Two free learning resources are available on the Streaming Media website; How to Produce VVC With FFmpeg and How to Script for FFmpeg Using PowerShell and BASH. They’re tutorials in the Streaming Media Sourcebook, an annual production containing useful articles and collections. Learn Variables and For Loops Here’s the abridged intro: Most FFmpeg users start by creating a simple static command …

I recently posted a request for video test clips on LinkedIn. This article summarizes the websites listed in the responses. Thanks to all who responded. 4KMedia An absolutely fabulous resource for compressionists looking for a broad range of 4K footage of reasonable duration, many, like this NY promotional clip, in HDR. Here’s the site description. 4KMedia.org is intended to demonstrate …

Note: I’ve updated the descriptions below with links to the actual presentations. I will add the videos once they become available.  Streaming Media East is always a great event for learning, meeting, greeting, and catching up on the latest trends and technical innovations in the Streaming Industry. This year’s event will be held May 17 – 19 at the Boston …

You can download the presentation handout here (download). I’ll add the video once it becomes available.  I’m thrilled to speak at Mile-High Video in Denver, which runs from May 7 – 10 2023. My presentation is on Sunday, May 7, entitled, “Encoding and Packaging x265/HDR with FFmpeg, Bento4 and mp4box.” The description is, “this introductory session will cover the basics …

NAB is coming up April 15 – 19 in Las Vegas. I’ll be attending with NETINT (company description below) at booth W1672. We’ll show our core product line of two ASIC-based live transcoder families, the T408 (H.264/HEVC) and the Quadra (H.264/HEVC/AV1 plus AI integration). At the show, we’ll debut two server products that integrate the board-based transcoders into a complete …

Just a quick note that I’ve updated the course, Streaming Media 101: Technical Onboarding for Streaming Media Professionals with a new lesson entitled Codec Update 2023. You can see the agenda in Figure 1 below. For those in a hurry, you can scan through and see my recommendations for 2023 forty seconds in. Choosing the best codec for streaming involves …

This is the first in a series of posts detailing what you need to know to create the perfect encoding ladder. It’s a high-level introductory series good for streaming novices, but too basic for most experienced streaming producers. This article details how to choose the best codec for streaming video.  What’s a codec? A compression technology that shrinks your video …

ASICs have an unfair (and inaccurate) reputation for being obsolete the day they leave the foundry. However, while some functions are baked into the hardware, firmware, and driver software enable continual upgrades in both features and performance. To explore these capabilities, I spoke with two members of the NETINT development team, Neil Gunn, who is NETINT’s Video Firmware Tech Lead, …

The Bitmovin Video Developer Report, now in its 6th edition, is one of the most far-reaching and useful documents available to streaming professionals (now with no registration required). It’s a report that I happily download each December and generally refer to frequently during the next twelve months. Like the proverbial elephant, what you find important in the report depends upon …

The thing about FFmpeg is that there are almost always multiple ways to accomplish the same basic function. In this post, we look at four approaches to scaling. We found that if you’re scaling using the default -s function (-s 1280×720), you’re leaving a bit of quality on the table as compared to other methods. How much depends upon the …