VOD questions about transcoding, distribution (CloudFront and MediaPackager)

Question

Using this article: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/on-demand-video.html
I am attempting to setup a basic VOD distribution for OTT 24/7 linear single channel.

Question 1: Document says: Transcode your content by using a MediaConvert job.
Do I have to use MediaConvert, or can I transcode to .ts using Adobe? I have noticed when ingesting Assets, that they queue and then they fail, when using mp4 from the S3 bucket. Does VOD only use .ts?

Question 2: Document says: Deliver your converted content by using a CloudFront distribution
But it only describes how to setup Microsoft IIS.
How do I setup CloudFront to display content from my S3 bucket using manifests?

I have manifests for each video like so:
    #EXTM3U
    #EXT-X-VERSION:3
    #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=1397072,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=1372080,CODECS="avc1.42c01f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=1280x720,FRAME-RATE=29.970
    #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=1200000,RESOLUTION=854x480
Rototiller_GRAM_237LOW.mp4
    #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=2000000,RESOLUTION=1280x720
Rototiller_GRAM_237MED.mp4
    #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=4000000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080
Rototiller_GRAM_237HIGH.mp4

Then I have a main manifest that will eventually be filled with 24 hours of content:
>#EXTM3U
>#EXT-X-VERSION:3
>#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=1397072,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=1372080,CODECS="avc1.42c01f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=1280x720,FRAME->RATE=29.970
>#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:
>BANDWIDTH=4000000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080
>ocho/OCHO_Rototiller.m3u8
>#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=4000000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080
>ocho/OCHO_CowChip.m3u8
>#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=4000000,RESOLUTION=1920x1080
>ocho/RR_StoneSkip.m3u8

In CloudFront, I have a production distribution and a staging created, in MediaPackage I have a channel and a channel group setup, and an origin endpoint.
Under VOD, I have a Packaging Group defined, and EC2 is configured to talk to it on behalf of MediaPackage in the policies.

What am I missing?
Thanks in advance!

Roman Chekmazov · Answer

You find information about VoD solutions on AWS here: https://aws.amazon.com/developer/application-security-performance/articles/video-on-demand/

Avani-B · Answer

Hi ,

Hope you are doing great !

For your question one,  please note it is not mandatory to use AWS MediaConvert for transcoding files in S3. You can use any media converter which provides similar functionality to MediaConvert. 
Further , for your issue regarding ingesting assets via MediaConvert fails, I would request you to open a support case with MediaConvert team sharing the JOB ID and the source file facing the issue. The concerned team will be happy to help you further.

For your subsequent question regarding how do I setup CloudFront to display content from my S3 bucket using manifests,  you will have to ingest asset to the S3 bucket and attach that packaging group to the asset. After creating the asset resource, AWS Elemental MediaPackage prepares to serve the packaged manifests.
 The URLs of the manifests can be provided to CloudFront to play the manifest file.

Please refer the below documentation for more information:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/mediapackage/latest/ug/gs-output-vod.html  
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/live-streaming.html

VOD questions about transcoding, distribution (CloudFront and MediaPackager)

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