Node.js. Video streaming, and segmentation in Examples

In this article we will take a look at how we can send a video as a stream (in chunks), and as a segmented video (m3u8). Additionaly we will create a React.js app with “vime-js” (not vimeo) player.

What we will be implementing

This is how our React.js page will look like fetching data from our Node.js server:

Prerequisites

Project structure:

• /react folder — React.js app created via create react app;
• /server folder — Simple Express.js server

If you are using WebStorm as your development IDE you can use this template file:

React + Express + Eslint.zip

Just download the archive and copy it into the folder (for Mac users)

/Users/{userName}/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/WebStorm{version}/projectTemplates

After that, you can create a new project from that template (don't repeat yourself 🙂):

A new project will be created from that template

Don’t worry, you will not have to create this project from scratch → I will leave a link to the github repo:

GitHub - nemrosim/video-stream-example

If you just want to check the project without downloading it and running locally you can press “dot” . at the github page → VS Code IDEA will open:

Github page IDEA (gif)

Express.js data send

At first, we will be working on back-end implementation. We will use a video file to be work with from the Unreal Engine5 demo:

At first, we will place that file into the /server/assets folder:

Next, we will create an Express.js route (.sendFile) that will send this file by GET request /video-file :

After the server start, you can open a browser at localhost:3001/video-file page (no React, for now at least) and see how it works:

stream log image

If user will forward a video…

… video data will be loaded in chunks (take a closer look at status 206 Partial Content), just like we will do it next:

This approach is uses the Express.js framework, but how it can be done using Node.js only. Let’s take a look next.

Streaming video file

Here we will implement the same thing but only using Node.js. Create a new GET /video-chunk route:

getFileSizeAndResolvedPath and getChunkProps functions in utils.ts file:

If you will open localhost:3001/video-chunk page → result will be the same

Video segmentation

And this is the most interesting part. In this section, we will create segments of our video → m3u8 list with .ts files.

⚠️ NOTE: You can create video segments of your video using many desktop tools available, but here I what to show you how to do that using Node.js.

We will use fluent-ffmpreg library:

This library abstracts the complex command-line usage of ffmpeg into a fluent, easy to use node.js module.

fluent-ffmpeg

Instal those packages into the /server project:

yarn add fluent-ffmpeg @ffmpeg-installer/ffmpeg hls-server

… and types (if you use typescript):

yarn add @types/fluent-ffmpeg -D

Next, copy-paste code into the src/generate.mjs file.

👉 You can check more about those command lines we copy-pasted here:

FFmpeg Formats Documentation

Next, run node generate.mjs command:

It will generate ts segments with m3u8 from Unreal Engine 5 video file:

👉 m3u8 file is basically a list of video segment file names and timecodes:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-VERSION:3
#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:13
#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:0
#EXTINF:13.213200,
segments/file000.ts
#EXTINF:8.341667,
segments/file001.ts
#EXTINF:0.834167,
segments/file002.ts
#EXTINF:8.341667,
segments/file003.ts
...
#EXTINF:8.341667,
segments/file151.ts
#EXTINF:8.174833,
segments/file152.ts
#EXT-X-ENDLIST

Next, we will create two simple routes:

• /segment-list → will return a m3u8 list
• /segments/:segment → will return a file002.ts (as example) from assets/segments folder

React application

At first, add vime player to your dependencies:

yarn add @vime/react

Next, update App.ts file with this code:

Basically, we have three Players:

• Chunks and File players requesting a video file from a server in a “simple” way → fetch video file by a link;
• Segments players work a bit differently → it fetches m3u8 list with the segment file names and timecodes at first and then file by one at a specific time

⚠️ NOTE: You can check my other article, if want to know how to deploy this app on Netlify:

How to deploy Node.js application on Netlify. Beginner’s guide

Github repository link:

GitHub - nemrosim/video-stream-example

If you liked this story you can check “List of all my stories” as well. Happy coding!