Transcoding video files

This feature is in beta stage of development. That means it will work most of the time and what more important is we need your feedback.

You can transcode your video files into format playable by most modern portable devices and Adobe flash player. Two main points of this feature:

  • Instant playback of video files on slow networks.
  • Playback of videofiles using mobile devices such as iPod or a smartphone. If a device has a browser (for example Safari in iPhone) playback is available instantly just like in PC.

Example transcoded videos

  • Pixar short videos
    See the difference in size in the filelist in the bottom of the page. Quality is decreased as well but is still acceptable for non-HD content.

Converted video files are playable on:

  • Flash player (i.e. you can watch videos online)
  • iOS: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod Touch, iPod Classic, iPod 5.5G
  • Blackberry: Bold 9000, Curve 8910, 8900, 8520, Pearl 9XXX, Storm, Storm 2, Torch, Tour, Bold 9650 + 9700
  • Android: All (?)
  • Other: PSP (3.30+), PS3, Xbox 360, web

Doesn't play on:

  • iPod 5G, PSP (pre-3.30), Blackberry Curve 9330, 9300, 8530, 83XX, Pearl 8XXX, 88XX

Technical details:

  • Video: H.264, Level 3.0, Baseline profile
  • Audio: AAC, 1-2 channels
  • audio_bitrate: 128 (or less)
  • audio_sample_rate: 44100 (or less)
  • size: 480×320
  • max_frame_rate: 30
  • video_bitrate: 1500 (or less)

Limits

The transcoding to h264 is very CPU intensive operation. For a server it's easier to download file then to convert it to anothe video format. Currently during the initial tests there's only two limits for users: 2G per file and 10G per all files in queue. Later the limits will be changed.

Initial tests experience

For a episode size file (40-60 mins, 200-350MB) it takes about 5-10 mins to transcode and resulting files is about 50MB in size. For a full movie (90 mins, 700MB) it takes about 15 mins and resulting files is about 200MB in size. But transcoding queue may increase total time.