About sessions

Before you can encode, you must set up an encoding session. As part of setting up the session, you must do the following:

• Specify the source of your audio or video content. You can source from devices, files, or both devices and files. You can also capture screens directly from your desktop.
• Choose the output option. Select whether to broadcast the content or encode it to a file. If you broadcast the content, you can push the stream to a Windows Media server, and you can enable Windows Media servers and players to pull the stream from the encoder. You can also choose to archive a copy of the broadcast for later use.

In addition, you should check compression and quality settings before you encode. Default settings are applied, but it may be necessary to adjust the settings to meet your needs. For example, if you are planning to distribute your content for download-and-play on a computer, you may want to use bit rate-based VBR encoding and set the video and audio quality level to the higher bit rate.

After you have identified the source of your content and specified the output, you have a number of options for customizing a session. For example, you can optimize audio and video to improve the quality of the encoded content.

After configuring the session to meet your needs, you can start encoding. If you want to run the same session again, you can save the session to a session file either before or after you encode.

Note

• It is not necessary to create a session each time you encode. The encoder includes quick starts and the New Session Wizard, which address common encoding scenarios.

Related topics

• Concepts
• Configuring sources
• Output options
• Customizing a session
• Encoding with quick starts or the New Session Wizard
• To save a session