Automate S3 Video Transcoding, Thumbnail Generation & CDN Distribution

Description

Video Processing Pipeline with Thumbnail Generation and CDN Distribution

Summary
Automated video processing system that monitors S3 for new uploads, generates thumbnails and preview clips, extracts metadata, transcodes to multiple formats, and distributes to CDN with webhook notifications.

Detailed Description
A comprehensive video processing workflow that receives S3 events or manual triggers, validates video files, extracts metadata via FFprobe, generates thumbnails at key frames, creates animated GIF previews, transcodes to multiple resolutions, invalidates CDN cache, and sends completion notifications.

Key Features
S3 Event Monitoring**: Automatic detection of new video uploads
Thumbnail Generation**: Multiple sizes at key frame intervals
Video Metadata**: FFprobe extraction of duration, resolution, codec info
Preview GIF**: Animated preview clips for video galleries
Multi-Format Transcoding**: Convert to 1080p, 720p, 480p
CDN Distribution**: Cloudflare cache invalidation and signed URLs
Webhook Callbacks**: Notify origin system on completion

Use Cases
Video hosting platforms
Media asset management systems
Content delivery networks
Video streaming services
Social media platforms
E-learning video processing
User-generated content platforms

Required Credentials
AWS S3 Credentials (for video storage)
FFmpeg API credentials (via HTTP)
Cloudflare API Token (for CDN)
Slack Bot Token (for notifications)
Google Sheets OAuth (for logging)

Node Count: 24 (19 functional + 5 sticky notes)

Unique Aspects
Uses Webhook for S3 event notifications
Uses Code nodes for S3 info extraction and URL generation
Uses If node for video format validation
Uses HTTP Request nodes for FFprobe, FFmpeg, and CDN APIs
Uses Aggregate node for collecting parallel processing results
Uses Merge nodes for multiple workflow path consolidation
Implements parallel processing for thumbnails, GIF, and transcoding

Workflow Architecture
[S3 Event Webhook] [Manual Webhook]
| |
+--------+----------+
|
v
[Merge Triggers]
|
v
[Extract S3 Info] (Code)
|
v
[Check Is Video] (If)
/ \
Yes No
| |
v v
[Get Video Metadata] [Invalid Response]
(FFprobe) |
| |
v |
[Parse Video Metadata] |
(Code) |
/|\ |
/ | \ |
v v v |
Thumbs[Transcode] |
\ | / |
\ | / |
v v |
[Aggregate Results] |
| |
v |
[Invalidate CDN Cache] |
| |
v |
[Generate Signed URLs] |
/ \ |
/ \ |
v v |
[Log Sheet] [Slack] |
\ / |
\ / |
v |
[Merge Output Paths] |
| |
+---------+-------+
|
v
[Merge All Paths]
|
v
[Respond to Webhook]

Configuration Guide
S3 Event: Configure S3 bucket notification to send events to webhook
FFmpeg API: Use a hosted FFmpeg service (e.g., api.ffmpeg-service.com)
Cloudflare: Set zone ID and API token for cache invalidation
Slack Channel: Set #video-processing for notifications
Google Sheets: Connect for processing metrics logging

Supported Video Formats
| Extension | MIME Type |
|-----------|----------|
| .mp4 | video/mp4 |
| .mov | video/quicktime |
| .avi | video/x-msvideo |
| .mkv | video/x-matroska |
| .webm | video/webm |
| .m4v | video/x-m4v |

Thumbnail Generation
| Size | Dimensions | Suffix |
|------|------------|--------|
| Large | 1280x720 | _large |
| Medium | 640x360 | _medium |
| Small | 320x180 | _small |

Thumbnails generated at: 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 90% of video duration

Transcoding Presets
| Preset | Resolution | Bitrate | Codec |
|--------|------------|---------|-------|
| 1080p | 1920x1080 | 5000k | H.264 |
| 720p | 1280x720 | 2500k | H.264 |
| 480p | 854x480 | 1000k | H.264 |

Output Structure
{
"job_id": "job_1705312000_abc123",
"status": "completed",
"original": {
"filename": "video.mp4",
"resolution": "1920x1080",
"duration": "00:05:30"
},
"thumbnails": {
"large": "https://cdn/thumbnails/job_id/thumb_0_large.jpg",
"medium": "https://cdn/thumbnails/job_id/thumb_0_medium.jpg",
"small": "https://cdn/thumbnails/job_id/thumb_0_small.jpg"
},
"preview_gif": "https://cdn/previews/job_id/preview.gif",
"transcoded": {
"1080p": "https://cdn/transcoded/job_id/video_1080p.mp4",
"720p": "https://cdn/transcoded/job_id/video_720p.mp4",
"480p": "https://cdn/transcoded/job_id/video_480p.mp4"
}
}
`