How Encoding Works

A job is the work order our system follows to process your video. It records which file (or files) to use, the exact sequence of steps to run against them, and tracks status from pending through finished. Every time you send a video to encoding, you're creating a job.

Upload a video, then choose a template — either one of our starter templates or one you've saved yourself — and submit. We turn your template plus your video into a job automatically; you don't build the step list by hand.

A job holds a reference to your source video, an ordered list of processing steps (resize, watermark, compress, package, upload), and a status field we update as each step completes. Once finished, the job points to your resulting file(s).

A template is a saved group of encoding settings — quality, watermark, trim range, output format — so you don't have to choose everything from scratch every time. Pick a template and submit; we do the rest.

Every setting a template can store, grouped the way you'll see them in the template editor. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are internal.

Template name

The name you give this template so you can find and reuse it.Any text

Job type

Every job is an encoding — "job type" is just an internal label marking any special processing the template needs, and it pre-fills the rest of the template with sensible values for that purpose.

• Twitter/X preset — fits X's duration and file-size limits
• BlueSky preset — fits BlueSky's duration and file-size limits
• HIQ MP4 — high-quality download, no streaming package
• Combine — merge multiple of your videos into one output first
• Other presets — we add more over time

Videos to combine

Which of your uploaded videos get merged into a single output, in order. Only shown for the Combine job type.Pick from your uploaded videos

Watermark

Whether and how a watermark is burned into the video.Options: None, My watermark (use a saved preset), Custom text at corners (static), Custom text scrolling

My watermark

Which of your saved watermark presets to apply. Only shown when Watermark = My watermark.Pick from your saved watermarks

Quality

We encode several resolution/bit-rate versions matched to your video's shape, so playback can adapt to each viewer's connection and device. Your upload's own resolution is always the ceiling — we never invent detail that wasn't there to begin with, only build downward from it.

• Normal — every version up to your upload's own resolution, best for adaptive playback
• Lowest — just the smallest version, smaller and faster, good for drafts or small embeds
• Original — skip the ladder, keep your upload's exact resolution and bit-rate

Packager (Output)

How the finished video is packaged for playback — a plain download, or adaptive streaming with or without encryption.

• Common Encryption (CENC) — encrypted, adaptive streaming (DASH), packaged the way DRM-capable players expect
• Apple FairPlay (FPS) — encrypted, adaptive streaming (HLS) for Apple devices, using Apple's FairPlay packaging format
• CENC & FPS — both of the above together, so encrypted playback works across platforms
• Dynamic Adaptive (DASH), unencrypted — adaptive streaming with no encryption, for public video
• Plain MP4 — a single downloadable file, no adaptive streaming, no encryption

Stamp

Your text fades in and out at random positions across the frame throughout playback — light-touch enough for everyday branding, tough to crop or screen-record around cleanly when you need to protect a screener or enforce an NDA, or for tracking individually-numbered copies sold to specific customers. We've found a neutral grey (#727272) tends to hold up best across footage with varied backgrounds and colors, though you can pick any color.Text: your stamp text · Color picker

Thumbnail

Generates a preview thumbnail image at a timestamp you set.Time offset: HH:MM:SS

Trim

Cuts the video down to the start and end times you set.Start time: HH:MM:SS · End time: HH:MM:SS

Border

Adds a solid colored border around the video frame. Useful for site screen demos where the film's background matches the site's body background.Thickness: pixels · Color picker

Sprites

Generates a strip of preview frames from across your video, used for a hover preview: on desktop, hovering the thumbnail cycles through them; on mobile (no hover), a preview button shows the same thing. Played through our video.js-based player, the same strip also powers scrub-bar preview — hover the timeline to see a frame from that point in the video.Count: number · Size: WxH · Scale: on/off

Transpose/Flip

Applies a fixed rotate-and/or-flip preset instead of an arbitrary degree value.

• None — shown here as the reference face the other options rotate/flip
• Rotate 90° counter-clockwise + flip vertically
• Rotate 90° clockwise
• Rotate 90° counter-clockwise
• Rotate 90° clockwise + flip vertically
• Flip vertically
• Flip horizontally

Custom filter

Passes a raw ffmpeg video-filter string straight to the encoder — advanced/expert use only.Filter string (-vf): text as defined by ffmpeg (your mileage may vary — we're here to help or customize)

Notification

How you're told when the job finishes.

• None — no notification, check back on your own
• Email — we email you when the job finishes
• On site only — a notification appears in your account, no email sent

Public*

A public template is visible to and usable by all customers. The templates you create are only visible to you. We are pleased to assist you in setting up templates as needed.

Copy to content server*

Where does the output go? Embedded streams go to our content servers for the length of your subscription. Downloads remain in your video list for 3 days only. We do not provide long term storage.

Enable DB update*

Whether the job's database records get updated on completion.

Send to archive*

Whether a copy of the output is sent to long-term archive storage.

Job status*

Whether the job runs right away or waits in the queue.Options: Ready to encode, Hold in job queue

Upload server*

Which physical server the source video lives on.Server list

Encoding server*

Which physical server performs the encode.Server list

* Normally an internal setting that we take care of — you will not see these on your templates. We list them here to show that we can customize these steps for your account. You may wish for output to be directed to your own endpoints, or your own databases updated. We do custom work.

A watermark is a reusable overlay you design once and reuse on any video — scrolling or static text, a semi-transparent image/logo, or both together. It gets burned permanently into the video frames wherever you use it.

Go to your account settings and open Watermark. Give it a name, choose text, image overlay, or both, style it, and save. From there it becomes available to attach when you build or edit an encoding template.