Install SDK to collect data

To start monitoring your video performance you need to connect Video Data using our client-side SDKs that sit on the player in your application. This helps collect all playback events which gets reflected as data that you can visualize on your Video Data dashboards and also fetch through our APIs to build custom solutions.

Follow the installation steps below:

Step 1: Set up your workspace

Before implementing the SDK, you need to set up your workspace and obtain your workspace key:

• Once logged in to FastPix, locate the Workspaces section in the main menu or dashboard.
• Click on it to view a list of available workspaces.
• From the list of workspaces, find and select the workspace you want to integrate your views into.
• Copy the workspace key for use in your implementation.

Step 2: Select your client-side SDK

Choose the SDK that aligns with the video player you're using. FastPix Video Data SDK supports several popular players, including:

Each SDK is optimized for its respective player to ensure seamless integration and accurate data collection.

PLEASE NOTE

If you’re using FastPix Player, it automatically connects with Video Data and insights start flowing instantly. You don’t need to do anything. By simply just using the workspace key inside FastPix player, you will be good to go.

Step 3: Integrate the SDK with your video player

After selecting your preferred SDK, integrate it with the video player of your choice by passing key metadata parameters. This metadata will allow you to visualize audience and QoE metrics in the FastPix dashboard or APIs.

Below you can see a section of the actual integration how metadata should be passed.

Example: Integrating Shaka Player  with metadata

// Initialize the Shaka Player with essential configurations

loadShakaPlayer(player, {
  debug: false, // Set to true for debugging information in the console

  data: {
    workspace_key: "WORKSPACE_KEY", // Replace with your actual workspace key
    viewer_id: "", // Example: '12345' - Unique identifier for the viewer
    experiment_name: "", // Example: 'player_test_A' - Name of the experiment if applicable
    sub_property_id: "", // Example: 'cus-1' - Identifier for the sub-property

    // Player Metadata
    player_name: "", // Example: 'My Main Player' - Name of the player instance
    player_version: "", // Example: '1.0.0' - Version of the player
    player_init_time: Date.now(), // Use current time or specify a timestamp

    // Video Metadata
    video_id: "", // Example: 'abcd123' - Unique identifier for the video
    video_title: "", // Example: 'My Great Video' - Title of the video
    video_series: "", // Example: 'Weekly Great Videos' - Series name if applicable
    video_duration: 120000, // Example: 120000 (2 minutes) - Duration in milliseconds
    video_stream_type: "on-demand", // Specify 'live' or 'on-demand'
    video_cdn: "", // Example: 'Fastly' or 'Akamai' - CDN used for streaming
  },
});

When using FastPix Player, Video Data integration is built-in and happens automatically. You would just need to provide the workspace key to start data tracking.

See detailed guide.

Example: Enable integration with FastPix Player

Include the metadata-workspace-key attribute in the FastPix Player embed code.

<fastpix-player 
  playback-id="your-live-playback-id" 
  stream-type="live-stream" 
  metadata-workspace-key="your-metadata-key"   
  metadata-video-title="video title" 
  metadata-viewer-user-id="user id" 
  metadata-video-id="video-id" 
  > 
</fastpix-player> 

Understanding and using video analytics

Once you've integrated the FastPix Data SDK, you can access analytics through the dashboard or API. These insights fall into few main categories:

1. Audience metrics

Audience metrics help you understand who is watching your content and how they're engaging with it:

• Viewer demographics (device type, location, browser)
• Session duration and completion rates
• Engagement patterns (play rates, rewind/fast-forward actions)
• Drop-off points and viewer retention
  

2. Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics

QoE metrics provide insights into the technical performance of your video delivery:

• Initial load time and time to first frame
• Buffering frequency and duration
• Playback failure rates and error types
• Resolution changes and adaptive bitrate performance
• CDN performance metrics
  

3. Data segmentation and analysis

FastPix Video Data enables you to segment your analytics across more than 50 dimensions, including:

• Device type (mobile, desktop, smart TV, etc.)
• Geographic region
• Playback type (live vs. on-demand)
• Time frame (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly)
• Custom metadata parameters

This segmentation capability allows you to isolate specific viewing scenarios and identify patterns that might be obscured in aggregate data.

Next steps

Click here to understand our dashboard interface screen by screen and how to interpret data.

You can also use our APIs to build your own custom workflows or dashboards for your application. See how?