Limecraft Flow and Limecraft Edge use encoding processes at ingest and export stages. To avoid configuration errors, a production manager or administrator can access and pre-configure the shortlist of encoding profiles centrally in Flow as part of the production settings. This article contains in depth description of the different configuration options available to you. 


Before you begin



TABLE OF CONTENTS


Transcode Profiles settings 

To manage the file format conversion at production level, access Media Encoding Settings via the Production Settings.



Name & Description


Give your profile a descriptive name. In the description field, you can write free text to indicate what the profile should be used for. 



Profile settings



Edge Profile Identifier is a unique id used when referencing the profile in Edge settings.


Extension defines which file extension the generated file will have (e.g. *.aaf, *.mp4, *.mov.)


Output can be set to include the generation of multiple files.


Flow Output Type (moi.type) defines the new type for a clip when the transcode profile is used to create a new MediaObjectInstance (MOI) for a clip. 


  • EDL - use this if the media is a version to be used for editing
  • PROXY - use this if the media is to be used as a playable version in the Limecraft Flow player
  • MEZZANINE_PROXY - use this if the media is to be used as a mezzanine intermediate file for multitrack audiolayout (read more about it in this article.

When in doubt, use EDL.


Flow Profile Name (moi.profile) should contain the type of the new clip when the transcode profile is used to create new MediaObjectInstance for a clip. This typically indicates either the purpose of the profile ("web') or a unique characteristic of the profile ("dnxhd_36"). This description needs to be kept short.


Flow Quality Label (moi.quality) is typically HIGH, LOW or MEDIUM but other values are also allowed. The combination of Flow Output Type, Flow Profile Name and Flow Quality Label should be unique.

When in doubt, use the suggested defaults. 




Video settings



Width refers to the width in pixels of the generated video frames.


Height refers to the height in pixels of the generated video frames.


Codec refers to the video codec which should be used to encode the video. When encoding for use on the web (playout in a browser, "H.264/AVC" is recommended. 

For Avid use: DNx36, DNx185, DnxHR.

For Adobe use: ProRes (ProResLQ, ProResHQ).


Bitrate refers to the video bitrate which influences the size of the generated video. This is expressed in kbps (kilobits per second). At 1000kbps, one second of material will have a size of 1000 kilobit, or 125 kilobyte. 


Pixel Format describes how the color data of a pixel is stored. 



Audio settings


Codec refers to the audio codec which should be used to encode the audio tracks.


Bitrate refers to the audio bitrate which influences the size of the generated audio. It is expressed in kbps (kilobit per second). At 1000kbps one second of material will have a size of 1000 kilobit, or 125 kilobyte. 


Max Sample Rate refers to the material per second which is the amount of samples that will be taken. In general, a higher sample rate allows a higher quality, but it will increase the size of the generated audio as well. 


Advanced  - Master Audio Tracks (comma separated) is only used for audio-synced clips or when enabled with enableMasterAudioSelection. This selects the tracks to retain the audio output, throwing away the other channels. 


Audio Channel Transform describes how the input audio tracks and channels are mixed. 

  • Stereo - generates a stereo mix with even channels on the left and uneven channels on the right.
  • Mono - mixes everything down to one mono channel
  • No transformation - keeps the audio as it is


Watermarks


The watermarks section to configure text, timecode or images that will be overlayed on the generated video. It can be used to add text, images or timecode to the material. The text can be a template in which field values (custom fields and internal fields) are interpolated.  Read more about watermarks.


Advanced - Scaler Flags (one per line)


This is for adding flags for the video scaler. You can also add extra settings as JSON.


Disable Transcode Profile


At the bottom of the window, you have the option to flag the transcode profile as disabled for Edge Ingest. When this is checked, the profile will not be visible in the list of available ingest profiles in Edge.