What are Transcoding Profiles ?

Modified on Tue, 04 Apr 2023 at 11:04 AM

Summary: The VancastVideo platform provides a set of server-side transcoding profiles that you can choose for your live streaming sessions as well as for On-Demand videos uploaded to the platform.


This is the list of Transcoding Profiles available:

You can make any of these profiles the default one for a workspace. Click here to learn how. 

Click here to learn how to set up or modify the distribution profiles of your event.

Each profile includes various transcoding qualities for adaptative streaming

Low Motion HD 720p (Default profile)

The low motion profile is adequate when HD quality is enough for you and the contents of the video will not have a lot of motion. The reasons for choosing a low maximum bitrate (in this case 1.2Mbps) could be some of the following:

  1. Your audience bandwidth is restricted.
  2. The video will have very little motion; talking-face, or similar 
  3. You are using a video+slides layout so the video is never larger than 540p on most screens
  4. You do not want to spend on bandwidth

Profile params:

Adaptive LowMotion Max:1.2Mbps 720p 25fps (Default)

Quality 1Quality 2Quality 3Quality 4
Video CodecH:264H:264H:264--
Video Size1280 x 720854 x 480728 x 410--
Video fps252525--
Video Bitrate1,2Mbps685Kbps500Kbps--
Key Frame interval505050--
ProfileMainMainBaseline
Audio CodecAACAACAAC--
Audio BitRate64Kbps64Kbps64Kbps--


The recommended encoding params you should set up on your encoder software when you choose the Low Motion HD 720p transcoding profile are:

  • Video format: H264  HD 1280x720    720p
  • Frames per second: 25fps 
  • Video bitrate: 1,8-2,2 Mbps (depending on the expected motion)
  • Profile:  Main 3.1
  • Keyframe: 2s. (every 50 frames)
  • Audio format: AAC 44100Khz 
  • Audio bitrate: 64kbps

High Motion HD 720p

The high motion HD profile is adequate when HD quality is enough for you but the contents of the video have an intermediate amount of motion. The reasons for choosing an intermediate maximum bitrate (in this case 2Mbps) could be some of the following:

  1. Your audience bandwidth is restricted.
  2. The video has some level of motion
  3. You are using a video+slides layout so the video is never larger than 540p on most screens
  4. You do not want to spend more on bandwidth

Profile params:

Adaptive High Motion Max:2Mbps 720p 25fps

Quality 1Quality 2Quality 3Quality 4
Video CodecH:264H:264
--
Video Size1280 x 720854 x 480
--
Video fps2525
--
Video Bitrate2Mbps900Kbps
--
Key Frame interval5050
--
ProfileMainMain

Audio CodecAACAAC
--
Audio BitRate96Kbps96Kbps
--


The recommended encoding params you should set up on your encoder software when you choose the High Motion HD 720p transcoding profile are:

  • Video format: H264  HD 1280x720    720p
  • Frames per second: 25fps 
  • Video bitrate: 2,2-3 Mbps (depending on the expected motion)
  • Profile:  Main 3.1
  • Keyframe: 2seg (every 50 frames)
  • Audio format: AAC 44100Khz
  • Audio bitrate: 96 kbps

Full HD 1080p

If you want to stream a Full HD stream as your best quality we've configured a profile that, unlike the above ones, does not transcode the highest quality video within the profile but instead, provides a passthrough of the encoding signal that you will be sending.

The reasons for choosing the Full HD profile could be:

  1. Your audience bandwidth is not limited
  2. You are using a video-only layout so the video will be likely full screen on most devices
  3. Bandwidth cost is not an issue

Profile params:

Full HD 1080p + 3Q

Quality 1Quality 2Quality 3Quality 4
Video CodecH:264H:264H:264H:264
Video Sizeup to 1920 x 10801080x720960 x 540640 x 360
Video fps25252525
Video BitrateSource (PassThru)1,5Mbps850Kbps546Kbps
Key Frame interval50505050
ProfileMainMainMainBaseline
Audio CodecSource (PassThru)Source (PassThru)Source (PassThru)Source (PassThru)
Audio BitRateSource (PassThru)Source (PassThru)Source (PassThru)Source (PassThru)


The recommended encoding params you should set up on your encoder software when you choose the Full HD 1080p transcoding profile are:

  • Video format: H264  FHD 1920x1080    1080p
  • Frames per second: 25fps 
  • Video bitrate: 3-6 Mbps (depending on the expected motion)
  • Profile:  Main 4.1
  • Keyframe: 2s. (every 50 frames)
  • Audio format: AAC 44100Khz 
  • Audio bitrate: 128kbps

Screencast

The screencast profile is a low-bandwidth profile designed for video presentations with audio. There should be very little motion in the presentation.

The reasons for choosing the Full HD profile could be:

  1. Your audience bandwidth is limited
  2. Your video is a ppt presentation with audio 
  3. Bandwidth cost is probably relevant

Profile params:

Screencast 1080p Adaptive 2Q 720p 

Quality 1Quality 2Quality 3Quality 4
Video CodecH:264H:264----
Video Size1920x 10801280 x 720----
Video fps2525----
Video Bitrate1.2Mbps700Kbps----
Key Frame interval5050----
ProfileMainMain----
Audio CodecAACAAC----
Audio BitRate64Kbps64Kbps----

The recommended encoding params you should set up on your encoder software when you choose the Screencast transcoding profile are:

  • Video format: H264  FHD 1920x1080    1080p
  • Frames per second: 25fps 
  • Video bitrate: 2 Mbps (depending on the expected motion)
  • Profile:  Main 4.1
  • Keyframe: 2s. (every 50 frames)
  • Audio format: AAC 44100Khz 
  • Audio bitrate: 64kbps
Do you need a different transcoding profile? Create a table with the structure of the ones in this page and send it over to us in a support request. We will make it available for your account in less than 24h (during the working week)


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