Standardizing Video Output to MP4

Introduction

Our team has been working on streamlining the video rendering process for our landing page promos. This update focuses on simplifying the output format to a single standard: MP4.

The Change

The previous setup involved generating both MP4 and WebM formats for different browsers and devices. This required maintaining separate rendering configurations and increased storage needs.

Implementation

We've updated our render scripts to exclusively output MP4 files. This simplifies the rendering process and ensures consistent video playback across platforms. The remotion render commands in our package.json have been modified to reflect this change:

{
  "scripts": {
    "render": "remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromo out/devlog-promo.mp4",
    "render:mobile": "remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromoMobile out/devlog-promo-mobile.mp4",
    "render:en": "remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromo-en out/devlog-promo-en.mp4 && remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromoMobile-en out/devlog-promo-mobile-en.mp4",
    "render:es": "remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromo-es out/devlog-promo-es.mp4 && remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromoMobile-es out/devlog-promo-mobile-es.mp4",
    "render:fr": "remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromo-fr out/devlog-promo-fr.mp4 && remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromoMobile-fr out/devlog-promo-mobile-fr.mp4",
    "render:de": "remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromo-de out/devlog-promo-de.mp4 && remotion render src/Root.tsx DevlogPromoMobile-de out/devlog-promo-mobile-de.mp4"
  }
}

Benefits

• Simplified Workflow: Reduced complexity in the rendering pipeline.
• Consistent Playback: Ensures a uniform viewing experience for all users.
• Reduced Storage: Eliminates the need to store multiple video formats.

Conclusion

This update streamlines our video production workflow by standardizing on MP4 output. This change simplifies our processes, reduces storage overhead, and ensures a consistent user experience. We are now only generating MP4 files which simplifies deployment and management.