Pre-Transcoded Files

[rkrauss]

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for your time. Quick question (and probably a silly one) - are the MZT transcoded files really necessary after the transcoding process? It's unfortunate that for every 10-13GB MKV file I still need another 5GB MZT file.

Let me know. Would like to know if I can get rid of the MKV or MZT file after the transcoding process.

[Paul]

Mezzmo keeps your transcoded files in your transcoding folder so the next time you try to play the same file, Mezzmo does not have to transcode the file again and simply streams the already transcoded file to your device(s). This reduces the processing overhead on your computer and eliminates possible stuttering or FF/REW problems that can occur when transcoding on-they-fly.

You can set your transcoding folder to any drive/folder using the Transcoding Settings dialog. You can also set the maximum size of this folder in the Transcoding Settings dialog so that it does not become too large. When the limit is reached, then Mezzmo automatically starts to delete older transcoded files.

If you want to keep & use the transcoded MZT file, then you can save it to another location and add it into your Mezzmo library. To do this, right-click on the video in Mezzmo and click Properties. On the Properties dialog, go to the Transcoding tab. You will see all transcoded files listed there for the file. Select the one you want to keep and click the Save As button to save it to another location.

[rkrauss]

Hello Paul,

Thank you for the information. How do I setup transcoding on-the-fly? Is this something that happens automatically when I try to play an un-supported video type? If so, this does not seem to happen. My Sony BD home theater system will not play MKV files.

Also, are you saying that by saving the MZT file to another location and adding it to my Mezzmo library, I can delete the original MKV file? Or is the MZT file dependent on the MKV file?

Thanks again for your support.

[Paul]

Transcoding on-the-fly is turned on by default. If your MKVs are not playing on your Sony home theater, then device profile assigned to your device may be wrong. Go to the Media Devices dialog in Mezzmo and try changing it on of the "Sony BDP, HT, SMP" device profiles. Restart your Mezzmo server after changing the device profile. If no success, then let us know your Sony model number.

Also check that transcoding is turned on. Go to the Transcoding Settings dialog to check this. Also edit your device in the Media Devices dialog. On the Device Settings dialog, go to the Transcoding tab to check if transcoding is turned on for that particular device.

If you save the MZT file to another location and then add it into your Mezzmo library, then you can remove the original file from your Mezzmo library and/or from disk. There is no dependency.

[rkrauss]

How do I add the MZT files to my library? Mezzmo is not letting me do it or it is not recognizing the MZT files.

[rkrauss]

In addition to my previous post, it appears that all my MKV files which I transcoded no longer are associated to the MZT files. Somehow, there are now MP4 files that appeared next to the MKV files. What the hell happened? Do I have to transcode everything again?! OMG! How do I associate an MKV to an existing MZT file?

[rkrauss]

Ok, I think I figured it out. I renamed the MZT files to MP4. This seems to work. Am I on the right path?

[Paul]

Right-click on the file that has been transcoded and click Properties. On the Properties dialog, go to the Transcoding tab and you will see all transcoded files listed there. Select one and click 'Save As'. This will copy the MZT file to another location on your computer. You can then add this copied file into your Mezzmo library.

[MaleXLR]

Two days into Mezzmo and all seems to be going well. As our server is old and slow, all our video files will have to be pre-transcoded, so I have a couple of questions:

1. Is there any way from the main screen of telling whether a file has already been pre-transcoded without right clicking and going into properties? I was hoping that I could customize columns and see a Y/N or “tick” in a column to indicate pre-trancoding. That way I would know which files need to be processed.
2. Can Mezzmo automatically pre-trancode any new files that are put into the video folder, or will this always have to be done manually?

Thanks.

[Paul]

Some answers:

• There is no column in Details view to tell if a file has been transcoded. The problem with this idea is that users often have 10+ DLNA devices in their home that they stream to 9and not just one). So, a file may have been transcoded for some devices but not others - and a single column in Details view could not give you this information. You can tell if a file has been transcoded or not when you are browsing files on your DLNA device. See this FAQ - http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread...on-your-device
• The current version of Mezzmo (v3.4.4.0) does not auto pre-transcode files. You do have to queue then up using the Pre-transcode Files dialog. Thanks for this suggestion though. We do have it on our development list to consider for a future version.