Roku Direct Publisher

[Zelkowo]

Hello:  I'm brand new to Roku DPF, and having a blast with it.  My expertise is in data / JSON, so creating the feed along with a supporting database has gone somewhat smoothly.

However, I know literally nothing about video.  Formats, codecs, etc.  

Does Roku recommend any software that will take a raw or formatted video file and 
1. Render the file correctly 
2.  Provide the metadata to place into the feed (i.e. format, bitrate).

Ive only tried once, but the .mp4 file I have uploaded is not playing.  When I use the stream tester channel, I get the mallformed content error.

Note:  For testing, I'm using a basic webhost and not a CDN.  I certainly plan on placing video content on a CDN, but for testing a single file, will a basic shared hosting server suffice?  It streams just fine in a browser.  Thanks!

Z

[mediadisconnect]

I use Handbrake but you can use your video converter of choice.
  
You can find Roku video specifications here: https://github.com/rokudev/docs/blob/master/develop/specifications/audio-video-support.md

I use an MP4 file using an H.264(2.5Mbps) for video and ACC(192Kbps) for audio.  

I have an Access database that lists all of my video files and their respective metadata fields.  I use Access to then export my JSON file using the appropriate fields.

[Zelkowo]

Thanks for the info, I'll be giving handbreak a try.

I'm using MySQL & PHP to create my feed.  All the data entry is "manual" using PHPMyAdmin, but my next task will be building a nice little web based UI to easily add new content.

[Zelkowo]

Handbrake worked like magic.  THANKS!!    What settings do you use?  I selected the Roku 720P30 Surround.  I noticed that the encoder level was 3.1.  The video / audio document says it should be 4.1 or 4.2, however 3.1 still seamed to work.

I noticed handbreak can be installed on Unbunto.  My DREAM would be the ability to install this on a web server and write a script that uploads, converts and places it on my CDN.

[mitchstein]

handbrake is the best freeware render-er out there, I use soreson squeeze for my windows machines...
I've been working on enabling uploading and rendering etc etc for a long time, but even with php scripts I can't seem to find a secure way to handle 2 hour high def files.. They are just too large and unfortunitly with my windows servers there has to be a directx 9+ soundcard installed in order to render the videos.. I run server 2008 r2 and server 2012 r2 currently and use the smooth streaming for static videos and hls for live channels.. handbrake renders all my live channels mp4's and soreson squeeze handles all the IIS smooth streaming formats..

As far as the codecs for go, I've found AAC for audio seems to work with any version on 99% of the end users devices and mainstream for the video codec..

[mediadisconnect]

"Zelkowo" wrote:
Handbrake worked like magic.  THANKS!!    What settings do you use?  I selected the Roku 720P30 Surround.  I noticed that the encoder level was 3.1.  The video / audio document says it should be 4.1 or 4.2, however 3.1 still seamed to work.

I noticed handbreak can be installed on Unbunto.  My DREAM would be the ability to install this on a web server and write a script that uploads, converts and places it on my CDN.

Here are screenshots of my settings.  These are the best settings I could come up with while keeping my bitrate low.




I hope this helps.