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Jan Ozer

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I help companies train new technical hires in streaming media-related positions; I also help companies optimize their codec selections and encoding stacks and evaluate new encoders and codecs. I am a contributing editor to Streaming Media Magazine, writing about codecs and encoding tools. I have written multiple authoritative books on video encoding, including Video Encoding by the Numbers: Eliminate the Guesswork from your Streaming Video (https://amzn.to/3kV6R1j) and Learn to Produce Video with FFmpeg: In Thirty Minutes or Less (https://amzn.to/3ZJih7e). I have multiple courses relating to streaming media production, all available at https://bit.ly/slc_courses. I currently work as www.netint.com as a Senior Director in Marketing.

When a Butterfly Flaps its Wings in Cupertino, VVC’s Success May Be Assured

Given that VVC is top of mind right now, I just wanted to report that IAM has announced that it appears that Apple has purchased 14 VVC-related patents from a Korean inventor. IAM is connecting a lot of dots to (I think) make this claim, which goes something like this. A Korean inventor set up a company that performs video-related …

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Does FFmpeg 5 Break Your Scripts?

FFmpeg turns 5.0; the new release has big API changes but doesn’t appear to break existing command scripts, though x265-based encodes are worth checking. As much as we like major releases of programs that we know and love, one big question is always whether it changes how we use the program. If you haven’t heard, on January 17, 2022, FFmpeg …

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Beginner’s Guide to REMI Production

Remote production has garnered significant notice over the last few years for obvious reasons. While there is a specific definition that I’ll share below, the concept has expanded to any production schema where the talent or event is at one location and the video production at another. In a recent webinar produced by the Streaming Learning Center, three experts presented …

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Review Finds FFmpeg Course on Udemy Amazing

Few things please a course creator more than positive reviews and it’s been a good week for them. This one is for my FFmpeg for Adaptive Bitrate Production on the Udemy site. My goal for this course was to focus on the “why” as well as the “how.” So, students just don’t learn how to set a keyframe interval in …

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“Wonderful Course” for New Media Professionals

This software development manager found Streaming Media 101 “worth taking” for all new media professionals.  I’ve never met Spoorti Hallur from Xperi Corporation in person (we’re connected on LinkedIn), but I’m guessing she’s a glass-half-full kind of person. At least she seems that way in the fabulous review she just gave the course Streaming Media 101: Technical Onboarding for Streaming …

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Webinar: Comparing EVC, LCEVC, and VVC with H.264, HEVC, and AV1

This video compares VVC, EVC, and LCEVC with H.264, HEVC, and AV1, considering quality, USP, royalty status, key stakeholders, producibility, and playability. You can watch an archived version of the webinar on YouTube by scrolling to the bottom of the page. You can download the handout here. This video is a webinar comparing VVC, EVC, and LCEVC with H.264, HEVC, and …

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Learn to Use AWS Elemental Auto-ABR

A recent tutorial posted on Streaming Media Magazine details how to use AWS Elemental’s Auto-ABR feature. Here’s the scintillating intro. Per-title encoding has been around since 2016, delivering significant bandwidth savings, QoE improvements, or both to companies that deploy it (click here for a backgrounder on per-title encoding). Those benefits notwithstanding, a recent Bitmovin survey revealed that only 35% of …

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Testing EVC, VVC, and LCEVC

This article compares VVC, EVC, and LCEVC with H.264, HEVC, and AV1. Its’ useful if you’re attempting to understand the goals and capabilities of these codecs. In 2020, MPEG announced three new codecs, Versatile Video Coding (VVC), Essential Video Coding (EVC), and Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC). As of January 2022, all are released and available for testing which I …

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Video Codec Quality Benchmark 2022

Figure 1. This analysis shows that the Slow preset is optimal for the Baseline EVC codec.

OK, I’ll say it. As far as I know, this is the first time any study has compared the quality and performance of codecs representing Essential Video Coding (EVC), Versatile Video Coding (VVC), and Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC), as well as AV1, HEVC, and H.264. It’s not as exhaustive as I would like but the results should help …

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Tutorial: Producing Live-Streamed Events with the Roland V-02HD MK II

I recently had the opportunity to test Roland’s V-02HD MK II video mixer. Though the unit only has two inputs, you can switch between them with optional foot control, making it ideal for simple self-produced productions. Here’s the Roland explainer video.  After working with the unit, I wrote a tutorial on how to use the mixer for a self-produced …

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