Simple HTTP API to obtain remote video metadata using ffprobe as a backend.

Docker

You can find an automatically built Docker image for each tagged version of this API on Docker Hub.

$ docker run -it -p 3000:3000 fcingolani/video-metadata-api
npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm info using npm@2.15.11
npm info using node@v4.8.3
npm info prestart video-metadata-api@1.3.1
npm info start video-metadata-api@1.3.1

> video-metadata-api@1.3.1 start /usr/src/app
> node server.js

{"name":"video-metadata-api","hostname":"4d43bae241e3","pid":15,"level":30,"msg":"video-metadata-api 1.3.1 listening at http://:::3000","time":"2017-05-23T18:51:58.423Z","v":0}

Configuration

You can configure this API using a .env file or environment variables.

Var	Description	Default
base_path	URL base path, useful for IIS Node	/
ffmpeg_dir	FFMPEG directory, for static builds or Windows
log_level	Bunyan log level	warn
port	Listening port	3000
ffprobe_timeout_milliseconds	Transport time limit	∞

Usage

Make a GET Request specifying the remote video URL in the video_url parameter:

$ curl http://localhost:3000/?video_url=http://media.w3.org/2010/05/sintel/trailer.mp4

You will get a json response:

{
  "streams":[
    {
      "index":0,
      "codec_name":"h264",
      "codec_long_name":"H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10",
      "profile":"High",
      "codec_type":"video",
      "codec_time_base":"1/48",
      "codec_tag_string":"avc1",
      "codec_tag":"0x31637661",
      "width":854,
      "height":480,
      "has_b_frames":2,
      "sample_aspect_ratio":"0:1",
      "display_aspect_ratio":"0:1",
      "pix_fmt":"yuv420p",
      "level":30,
      "timecode":"N/A",
      "id":"N/A",
      "r_frame_rate":"24/1",
      "avg_frame_rate":"24/1",
      "time_base":"1/24",
      "start_pts":0,
      "start_time":0,
      "duration_ts":1253,
      "duration":52.208333,
      "bit_rate":537875,
      "nb_frames":1253,
      "nb_read_frames":"N/A",
      "nb_read_packets":"N/A",
      "tags":{
        "creation_time":"1970-01-01 00:00:00",
        "language":"und",
        "handler_name":"VideoHandler"
      },
      "disposition":{
        "default":1,
        "dub":0,
        "original":0,
        "comment":0,
        "lyrics":0,
        "karaoke":0,
        "forced":0,
        "hearing_impaired":0,
        "visual_impaired":0,
        "clean_effects":0,
        "attached_pic":0
      }
    },
    {
      "index":1,
      "codec_name":"aac",
      "codec_long_name":"AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)",
      "profile":"unknown",
      "codec_type":"audio",
      "codec_time_base":"1/48000",
      "codec_tag_string":"mp4a",
      "codec_tag":"0x6134706d",
      "sample_fmt":"fltp",
      "sample_rate":48000,
      "channels":2,
      "channel_layout":"stereo",
      "bits_per_sample":0,
      "id":"N/A",
      "r_frame_rate":"0/0",
      "avg_frame_rate":"0/0",
      "time_base":"1/48000",
      "start_pts":0,
      "start_time":0,
      "duration_ts":2493440,
      "duration":51.946667,
      "bit_rate":126694,
      "nb_frames":2435,
      "nb_read_frames":"N/A",
      "nb_read_packets":"N/A",
      "tags":{
        "creation_time":"1970-01-01 00:00:00",
        "language":"und",
        "handler_name":"SoundHandler"
      },
      "disposition":{
        "default":1,
        "dub":0,
        "original":0,
        "comment":0,
        "lyrics":0,
        "karaoke":0,
        "forced":0,
        "hearing_impaired":0,
        "visual_impaired":0,
        "clean_effects":0,
        "attached_pic":0
      }
    }
  ],
  "format":{
    "filename":"http://media.w3.org/2010/05/sintel/trailer.mp4",
    "nb_streams":2,
    "nb_programs":0,
    "format_name":"mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2",
    "format_long_name":"QuickTime / MOV",
    "start_time":0,
    "duration":52.209,
    "size":4372373,
    "bit_rate":669979,
    "probe_score":100,
    "tags":{
      "major_brand":"isom",
      "minor_version":"512",
      "compatible_brands":"isomiso2avc1mp41",
      "creation_time":"1970-01-01 00:00:00",
      "title":"Sintel Trailer",
      "artist":"Durian Open Movie Team",
      "encoder":"Lavf52.62.0",
      "copyright":"(c) copyright Blender Foundation | durian.blender.org",
      "description":"Trailer for the Sintel open movie project"
    }
  }
}

Manual Installation

Clone and install

$ git clone https://github.com/fcingolani/video-metadata-api.git
$ cd video-metadata-api
$ npm install

Having global FFMPEG binaries (Linux)

Install ffmpeg binaries globally using your package manager (YUM, apt, etc).

Having local FFMPEG binaries (Windows)

Download binaries from FFMPEG and place them inside the bin directory:

• bin\ffmpeg.exe
• bin\ffprobe.exe

Create a .env file:

ffmpeg_dir=C:\PATH\TO\bin

Install it as a windows service (optional).

$ npm install -g winser
$ npm run-script install-windows-service

Configure that service to run as a service account (won't run if you leave it as LocalSystem user).

$ sc stop "video-metadata-api"
$ sc config "video-metadata-api" obj= "DOMAIN\User" password= "password"
$ sc start "video-metadata-api"