The Digital RapidsTranscode Manager software family provides management and automation for distributed, high-volume media file transcoding. Boosting throughput and streamlining operations, Transcode Manager works with multiple Transcode Engines and features intelligent load balancing, failover and more.

Scalable, Distributed Media Transcoding from workgroups to enterprise
Media professionals are faced with an ever-increasing array of digital media file formats. While many formats can be encoded or transcoded faster than real time, high-volume file format conversion can be a time-consuming task.

The Digital Rapids Transcode Manager software family provides centralized management, automation and load balancing for large transcoding jobs involving many media files, increasing your production volume while reducing the overhead and costs associated with manual management and monitoring. Scalable from small transcoding 'farms' to enterprise level operations, a Transcode Manager server works in conjunction with multiple Transcode Engines, assigning jobs with sophisticated "intelligence" to use them most efficiently.

Designed for large studios, facilities and service providers, Transcode Manager FE combines these benefits with robust enterprise-class features and integration. For smaller studios and workgroups without enterprise requirements, Digital Rapids Transcode Manager LE offers the same core functionality and intelligence in a lower-cost configuration (see chart for feature comparison).

Easy to Set Up, Simple to Operate
Digital Rapids Transcode Manager integrates easily into IP network-based digital media workflows. Transcoding nodes are found automatically on the network using discovery protocols and can be assigned into groups, each monitoring specified watch folders (hot folders). Project files define transcode settings, video pre-processing functions (including inverse telecine, graphic overlay, color space conversion, scaling and more) and delivery options (including folders, web publishing, and automated FTP distribution). Priorities can be assigned to each job type. Transcode Manager supports both high definition (HD) and SD content, with a broad range of compression and file formats. Its flexible software codec architecture insures against obsolescence, enabling the easy addition of new formats.

When files are dropped into a watch folder, tasks for each project file assigned to that folder are queued by Transcode Manager for intelligent distribution to available transcoders. Jobs can also be sent to Transcode Manager directly from Digital Rapids Stream encoding solutions through the Stream software interface.

Automated Intelligence for Maximum Throughput and Reliability
Digital Rapids Transcode Manager goes beyond standard load balancing mechanisms with intelligent job assignment, predicting which node can most efficiently process a given job. The Transcode Manager server tracks the performance of all Transcode Engines for each type of encode, 'learning' which systems are best for each (taking advantage of faster CPUs, additional cores or specialized CPU instruction sets for more complex jobs) and allocating jobs accordingly to optimize utilization and throughput.

Job failover for automated failure recovery ensures reliability. The Transcode Manager server monitors the status of its networked Engines, attempting to restart any failed transcodes. If a failure is detected and the transcode cannot be successfully restarted on that system, the job is resubmitted to another Engine, ensuring that the task is completed. Automated notifications also alert personnel to any failures, letting you leave the system unattended with confidence.

Enterprise-class capabilities for critical operations
Transcode Manager FE goes beyond the feature set of Transcode Manager LE with advanced fault tolerance, integration and management features. Server-level failover automatically transfers control to a backup server if the primary Transcode Manager FE server fails, ensuring that your transcoding operations continue uninterrupted. Features including head/tail clips and trimming enable the automatic removal or addition of bumpers, studio IDs, or other common content at the beginning and end of each transcode. Priorities can be manually overridden for time-critical tasks, while extended notifications and customizable report publishing keep you informed of job progress, completion and more. Transcode Manager FE tracks all events in either its embedded database (also available in Transcode Manager LE) or through support for a variety of third-party databases including Oracle 10g, Microsodt SQL Server 2005 and PostgreSQL. For those wishing to integrate Transcode Manager directly into their own applications, a comprehensive Web Services (SOAP) API is also available.

	Centralized management, automation and control for large transcoding jobs
	Increases throughput and production volume while reducing manual overhead
	Works with multiple Transcode Engine instances
	Intelligent load balancing learns performance of nodes
	Watch folders provide easy, transparent operation
	Job and server-level failover boosts reliability
	Unattended operation with notification and report publishing
	Integration with a variety of third-party databases
	Video processing including graphic overlay
	Web Services (SOAP) API for easy XML-based custom integration
	Scalable and format-expandable

Click here for a complete chart of formats for each level of software.
	SMPTE VC-1, Microsoft WMV (plus Silverlight publishing)
	AVC/H.264
	Adobe Flash
	3GPP
	MPEG-4, MPEG-2, MPEG-1
	MXF, GXF
	QuickTime, AVI, Uncompressed
	AC-3, AAC, MP3, WAV
	... and many more!