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FAQ / Encoding

General​

What is Axinom Encoding?​

Axinom Encoding is a highly scalable and flexible cloud encoding and packaging service. It offers a number of advantages that make it unique:

  • Supports modern packaging formats HLS, DASH, and CMAF
  • Enables DRM protection for Google Widevine, Apple FairPlay, and Microsoft PlayReady
  • Offers the best protection by enabling separate encryption keys for each video quality level and audio
  • Scales fast. Can encode hundreds of videos in parallel
  • Comes with a fully documented, developer-friendly Web API
  • Supports a broad variety of input formats

Check Axinom Encoding Documentation

What is Axinom VIP?​

"Axinom VIP" was a previous name of Axinom Encoding before it was renamed in 2021.

Trivia: "VIP" is an abbreviation for "Video Ingest & Processing".

What are the phases of encoding?​

Processing an encoding job could take minutes or even hours. The job execution happens asynchronously. It involves several distinct phases, such as pre-validation, acquisition, media mapping, encoding, DRM protection, packaging, image extraction, and publishing. Read more about the different phases from the Axinom Encoding Overview article.

What codecs does Axinom Encoding support?​

Axinom Encoding currently supports creating H.264/AAC and H.265/AAC adaptive bitrate streaming assets.

As input, it supports a broad variety of codecs and containers. Please find more information here:

Supported input formats

Can Axinom Encoding produce DRM-protected content in line with studio requirements?​

Yes.

Axinom DRM supports DRM protection across all output formats.

It offers granular control over the encryption process. Axinom Encoding offers important features to satisfy the latest content owner requirements:

  • Supports several content keys per asset
  • Separate content keys for different video quality levels
  • Separate content keys for audio
  • Uses modern CPIX standard for secure key material exchange

Which subtitles formats does Axinom Encoding support?​

The supported subtitles formats include WebVTT, TTML, SubRip (SRT), and PAC.

Which packaging formats are used for the output?​

The encoded video, audio, and subtitles could be packaged as MPEG DASH, HLS, or CMAF. The exact format is specified in the ContentProcessing section of a job description. Read more about content processing from the respective article.

Can I integrate Axinom Encoding with my existing workflows?​

Yes.

One of our key goals for Axinom Encoding is interoperability. Another one is making it super easy for developers to integrate.

Axinom Encoding has a developer-friendly Web API and comes with comprehensive documentation and sample code. It supports standards, like CPIX, to ensure seamless integration. It also supports all major tools and protocols for acquiring source content and delivering the resulting output to its destination.

On top, we offer free evaluation of Axinom Encoding. Give it a try!

How can I encode a video with embedded audio?​

Embedded audios in video streams are supported and extracted as required. To encode a video with embedded audio, i.e. without a separate audio track, remove the AudioFileLanguageExpression property from the MediaMappings section of the job request. If the Axinom system supports the video file, it should automatically detect and map the embedded audio tracks. Each embedded audio stream must have a language tag with a valid language code in the metadata.

Read more about Media Mappings from the documentation.

Licensing​

How is Axinom Encoding licensed?​

It is licensed as a SaaS (cloud-based).

Axinom’s billing model is based on processed minutes. The monthly bill groups the total output minutes by quality groups (SD, HD, UHD1, UHD2) and codecs (e.g. H.264, H.265). The minute price increases with the stream quality. Read more about the billing model or try out the pricing calulator.

Only successfully completed encoding jobs get billed. We won’t bill if a job produces only partial output (e.g. only 5 out of 6 requested bitrates get generated successfully).

See also: Axinom Encoding Billing Model

Can I try out your service free of charge?​

Yes. We offer a free trial of 60 days during which you have access to our test environment, sample code, comprehensive documentation and support.

Performance​

How many parallel encoding jobs does Axinom support?​

By default, Axinom supports 100 parallel encoding jobs. If you need support for a higher number of parallel jobs, please contact us.