Understanding profiles
A profile is a collection of properties tailored to the type of content being encoded, the audience, and the intended distribution (file or broadcast). The properties stored in a profile include: the audio and video quality, connection speed for the intended audience, available bandwidth, and appropriate codecs. The use of profiles simplifies the process of setting up an encoding session.
You can use three kinds of profile when encoding:
- System profile. A profile that is installed with the encoder and cannot be changed or deleted. Many system profiles are installed with the encoder, including multiple-bit-rate profiles, which are based on the most common encoding scenarios. By using Profile Manager, you can copy a system profile and then edit it according to your needs, creating a custom profile.
- Custom profile. A profile that you create with Profile Manager. You can edit and delete custom profiles. They are saved as files with a .prx file name extension in the \Program Files\Windows media components\Encoder\Profiles folder. You can reuse custom profiles on multiple computers running Windows Media Encoder by copying the .prx files to them.
- Session profile. When you create an encoding configuration, a session profile is automatically saved as part of the Windows Media Encoder configuration file, which has a .wme extension. It is only available for the current session and gets used when the .wme file specifies a profile that does not exist on the current computer—for example, when the custom profile file is deleted or when the .wme file is used on another computer running Windows Media Encoder that does not contain the custom profile. Session profiles are not listed in Profile Manager, New Session Wizard, or in the New Session dialog box. They are indicated on the Monitor panel and in the Session Properties dialog box as Session. You cannot edit or view session profiles or use them to create another session.
Note If you change a profile after saving the encoding configuration and then copy the configuration to another computer, the session profile will not contain the changes. To ensure that your custom and session profiles remain synchronized, either copy the custom profiles to each computer that you plan to use for encoding or resave the .wme file to include any profile changes before moving it to another computer.
Profile Manager is the tool for creating, editing, and deleting profiles. It is available from the Tools menu or the New Session Wizard in Windows Media Encoder. For more information about Profile Manager, see the Profile Manager Help.
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