Introduction to Amazon Kinesis Video Streams API
- Amazon Kinesis Video Streams makes it easy to securely stream video from connected devices to AWS for analytics, machine learning insights, or storage.
- The Kinesis Video Streams API allows developers to interact programmatically with the video streams.
- Using the API in Python requires the Boto3 library, AWS's SDK for Python.
Install Boto3
- If you haven't already, you'll need to install Boto3, which can be done using pip:
pip install boto3
Setting Up Credentials
- Ensure your AWS credentials are set up on your local machine. Typically, these are stored in
~/.aws/credentials.
- Your credentials file should include your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key:
[default]
aws_access_key_id = YOUR_ACCESS_KEY
aws_secret_access_key = YOUR_SECRET_KEY
Create a Kinesis Video Stream
- Use Boto3 to create a video stream. The
create\_stream method requires a stream name and optionally a data retention period:
import boto3
client = boto3.client('kinesisvideo')
response = client.create_stream(
StreamName='MyVideoStream',
DataRetentionInHours=24
)
print(response)
Listing Streams
- To list your current video streams, use the
list\_streams method:
response = client.list_streams()
for stream_info in response['StreamInfoList']:
print(stream_info['StreamName'])
Getting the Data Endpoint
- Before you can consume data from a stream, you need to retrieve the data endpoint for reading from the stream:
response = client.get_data_endpoint(
StreamName='MyVideoStream',
APIName='GET_MEDIA'
)
endpoint = response['DataEndpoint']
print(f"Data Endpoint: {endpoint}")
Streams and Shards
- Each stream consists of multiple shards. Think of shards as containers that hold the data streaming in real-time.
- You may need to interact with shards when implementing advanced reading or partitioning logic.
Consuming Video Data
- Once you have the data endpoint, you can retrieve media from the stream using the endpoint and stream name:
media_client = boto3.client('kinesis-video-media', endpoint_url=endpoint)
response = media_client.get_media(
StreamName='MyVideoStream',
StartSelector={'StartSelectorType': 'HEAD'}
)
# Read payload (it can be large binary data)
payload = response['Payload'].read()
Cleanup Operations
- To delete a stream, which is irreversible, use the
delete\_stream method:
client.delete_stream(
StreamARN='YOUR_STREAM_ARN',
CurrentVersion='YOUR_STREAM_VERSION'
)
Conclusion
- Using the Amazon Kinesis Video Streams API with Boto3 in Python offers flexibility and control over video streaming processes.
- Consider examining the AWS documentation for advanced topics such as stream security, monitoring, and scaling.
