Frequently Asked Questions

Can I capture video from tape for transcoding? Answer:

Carbon Coder supports the ViewCast Osprey cards (230/240 or 540/560) for direct capture and transcode. In order to use the capture card, you will need to purchase the Capture Option for Carbon Coder. This option provides the necessary cable and jog/shuttle device to provide deck control during capture. (-)

Is there a Software Development Kit (SDK) for Carbon Coder and Carbon Server? Answer:

Yes. Every copy of Carbon Coder comes with Rhozet’s XML-based SDK. There is no additional charge for the SDK. This SDK can be used for automating tasks within a production facility, or to utilize Carbon Coder as a back-end transcoding service from an OEM application. The same SDK that controls Carbon Coder also controls Carbon Server. This means that the same programming work used to control a single copy of Carbon Coder can be used to control an entire network of transcoding nodes. The SDK comes with every evaluation version of Carbon Coder, and can be found in the “Documentation” folder. You can also view the manual on our website by clicking here. (-)

Does Carbon Coder come with hardware? Answer:

No. Carbon Coder is a software transcoding application. You may run it on any Windows machine that you choose. For capture needs, Carbon Coder supports the ViewCast Osprey line of SDI and analog cards.(-)

What is the difference between Carbon Coder and Carbon Server? Answer:

Carbon Coder is a stand-alone transcoding application. You can run Carbon Coder in any one of four ways: via a user-interface, in automated mode with watch folders, controlled via the XML-based SDK, or as a node in a farm of transcoders under the control of Carbon Server. Carbon Server is a management tool that controls any number of Carbon Coder transcoding nodes. Carbon Server manages load balancing, job prioritization, error handling, FTP transfers, email notifications, etc. (-)

What formats are supported by Carbon Coder? Answer:

The video codecs shipped with Carbon Coder include: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, DV25, DV50, DVCPro, JPEG-2000, Windows Media, and RealVideo. Audio codecs shipped with Carbon Coder include: MPEG1 Layer 2, MP3, AAC, AMC, AMR-NB, Windows Media Audio, and RealAudio. In addition to a wide variety of codecs, Carbon Coder also supports many different media “containers,” including HDV, MXF, MPEG-2 Transport Stream, MPEG-2 Program Stream, GXF, LXF, QuickTime, WMV, ASF, AVI, VOB, 3GPP, 3G2, etc. In some cases, Carbon Coder does not support both input and export of a particular format; for example, Carbon Coder can decode JPEG-2000 files, but does not encode in that format. For a complete list of encode and decode formats, please click here. In addition to the included codecs, Carbon Coder will utilize any QuickTime or DirectShow compliant codec that you install. Examples of codecs that customers download and use with Carbon Coder are On2’s Flash and Avid’s DNxHD codecs. (-)

Can I use codecs that don’t ship with Carbon Coder? Answer:

As long as the codec is DirectShow or QuickTime compliant, Carbon Coder will recognize the codec and allow you to both import from and export to that format. We even have customers who use Carbon Coder with their own proprietary codecs.(-)

How can I scale to higher performance transcoding? Answer:

You can scale transcoding in two ways. The first is to increase the performance of an individual transcoding machine. We recommend dual-core, dual-processor systems. There are also four and eight processor machines available. The second way to increase performance is to add additional transcoding machines to your network. These transcoding machines can operate independently of each other or under the control of Carbon Server.(-)

Can Carbon Coder do subtitling? Timecode burn in? Logo burn in? Answer:

Absolutely. For a complete list of features, please see the Carbon Coder or Carbon Server brochures. (-)

Does Carbon Coder handle HD footage? Does Carbon Coder ingest DVDs? Answer:

Yes. And yes. For a complete list of features, please see the Carbon Coder or Carbon Server brochures. (-)

Can Carbon Coder encode for cell phones? Broadcast playout servers? DVDs? Answer:

Yes to all three. For a complete list of formats, please see the Carbon Coder or Carbon Server brochures. (-)

Can I connect to remote video servers or Web servers? Answer:

Carbon Coder includes the capability to transfer data from many different types of video servers, including those from Leitch, Grass Valley, and Omneon. For example, video can be transferred automatically from a video server and transcoded into a new format. Carbon Coder supports FTP transfers into the transcoding computer, while Carbon Server supports FTP transfer both into and out of the transcoding computer. (-)

Can I capture video from tape for transcoding? Answer:

Carbon Coder supports the ViewCast Osprey cards (220/230 or 530/540) for direct capture and transcode. In order to use the capture card, you will need to purchase the Capture Option for Carbon Coder. This option provides the necessary cable and jog/shuttle device to provide deck control during capture. (-)

Is Carbon Coder licensed on a per CPU or per computer basis? Answer:

Carbon Coder is licensed on a “per computer” basis. You may run it in a computer with any number of CPUs. Carbon Coder can run multiple transcodes simultaneously, taking maximum advantage of each processor core in your system.(-)

What type of computer do I need? Answer:

For best transcoding performance, we recommend a dual-core, dual-processor system. The fastest systems we have tested include those based on the AMD Opteron 285 or the Intel Xeon 5160 processors (also known as “Woodcrest” machines). Carbon Coder will take advantage of each processor core in a system, so running on the “dual-dual” systems will give you four separate CPU cores for fast transcoding. You should have at least 2GB of RAM (4GB if you are transcoding HD content). You can run Carbon Coder under Microsoft Windows XP Pro or Windows 2003 Server.(-)

What OS do I need for Carbon Coder and Carbon Server? Answer:

Carbon Coder runs under Microsoft Windows XP Pro or Windows 2003 Server. We recommend 2003 Server for Carbon Server applications. For Carbon Server applications, you should be running the Standard Edition of 2003 Server and not the Small Business Edition. Carbon Coder is not available for Linux or Macintosh.(-)

How fast is Carbon Coder? Answer:

Carbon Coder is only limited by the speed of the computer on which it is running and the speed with which data can be accessed and written. Transcodes can run much faster or much slower than realtime, depending on the type of transcode being executed. Every transcode type is different, so we recommend that you procure an evaluation copy of our software with which to test your chosen formats. This will help you determine the total computing performance that you will need for your desired throughput.(-)

Is Carbon Coder multi-threaded? Answer:

Yes. Carbon Coder takes maximum advantage of multiple processor cores in the host system. The multiple processors will be used for increasing performance when generating a single output or when generating multiple targets simultaneously. (-)

Does Carbon Coder run on 64-bit Windows? Answer:

Carbon Coder will run on a 64-bit Windows system, but it is only a 32-bit application. The reason for this is that a number of the codecs upon which Carbon Coder depends are not all available in 64-bit versions. One benefit of running on a 64-bit system will be the availability of a larger physical memory. Even though each process is limited to a 32-bit address space, Carbon Coder will spawn a process on each physical core. For example, on a dual processor, dual-core system, each processor core can access over 3GB of memory. (-)

Can I get a version that doesn’t need a dongle? Answer:

Each copy of Carbon Coder requires a security key (also known as a "dongle"). In the case of environments where individual keys per machine would be difficult to manage (for example, in a very large server array), then Rhozet makes available network license keys that allow a certain number of simultaneous transcoding machines on the network.(-)

What is your support policy? Answer:

Support contracts are available for purchase on an annual basis. Support contracts cover both technical support (phone and email) as well as maintenance updates. All updates to the product and the included codecs are included in the maintenance. Support hours are 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday. The cost for an annual support contract is 15% of the retail software price. (-)

How do I automate transcoding? Answer:

Carbon Coder provides basic automation tools for transcoding. You can set up watch folders with the application. Any files appearing in these watch folders will be automatically transcoded and sent to the specified location. Carbon Coder also supports the polling of FTP locations to provide automatic transcoding from remote locations, like an “FTP Watch Folder.” Carbon Server offers additional automation features, allowing both input FTP and target FTP transfers, as well as job queuing prioritization and email notifications. (-)

Does Carbon Coder come with hardware? Answer:

No. Carbon Coder is a software transcoding application. You may run it on any Windows machine that you choose. (-)

What if I buy Carbon Coder now but want to upgrade to Carbon Server later? Answer:

Your purchase price of Carbon Coder will be credited to your Carbon Server purchase. (-)

What is included in the purchase price of Carbon Coder? Answer:

The application, all codecs, and the SDK. The only option available for Carbon Coder is the Capture Option for working with capture cards. (-)

Can I get a free evaluation copy? Answer:

Yes. Please fill in the evaluation request and we will send you an evaluation copy.(-)