We are a Swiss Army knife for your files
Transloadit is a service for companies with developers. We handle their file uploads and media processing. This means that they can save on development time and the heavy machinery that is required to handle big volumes in an automated way.
We pioneered with this concept in 2009 and have made our customers happy ever since. We are still actively improving our service in 2026, as well as our open source projects uppy.io and tus.io, which are changing how the world does file uploading.
Make video compatible for all devices
If you have users on many different devices, and you want to offer them the optimal experience, you want to deliver the smallest files possible, so you want to make sure that you're not shipping:
- pixels beyond what their screen can render
- quality beyond what their bandwidth can carry
- codecs that their device can't understand (an obvious prerequisite)
MPEG-DASH is a great new standard that can adjust video quality for users, while it is playing. This means that quality can be scaled all the way down to audio-only as users move through tunnels, and pick back up to full HD (or more) when they're on Wi-Fi.
Native support for MPEG-DASH across browsers in 2018 is lacking. Luckily there is dash.js, a JavaScript library that can add MPEG-DASH support to browsers that support Media Source Extensions. As you can see, in early 2018 that means iOS is out of the window. Sad.
Before MPEG-DASH was conceived, Apple already had this Adaptive technology as a proprietary undertaking, called HLS. So if you'd want to offer the best experience, ideally you make the player switch between HLS and MPEG-DASH, so long as Apple isn't on board yet. And then maybe you want to add 'old school' mp4 and webm files, just for devices or players that aren't (in) browsers and won't support Adaptive streaming for some time to come.
In this, admittedly, rather long example, we're going to illustrate how to generate all these different formats, along with a code snippet of how your player could switch between those.
We can use WebM's VP9 codec for modern browsers and fall back to MP4s for the rest like so:
<html>
<head>
<title>Readaptive</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.plyr.io/2.0.7/plyr.css">
<style>
.plyr-container,
.plyr-player {
width: 720px;
height: 540px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Readaptive</h1>
<p>
Here's a script that offers the browser HLS, DASH or MP4/WEBM fallbacks based on capability.
<br>
To force a selection click (and then refresh):
<ul>
<li><a href="#">auto</a></li>
<li><a href="#hls">hls</a></li>
<li><a href="#dash">dash</a></li>
<li><a href="#non-adaptive">non-adaptive</a></li>
</ul>
</p>
<br>
<div class="plyr-container">
<video
controls
playsinline
class="plyr-player"
poster="https://tamhub.edgly.net/plain/b3/7eba411c6d11e8bbdb594d427f9a9f-aligators/thumbnailed.jpg"
>
<source
src="https://tamhub.edgly.net/plain/b3/7eba411c6d11e8bbdb594d427f9a9f-aligators/plain_720_vp9_encoded.webm"
type="video/webm; codecs=vp9,vorbis"
>
<source
src="https://tamhub.edgly.net/plain/b3/7eba411c6d11e8bbdb594d427f9a9f-aligators/plain_720_h264_encoded.mp4"
type="video/mp4"
>
<source src="https://tamhub.edgly.net/adapt/b3/7eba411c6d11e8bbdb594d427f9a9f-aligators/hls-playlist.m3u8">
<source src="https://tamhub.edgly.net/adapt/b3/7eba411c6d11e8bbdb594d427f9a9f-aligators/dash-playlist.mpd">
</video>
</div>
</body>
<script src="http://cdn.dashjs.org/latest/dash.all.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.plyr.io/2.0.7/plyr.js"></script>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/hls.js@0.8.9/dist/hls.js"></script>
<script>
function readaptive(selector, options) {
if (!options) options = {}
if (!('force' in options)) options.force = location.hash.replace('#', '')
var dashjs = window.dashjs
var plyr = window.plyr
var Hls = window.Hls
var supportsDash = typeof (window.MediaSource || window.WebKitMediaSource) === 'function'
var supportsHls = Hls.isSupported()
var player,
i,
players = document.querySelectorAll(selector)
var adaptiveSources = []
var nonAdaptiveSources = []
for (var i = 0; i < players.length; i++) {
player = players[i]
var source,
j,
sources = player.getElementsByTagName('source')
var autoplay = false
if ('autoplay' in options) {
autoplay = options.autoplay
} else if (player.getAttribute('autoplay')) {
autoplay = true
}
if (sources.length < 1) {
return console.error('No sources found in player')
}
for (var j = 0; j < sources.length; j++) {
source = sources[j]
var src = source.getAttribute('src')
var type
if ((type = source.getAttribute('type'))) {
type = type.split(' ')[0].split(';')[0].split('/')[1]
}
if (`${src}`.match(/\.m3u8$/)) {
type = 'hls'
} else if (`${src}`.match(/\.mpd$/)) {
type = 'dash'
} else if (!type) {
type = src.split('.').pop()
}
if (type === 'hls') {
if (supportsHls && (!options.force || options.force === 'hls')) {
// https://codepen.io/sampotts/pen/JKEMqB
var hls = new Hls()
hls.loadSource(src)
hls.attachMedia(player)
hls.on(Hls.Events.MANIFEST_PARSED, function () {
if (autoplay) {
player.play()
}
})
adaptiveSources.push({ type, source })
}
} else if (type === 'dash') {
if (supportsDash && (!options.force || options.force === 'dash')) {
// https://codepen.io/sampotts/pen/BzpJXN
var dash = dashjs.MediaPlayer().create()
dash.initialize(player, src, autoplay)
adaptiveSources.push({ type, source })
}
} else {
// Non adaptive source. Let's add it so that the browser will pick the best candidate for playback
nonAdaptiveSources.push({ type, source })
}
}
player.innerHTML = ''
var picked = []
if (adaptiveSources.length !== 0) {
for (var k in adaptiveSources) {
// Only use 1 Adaptive source; so break
player.appendChild(adaptiveSources[k].source)
picked.push(adaptiveSources[k].type)
break
}
} else if (nonAdaptiveSources.length !== 0) {
for (var k in nonAdaptiveSources) {
// Allow the browser to pick from all non-adaptive sources
player.appendChild(nonAdaptiveSources[k].source)
picked.push(nonAdaptiveSources[k].type)
}
} else {
return console.error('No non-adaptive sources collected')
}
// https://github.com/sampotts/plyr#options
var player = plyr.setup(this, {
debug: false,
autoplay: autoplay,
controls: ['play', 'progress', 'current-time'],
})[0]
// https://github.com/sampotts/plyr#events
player.on('ready', function (event) {
// console.log({event})
})
}
return { picked }
}
var { picked, player } = readaptive('.plyr-player')
var newParagraph = document.createElement('p')
newParagraph.textContent = 'Offering the browser: ' + picked.join(', ')
document.getElementsByClassName('plyr-container')[0].appendChild(newParagraph)
</script>
</html>
Step 1:
Handle uploads
We can handle uploads of your users directly.Learn more
":original": {
"robot": "/upload/handle"
}Step 2:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"plain_720_vp9_encoded": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"height": 720,
"preset": "webm",
"turbo": false,
"width": 1280
}Step 3:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"plain_720_h264_encoded": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"height": 720,
"preset": "ipad-high",
"turbo": false,
"width": 1280
}Step 4:
Extract thumbnails from videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"thumbnailed": {
"use": "plain_720_h264_encoded",
"robot": "/video/thumbs",
"result": true,
"count": 1,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"format": "jpg",
"height": 720,
"resize_strategy": "fit",
"width": 1280
}Step 5:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"dash_720p_video": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"preset": "dash_720p_video",
"turbo": false
}Step 6:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"dash_360p_video": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"preset": "dash_360p_video",
"turbo": false
}Step 7:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"dash_270p_video": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"preset": "dash_270p_video",
"turbo": false
}Step 8:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"dash-32k-audio": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"preset": "dash-32k-audio",
"turbo": false
}Step 9:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"dash-64k-audio": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"preset": "dash-64k-audio",
"turbo": false
}Step 10:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"hls-720p-video": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"preset": "hls-720p",
"turbo": false
}Step 11:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"hls-360p-video": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"preset": "hls-360p",
"turbo": false
}Step 12:
Transcode, resize, or watermark videos
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"hls-270p-video": {
"use": ":original",
"robot": "/video/encode",
"result": true,
"ffmpeg_stack": "v7",
"preset": "hls-270p",
"turbo": false
}Step 13:
Convert videos to HLS, MPEG-Dash and CMAF
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
"dash_adapted": {
"use": {
"steps": [
"dash_720p_video",
"dash_360p_video",
"dash_270p_video",
"dash-64k-audio",
"dash-32k-audio"
],
"bundle_steps": true
},
"robot": "/video/adaptive",
"result": true,
"playlist_name": "dash-playlist.mpd",
"technique": "dash"
}Step 14:
Convert videos to HLS, MPEG-Dash and CMAF
We offer a variety of video encoding features like optimizing for different devices, merging, injecting ads, changing audio tracks, or adding company logos.Learn more
application/x-mpegURL – 534 B
application/x-mpegURL – 200 B
application/x-mpegURL – 200 B
application/x-mpegURL – 199 B
"hls_adapted": {
"use": {
"steps": [
"hls-720p-video",
"hls-360p-video",
"hls-270p-video"
],
"bundle_steps": true
},
"robot": "/video/adaptive",
"result": true,
"playlist_name": "hls-playlist.m3u8",
"technique": "hls"
}Step 15:
Export files to Amazon S3
We export to the storage platform of your choice.Learn more
"adaptive_exported": {
"use": [
"dash_adapted",
"hls_adapted"
],
"robot": "/s3/store",
"credentials": "demo_s3_credentials",
"path": "${unique_original_prefix}-${file.original_basename}/adapt/${file.meta.relative_path}/${file.name}",
"url_prefix": "https://demos.transloadit.com/"
}Step 16:
Export files to Amazon S3
We export to the storage platform of your choice.Learn more
:originalplain_720_vp9_encodedplain_720_h264_encodedthumbnaileddash_720p_videodash_360p_videodash_270p_videodash-32k-audiodash-64k-audiohls-720p-videohls-360p-videohls-270p-videodash_adapted- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/video/480x270_471885_30_dashinit.mp4
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/dash-playlist.mpd
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/video/640x360_817343_30_dashinit.mp4
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/audio/64270_44100_dashinit.mp4
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/audio/32377_44100_dashinit.mp4
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/video/1280x720_3345814_30_dashinit.mp4
hls_adapted- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/640x360_1010474_30/seg__2.ts
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/hls-playlist.m3u8
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/640x360_1010474_30/640x360_1010474_30.m3u8
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/640x360_1010474_30/seg__0.ts
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/480x270_565420_30/480x270_565420_30.m3u8
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/480x270_565420_30/seg__1.ts
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/480x270_565420_30/seg__2.ts
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/1280x720_4037964_30/1280x720_4037964_30.m3u8
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/480x270_565420_30/seg__0.ts
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/640x360_1010474_30/seg__1.ts
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/1280x720_4037964_30/seg__2.ts
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/1280x720_4037964_30/seg__1.ts
- https://demos.transloadit.com/9c/e7090f34bc4818beec6eb0a60f6d12-kite25/adapt/1280x720_4037964_30/seg__0.ts
"plain_exported": {
"use": [
":original",
"plain_720_vp9_encoded",
"plain_720_h264_encoded",
"thumbnailed"
],
"robot": "/s3/store",
"credentials": "demo_s3_credentials",
"path": "${unique_original_prefix}-${file.original_basename}/plain/${previous_step.name}.${file.ext}",
"url_prefix": "https://demos.transloadit.com/"
}Live Demo. See for yourself
Loading Uppy demo…
This live demo is powered by
Uppy, our open source file uploader that you can also use without Transloadit, and
tus, our open protocol for resumable file uploads that is making uploading more reliable across the world.
Build this in your own language
<!-- This pulls Uppy from our CDN -->
<!-- For smaller self-hosted bundles, install Uppy and plugins manually: -->
<!-- npm i --save @uppy/core @uppy/dashboard @uppy/remote-sources @uppy/transloadit ... -->
<link
href="https://releases.transloadit.com/uppy/v3.10.0/uppy.min.css"
rel="stylesheet"
/>
<button id="browse">Select Files</button>
<script type="module">
import {
Uppy,
Dashboard,
ImageEditor,
RemoteSources,
Transloadit,
} from 'https://releases.transloadit.com/uppy/v3.10.0/uppy.min.mjs'
const uppy = new Uppy()
.use(Transloadit, {
waitForEncoding: true,
alwaysRunAssembly: true,
assemblyOptions: {
params: {
// It's often better store encoding instructions in your account
// and use a `template_id` instead of adding these steps inline
steps: {
':original': {
robot: '/upload/handle',
},
plain_720_vp9_encoded: {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
height: 720,
preset: 'webm',
turbo: false,
width: 1280,
},
plain_720_h264_encoded: {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
height: 720,
preset: 'ipad-high',
turbo: false,
width: 1280,
},
thumbnailed: {
use: 'plain_720_h264_encoded',
robot: '/video/thumbs',
result: true,
count: 1,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
format: 'jpg',
height: 720,
resize_strategy: 'fit',
width: 1280,
},
dash_720p_video: {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
preset: 'dash_720p_video',
turbo: false,
},
dash_360p_video: {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
preset: 'dash_360p_video',
turbo: false,
},
dash_270p_video: {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
preset: 'dash_270p_video',
turbo: false,
},
'dash-32k-audio': {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
preset: 'dash-32k-audio',
turbo: false,
},
'dash-64k-audio': {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
preset: 'dash-64k-audio',
turbo: false,
},
'hls-720p-video': {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
preset: 'hls-720p',
turbo: false,
},
'hls-360p-video': {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
preset: 'hls-360p',
turbo: false,
},
'hls-270p-video': {
use: ':original',
robot: '/video/encode',
result: true,
ffmpeg_stack: 'v7',
preset: 'hls-270p',
turbo: false,
},
dash_adapted: {
use: {
steps: ['dash_720p_video', 'dash_360p_video', 'dash_270p_video', 'dash-64k-audio', 'dash-32k-audio'],
bundle_steps: true,
},
robot: '/video/adaptive',
result: true,
playlist_name: 'dash-playlist.mpd',
technique: 'dash',
},
hls_adapted: {
use: {
steps: ['hls-720p-video', 'hls-360p-video', 'hls-270p-video'],
bundle_steps: true,
},
robot: '/video/adaptive',
result: true,
playlist_name: 'hls-playlist.m3u8',
technique: 'hls',
},
adaptive_exported: {
use: ['dash_adapted', 'hls_adapted'],
robot: '/s3/store',
credentials: 'demo_s3_credentials',
path: '${unique_original_prefix}-${file.original_basename}/adapt/${file.meta.relative_path}/${file.name}',
url_prefix: 'https://demos.transloadit.com/',
},
plain_exported: {
use: [':original', 'plain_720_vp9_encoded', 'plain_720_h264_encoded', 'thumbnailed'],
robot: '/s3/store',
credentials: 'demo_s3_credentials',
path: '${unique_original_prefix}-${file.original_basename}/plain/${previous_step.name}.${file.ext}',
url_prefix: 'https://demos.transloadit.com/',
},
},
},
},
})
.use(Dashboard, { trigger: '#browse' })
.use(ImageEditor, { target: Dashboard })
.use(RemoteSources, {
companionUrl: 'https://api2.transloadit.com/companion',
})
.on('complete', ({ transloadit }) => {
// Due to `waitForEncoding:true` this is fired after encoding is done.
// Alternatively, set `waitForEncoding` to `false` and provide a `notify_url`
console.log(transloadit) // Array of Assembly Statuses
for (const assembly of transloadit) {
console.log(assembly.results) // Array of all encoding results
}
})
.on('error', (error) => {
console.error(error)
})
</script>
So many ways to integrate
Transloadit is a service for companies with developers. And there are many ways developers can put Transloadit to good use inside your company to automate media processing.
Bulk imports
Add one of our import Robots to acquire and transcode massive media libraries.
Handling uploads
We are the experts at reliably handling uploads. We wrote the protocol for it.
Front-end integration
We integrate with web browsers via our next-gen file uploader Uppy and SDKs for Android and iOS.
Back-end integration
Send us batch jobs in any server language using one of our SDKs or directly interfacing with our REST API.
Pingbacks
Configure a notify_url to let your server receive transcoding results JSON in the transloadit POST field.
On-demand
Use our Smart CDN to adapt files on-demand and stream them directly to your users.
