With Spotlightr, you have the freedom of hosting your videos wherever you want! There are many advantages with using this feature as well as some disadvantages, so it's important to review this article in its entirety.
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Hybrid hosting, or linking, means that you are using a link from a video hosted somewhere and adding that link to Spotlightr. We then play that video from it's source location and play it using our video player.

We are not copying or moving the video file, we are playing it from it's source location.

This last sentence is worth repeating...we DO NOT migrate the videos you are linking. Nothing is being uploaded to Spotlightr. When you are using our linking/hybrid hosting feature, we are playing the video from it's location but with our video player.

For example, when linking with a Youtube video we are able to play that video which is still on Youtube servers and still using the Youtube network but playing that video with our video player instead of the Youtube video player.

Storage: You save Spotlightr storage space when linking from another provider. When you use a link from another platform we are not copying or moving the video over from those external sources. We are playing the video from it's external source location and playing it using our video player. This is why most Spotlightr player features still work.

If you want to use Spotlightr storage and want to optimize that usage, you can compress your videos without losing quality.

Bandwidth: You are not using Spotlightr bandwidth so you might be saving money if you use a very large amount of bandwidth. However, you may actually use less bandwidth than you think. If you are not sure, add a dozen or couple dozen of your most popular videos. Then monitor your bandwidth usage from your Accounts & Billing section of your dashboard. This can be monitored daily.

Encryption: Linked videos cannot be encrypted. The encryption process happens when a file is uploaded to Spotlightr, so this process doesn't occur when linking. Other security features still work however, as you can secure them with the password protection feature and restrict them to play only on desired domains.

Performance: Performance might not be as good and we cannot guarantee performance will be as good as it would be if you uploaded direct to Spotlightr. Since we are using the video from it's source location, it's also using that systems bandwidth, storage and infrastructure We have less control on the overall environment for playback, so issues can arise that may be out of our control.

Thumbnails: We cannot generate custom thumbnails from certain frames of the video. We are able to generate a default thumbnail, but not a custom. If a custom thumbnail is required then an image must be uploaded.

Multiple Resolutions: We cannot retrieve multiple resolutions and your viewers cannot change the resolution that is best for them based on their internet speed.
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The exception here is Youtube. More than one resolution is now possible with Youtube links. We try to retrieve the highest resolution possible. If 720 is available we will be able to serve the 720 and 360 version. We cannot however retrieve the 1080 version video at this time.

Downloading: As a Spotlightr user It is not possible to download your video back from Spotlightr as we are not moving or copying files when you link a video. As mentioned above, we are playing the video from it's source location.
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Additionally, your viewers cannot download the video via a download button in the player settings.

Subtitles: We cannot generate sub-titles from linked videos.

Aspect ratio: We cannot auto-detect the aspect ratio of your video

Timeline Scanning: Thumbnail of video frames while scanning timeline not available

If you are linking videos from Youtube, please be aware that we do run into issues from time to time. This is because Youtube makes many changes to its infrastructure that we must react to. And keep in mind that Youtube prefers that you play their videos with their own player, so we need to 'hack' the way their videos work in order to play their videos with the Spotlightr player.

We cannot guarantee any performance metrics when linking from Youtube. Here's what that means for you...

Yes by linking via Youtube you might save money because you are not paying for Spotlightr storage or bandwidth. We say might, because there are steps you can take so please check the FAQs below for more info.

But with that comes the disadvantage that this is NOT the most stable way to use Spotlightr. We always recommend you upload files direct to us instead of linking from Youtube. This is the BEST way to ensure your videos are stable and play flawlessly.

If your #1 priority is cost, then Youtube linking could be a good option for you for some or all of your videos. Just understand the disadvantages are something you will deal. We do our very best to make sure linking works as well as possible, but there is much that is out of our control.

If your #1 priority is performance and uptime, then we recommend that you do NOT link from Youtube. If you have lots of traffic and videos then hopefully you have budget to pay for proper video hosting. That means uploading direct to Spotlightr and using our storage and high quality CDN network that we have control over.

Youtube might be making any number of infrastructure changes or throttling certain geographic locations. If Youtube linked videos are having issues we would recommend you either upload them again, watch them a bunch of times (from multiple locations via VPN if possible) or instead upload your video direct to Spotlightr.

Youtube videos are freezing, what can we do?

Ask your viewers to use a lower resolution from the player controls or wait for the video to buffer. Youtube videos at 1080 might freeze a little depending on the viewer's location.

Otherwise, instead of linking from Youtube please upload direct to Spotlightr which supports up to 4k.

Youtube videos are loading slowly, what can we do?

This is going to happen depending on the viewers location and Youtube throttling traffic. If this is something you do not want to deal with, upload direct to Spotlightr instead of linking from Youtube.

I really want Youtube to work. I can't afford to pay Spotlightr for storage and CDN bandwidth. What can I do?

As far as storage costs, you can compress your videos before uploading to Spotlightr and this will save a ton of storage space. Check this article for instructions.

If bandwidth is a concern, you may be surprised that the vast majority of our customers don't use nearly as much bandwidth as they think they do or would use. Our plans include enough bandwidth for 99% of our customers, so there are never extra bandwidth costs.

If you are still not sure, upload 20 or 30 of your most people videos and monitor bandwidth usage. You can monitor it daily via your Accounts & Billing section of your dashboard. If you see that bandwidth being used isn't as much as you thought, you can continue to upload videos to Spotlightr.

Please also reach out to support for help in estimating your usage and picking a plan that works best for you.

My linked videos from Youtube work except for ones I just uploaded to Youtube. Is there anything I can do?

Youtube videos may not work with Spotlightr if they were very recently uploaded to Youtube. We've also noticed that videos with zero views or just a few views sometimes don't work either. So if you just uploaded a video to Youtube and you are trying to link it and it doesn't work, please allow some time to pass and try again. And also be sure to get at least 5 or 10 views on the video as well.

For a list of supported sources please check this article. If your source is not listed here it might still work. If the video link/URL is publicly accessible, and basically plays when you load the link in a browser, then it will very likely work with Spotlightr.