Brightcove Player Sample: Dynamically Change Source Videos

In this topic, you will learn how to address the common use-case of dynamically changing the video loaded in the player. This topic shows you how to do this using both the In-Page embed and the iframe implementations.

Player example

Click the button below the player to dynamically change the source video.

See the Pen 18155-dynamically-change-source-videos by Brightcove Learning Services (@rcrooks1969) on CodePen.

Source code

View the complete solution on GitHub.

Using the CodePen

Here are some tips to effectively use the above CodePen:

  • Toggle the actual display of the player by clicking the Result button.
  • Click the HTML/CSS/JS buttons to display ONE of the code types.
  • Later in this document the logic, flow and styling used in the application will be discussed in the Player/HTML configuration, Application flow and Application styling sections. The best way to follow along with the information in those sections is to:
    1. Click the EDIT ON CODEPEN button in the CodePen and have the code available in one browser/browser tab.
    2. In CodePen, adjust what code you want displayed. You can change the width of different code sections within CodePen.
    3. View the Player/HTML configuration, Application flow and/or Application styling sections in another browser/browser tab. You will now be able to follow the code explanations and at the same time view the code.

Development sequence

Here is the recommended development sequence:

  1. Use the In-Page embed player implementation to test the functionality of your player, plugin and CSS (if CSS is needed)
  2. Put the plugin's JavaScript and CSS into separate files for local testing
  3. Deploy the plugin code and CSS to your server once you have worked out any errors
  4. Use Studio to add the plugin and CSS to your player
  5. Replace the In-Page embed player implementation if you determine that the iframe implementation is a better fit (detailed in next section)

For details about these steps, review the Step-by-Step: Plugin Development guide.

iframe or In-Page embed

When developing enhancements for the Brightcove Player you will need to decide if the code is a best fit for the iframe or In-Page embed implementation. The best practice recommendation is to build a plugin for use with an iframe implementation. The advantages of using the iframe player are:

  • No collisions with existing JavaScript and/or CSS
  • Automatically responsive
  • The iframe eases use in social media apps (or whenever the video will need to "travel" into other apps)

Although integrating the In-Page embed player can be more complex, there are times when you will plan your code around that implementation. To generalize, this approach is best when the containing page needs to communicate to the player. Specifically, here are some examples:

  • Code in the containing page needs to listen for and act on player events
  • The player uses styles from the containing page
  • The iframe will cause app logic to fail, like a redirect from the containing page

Even if your final implementation does not use the iframe code, you can still use the In-Page embed code with a plugin for your JavaScript and a separate file for your CSS. This encapsulates your logic so that you can easily use it in multiple players.

API/Plugin resources used

API Methods
play()
catalog.getVideo()
catalog.load()

Player/HTML configuration

This section details any special configuration needed during player creation. In addition, other HTML elements that must be added to the page, beyond the in-page embed player implementation code, are described.

Player configuration

No special configuration is required for the Brightcove Player you create for this sample.

Other HTML

A button is added that calls a custom changeVideo() method.

Application flow

The basic logic behind this application is:

  • The user clicks a button to change the video currently playing in the player.
  • A video object is retrieved.
  • The video object is loaded into the player.
  • Video playback is started.

Get, load and play the video

Find the code which is labeled:

// ### Get, load and play video ###

The function first retrieves a video object using the catalog.getVideo() method. The video object is then loaded into the player using the catalog.load() method. Finally, the play() method is used to initiate playback.

Application styling

The only CSS used sizes the player.

Plugin code

The code in this sample does not make sense used in a plugin.

iframe implementation

The iframe implementation can be used in a very similar way as shown above. Sample code is available. Most of the code in this implementation is a JavaScript exercise. The one point that may not be clear is that when you load a new source into the iframe, HTML will automatically reload the iframe.