Description
This article explains the components involved in video uploads and how to add different language streams to a single video file.
What is a container?
The video file being uploaded is a container that consists of several components:
- Video codec
- Audio codec
- Captioning or video description
- Metadata
Codecs are algorithms used to compress video or audio streams.
Please consult this article for video and audio codecs that we support.
As indicated by the diagram above, containers also contain different media types, such as video and audio, as well as captions and metadata about the file.
Therefore, the term "file format" refers to the container format, which determines the file extension for normal video files, such as .avi, .mp4, .mkv.
Video files (containers) with streams
The videos you upload will have one video and audio track, known as "streams."
You can have a video file with multiple audio streams or a video file with captions in different languages (subtitles) or video descriptions (closed captioning for accessibility).
Create a video file with multiple audio streams or subtitles
If you want to upload
- a video with multiple audio streams, the video file must contain multiple supported audio codecs.
- a video with multiple subtitles or video descriptions for accessibility purposes, the video file must contain multiple supported text or subtitle file formats (a list is found here).
- a video with both multiple audio streams AND multiple subtitles or video descriptions, the video file must contain both the supported audio codecs AND supported text formats.
Refer to your video editing software manual or tutorial for information on using multiple audio codecs and subtitles or video descriptions.
Language codes supported
We support languages and language codes that adhere to the ISO 639-2 standard. You can find a complete list here.