Play Bunny Videos in the MediaShield Player

Updated

Pro feature. Available in MediaShield Pro.

PRO - requires MediaShield Pro and a Bunny Stream connection.

By default a Bunny video plays inside Bunny's own embedded player. That player is a separate page element MediaShield cannot control, so the watermark, speed control, accurate progress tracking and in-video ads do not apply to it. Direct playback plays the Bunny stream in the MediaShield player instead, so all of those work.

Why use it#

Bunny videos get the same watermark, progress tracking, speed control and in-video ads as the rest of your library. In Bunny's own embedded player those do not apply.

Before you start#

  • You have connected Bunny Stream with its Pull Zone Hostname.
  • Your videos are encoded in Bunny.
  • If your Bunny library uses Token Authentication, you have its key. (Bunny dashboard > your Stream library > Security > Token Authentication Key.)

Turn on direct playback#

  1. Go to MediaShield > Bunny Playback. This is a normal WordPress admin page under the MediaShield menu.
  2. Check the Pull zone line. It is read from your Bunny connection. If it says "unknown", or you see "No active Bunny connection found", connect Bunny first.
  3. Paste the Token authentication key if your library uses token authentication. Leave it empty if not. The key is stored encrypted and shows as dots afterwards. Leave the dots alone to keep the current key. Clear the field to remove it.
  4. Under Stream format, leave HLS (the default) or tick Use the MP4 rendition instead of HLS and choose a size.
  5. Tick Play Bunny videos through the MediaShield player.
  6. Click Save and test.

MediaShield tests a signed address against Bunny every time you save. The result shows on the page. If the test fails, direct playback is switched back off, so a wrong key can never black out your videos. Fix the key and save again.

Settings#

Setting Default What it does
Pull zone From your Bunny connection Read only. The hostname the stream comes from
Token authentication key empty Used to sign stream addresses. Signed addresses last 6 hours by default
Use the MP4 rendition instead of HLS Off (HLS) HLS adapts quality to the viewer's connection and is always available. MP4 is one fixed-quality file that needs no streaming library. It works only when MP4 Fallback is switched on in your Bunny library
Size (MP4 only) 720p 360p, 480p, 720p or 1080p
Play Bunny videos through the MediaShield player Off Direct playback. Switched off automatically when the test fails

What changes for viewers#

With direct playback on:

  • The watermark, speed control, resume, sticky player and end screen apply to Bunny videos.
  • Progress and heatmaps become accurate, because the player knows the real position.
  • Video ads can play on Bunny videos.

Bunny still does the encoding and the streaming. Any encryption comes from Bunny, not MediaShield. See Encrypted Streams (Experimental).

Next steps#

If a Bunny video shows a black box after you save, see Troubleshooting.