Video Platforms

Aspera's fasp™ technology dramatically speeds transfer time over public networks making it a perfect compliment for cloud based video encoding. Transferring your video to and from an Aspera Enterprise Server or Aspera Connect Server to Encoding.com over fasp™ will provide accelerated and encrypted file transfer as well as support for extremely large source videos.  

For soure files, format your URL for AddMedia and AddMediabenchmark requests from an Aspera Enterprise Server or Aspera Connect Server™

fasp://[user[:password]@]hostname/[path]/[filename]

For destination files format as follows for deliver to an Aspera Enterprise Server or Aspera Connect Server™

fasp://[user[:password]@]hostname/[path]/[filename]

Preparing videos for use with your Roku set-top-box can be accomplished very simply using one of the Roku Presets on Encoding.com.  Choose a Preset, set a destination location for output files and you're up and running!

1. Roku Preset for Single Bitrate output: quick setup to generate a single video output in .mp4 format

When using the web interface, select the "Roku 800kbps" preset from the Format drop-down menu to generate a static bitrate video output:

If you are sending XML to our API, use this template to make a 800kbps Roku mp4:

  <format>
    <output>roku_800</output>
    <destination>ftp://username:password@yourserver.com/output/filename.mp4?passive=yes</destination>
    <size>640x480</size>
    <bitrate>800k</bitrate>
    <audio_bitrate>128k</audio_bitrate>
    <audio_sample_rate>44100</audio_sample_rate>
    <audio_channels_number>2</audio_channels_number>
    <keep_aspect_ratio>yes</keep_aspect_ratio>
    <video_codec>libx264</video_codec>
    <profile>roku</profile>
    <audio_codec>libfaac</audio_codec>
    <keyframe>200</keyframe>
    <audio_volume>100</audio_volume>
    <file_extension>mp4</file_extension>
  </format>

2. Roku HLS Preset for Adaptive Bitrate output: quick setup to generate the index file (.m3u8) and h264 segments (.ts)

When using the web interface, select "Roku HLS" from the Format drop-down menu to generate the necessary files for adaptive streaming:

For Roku HLS adaptive bitrate API jobs, please use this XML template:

  <format>
    <output>roku_hls</output>
    <destination>ftp://username:password@yourserver.com/output/filename.m3u8?passive=yes</destination>
    <size>0x480</size>
    <audio_bitrate>96k</audio_bitrate>
    <audio_sample_rate>44100</audio_sample_rate>
    <audio_channels_number>2</audio_channels_number>
    <keep_aspect_ratio>yes</keep_aspect_ratio>
    <video_codec>libx264</video_codec>
    <profile>roku</profile>
    <audio_codec>libfaac</audio_codec>
    <audio_volume>100</audio_volume>
    <bitrates>1200k,800k,600k,400k,200k,110k</bitrates>
    <framerates>29.97,29.97,29.97,29.97,15,10</framerates>
    <keyframes>90,90,90,90,45,30</keyframes>
    <pack_files>no</pack_files>
    <segment_duration>10</segment_duration>
    <add_audio_only>no</add_audio_only>
    <still_image>no</still_image>
  </format>

Additional notes regarding Roku HLS

Please do not use two pass encoding, or you will see a blurry I-frame "popping" at the beginning of each 10 second video segment. Also, be aware that 5 different bitrates will output 30 segment (.ts) files per minute of video, so a 10-minute video will be 300 files. You will probably want to encode each video to a separate destination directory to keep your Roku organized. Otherwise, you will quickly have thousands of segment files in one directory.

Yes! You can select the following choices in our watch folders to create files specifically targeted for playback via Roku. 

Click on any of the links below to expose the templates that we use for each preset:

roku_800
roku_1200
roku_1800
roku_2700
roku_hls

Roku 2700k Template

<format>
  <output>mp4</output>
  <destination>
  <size>1280x720</size>
  <bitrate>2700k</bitrate>
  <audio_bitrate>192k</audio_bitrate>
  <audio_sample_rate>44100</audio_sample_rate>
  <audio_channels_number>2</audio_channels_number>
  <keep_aspect_ratio>yes</keep_aspect_ratio>
  <video_codec>libx264</video_codec>
  <profile>high</profile>
  <VCodecParameters>yes</VCodecParameters>
           <video_codec_parameters>
           <coder>1</coder>
           <flags>+loop</flags>
           <flags2>+wpred+mixed_refs+dct8x8+fastpskip</flags2>
           <partitions>+parti8x8+parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8</partitions>
           <me_method>umh</me_method>
           <subq>8</subq>
           <me_range>16</me_range>
           <bf>4</bf>
           <keyint_min>25</keyint_min>
           <sc_threshold>40</sc_threshold>
           <i_qfactor>0.71</i_qfactor>
           <b_strategy>2</b_strategy>
           <qcomp>0.6</qcomp>
           <qmin>10</qmin>
           <qmax>51</qmax>
           <qdiff>4</qdiff>
           <b_qfactor/>
           <directpred>3</directpred>
           <trellis>1</trellis>
           <level>30</level>
           <refs>4</refs>
           <wpredp>0</wpredp>
  </video_codec_parameters>
  <audio_codec>libfaac</audio_codec>
  <two_pass>no</two_pass>
  <turbo>yes</turbo>
  <twin_turbo>no</twin_turbo>
  <cbr>no</cbr>
  <deinterlacing>no</deinterlacing>
  <keyframe>200</keyframe>
  <audio_volume>100</audio_volume>
  <rotate>0</rotate>
  <file_extension>mp4</file_extension>
  <hint>no</hint>
</format>

Roku 1200k Template

<format>
  <output>mp4</output>
  <destination>
  <size>640x480</size>
  <bitrate>1200k</bitrate>
  <audio_bitrate>192k</audio_bitrate>
  <audio_sample_rate>44100</audio_sample_rate>
  <audio_channels_number>2</audio_channels_number>
  <keep_aspect_ratio>yes</keep_aspect_ratio>
  <video_codec>libx264</video_codec>
  <profile>main</profile>
  <VCodecParameters>yes</VCodecParameters>
           <video_codec_parameters>
           <coder>1</coder>
           <flags>+loop</flags>
           <flags2>+wpred+mixed_refs+dct8x8+fastpskip</flags2>
           <partitions>+parti8x8+parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8</partitions>
           <me_method>umh</me_method>
           <subq>8</subq>
           <me_range>16</me_range>
           <bf>4</bf>
           <keyint_min>25</keyint_min>
           <sc_threshold>40</sc_threshold>
           <i_qfactor>0.71</i_qfactor>
           <b_strategy>2</b_strategy>
           <qcomp>0.6</qcomp>
           <qmin>10</qmin>
           <qmax>51</qmax>
           <qdiff>4</qdiff>
           <b_qfactor/>
           <directpred>3</directpred>
           <trellis>1</trellis>
           <level>30</level>
           <refs>4</refs>
           <wpredp>0</wpredp>
  </video_codec_parameters>
  <audio_codec>libfaac</audio_codec>
  <two_pass>no</two_pass>
  <turbo>yes</turbo>
  <twin_turbo>no</twin_turbo>
  <cbr>no</cbr>
  <deinterlacing>no</deinterlacing>
  <keyframe>200</keyframe>
  <audio_volume>100</audio_volume>
  <rotate>0</rotate>
  <file_extension>mp4</file_extension>
  <hint>no</hint>
</format>

Standard Template for 800k

<format>
  <output>mp4</output>
  <destination>
  <size>640x480</size>
  <bitrate>800k</bitrate>
  <audio_bitrate>128k</audio_bitrate>
  <audio_sample_rate>44100</audio_sample_rate>
  <audio_channels_number>2</audio_channels_number>
  <keep_aspect_ratio>yes</keep_aspect_ratio>
  <video_codec>libx264</video_codec>
  <profile>main</profile>
  <VCodecParameters>yes</VCodecParameters>
           <video_codec_parameters>
           <coder>1</coder>
           <flags>+loop</flags>
           <flags2>+wpred+mixed_refs+dct8x8+fastpskip</flags2>
           <partitions>+parti8x8+parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8</partitions>
           <me_method>umh</me_method>
           <subq>8</subq>
           <me_range>16</me_range>
           <bf>4</bf>
           <keyint_min>25</keyint_min>
           <sc_threshold>40</sc_threshold>
           <i_qfactor>0.71</i_qfactor>
           <b_strategy>2</b_strategy>
           <qcomp>0.6</qcomp>
           <qmin>10</qmin>
           <qmax>51</qmax>
           <qdiff>4</qdiff>
           <b_qfactor/>
           <directpred>3</directpred>
           <trellis>1</trellis>
           <level>30</level>
           <refs>4</refs>
           <wpredp>0</wpredp>
  </video_codec_parameters>
  <audio_codec>libfaac</audio_codec>
  <two_pass>no</two_pass>
  <turbo>yes</turbo>
  <twin_turbo>no</twin_turbo>
  <cbr>no</cbr>
  <deinterlacing>no</deinterlacing>
  <keyframe>200</keyframe>
  <audio_volume>100</audio_volume>
  <rotate>0</rotate>
  <file_extension>mp4</file_extension>
  <hint>no</hint>
</format>

Roku HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) Template

<format>
  <output>ipad_stream</output>
  <destination>
  <size>0x480</size>
  <bitrate>1024k</bitrate>
  <audio_bitrate>96k</audio_bitrate>
  <audio_sample_rate>44100</audio_sample_rate>
  <audio_channels_number>2</audio_channels_number>
  <keep_aspect_ratio>yes</keep_aspect_ratio>
  <video_codec>libx264</video_codec>
  <VCodecParameters>yes</VCodecParameters>
           <video_codec_parameters>
           <coder>1</coder>
           <flags>+loop</flags>
           <flags2>+wpred+mixed_refs+dct8x8+fastpskip</flags2>
           <partitions>+parti8x8+parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8</partitions>
           <me_method>umh</me_method>
           <subq>8</subq>
           <me_range>16</me_range>
           <bf>4</bf>
           <keyint_min>25</keyint_min>
           <sc_threshold>40</sc_threshold>
           <i_qfactor>0.71</i_qfactor>
           <b_strategy>2</b_strategy>
           <qcomp>0.6</qcomp>
           <qmin>10</qmin>
           <qmax>51</qmax>
           <qdiff>4</qdiff>
           <b_qfactor/>
           <directpred>3</directpred>
           <trellis>1</trellis>
           <level>30</level>
           <refs>4</refs>
           <wpredp>0</wpredp>
  </video_codec_parameters>
  <profile>main</profile>
  <audio_codec>libfaac</audio_codec>
  <two_pass>no</two_pass>
  <turbo>yes</turbo>
  <twin_turbo>no</twin_turbo>
  <cbr>no</cbr>
  <deinterlacing>no</deinterlacing>
  <keyframe>300</keyframe>
  <audio_volume>100</audio_volume>
  <rotate>def</rotate>
  <file_extension>tar</file_extension>
  <hint>no</hint>
  <bitrates>1200k,800k,600k,400k,200k,110k</bitrates>
  <framerates>29.97,29.97,29.97,29.97,15,10</framerates>
  <keyframes>90,90,90,90,45,30</keyframes>
  <pack_files>no</pack_files>
  <segment_duration>10</segment_duration>
  <add_audio_only>no</add_audio_only>
  <still_image></still_image>
  <still_image_time></still_image_time>
</format>

If you are used to setting permissions in Amazon buckets, you're probably familiar with S3's style of ACL usage appended to the source URLs. In Rackspace, no URL defined permissions exist. The way to set public versus private permissions is via containers.

Public: Select 'Publish to CDN' in the container properties. This creates a link that allows that particular location to be viewed by anyone. This is the only way to enable public viewing if your videos are stored on Rackspace's CloudFiles. Through this function, Rackspace simultaneously publishes your content to Akamai's CDN. No additional steps are required to enable this feature.  

Private: With a valid username and API Access Key in the source or destination URL, you're allowing Encoding.com to use your credentials to access your content.

We sure do! Take a moment to look at this link, regarding documentation of integration. http://www.encoding.com/wdocs/BCIntegration