Encoding H.264 Downloadable Streaming Video with Episode Encoder Pro

As my preview appears I want to point out that this source has black banding around
the edges.  As we encode our video we want to make sure we crop this black out of the
video.  It will make our output ï¬?le look so much better.  Now weʼll move forward to
create a compression preset for our encoding.  Keep in mind that these settings will be
a good starting point as every source �le is different and the encoder will respond
differently to each source �le you encode.



Open up the Templates and twirl down to the All File Formats Templates.



Once the All File Formats Templates are open navigate to the H.264 Download
templates and select the H264_480x360 preset.  With the preset selected Control-click
and choose Duplicate from the Contextual Menu to make a copy. 



You now have a copy of the preset you duplicated.  Click where the H264_480x360
copy text appears to rename your preset. 



Letʼs call your preset H264_600k_DL and select Enter.  Notice that we donʼt have any
spaces the preset name.  This is because the preset will be used in the ï¬?le naming and
itʼs better to take out all spaces in the encoding process.  When you author video
content for the web you donʼt want to have spaces in your video name.

Once you rename your compression template Double-click the preset to open the
setting for customizing.  



When your setting is open the Output tab will appear. Since we are encoding a
downloadable streaming H.264 ï¬?le notice that your ï¬?le extension will be .mp4 and the 
H.264 codec is used for the video and AAC is used for the audio.  You can see that the
Hint Prepare for Streaming check box is not selected.  Hinting isnʼt necessary to use
because weʼre not targeting this video ï¬?le for a streaming server. 



Next move on to the Video Tab.  Twirl down where H.264 is displayed to adjust the
settings for the H.264 codec.



For the datarate type in 600 kbps and you can continue to use VBR using VBV.  For the
buffer, since this is a downloadable video, you can increase your buffer to 10 seconds. 
This will allow the codec to vary the bit rate more.  For the Keyframe distance you can
use a value of 90 frames which will provide a keyframe at least every 6 seconds.



Click on the Proï¬?le and Quality tab.  Notice that 2-pass encoding is selected.  Adjust the
quality slider to the highest quality of 100 and twirl up the codec setting.



Go to the Frame Rate Filter and twirl down.  For the ï¬?lter mode choose Fixed framerate. 



For the Framerate preset you can use Automatic and select 15 fps.  Now twirl up the
Frame Rate ï¬?lter. 



Twirl down the Deinterlace ï¬?lter and choose Automatic Detection for the Field Order. 
This fact that this setting is available is great because with compression itʼs always good
to know you ï¬?eld order.  Choosing the Automatic Detection value takes the guess work
out and the codec will determine the ï¬?eld order for you.  Go ahead and twirl up the
Deinterlace �lter.



Now, twirl down the Resize �lter.



For the output size you can leave it at 480 x 360.   You can choose Cut for Maintain
proportion with.



For the cropping values weʼll multiply the 4:3 aspect ratio by 8 and crop 32 x 24 pixels. 
So crop 12 pixels off the top, 12 pixels off the bottom, 16 pixels off the left and 16 pixels
off the right. 



Since weʼre dealing with video from an analog source we need to apply a Noise
Reduction ï¬?lter.   Navigate to the Noise Reduction ï¬?lter and click the check box to make
it active.



Now, twirl down the Noise Reduction ï¬?lter to adjust the values.  Check Median and Only
Filter Chroma to apply the ï¬?lter only on the Chroma channel.  Leave the other values at
the default.  Twirl up the Noise Reduction ï¬?lter.



Letʼs move to the Audio tab. 

Click on the Bit Rate Pop-up Menu and choose 32 kbps. 



You can leave Stereo selected for Channels and 44.1 kHz selected for the sample rate.



Now that were are �nished making our adjustments click the Save Setting button to the
top right on the Episode Encoder Pro interface.



Click the Close Setting button. 



Next, select the H264_600k_DL setting that you created



and drag it onto your DV.mov video source.



You can see that your compression preset appears right below the video source. 
Before we start encoding letʼs look at something.  Select the H264_600kDL preset and
click the Enter key.



A preview of your video output appears with the cropping values applied under the
Resize ï¬?lter.  Our black edges no longer appear.  Time to encode your video ï¬?le.



At the bottom right of the Episode Encoder Pro interface click the Start Encoding button.



You can watch your progress under status.  This will show you how much time you have 
left.



Once your video has ï¬?nished encoding your status will switch to Done.  You have now encoded an H.264 downloadable streaming video using Episode Encoder Pro.