Custom Video Player - Embed Videos with Style
The Evolution of Online Video and Custom Players
Early experiences with the internet were often characterized by lengthy website loading times. Even as the internet matured, loading short video files like Quicktime or WMV could require several minutes of waiting.
The progress made since then is remarkable, and the growth continues. Currently, a full day’s worth of video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute, a figure dwarfed by the overall volume of streamed video.
Adapting Your Website Strategy for Video
It is logical to align your website strategy with the increasing prominence of video. Video is rapidly becoming a crucial method for delivering information.
While many websites recognize this trend, simply embedding videos from platforms like YouTube or Vimeo represents only a portion of the potential. VP Factory offers a solution to expand your video capabilities.
Introducing VP Factory
Rather than relying solely on third-party video hosting, VP Factory allows for the creation of custom video players directly on your website.
This approach provides greater control over the user experience and branding. You can tailor the player's appearance and functionality to seamlessly integrate with your website’s design.
Benefits of Using a Custom Video Player
- Enhanced Branding: Maintain a consistent brand identity across your entire website.
- Greater Control: Customize the player’s features and behavior to meet specific needs.
- Improved User Experience: Offer a smoother and more engaging video viewing experience.
Considering the exponential growth of online video, incorporating a custom player like those offered by VP Factory can be a significant step in optimizing your website’s content delivery.
VP Factory [No Longer Available]
Let's begin by clarifying what VP Factory does not provide to prevent any future misunderstandings. VP Factory is not a system designed for managing video content directly. It doesn't function as a video authoring platform similar to those found on YouTube, GameTrailers, or Hulu.
VP Factory empowers users to construct a personalized video player. This player can then be utilized to display videos or curated video playlists on a website. The process is straightforward. Importantly, no installation is required on your web server; the players – and potentially the videos themselves – are sourced from VP Factory’s servers and integrated into your website’s HTML code. This compatibility extends to popular CMS platforms like Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress.
Utilizing VP Factory involves a three-step procedure. Initially, videos are added to your library through the VP Factory interface, as shown in the image above. It’s important to note that the free plan does not offer video storage; therefore, videos must be hosted on your own server or embedded from platforms like YouTube.
Following video addition, you can customize the appearance of your video player. The free version provides four pre-designed skins as a starting point. These skins can be further tailored by adjusting the color scheme, button styles, and default player settings.
The final step involves building the player. A VP Factory player isn’t solely the flash object itself, but is linked to a specific selection of videos. At this stage, you choose videos from those previously uploaded during the initial step.
Free Version Limits
Given the features offered by VP Factory, it’s understandable that they seek revenue. The free version imposes several limitations and is best suited for smaller, personal websites. Users with higher bandwidth requirements or professional needs are encouraged to subscribe to one of the paid membership plans, starting at $9.
As previously mentioned, the free version is restricted to four initial skins and lacks included video storage. However, the most significant limitation is the monthly player view cap of 10,000. Consequently, creating video playlists, rather than individual video players, may help you stay within this limit.
Are you aware of any alternative methods for creating custom video players with free features? Please share your recommendations in the comments section below!
