Application's Transcoding Settings

Before we go into what options we have, it might be good to start with what are our defaults instead. Once you know how our default options are designed it will make it easier for you to decide which option you might actually need.

Our system is designed in such a way that we always think about what might be best for you. As such our defaults are designed to be smart and notice if you might not need something instead of always doing it.

To be more precise, there is "original stream". This stream is created and it holds the video that you had uploaded without any changes done to it.

Now next to this, we also have "default stream". The default stream is what you would see played back. It is what our system creates from the original stream that came to us.

Now to remove the need for processing if that is not needed we do various checks. Ones that are the most important are focused on analysis if the video can be played back or not. If the original stream (as we got it) would be similar enough to what we would create by transcoding the original stream, we might make original stream the default stream as well.

This removes the need to do any processing for that one video (and this can add up). Now, based on this one fact, we might not create additional streams neither.

Let us take an example of this. In most cases .mp4 video is the best format and it can be played back right away. So if you upload a playable .mp4 file we could use the original stream as default stream, all done.

Let's say in same example that you had a video profile that is set to 1920x1080 and the original file that you upload is also 1920x1080. Now our system checks and sees that it can use this as default stream as well as for the video profile to be satisfied and it saves it as both without any transcoding.

For most of our customers that just want things to work and to avoid processing if that can be done, this is perfect.

Now if you do need some specific use-case to happen instead, we do have additional options to change this.

You will find these settings under your Application then Manage and then Transcoding Settings

This options will disable all of our checks related to creation of additional streams. As such it will force each and every stream to be created for every new video.

Important aspect of this option is that it will only apply to the new videos. It will not be applied to your existing videos.

Once turned on (and this choice is saved), the way it does its things is automatically started. Nothing else is needed to be changed, you can just re-try uploading and see how it processes the videos in a different manner.

Unlike the previous option this will disable our checks that are related to the creation of the default stream. This means that if the default stream matches the output requirement of your video profile then the video profile transcoding will not happen.

That said, with this option turned on, you will always have both original stream and the default stream as two different streams.