Chromecast recommended transcoding settings

[doublejz]

Since I can't get my PS3 to stream movies still, I went out an grabbed a Chromecast dongle hoping for better success. Is there a recommended transcoding setting for Chromecast? When I go to pre-transcode my files there isn't a bold option to choose from. I randomly picked one but had no audio.

[Paul]

Either format that is listed in the Pre-transcode Formats dialog should work fine. Try MP4 file container with h264 and AAC.

[doublejz]

Ok. Another question. Do I need to pre-transcode the file for the android that I'm using to send the file to Chromecast with or just the Chromecast?

[Paul]

Typically, you don't need to pre-transcode your files for your devices - including your Chromecast. Mezzmo server will auto-transcode your incompatible files on-the-fly for you when you play them on your device(s) and they should play fine. Typical reasons for pre-transcoding are: (i) your device may not let you FF/REW when transcoding on-the-fly, and (ii) transcoding on-the-fly is too slow for real time playback so your videos stutter/freeze when playing on your device. See this FAQ for more details - http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/6025-Tutorial-Pre-transcoding-Files.

To answer your question - if you are pre-transcoding, you only need to pre-transcode files for the device that is going to play the file. In your case, you want to play the file on your Chromecast so you only need to pre-transcode for that.

[doublejz]

So if you just let it transcode on the fly, does it cleanup/delete the transcoded file after you stop watching the video?

[Paul]

All transcoded files are stored in your Transcoding folder. Mezzmo keeps all of them on disk for you so you don't have to transcode them again if you choose to play the file again. Transcoded files will be removed from disk if either (i) you remove them yourself (see below ho to do this), or (ii) the maximum size of your transcoding folder has been reached and Mezzmo then removes the oldest transcoding files to make disk space for new transcoded files. You can set the transcoding folder location using the Transcoding Settings dialog. In this dialog, you can also set the maximum folder size for your transcoding folder.

You can remove transcoded files in a few ways. if you want to remove all transcoded files, go to the Transcoding Settings dialog and use the Delete Transcoded Files button. If you want to delete transcoded files for a certain device, then go to the Media Devices dialog and edit your device. On the Device Settings dialog, go to the Transcoding tab and click the Delete Transcoded Files button. If you want to remove transcoded files for a particular file, then right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click Properties. On the Properties dialog go to the Transcoding tab and click the Delete Transcoded File button.

[doublejz]

Ok. I've always pre-transcoded all my media so I wasn't sure how the on the fly transcoding was handled. I'm starting to run out of space so was just curious.