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Transcoding in Cornell Video on Demand (VOD)

This article applies to: Video on Demand

About Transcode "Flavors"

When video content is uploaded to Video on Demand (VoD), it is often in a format incompatible with, or not optimized for, online streaming. 

To make video usable in a variety of online contexts, video hosted on the internet needs to be optimized for streaming, which requires supporting multiple scenarios. Each set of size and quality values is called a “flavor” in VoD. Typical flavors include flavors suitable for a given viewer’s bandwidth.

Maintain Transcode Flavors in Cornell VoD

Media items in Cornell VoD have usually been encoded in several useful formats during upload and processing. When the video is either played on the VoD website or through an embedded video player on your own website, the player uses the most appropriate flavor for the situation.

Media that has aged past the VoD media retention limit by not having been played for more than two (2) years may have its transcode flavors removed. If this happens, you can reconvert the media item’s transcode flavors using the procedure below.

To create or reconvert transcode flavors:

  1. Sign in to your Video on Demand account.
  2. Click your profile image, then select My Media from the menu.
  3. Browse to the video you need to update, then either:
    • Select Edit (pencil icon); OR
    • Select the media title to open, then select the Actions menu and choose Edit.

  4. Select the Transcoding tab. This opens a listing of available transcode flavors and the status of each.

    Listing of a media item transcoding flavors, with Flavor Actions dropdown lists next to each showing options Reconvert and Delete.

     

  5. To restore all recommended transcode flavors, click the green Reconvert all flavors button. 

    Or, if you would like to manage individual flavors, then, for the flavor you wish to convert or reconvert, click Flavor Actions, then select Reconvert.

    Transcode listings showing unknown statuses and button to Reconvert all flavors.


    OR

    Listing of a media item transcoding flavor, with Flavor Actions dropdown list showing options Reconvert and Delete, with Reconvert highlighted

     

  6. Whether reconverting all or individual flavors, in the confirmation window, click OK to proceed.
  7. When complete, VoD will confirm that the conversion was successful.
Video on Demand can determine the optimum flavor for a particular streaming scenario, so some flavors may not have been needed or created. (In some cases they may be labeled "NOT_APPLICABLE" in the listing.) 

For example, flavors that have higher resolution than the source video, or that have a similar resolution and bit rate to another existing converted flavor, may not be needed.

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