Master the fundamentals of streaming media and accelerate your career

Learn the fundamental concepts essential to streaming media, including encoding, packaging, content protection, and delivery. Strengthen your technical skills and decision-making abilities with a focus on codec selection, encoding configurations, file packaging, make vs. buy considerations, on-premise vs. cloud deployment options, and other relevant topics.

Complete practical exercises to learn best practices in video encoding, file analysis, mezzanine file creation, and integration with leading streaming services like YouTube Live and Facebook Live. In less than twelve hours, you'll acquire the knowledge to excel in your technical role.

Who this course is for:

  • Streaming professionals who will build and configure encoding ladders for H.264, HEVC, VP9, and AV1 codecs, and configure HLS and DASH output

  • Engineers and developers creating streaming-related products, tools and services

  • Streaming professionals who will participate in key technology decisions like codec selection, make vs. buy, on-premise or cloud, and open-source vs. commercial tools and services for VOD and live streaming

  • Other technical professionals who need a comprehensive grasp of streaming related technologies, techniques, tools, and best practices

What You Will Learn

In about 11 hours, this online course will teach you the terms, technologies, best practices, and skills needed to excel in a technical role in the streaming media industry. You will learn:

  • How to encode and deploy streaming video using the H.264, HEVC, VP9, and AV1 codecs. What the VVC, LCEVC, and EVC codecs are and when (and if) they will become relevant.

  • How to encode for single file and adaptive bitrate encoding and packaging for HLS, DASH, and CMAF.

  • About digital rights management (DRM) and distribution issues like choosing a CDN and how to measure and ensure Quality of Service (QoE) and Quality of Experience (QoE).

  • Critical production-level decisions, like whether to encode on-premise or in the cloud, how to choose a per-title encoding technology and cloud encoder, and how to compute the breakeven on deploying an advanced codec like HEVC or AV1.

  • How to analyze files with MediaInfo, Bitrate Viewer, Apple's AVQT, and the Moscow State University Video Quality Measurement Tool, how to encode in FFmpeg and Handbrake, how to produce mezzanine files for upload to a streaming service, how to connect to YouTube Live and Facebook Live, and how to embed a live or on-demand video into a web page.

Student Reviews

Hear from those who took the course

5 star rating

Complete and Comprehensive!

Chris Joyce

As an engineer, I wasn’t sure what to expect and didn’t want to pay for some fluffy sales type material. Jan’s course didn’t disappoint as he delves right...

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As an engineer, I wasn’t sure what to expect and didn’t want to pay for some fluffy sales type material. Jan’s course didn’t disappoint as he delves right in with hands-on tutorials and covers a broad spectrum of streaming workflows and platforms. I highly recommend his course from the executive to the engineer and everyone in between.

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5 star rating

Very Nice

Achuthananda M P

This course is an absolute must for all beginners who want to step into Video Producing and Distribution World.

This course is an absolute must for all beginners who want to step into Video Producing and Distribution World.

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5 star rating

Great course!

Nikolajs Varlamovs

An enormous source of up-to-date streaming knowledge with some good practical tasks of encoding and image quality evaluation. This course is suitable for IT ...

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An enormous source of up-to-date streaming knowledge with some good practical tasks of encoding and image quality evaluation. This course is suitable for IT professionals looking into building fundamental knowledge of streaming technologies as well as get some deeper knowledge on some topics. Highly recommended!

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5 star rating

Very Informative Streaming Media Introduction Course

Michael Pinto

Thank you Jan for creating this course. I work in streaming media and have been looking for an intro course like this for some time. I highly recommend this ...

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Thank you Jan for creating this course. I work in streaming media and have been looking for an intro course like this for some time. I highly recommend this course due to its clear explanation of industry concepts, measurements and trends. The exercises are helpful in cementing the information from the lessons. This class was money well spent!

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5 star rating

A well structured and well tutored course

Lasse Brønsholt

The Streaming Media 101 course was a very good experience for me to take; well-structured lessons, quizzes, and exercises on different and digestible levels ...

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The Streaming Media 101 course was a very good experience for me to take; well-structured lessons, quizzes, and exercises on different and digestible levels enabled me to go in-depth where I needed to and get an overview where my interest and focus perhaps was not required. I recommend this course to anyone who wants to know more about architecture, tech talk, and the tons of abbreviations in the streaming industry. Enjoy!

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5 star rating

Streaming Media 101 - more than for just onboarding

Alan Raymond

This course does a great job of not only teaching technical fundamentals but also explaining the state of the state of broadcast streaming world including va...

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This course does a great job of not only teaching technical fundamentals but also explaining the state of the state of broadcast streaming world including various players like manufacturers, Service providers, standards bodies, codecs and the like. Well worth the investment in both $ and time.

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5 star rating

Great Course for Newcomers to Video

Thomas McClave

As an individual working in the live-streaming video space, I wish I had taken this course sooner. Many of the things that I have picked up during my ~1 year...

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As an individual working in the live-streaming video space, I wish I had taken this course sooner. Many of the things that I have picked up during my ~1 year in video were solidified over the span of this course, and my only regret is that I had not taken it as soon as I started at my new company. Most excitingly, I've been able to apply some things I picked up from the course mere hours after completing it - a clear indicator of value in my eyes. Would recommend to anyone starting in video or looking to brush up on their video knowledge.

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5 star rating

Jason Evans Review

Oliver Eichel

This course was extremely informative, there is nothing else like it out there and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn a solid foundation ...

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This course was extremely informative, there is nothing else like it out there and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn a solid foundation in the streaming media field. It's a lot of information and I intend to start from the beginning again to really sink things in.

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5 star rating

Great Course

David Leslie

I found this course to be very helpful. I really wanted to learn more about HLS, DASH and CMAF and it was covered very well in this course. Thanks Jan!

I found this course to be very helpful. I really wanted to learn more about HLS, DASH and CMAF and it was covered very well in this course. Thanks Jan!

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5 star rating

A very good and unique course

Alla Petrova

I found the course valuable as it provides for better understanding of the industry. As an engineer working with media technology, I got some missing pieces ...

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I found the course valuable as it provides for better understanding of the industry. As an engineer working with media technology, I got some missing pieces for deeper understanding of the media problem space. Pros: The course is constantly updated. After I completed the course two days ago, I saw six new lessons were added. Cons:  Course quizzes would benefit from more refinement. Some multiple choice options are very obviously wrong. In a couple of cases a question was misplaced and appeared before the relevant material was presented. Update: After I posted my review, I received an inquiry from Jan Ozer asking to point him to the errors I mentioned. I did, and he made the corrections right away. I am upgrading my rating from 4 to 5 stars.

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5 star rating

Streaming Media 101: Technical Onboarding for Streaming M...

Piotr Hrybkowski

Great course. A lot of information that is not so easy to get, especially in one place.

Great course. A lot of information that is not so easy to get, especially in one place.

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5 star rating

A well structured and well tutored course

Lasse Brønsholt

The Streaming Media 101 course was a very good experience for me to take; well-structured lessons, quizzes, and exercises on different and digestible levels ...

Read More

The Streaming Media 101 course was a very good experience for me to take; well-structured lessons, quizzes, and exercises on different and digestible levels enabled me to go in-depth where I needed to and get an overview where my interest and focus perhaps was not required. I recommend this course to anyone who wants to know more about architecture, tech talk, and the tons of abbreviations in the streaming industry. Enjoy!

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Testimonials from Our Corporate Buyers

“Instantly improves our ability to train new hires”

Michal Peter, HR Director, Bitmovin

“We needed a comprehensive video technology training course to quickly and effectively ramp up our newest back-end engineering hires to match our innovative and quickly-changing products. The integration of Jan Ozer’s Streaming Media 101 course into our Bitmovin Campus learning system instantly improves our ability to train new hires.”

Streaming Media 101 “Enhanced overall productivity”

David Trescot, Sr. Director at Dolby Labs

“Jan’s course is a “must watch” for new employees in our streaming media group. The course is highly valuable and continually updated. Students learn about encoding, packaging, delivery, and the streaming media ecosystem. Our team has enjoyed the class, and it has accelerated their learning in streaming media and enhanced overall productivity. Definitely a good investment!”

To earn the completion certificate, you will:

  • Video Lessons

    Watch over 65 video lessons (averaging about 7 minutes).

  • Exercises

    Complete over 15 exercises that use free tools to reinforce technical fundamentals and teach new skills. You will encode with HandBrake and FFmpeg, analyze files with MediaInfo and Bitrate Viewer, and measure quality with VMAF and Apple VQMT.

  • Quizzes

    Score 100% on over 45 quizzes that accompany key lessons and range from 3-8 multiple-choice questions.

Instructor

Instructor

Jan Ozer

Jan is a recognized expert in streaming media who has tested codecs since 1993 (not a misprint) and has taught in-person and online courses on video and streaming production since 1995.

Jan is a contributing editor to Streaming Media Magazine, where he tests and reports on codecs, encoders, and related products and services. Jan has authored multiple books on streaming production, including Video Encoding by the Numbers: Eliminate the Guesswork from your Streaming Video and Learn to Produce Video with FFmpeg in 30 Minutes or Less.

Besides these courses, Ozer teaches workshops at Streaming Media online and in-person events. Overall, the Streaming Learning Center has served over 4000 students from some of the biggest names in streaming video.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Free Lessons

  • 2

    Introduction

    • Introduction and Exercise Downloads
  • 3

    Section 1: Technology Fundamentals

    • Lesson: Codecs and Compression

    • Quiz: Codecs and Compression

    • Where Codecs Come From

    • Quiz: Where Codecs Come From

    • Lesson: Codecs and Container Formats

    • Quiz: Codecs and Container Formats

    • Lesson: Distribution Alternatives

    • Quiz: Distribution Alternatives

    • Lesson: The Big Picture: Understanding the OTT Ecosystem and Components

    • Lesson: AI in Video Encoding, Production, and Distribution
  • 4

    Section 2: Tools and Metrics

  • 5

    Section 3: Generic Encoding Parameters

    • Lesson: What is an Encoder and How Do They Work?

    • Lesson: Configuration Basics

    • Lesson: Resolution and Aspect Ratio

    • Quiz: Resolution and Aspect Ratio

    • Lesson: Bitrate Control Techniques

    • Quiz: Bitrate Control Techniques

    • Exercise: Bitrate Control Techniques in FFmpeg

    • Lesson: Understanding Bits-Per-Pixel

    • Lesson: Working with the VBV Buffer

    • Quiz: Working With the Video Buffer Verifier (VBV Buffer)

    • Lesson: Constant Rate Factor (CRF) Encoding and Capped CRF

    • Quiz: Working with CRF and Capped CRF

    • Lesson: Frame Type Overview

    • Quiz: Frame Type Overview

    • Lesson: Working with I-Frames

    • Quiz: Working With I-frames

    • Exercise: Setting I-frames in FFmpeg

    • Lesson: Working With B-Frames

    • Quiz: Working With B-frames

    • Exercise: Working with B-Frames in FFmpeg

    • Lesson: Working with Reference Frames

    • Quiz: Working with Reference Frames

    • Exercise: Working with Reference Frames in FFmpeg

    • Working with Threads

    • Quiz: Working with Threads

    • Lesson: Fixing Aspect Ratio-Related Issues

    • Lesson: Deinterlacing
  • 6

    Section 4: Encoding With H.264

    • Lesson: Introduction to H.264

    • Quiz: Introduction to H.264

    • Lesson: H.264 Profiles, Levels, and Entropy Coding

    • Quiz: H.264 Profiles, Levels, and Entropy Encoding

    • Lesson: Choosing an x264 Preset

    • Quiz: Choosing an x264 Preset

    • Exercise: Choosing an x264 Preset in HandBrake

    • Lesson: Encoding Audio: Codecs and Configuration Options

    • Quiz: Encoding Audio and Configuration Options
  • 7

    Chapter 5: Codec Deep Dives

    • Introduction to Codec Deep Dives

    • Codec Backstory - From H.264 to LCEVC

    • Quiz: Codec Backstory - from H.264 to LCEVC

    • Choosing a Codec 2024-2025: Introduction

    • Choosing a Codec 2024-2025: Bandwidth Efficiency

    • Choosing a Codec Quiz 2024-2025 - Bandwidth Efficiency

    • Choosing a Codec 2024-2025: Where it Plays

    • Choosing a Codec Quiz 2024-2025 - Where it Plays

    • Choosing a Codec 2024-2025: Key Stakeholders

    • Choosing a Codec Quiz 2024-2025 - Key Stakeholders

    • Choosing a Codec 2024-2025: The Royalty Picture

    • Choosing a Codec Quiz 2024-2025: The Royalty Picture

    • Choosing a Codec 2024-2025: Suitability to Task

    • Choosing a Codec 2024-2025: Market Projections and Recommendations

    • Lesson: New Codec Breakeven; When to Consider Deploying a New Codec
  • 8

    Section 6: Working With HEVC, VP9, and AV1

    • Lesson: Producing HEVC

    • Quiz: Producing HEVC

    • Lesson: Producing VP9

    • Quiz: Producing VP9

    • Lesson: Producing AV1

    • Quiz: Producing AV1

    • Exercise: Comparing H.264, HEVC, and VP9 Produced by HandBrake
  • 9

    Section 7: Adaptive Bitrate Technologies

    • Lesson: Introduction to Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) Streaming

    • Quiz: Introduction to Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) Streaming

    • Lesson: HTML5 Playback Architecture

    • Quiz: HTML5 Playback Architecture

    • Lesson: Choosing an ABR format

    • Quiz: Choosing an ABR Format

    • Lesson: Dynamic Packaging

    • Quiz: Dynamic Packaging

    • Lesson: The Common Media Application Format (CMAF)

    • Quiz: The Common Media Application Format (CMAF)

    • Demo: CMAF Proof of Concept

    • Lesson: Creating Encoding Ladders

    • Quiz: Creating Encoding Ladders

    • Lesson: Per-Title Encoding

    • Quiz: Per-Title Encoding
  • 10

    Section 8: Miscellaneous Topics

    • Lesson: Introduction to DRM

    • Quiz: Introduction to DRM

    • Lesson: Introduction to Low Latency Technologies

    • Quiz: Introduction to Low Latency Technologies

    • Lesson: Introduction to Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE)

    • Quiz: Introduction to QoE and QoS

    • Lesson: What is a Content Delivery Network (CDN) and When Do You Need One?

    • Quiz: Introduction to Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

    • Lesson: Services that CDNs Perform

    • Lesson: Choosing a CDN

    • Lesson: What Video Players Do and How to Choose One

    • Quiz: What Video Players are and How to Choose Them
  • 11

    Section 9: Producing Video On Demand

    • Lesson: VOD Production Overview

    • Quiz: VOD Production Overview

    • Lesson: Create Your Own VOD Ecosystem or Use a Service Provider

    • Quiz: Create Your Own VOD Ecosystem or Use a Service Provider?

    • Lesson: Cloud or On-Premise Encoding

    • Quiz: Cloud or On-Premise Encoding

    • Lesson: Choosing an Encoder: Make or Buy?

    • Quiz: Make or Buy

    • Lesson: Choosing a Cloud Encoder

    • Quiz: Choosing a Cloud Encoder

    • Lesson: Encoding for Upload to UGC or OVP

    • Quiz: Encoding for Upload to UGC or OVP

    • Exercise: Encode for Upload

    • Exercise: Uploading a Video to YouTube (and Brightcove)

    • Exercise: Embedding a Video into a Webpage
  • 12

    Section 10: Producing Live

    • Lesson: Live Production Overview

    • Lesson: Transcode On-Premise or In the Cloud

    • Quiz: Transcode On-Premise or In the Cloud

    • Lesson: Choosing a Live Streaming Service Provider

    • Quiz: Choosing a Live Streaming Service Provider

    • Lesson: Choosing a Live Streaming Encoder

    • Quiz: Choosing a Live Streaming Encoder

    • Lesson: How to Connect to Your Live Streaming Service Provider

    • Exercise: Stream Live to YouTube and Embed the Stream
  • 13

    Video Monetization (Subscription and Advertising)

    • Introduction to Monetization in Streaming

    • Quiz: Introduction to Monetization

    • Overview of Ad Insertion Technologies

    • Quiz: Overview of Ad Insertion Technologies

    • Ad Insertion Standards and Protocols

    • Quiz: Ad Insertion Standards and Protocols

    • Introduction to SCTE-35

    • Quiz: Introduction to SCTE-35