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Guide

Transcode to a declared profile, not a mystery encode.

ffmpeg.transcode.v1 normalizes a source to an explicit output profile on Apple Silicon — including VideoToolbox hardware-encode intent when that is the point. Estimate first, create idempotently, retrieve a verified artifact.

Service ID: ffmpeg.transcode.v1. Prefer this when you need a stable delivery profile. Prefer stitch when order/concat is the job. Prefer Remotion when frames are generated from a composition.

Why Apple Silicon for encode

Our 2026-07-22 bakeoff showed M2 Max VideoToolbox H.264 finishing a 20-minute 1080p30 encode in 95.1 s, while a 0.5 vCPU / 4 GiB Cloudflare Containers-shaped x264 path took 2371.1 s (~$0.0474 rate-card). Full report: VideoToolbox vs cloud encode.

95.1 sM2 Max VideoToolbox · 20 min 1080p
102.8 sM2 Max libx264 · same source
2371 sCF-shape x264 · same source
~$0.0474CF rate-card est. · x264 path

SaaS framing: VideoToolbox for SaaS. Codec choice: HEVC vs H.264. Cost tool: calculator.

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