Systems, methods, and media for transcoding video data

1. A method for transcoding a source video file into a set of multiple alternate video streams, the method comprising performing the following at each of a plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

receiving at least a portion of the source video file that includes a first plurality of encoded images encoded according to a source format from a media content source;

decoding the at least a portion of the source video file based on the source format to generate a decoded portion of video including a plurality of decoded images;

receiving media metadata generated prior to the decoding of the portion of the encoded video over a communications network from a media metadata source, where the media metadata comprises scene change information indicating the start and end of a scene, and scene complexity information; and

encoding the plurality of decoded images of the decoded portion of video into an alternate video stream including a second plurality of encoded images based on a target format and the media metadata, the alternate video stream being one of the set of multiple alternate video streams, by performing at least the following operations for images in the plurality of decoded images:

generating a prediction image for each of a plurality of coding units of an image in the plurality of decoded images using the scene change information and the scene complexity information within the received media metadata according to the target format;

performing transforms on residual images of the plurality of coding units to generate sets of transform coefficients based on the target format; and

performing entropy encoding on the sets of transform coefficients to generate images for the second plurality of encoded images.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media metadata is generated by a first device and then accessed by the plurality of transcoding devices.

3. The method of claim 1 , by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

performing quantization on the sets of transform coefficients for an image in the plurality of decoded images based at least in part on the scene complexity information within the received media metadata; and

quantizing the generated set of transform coefficients according to the target format.

4. The method of claim 1 , by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

determining a number of bits to encode a group of pictures (GOP) based at least in part on a number of frames between the start and end of a scene as indicated by the received media metadata.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the source format and the target format have different resolutions.

6. The method of claim 1 , by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

dividing an image in the plurality of decoded images into a plurality of coding units based on the target format.

7. A system for transcoding video data, the system comprising:

a non-transitory memory storing a transcoding application;

a processing circuitry; and

wherein the transcoding application directs the processing circuitry to:

receive at least a portion of the source video file that includes a first plurality of encoded images encoded according to a source format from a media content source;

decode the at least a portion of the source video file based on the source format to generate a decoded portion of video including a plurality of decoded images;

receive media metadata generated prior to the decoding of the portion of the encoded video over a communications network from a media metadata source, where the media metadata comprises scene change information indicating the start and end of a scene, and scene complexity information; and

encode the plurality of decoded images of the decoded portion of video into an alternate video stream including a second plurality of encoded images based on a target format and the media metadata, the alternate video stream being one of the set of multiple alternate video streams, by performing at least the following operations for images in the plurality of decoded images:

generating a prediction image for each of a plurality of coding units of an image in the plurality of decoded images using the scene change information and the scene complexity information within the received media metadata according to the target format;

performing transforms on residual images of the plurality of coding units to generate sets of transform coefficients based on the target format; and

performing entropy encoding on the sets of transform coefficients to generate images for the second plurality of encoded images.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the media metadata received by the system for transcoding video data is generated by another device.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transcode the source video file by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

performing quantization on the sets of transform coefficients for an image in the plurality of decoded images based at least in part on the scene complexity information within the received media metadata; and

quantizing the generated set of transform coefficients according to the target format.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transcode the source video file by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

determining a number of bits to encode a group of pictures (GOP) based at least in part on a number of frames between the start and end of a scene as indicated by the received media metadata.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transcode the source video file by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

dividing an image in the plurality of decoded images into a plurality of coding units based on the target format.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the source format and the target format correspond to different video encoding standards.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform a method for transcoding video data, the method comprising:

receive at least a portion of the source video file that includes a first plurality of encoded images encoded according to a source format from a media content source;

decode the at least a portion of the source video file based on the source format to generate a decoded portion of video including a plurality of decoded images;

receive media metadata generated prior to the decoding of the portion of the encoded video over a communications network from a media metadata source, where the media metadata comprises scene change information indicating the start and end of a scene, and scene complexity information; and

encode the plurality of decoded images of the decoded portion of video into an alternate video stream including a second plurality of encoded images based on a target format and the media metadata, the alternate video stream being one of the set of multiple alternate video streams, by performing at least the following operations for images in the plurality of decoded images:

generating a prediction image for each of a plurality of coding units of an image in the plurality of decoded images using the scene change information and the scene complexity information within the received media metadata according to the target format;

performing transforms on residual images of the plurality of coding units to generate sets of transform coefficients based on the target format; and

performing entropy encoding on the sets of transform coefficients to generate images for the second plurality of encoded images.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the received media metadata is generated by another device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises transcoding the source video file by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

performing quantization on the sets of transform coefficients for an image in the plurality of decoded images based at least in part on the scene complexity information within the received media metadata; and

quantizing the generated set of transform coefficients according to the target format.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises transcoding the source video file by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

determining a number of bits to encode a group of pictures (GOP) based at least in part on a number of frames between the start and end of a scene as indicated by the received media metadata.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises transcoding the source video file by further performing the following at each of the plurality of transcoding devices in parallel:

dividing an image in the plurality of decoded images into a plurality of coding units based on the target format.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the source format and the target format have different resolutions.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the source format and the target format correspond to different video coding standards.