve a fresh approach. Our solution addresses today’s needs by utilising AI to automate tedious and time-consuming tasks so brands can more easily deliver the kinds of dynamic video experiences that convert.”
Other functions include the ability to add video to product pages — and, also, the option to simplify search, improve team workflows and optimise storage.
AI-based auto-tagging, structured metadata and advanced search capabilities let users more manage, store and search video libraries.
Finally here, Cloudinary has provides a means of managing user-generated content.
Cloudinary says it has simplified the process of moderating, optimising and delivering thousands of user-generated videos at scale by automating functions like cropping, resizing, branding, overlays, quality etc.
Video killed the radio star, let’s hope video won’t kill the web development star.