Video Automation at Scale: Processing 1,000+ Videos/Day

The Problem

E-commerce clients needed product videos at scale:

• Manual editing: $500/video
• 500 videos/month target
• Quality must be consistent
• Fast turnaround required

The Solution: Vela

Vela automates video production using:

• FFmpeg for processing
• Browser-based rendering
• Template system
• Batch processing

Architecture

┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│   Template   │────▶│   Renderer   │────▶│    Output    │
│   Builder    │     │  (FFmpeg)    │     │   Storage    │
└──────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘
                            │
                            ▼
                    ┌──────────────┐
                    │   Browser    │
                    │   Preview    │
                    └──────────────┘

Key Features

1. Template System

interface VideoTemplate {
  id: string;
  duration: number;
  layers: Layer[];
  transitions: Transition[];
}

interface Layer {
  type: 'text' | 'image' | 'video' | 'audio';
  content: string | Blob;
  start: number;
  end: number;
  effects?: Effect[];
}

2. Browser Rendering

Using FFmpeg.wasm for in-browser rendering:

const ffmpeg = new FFmpeg();
await ffmpeg.load();

await ffmpeg.writeFile('input.mp4', videoFile);
await ffmpeg.exec([
  '-i', 'input.mp4',
  '-i', 'overlay.png',
  '-filter_complex', 'overlay=10:10',
  '-c:v', 'libx264',
  '-preset', 'fast',
  'output.mp4'
]);

3. Cloud Fallback

For complex renders, offload to AWS Fargate:

if (estimatedRenderTime > 30000) {
  // Use cloud rendering
  const job = await ecs.runTask({
    cluster: 'video-render',
    taskDefinition: 'ffmpeg-task',
  });
} else {
  // Use browser rendering
  const output = await renderInBrowser(template);
}

Cost Breakdown

| Component | Before | After | Savings | |-----------|--------|-------|---------| | Manual editing | $500 | $0 | 100% | | Compute (cloud) | - | $45 | - | | Storage | - | $20 | - | | CDN | - | $10 | - | | Total | $500 | $75 | 85% |

Performance

• Throughput: 1,000+ videos/day
• Quality: 1080p output
• Formats: MP4, WebM, GIF
• Speed: Average 30s render time

Results

For e-commerce clients:

• 85% cost reduction per video
• 10x faster turnaround
• Consistent quality
• Scalable to any volume

Video automation demonstrates that with the right tools, content creation can be both fast and affordable.