ffmpeg question

[Martin Pruss]

Hi Steve
1. Do you know if its possible to sort of include ffmpeg from a different
server ..
my hosting company won't allow me to install ffmpeg on my shared hosting account because it seems to eat to much processor power while transcoding various video formats to flv...
did you ever try this?

2. Do i have to do the transcoding via cronjob by watching the upload folder or can that be done via triggers/delegate classes... i am just wondering because transcoding takes some time afaik... how about php timeouts and so on... what was your experience

cheers
Martin

[shannah]

I haven't dug into IMM in a while but if I recall, ffmpeg is used minimally - only to generate image previews of the video and perhaps to calculate some dimensions etc....

Unfortunately FFMPEG would have to be installed on the same server for the current functionality.

Since FFMPEG is used so minimally, cronjobs are not necessary. No transcoding is done in the current version. IMM just leaves the format alone. Generally I convert to FLV using a desktop app and then upload it to IMM.

If transcoding were added as a feature, it would almost certainly have to be done with a cron job because of the time intensity of it.

If you really wanted to get your hands dirty with some custom development and add transcoding features to IMM, it would be possible to set up FFMPEG on a separate server and access it behind the scenes as a web service. Of course this would be a project unto itself.

-Steve