Video encoding for self-hosted adaptive streaming

adaptive-streaming-plan.md

1. Create high-quality master format (uncompressed HEVC, Apple ProRes?)

   • 60fps HEVC CRF 23 from input stills:

     ffmpeg \
       -framerate 60 \
       -pattern_type glob \
       -i "DSC_*.jpg" \
       -vcodec libx265 \
       -pix_fmt yuv420p \
       -vtag hvc1 \
       -crf 23 \
       -f mp4
       <output filename>

2. Transcode to various resolutions and framerates, maybe something like this?

   • 4k
     • HEVC CRF 23
     • HEVC CRF 28
     • h264 CRF 23
     • h264 CRF 18
   • 1080p
     • HEVC CRF 23
     • HEVC CRF 28
     • h264 CRF 23
     • h264 CRF 18

   not sure what to do with framerates > 30fps (Apple recommends including at least one source ≤ 30fps for compatibility with older players)

3. Fragment

   mp4fragment <input> <output>

4. Generate Dash / HLS Playlists

   mp4dash \
     --verbose \
     --profile=on-demand \
     --hls \
     --exec-dir=$(which mp4hls) 
     <input files…>

5. Video tag

   <video controls width="100%">
     <source src="hls.m3u8" type="application/vnd.apple.mpegurl" />
     <source src="dash.mpd" />
     <source src="raw-h264.m4v" type="video/mp4" />
   </video>