Encoding video files in different formats

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+2 Q:

Encoding video files in different formats

Hi guys,

I am working on a site which would allow users to upload a video and my site would encode into 3 formats, wmv, iPod and zune. Are there any 3rd party tools/API's that can be used to do this? I am not sure how sites like http://channel9.msdn.com/ , http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ have got this.

+5 A:

Try libavcodec/ffmpeg.

Edit: Since you're using .NET, you can try FFmpeg.NET or FFLib.net, besides Media Handler Pro, which you already mentioned. However, I haven't personally used any of these bindings.

Matthew Flaschen 2009-04-28 10:24:52

ffmpeg is indeed a good choice. +1

Mark Pim 2009-04-28 10:31:22

I use ffmpeg on a social networking site I manage. It's proven invaluable. Configuration can be a little hairy, but nothing a bit of Googling didn't fix.

Steven Richards 2009-04-28 10:42:28

If you are going to use ffmpeg or libavcodec for your encoding backend, be sure you understand the legal ramifications of doing so. FFMPEG reverse engineers video codecs (like H.264) that are protected in patent pools. This is against the law in some jurisdictions (like the United States).

Nick Haddad 2009-04-28 14:02:47

Nick, it's hardly as simple as that. Under Sega v. Accolade (digital-law-online.info/cases/24PQ2D1561.htm/…), reverse-engineering (even including disassembly, if necessary) is legal, "when no alternative means of gaining an understanding of those ideas and functional concepts exists."

Matthew Flaschen 2009-04-28 15:10:17

+1 A:

You could use an external service such as encoding.com although this will probably work out more expensive.

Expression encoder will also encode to those formats and it has a nice, easy to use SDK or command line interface if you prefer.

geoff 2009-04-28 10:36:33

Ya I know, its really expensive. I did stumble across http://www.mediasoftpro.com/ which seems to be a good option but not sure about its performance yet.

theraneman 2009-04-28 10:38:19

It looks like mediasoftpro.com is just a .net wrapper around ffmpeg

geoff 2009-04-28 10:44:14

Also, ffmpeg does not encode to WMV 9(VC-1)

geoff 2009-04-28 10:53:48

Yup seems that way. Thanks a ton guys, I will be looking more into ffmpeg/mediapro for my site.

theraneman 2009-04-28 10:56:28

+1 A:

Some of the more robust commercial offerings are:

Adobe Flash Media Encoding Server

Wowza Media Server Pro

Rhozet Carbon Coder

MainConcept Reference

These solutions are expensive but extremely high quality. You get what you pay for in my opinion.

Nick Haddad 2009-04-28 14:06:42

ansaurus

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Encoding video files in different formats

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