A system and method for the on-demand transcoding of media content from a source
type to a destination type is provided, wherein the system includes a plurality
of transcoders for transcoding from a plurality of source types to a plurality
of destination types, and wherein the system receives a transcoding request for
media content, fetches the media content in response to the transcoding request,
sends the media content to one of the plurality of transcoders based on the source
type and destination type, transcodes the media content from the source type to
the destination type, thereby generating transcoded media content, and transmits
the transcoded media content. The system fetches, sends, and transcodes the media
content and transmits the transcoded media content in a pipelined fashion. The
system also provides for the publication of media content as a file or stream of
digital data, for the archiving of media content, and the caching of transcoded
media content to improve system efficiency.
