Which Video Formats Does Dacast Support?

Optimal Video Formats for Dacast

The optimal format is:

• MP4
• H.264
• AAC

This ensures great delivery over the widest range of devices. However, other formats can be uploaded and then transcoded over the system to become compatible.

All Video Formats Supported

Dacast currently supports the following video file formats:

• mp4 — MPEG-4
• .mov, .qt — Apple QuickTime
• .flv, .f4v — Adobe Flash
• .wmv, .asf — Windows Media 9
• .mpg, .vob, .m2v, .mp2 — MPEG-2
• .m4v — Apple iTunes
• .avi — A/V Interleave
• .webm — WebM (Vorbis audio only)
• .ogv, .ogg — Ogg
• .mxf — MXF
• .mts — AVCHD
• .mkv — Matroska
• .r3d, .rm — Red Raw Video
• .flac — Native Flac
• .mj2 — Motion JPEG2000

Please check out a more inclusive list from our third-party encoding partner.

How Do I Convert a Video File?

If your video is not in one of these formats, you will need to convert it before we can accept the file. Luckily there are a number of free encoding applications that will do this for you. 

What is Encoding?

Encoding is a process used to convert the RAW video files captured by a camera into one of the digital file types that we listed above so that it’s suitable for streaming over the internet. In the situation of live streaming, the encoder feeds digital video files to the streaming platform in real-time. 

Required Encoder Settings

The following encoder settings are required for live streaming with Dacast, regardless of your selected resolution and bitrate:

VIDEO CODEC	H.264 (x264 may work)
FRAME RATE	25 or 30
KEYFRAME INTERVAL	2 secs (or 2x frame rate)
SCANNING	Progressive
ENCODING BITRATE	Constant (CBR)
AUDIO CODEC	AAC
AUDIO BITRATE	128 kbps
AUDIO CHANNELS	2 (Stereo)
AUDIO SAMPLE RATE	48 kHz (48,000 Hz)

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Additional Resources

• What is the Best File Format for Videos?
• When Should I Be Using Transcoding?
• Video Streaming Protocols: Which to Use for Professional Broadcasting
• Video Transcoding: A Walkthrough