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How to Force Transcoding for a Generic Profile

PostPosted: Thu Nov 26, 2020 6:04 am
by 007craft
Hi. I'm using Serviio to watch media from my phone (Galaxy S20). I do this by using the BubbleUPNP App.

I have a couple movies that are so large, that I do not have the wifi bandwidth to direct play them. How do I force transcoding by Serviio? I have BubbleUPNP server setup so technically it goes Serviio - bubbleUPNP server - BubbleUPNP Android App (I do this so I can access my DLNA server remotely, which also has an even bigger bandwidth problem than the wifi of course, so I need transcoding)

Re: How to Force Transcoding for a Generic Profile

PostPosted: Thu Nov 26, 2020 4:48 pm
by atc98092
You can't force transcoding if you're using the generic profile. You'll need a customized profile to match your specific requirements. You can create your own profiles and store them in a user-profiles.xml file, and Serviio won't touch it when it receives an update.

The size of the file has nothing to do with the bandwidth necessary for streaming. It solely depends on the bitrate of the file, which is usually tied to its resolution. The higher the resolution the higher the bitrate needed. SD media usually needs no more than 10 Mbps. I've seen 1080 HD media go over 50 Mbps, but most are more like 35 Mbps. 4K files can exceed 100 Mbps, with peaks approaching 200.

These numbers are all based on ripped media and not further processed or compressed. You can use something like Handbrake to compress your media with a bitrate limit.

If your WiFi is only 802.11G, I could see running out of bandwidth for HD material, and not being able to play UHD at all. But if you have 802.11N, you should be fine with HD material. You might check your wireless settings in the router and perhaps experiment with different channels or other possible settings.

Re: How to Force Transcoding for a Generic Profile

PostPosted: Fri Nov 27, 2020 8:13 am
by 007craft
Ive looked over the profiles.xml and it is very confusing. Is there any plans to incorporate selecting options in the GUI of the console instead of having to edit xml files?

Yes I'm look to transcode the files into a bit rate = to that of around 10 MBPS. So If I play a 4k file, or even 1080p, that is of a high bit rate, it transcodes it down to lower quality bitrate so it wont go over 10MBPS while streaming. I have Wireless N but I have other services on my wifi than just a media server. 10 MBPS is the max bandwidth I can spare.

Re: How to Force Transcoding for a Generic Profile

PostPosted: Fri Nov 27, 2020 7:33 pm
by atc98092
I can't speak for the developer, but I am not aware of any plans to allow adjusting a profile from any sort of user interface. Once you understand the structure, XML isn't too bad to work with. This page explains the different parameters of a transcoding section: https://www.serviio.org/index.php?optio ... icle&id=24, and this page explains the basics of the Profiles.XML file: https://www.serviio.org/index.php?optio ... icle&id=16

Re: How to Force Transcoding for a Generic Profile

PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:20 am
by 007craft
Thanks for those links. I read through them and the profiles.xml file but It seems like alot of work to setup a profile that simply transcodes everything. To start, I tried simply selecting a pre-made profile (Such as Samsung tv or Xbox) and selecting my device IP to use that profile from the console. Unfortunately transcoding did not happen when I do this. I'm not sure why, perhaps it can detect that my device is not actually a samsung TV or xbox profile? Its not really explained how much of these tags work.

Either way I gave up and installed Universal Media Server which allowed me to select forced transcoding by default and worked without setup.

Re: How to Force Transcoding for a Generic Profile

PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:01 am
by atc98092
The DirecTV profile is supposed to transcode almost everything, so you might try that one. No, Serviio isn't detecting that isn't the actual device, so no problems there.

In the Serviio console, on the Delivery/Transcoding tab, ensure you have Enable Transcoding checked.

I tried UMS many years ago, but really didn't like the way it worked. If it's doing what you need, then that's great.