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Expression Encoder 3 is the encoding component of Microsoft's Expression Studio, a five- product suite ($599 retail/$399 upgrade), and of Expression Web, a three- product suite that also contains Expression Web and Expression Design ($149/$79). Mcrosoft is also selling Expression Encoder 3 as a stand-alone product with a list price of $49. Seems like a good decision, because although there were some rough edges, Expression Encoder 3 proved very capable and functional in my tests .
Expression Encoder started as a limited- function encoder that output solely VC-I files, primarily for publishing for Silverlight format. Expression Encoder 2 delivered the ability to tweak advanced VC-I encoding parameters, and in Service Pack 1, H. 2 64 fixed templates for devices. In Expression Encoder 3, Mcrosoft added more H.264 templates and made them fully editable, added templates that produce files for Smooth Streaming, Mcrosoft' s adaptive streaming technology, included a screen capture applet and enhanced editing features in the Encoder itself.
Note that the free trial version of the Encoder no longer expires, but it doesn't produce H.264 or Smooth Streaming output or capture screencams longer than 10 minutes. All retail versions will be officially titled Microsoft Expression Encoder 3 with IIS Smooth Streaming, so if you're following along in your version of Expression Encoder 3 and don't see a feature that I discuss, you probably have the trial version.
To keep this review short and sweet, I'll just touch on the product's workflow here and refer you to a more detailed description of Expression Encoder 1 that I wrote back in December 2007 (www.streamingmedia.com/ article. asp? id =9888). At a high level, very little has changed since that review, and it's a great primer on program operation.
Then I'll detail the encoding quality and performance for both VC-I and H.264, take a quick look at the Smooth Streaming templates, and review Expression Encoder's new screencam and editing capabilities.
Overview
Figure 1 shows Expression Encoder 3, which has an attractive, flexible interface with three basic components. On top is the Vewer pane, where you can view your media and preview compression. Below that is the Media Content panel, which lists all imported videos and their current compressed status. Note that you can load multiple files into...