Adobe Media Encoder CC 2019 Overview. Adobe Media Encoder CC 2019 is an imposing application which can be used for encoding your videos easily by using Adobe codec for powerful and subtle conversion of any video file format. This application addresses Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro users with an easy to use integrated video encoder. Adobe Media Encoder CC 2020 14.4.0.35 is available to all software users as a free download for Windows 10 PCs but also without a hitch on Windows 7 and Windows 8. Compatibility with this media encoder software may vary, but will generally run fine under Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP on. First, unlike VP6, which is available only from On2, there are multiple suppliers of H.264 codecs, including MainConcept, whose codec Adobe uses in Adobe Media Encoder and Adobe Flash Media Encoding Server. I've compared the quality of H.264 files produced with H.264 codecs from other vendors, and MainConcept has proven to be the best.
To begin, I should explain some introductory concepts related to H.264 video.
What is H.264?
H.264 is a video compression standard known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for 'advanced video coding'). It's a joint standard promulgated by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG).
H.264's audio sidekick is AAC (advanced audio coding), which is designated MPEG-4 Part 3. Both H.264 and AAC are technically MPEG-4 codecs—though it's more accurate to call them by their specific names—and compatible bitstreams should conform to the requirements of Part 14 of the MPEG-4 spec.
According to Part 14, MPEG-4 files containing both audio and video, including those with H.264/AAC, should use the .mp4 extension, while audio-only files should use .m4a and video-only files should use .m4v. Different vendors have adopted a range of extensions that are recognized by their proprietary players, such as Apple with .m4p for files using FairPlay Digital Rights Management and .m4r for iPhone ringtones. (Mobile phones use the .3gp and .3g2 extensions, though I don't discuss producing for mobile phones in this article.)
Like MPEG-2, H.264 uses three types of frames, meaning that each group of pictures (GOP) is comprised of I-, B-, and P-frames, with I-frames like the DCT-based compression used in DV and B- and P-frames referencing redundancies in other frames to increase compression. I'll cover much more on this later in this article.
Like most video coding standards, H.264 actually standardizes only the 'central decoder..such that every decoder conforming to the standard will produce similar output when given an encoded bitstream that conforms to the constraints of the standard,' according to Overview of the H.264/AVC Video Coding Standard published in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology (ITCSVT). Basically, this means that there's no standardized H.264 encoder. In fact, H.264 encoding vendors can utilize a range of different techniques to optimize video quality, so long as the bitstream plays on the target player. This is one of the key reasons that H.264 encoding interfaces vary so significantly among the various tools.
Episode 7 1 – Professional Media Encoding Applications
Will there be royalties?
If you stream H.264 encoded video after December 31, 2010, there may be an associated royalty obligation. As yet, however, it's undefined and uncertain. Here's an overview of what's known about royalties to date.
Briefly, H.264 was developed by a group of patent holders now represented by the MPEG Licensing Suthoring, or MPEG-LA for short. According to the Summary of AVC/H.264 License Terms(PDF, 34K) you can download from the MPEG-LA site, there are three classes of video producers subject to a potential royalty obligation.
![Episode 7 1 – professional media encoding applications Episode 7 1 – professional media encoding applications](https://img.informer.com/screenshots/5409/5409863_6_4.png)
If you're in the first two classes, and are either distributing via pay-per-view or subscription, you may already owe MPEG-LA royalties. The third group, which is clearly the largest, is for free Internet broadcast. Here, there will be no royalties until December 31, 2010 (source: AVC/H.264 License Agreement). After that, 'the royalty shall be no more than the economic equivalent of royalties payable during the same time for free television.'
According to their website, MPEG-LA must disclose licensing terms at least one year before they become due, or no later than December 31, 2009. Until then, we're unfortunately in the dark as to which uses of H.264 video will incur royalties, and the extent of these charges. For more information on H.264-related royalties, check out my article, The Future's So Bright: H.264 Year in Review, at StreamingMedia.com.
H.264 and Flash Player
As I mentioned, Adobe added H.264 playback support to Adobe Flash Player 9 Update 3 back in 2007. The apparent goal was to support the widest possible variation of files containing H.264 encoded video, and Flash Player should play.mp4, .m4v, .m4a, .mov, and .3gp files, H.264 files using the .flv extension, as well as files using the newer extensions that were released along with Flash Player 9 (see Table 1).
Bettertouchtool 2 281 – customize multi touch trackpad gestures. Table 1. File extensions for H.264 files produced for Flash Player playback
File Extension | FTYP | MIME Type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
.f4v | 'F4V ' | video/mp4 | Video for Flash Player |
.f4p | 'F4P ' | video/mp4 | Protected media for Flash Player |
.f4a | 'F4A ' | audio/mp4 | Audio for Flash Player |
.f4b | 'F4B ' | audio/mp4 | Audio book for Flash Player |
I'll describe profiles and levels in the next section. For now, understand that Flash Player supports the Baseline, Main, High, and High 10 H.264 profiles with no levels excluded. Accordingly, when you're producing H.264 video for Flash Player, you're free to choose the most advanced profile supported by the encoding tool, which is typically the High profile. On the audio side, Flash Player can play AAC Main, AAC Low Complexity, and AAC SBR (spectral band replication), which is otherwise known as High-Efficiency-AAC, or HE-AAC.
Producing H.264 video
You have seen that you have nearly complete flexibility regarding profiles and extensions; what else do you need to know before you dig into the details? A couple of things.
First, unlike VP6, which is available only from On2, there are multiple suppliers of H.264 codecs, including MainConcept, whose codec Adobe uses in Adobe Media Encoder and Adobe Flash Media Encoding Server. I've compared the quality of H.264 files produced with H.264 codecs from other vendors, and MainConcept has proven to be the best.
In general, while the overall quality of other codecs has improved, there are some tools to avoid out there. Maxsnap 1 5w30. If you're producing with a different tool and not achieving the quality you were hoping for, try encoding with one of the Adobe tools.
Media Encoding Software
Second, some older encoding tools do not offer output directly into F4V format. If F4V format is not offered in your encoding tool, the best alternative is to produce an MPEG-4 compatible streaming media file using the .mp4 extension.
Windows Media Encoding
With this as background, I'll describe the most common H.264 encoding parameters.
Windows Media Player is available for Windows-based devices. Use this table to find the right version of the Player for your system. (If you've got a Mac, you can download Windows Media Components for QuickTime to play Windows Media files.)
Operating system/browser | Player version | How to get it |
---|---|---|
Windows 10 | Windows Media Player 12 Learn more | Included in clean installs of Windows 10 as well as upgrades to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. In some editions of Windows 10, it's included as an optional feature that you can enable. To do that, select the Start button, then select Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Manage optional features > Add a feature > Windows Media Player, and select Install. DVD playback isn't included. Go to the DVD playback for Windows page to find out how to add DVD playback to Windows 10. |
Windows 8.1 | Windows Media Player 12 Learn more | Included in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Pro, but doesn't include DVD playback. Go to the DVD playback for Windows page to find out how to add DVD playback to Windows 8.1. For Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 8.1 N and KN editions, get the Media Feature Pack. |
Windows RT 8.1 | N/A | Windows Media Player isn't available for Windows RT 8.1. |
Windows 7 | Windows Media Player 12 Learn more | Included in Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. For Windows 7 N or KN editions, get the Media Feature Pack. |
Adobe after effects 2020 v17 0 1. Mac OS X | Windows Media Components for QuickTime |
If you want to reinstall Windows Media Player, try the following:
- Click the Start button, type features, and select Turn Windows features on or off.
- Scroll down and expand Media Features, clear the Windows Media Player check box, and click OK.
- Restart your device. Windows Media Player should be uninstalled.
- Repeat step 1.
- Scroll down and expand Media Features, select the Windows Media Player check box, and click OK.
- Restart your device. Windows Media player should now be reinstalled.
Note: To troubleshoot issues like playback and codec problems, see the 'Get help' section in Windows Media Player.