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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.

Flash is Dead: In Adobe Media Encoder CC at Least

Let’s test your observational powers. On the left are the web presets from Adobe Media Encoder prior to the April 2014 reveal. On the right is the same group of presets after the April refresh. What’s missing?  Well, in case the title didn’t clue you in, I’m sure you figured out by now that it’s Flash; Adobe Media Encoder no …

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HEVC Playback and Dismal Device Battery Life

HEVC comes with two benefits; equivalent quality to H.264 at about half the data rate, and ultra-high definition video. One big question about the new technology, however, is the impact of HEVC playback on device battery life, which is critical given how quickly mobile viewing is growing. Techspot’s Tim Schiesser focused on this issue in his recent article, Media Players …

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Configuring a Server Farm for Telestream Episode

OK, pretty discrete topic, but if you care, you care. This blog post originated as questions from a visitor to this website, who asked: At this stage of my investigation, I have the following questions: – Should I go for a few 16-core or a lot 4-core machines (like mac mini). – Do I need the Episode Cluster license for …

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How to Make the Move to HEVC

Interested in HEVC (H.265)? My article regarding same is now available on the Streaming Media website, here. Here’s the intro to give you an idea about what’s covered.  While few companies of any kind are actually making money from HEVC (H.265) today, the successor to H.264 will become increasingly important during the next 2–3 years, perhaps even earlier in some …

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How to Choose and Implement a Webcasting Solution

Producing a live event? Do you need a webcasting system like On24, a live streaming service provider like Livestream, or a conferencing solution like GoToMeeting or Google Hangouts? Not sure? Find out in my article, How to Choose and Implement a Webcasting Solution, from the fabulous 2014 Streaming Media Sourcebook. Here’s the brief intro which details what’s covered in the article.  So …

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Adjusting Brightness and Color in YouTube

I’m pretty good getting the color and brightness right on clips that I upload to YouTube, but sometimes it’s a bit tougher with webinars, especially when they are self produced. I was checking some past webinars produced on YouTube Live for a seminar I’m producing at Streaming Media East 2014 and noticed that my face was way too dark in …

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Tutorial: Encoding With HandBrake

This is one of 42 lessons from my course Video Compression for Web, Disc and PC/TV/Console Playback, on Udemy. It covers how to use HandBrake to encode for streaming. As you may know, HandBrake is a free cross-platform encoder that does a great job encoding using the x264 codec. It’s especially useful when encoding for iBooks.  There’s about 20 seconds …

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On Demand Webinar: Encoding for iBooks Author Now Available

Note: With the June 2014 release of iBooks Author, the procedures discussed here no longer work. Good luck with your iBooks Author encodes. I held the webinar, Encoding for iBooks Author, on March 25. The webinar, which was sponsored by TalkPoint and used their new self-serving Convey webinar system, went off without a hitch. I’ve attended so many webinars lately …

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Make This Look Like That – Improving Color and Brightness in Premiere Pro

Many encoding pros spend an inordinate amount of time tweaking obscure H.264 compression parameters, while the fastest way to improve quality might just be optimizing the color and brightness of your source videos.  You can see that in the image on the left. Because I shot this video in a conference room lit by overhead fluorescent lights, the video lacked …

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A Buyer’s Guide to Live Encoders

Producing a live event in the near term and need to choose an encoder? My article, A Buyer’s Guide to Live Encoders, from the fabulous 2014 Streaming Media Sourcebook, is up on the Streaming Media webiste. Here’s the brief intro which details what’s covered in the article.  All live events start with an encoded stream produced by a live streaming encoder. In this …

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