Updating the situation:
I’d like to do the following: for the first 15 minutes, I want to play the video normally and then either not show the rest or display a frozen image instead.
I occasionally encounter corrupted videos that only show certain parts and not the entire content.
I was wondering if I could replicate such a situation based on my selection. However, I would also like the option to view the entire video normally if I choose to do so through an alternative method
I was thinking having the same 1 file can only play the first 15 min through a usual player as well as playable in full with another configured way
I know you want one file, but sometime the “workaround” is the way to go. At least, that is how I would solve the issue.
I’m not really sure what your end goal is, I imagine you have a website with a 15min preview and a screen at the end end to say “enter access code now”. If the code is entered you point to a second video and set to start at the 15min marker.
Thank you for your pointers; I appreciate them very much.
I’d like to have the option for video files , partially locked at the same time able to be viewable whether is stored at hard disk/PC or cloud), if I could (for security & privacy reasons)
I’m happy that I have started the discussion on the subject to generate some good brainstorming, which may lead to a quick hack that I can implement myself, rather than opting for expensive solutions, if any
What’s the purpose of the partially locked portion? To share with others? To quickly preview the contents?
Like others have said, the trouble with coming up with a one-file partial lock is compatibility. If its just local on your machine, that could theoretically be figured out. But the cloud web player is another issue. Unless you happen to be a webdev for your cloud company or write a plugin to replace the default player, you’re not going to have that “feature” supported.
That leads me to a two file solution. In a folder you’d have a the short unlock version, and the encrypted version.
The trouble with that is, yes it’s encrypted but you need to download the file to decrypt it and then destroy the local copy when your done. I’m unaware of any cloud service that supports decrypting video files on the fly, not that I’ve looked.
the purpose of the partially locked portion is To share with others selectively and To let everyone to quickly preview the contents The reason I mentioned the cloud is not necessarily get the support of the cloud system, I store the files on the cloud. so ideally viewer runs the file on his/her computer via link with a video player to be able to see the preview whereas another person viewing the same file in full via some sort of password, I don’t care if a decrypted file is kept in the authorized guest computer or deleted