Last updated a month ago
NFTs can contain images & files within the metadata (image, audio, video, PDF, HTML, etc). The development work to display these hinders developers from integrating all NFT features in their products.
This is the total amount allocated to [nftcdn.io] Open Source JavaScript NFT Media Viewer/Player (music, video, 3D, etc.). 0 out of 6 milestones are completed.
1/6
NFT File Fetching Capability & Image Capability Implementation
Cost: ₳ 32,559
Delivery: Month 2 - Oct 2024
2/6
HTML file Capability Implementation
Cost: ₳ 32,559
Delivery: Month 4 - Dec 2024
3/6
3D Model file Capability Implementation
Cost: ₳ 32,559
Delivery: Month 6 - Feb 2025
4/6
Document file Capability Implementation
Cost: ₳ 32,559
Delivery: Month 8 - Apr 2025
5/6
Audio file Capability Implementation
Cost: ₳ 32,559
Delivery: Month 10 - Jun 2025
6/6
Video file Capability Implementation & Wrap-Up
Cost: ₳ 32,554
Delivery: Month 11 - Jul 2025
NB: Monthly reporting was deprecated from January 2024 and replaced fully by the Milestones Program framework. Learn more here
NFTCDN will deliver an open source JavaScript library providing a holistic solution which developers can easily use to display any NFT on their products, agnostic of the underlying file-type.
NFTCDN (nftcdn.io) serve all Cadano tokens media efficiently and at high-speed. This proposal open source library will use it by default to provide the best user experience. It is therefore assumed that any user of this library must have an NFTCDN account, or must modify the library to integrate existing solutions (such as IPFS gateways).
The library will also rely on existing open source media players (audio, video) and viewers (image, GLTF, PDF).
The exact final license has not yet been determined, as it will depend in part on the license of the integrated open source components, the list of which is not yet exhaustive, but it will comply with the Open Source Definition and will therefore be OSI approved:
https://opensource.org/licenses
Note that the open source JavaScript library we aim to publish as part of this proposal will be developed to use NFTCDN API endpoints which are not open source (see dependencies).
About NFTCDN
NFTCDN is Cardano’s dedicated NFT Content Delivery Network, enabling products and services to display NFT media content easily, efficiently and at high-speed to their worldwide user base through our global CDN. Our capabilities include NFT Image Display delivery and Metadata Information provisioning, and we seek to introduce an API to enable products and services on Cardano to utilise the files component of an NFT, expanding the application of NFTs in the Cardano ecosystem, resulting in expansive growth in a variety of industries.
Problem Statement
Over 8.45 million NFTs have been minted on Cardano to date, and while the vast majority of these comprise of images in the form of digital art (using the “image” component of the NFT metadata), an emerging area is the application of the “files” component, wherein most notable use cases (henceforth referred to as “use-types”) have been for songs (audio files), movies, clips or exclusive footage (video files), books, documents, records or reports (pdf files) and bespoke projects (HTML and other file-types). In addition to NFT images, this emerging area has seen an increase in utilisation of an NFT’s files component to hold assets by companies from the music, film, book and gaming industry - with ever evolving use cases. The challenge for products and services is the implementation of “fetching” and “display” capabilities of these files.
Building an end-to-end capability to query and parse metadata across various NFT standards to secure NFT file information, fetch the file(s) from the respective storage areas (IPFS, Arweave, on-chain, HTTP, etc) and deliver the files (termed the “fetching” process) in a fast, efficient, reliable and seamless manner would cost c. $90,000 to develop and $10,000 per month to run - notwithstanding costs for CI/CD.
The additional burden of building the capability to be able to display, without error, each of the file-types (audio, video, pdf, HTML, etc) in a manner that can be easily integrated within a product’s or service’s platform to fully realise the benefits for each use-type is not a sustainable endeavour for any new or existing project to undertake.
This necessitates the creation of a capability such that products and services can seamlessly integrate both NFT images and files with their platforms through an open source JavaScript library, enabling them and content creators to realise and utilise this core component of a Cardano NFT to its fullest potential.
Solution Design
The proposal aims to deliver an “open source JavaScript library” which will enable developers to display any NFT media content, regardless of the file format (such as images, videos, songs, documents, HTML and 3D files), on their products which can be seamlessly integrated.
In simple terms, by simply passing an NFT’s fingerprint ID to the open source JavaScript library, the end recipient will be able to view (i.e. open) NFT images and files contained within an NFT, irrespective of its use-type. NFTCDN will design, develop, test and deploy this capability as an outcome of this proposal and make it open source for anyone to customise and use for their use cases.
Solution Scope & Limitations
At present, the following known MIME types exist for the most notable use-types within an NFT:
As part of this proposal, NFTCDN will build an open source JavaScript library that will be able to handle the aforementioned MIME types.
Performance Measure & Output Results From Proposal
Our ultimate objective is the successful delivery of the open source javascript library. As per our milestones, we will develop the capability to be able to fetch and display NFT images and files for each of the use-types (Image, HTML, 3D Models, Documents, Audio Files and Video Files).
We will measure our performance against the 100% successful delivery of our developed solution’s capability to fetch and display the 6 use-type categories listed. The results output from our testing will be in the form of an open source javascript library being able to display NFTs minted with the respective MIME types per use-type. We will share the successfully working javascript library for each MIME type as part of our milestone reporting, including showcasing the results on the NFTCDN website.
Once ready for full release (i.e. the roll-up of all 6 use-type categories by the open source JavaScript library), our close-out report/video will additionally feature a working example of this within.
In addition to the above, the proposal will maintain regular milestone reporting on our proposal delivery, highlighting our progress over the course of our endeavour.
Benefit to Cardano
NFTCDN - The Company
NFTCDN, a UK limited company, was created to deliver value to its users and their end-users by providing a service responsible for the end-to-end delivery of NFT media content, with performance at the heart of everything we build and abstraction of all the intricacies and complexities involved in displaying NFTs, streamlining the process of displaying NFT media content and allowing developers to focus on the success of their core products.
We deliver on these objectives through our three core capabilities already available in the market today for testnet (free of charge) & mainnet (pay-as-you-use service); NFT Image API Endpoint, NFT metadata API endpoint and NFT files API endpoint. Since our launch in December-2022, these endpoints are being used by our customers and we serve on average over 1,700,000 NFT images per day and have served a total of 491,581,159 requests as of the 1st of May 2024. Our services are being used by well known names in the Cardano ecosystem, including Eternl wallet, VESPR wallet, Hazel.net, buffy bot, Ape Society, pool.pm, iceberglabs, KWIC, NEWM, tokenriot, pixl.page, cur8, Tokeo and many more.
Our capabilities are all-encompassing in the ability to display NFT images and files. Our infrastructure is built and run on industrial-grade setups to serve high volumes of NFT media content at high speeds worldwide through our Content Delivery Network (CDN). Furthermore, our services are backed with multiple redundancies at every point in the value chain to ensure continuity of service and we have an uptime of 100% since launch.
NFTCDN - The Team
The team comprises Smaug and Rocky - two individuals with decades of experience in their respective domains of technical development and management with a proven track record of successfully delivering on complex large-scale cross-functional projects that seek to deliver value to the end user and community as a whole.
NFTCDN - Proposal Delivery Capability
NFTCDN was created as a result of Catalyst funding in Fund 8, wherein we were granted a budget of $76,886 and as per our F8 proposal milestones, the team had delivered a working product on time, to cost and at the scope we had defined and is presently being used by NFT marketplaces, wallets and bespoke projects without issue underscoring the effectiveness and success of our proposal delivery history, product service provision and the dedication of our team members to bring value to the Cardano ecosystem.
Milestone #1: NFT File Fetching Capability & Image Capability Implementation
- Duration: 2 months
- Total Budget: 16.66% of total
Milestone Outputs:
Acceptance Criteria:
Evidence of Milestone Completion:
Milestone #2: HTML file Capability Implementation
- Duration: 2 months
- Total Budget: 16.66% of total
Milestone Outputs:
Acceptance Criteria:
Evidence of Milestone Completion:
Milestone #3: 3D Model file Capability Implementation
- Duration: 2 months
- Total Budget: 16.66% of total
Milestone Outputs:
Acceptance Criteria:
Evidence of Milestone Completion:
Milestone #4: Document file Capability Implementation
- Duration: 2 months
- Total Budget: 16.66% of total
Milestone Outputs:
Acceptance Criteria:
Evidence of Milestone Completion:
Milestone #5: Audio file Capability Implementation
- Duration: 2 months
- Total Budget: 16.66% of total
Milestone Outputs:
Acceptance Criteria:
Evidence of Milestone Completion:
Milestone #6: Video file Capability Implementation & Wrap-Up
- Duration: 2 months
- Total Budget: 16.66% of total
Milestone Outputs:
Acceptance Criteria:
Evidence of Milestone Completion:
Smaug
Founder of NFTCDN
Owner & creator of pool.pm
Blockchain Dev, Full Stack Dev and System, Network & Security Engineer
20+ years Tech Lead experience
Proposal Role: Technical, Support, Marketing
Rocky
Founder of NFTCDN
Owner & creator of BlockchainArt.Works
Strategy development, execution & operational delivery
15+ years Project Management experience
Proposal Role: Project Management, Support, Marketing
Labour Costs: Rates used to calculate labour costs are substantially lower than their respective national freelance averages. Both the proposer and co-proposers hold experience in the domain of development and project management, along with the previous Catalyst Fund experience of building and delivering the NFT retrieval and display capability, being able to confidently and efficiently deliver the proposal within the 12 month period, thereby reducing the total number of hours required.
Proposal Funding: By funding this proposal, Cardano introduces a much needed capability within the ecosystem that would enable and attract a diverse range of content creators and audiences, across industries such as gaming and entertainment, to innovatively transform the way NFTs are used in the world today, promoting the growth and adoption of Cardano - making Cardano the blockchain of choice for NFTs.