This past weekend we updated MegaPEG.X based on some customer feedback. The result is a more robust multiplexing framework for internet VBR MPEG-1 files; previously, on some encodes the multiplex would yield a file with audio dropouts.

Sometimes it is difficult to anticipate how customers will use a product; what features they will need and how they will use them. In this case, our customer was setting the bitrate for his movie (which was a product tutorial screencast) aggressively low. The target bitrate was too low for the encoder to realize with the selected settings, and so resulted bitrate spikes that were causing trouble in the mux. We were able to identify the problem here using special Darwin shell tools which we use internally for muxing and demuxing files. The whole situation lead me to rethink the approach the average customer will take towards compressing for the web, and so I made modifications to the internet templates and mux so that any strategy that the customer might take will result in a file that plays properly.

Nevertheless, because we wanted the customer to get the best results possible, we requisitioned a segment of their source footage and custom-built a template for their application. The result used less bits and subjectively had a higher visual quality. Which brings me to my final point: our tech support is more than happy to make custom templates for your particular application. It both allows us to 'see' more kinds of source material and exercise the encoder in possibly unanticipated ways. Generally, we require a short segment of representative source footage, which we would get from you via FTP. Or you can send us a CD. Either way, we can get you started off on a successful note, and possibly save you quite a bit of time experimenting (which might be its own kind of fun).