Encode

In the beginning you should have a file you want to play in a web page or in a mobile application using adaptive streaming instead of progressive download.

The first thing you need is ffmpeg. A free tool.

The basic command to create each of the needed file should be something similar to:

Bash

ffmpeg -i [input file] -vf "scale=w=1280:h=720" \
-codec:v libx264 -profile:v high -level 31 -b:v 750k \
-r 25 -g 50 -sc_threshold 0 -x264opts ratetol=0.1 \
-minrate 750k -maxrate 750k -bufsize 750k \
-b:a 96k -codec:a aac -profile:a aac_low -ar 44100 -ac 2 mg_750.mp4

Powershell

ffmpeg -i [input file] -vf "scale=w=1280:h=720" `
-codec:v libx264 -profile:v high -level 31 -b:v 750k `
-r 25 -g 50 -sc_threshold 0 -x264opts ratetol=0.1 `
-minrate 750k -maxrate 750k -bufsize 750k `
-b:a 96k -codec:a aac -profile:a aac_low -ar 44100 -ac 2 mg_750.mp4

In the above command this are the parameter used and their explanation:

• -i This is the input file you want to convert.
• -vf with this parameter you define the output size of your file. You should decrease the output size while you decrease the bitrate.
• -codec this the codec. You should mainly use libx264 and aac.
• -profile and -level this is the h264 profile. For maximum compatibility use high.
• -b:v this is the video bit rate. You should change this parameter together with the video size for each output file.

You can use this function to simplify the encoding and setting the file path of the source:

Bash

function encode()
{

ffmpeg -i "$2" -vf "scale=w=$4:h=$5" -codec:v libx264 \
-profile:v high -level 31 -b:v "${3}k" \
-r 25 -g 50 -sc_threshold 0 -minrate "${3}k" \
-maxrate "${3}k" -bufsize "${3}k" -x264opts ratetol=0.1 \
-b:a 96k -codec:a aac -profile:a aac_low -ar 44100 -ac 2 -strict -2 \
 "$1_$6x$7_h264-$5Kb_aac-lc.mp4"
}

f=[path to file to encode] 

###Powershell

function encode($n, $f, $k, $w=1280, $h=720)
{

ffmpeg -i "$f" -vf "scale=w=$($w):h=$($h)" -codec:v libx264 `
-profile:v high -level 31 -b:v "$($k)k" `
-r 25 -g 50 -sc_threshold 0 -minrate "$($k)k" -maxrate "$($k)k" `
-bufsize "$($k * 1)k" `
 -x264opts ratetol=0.1 -b:a 96k -codec:a aac `
-profile:a aac_low -ar 44100 -ac 2 -strict -2 `
"$($n)_$($w)x$($h)_h264-$($k)Kb_aac-lc.mp4"
}

$f=[path to file to encode] 

With the function defined to produce 6 bitrates you just run:

encode "test" $f 120 256 144
encode "test" $f 320 512 288
encode "test" $f 750 1024 576
encode "test" $f 1200 1280 720
encode "test" $f 2000 1280 720
encode "test" $f 3500 1024 720

Once you have your 6 file you can generate the dash segments using mg.