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"This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.  The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.\nName: Encoding.com\nQuick Pitch: Encoding.com is the leading SaaS provider of studio-class video encoding services. It scales instantly and supports all popular media formats.\tGenius Idea: One of the most tedious aspects of online video creation is the encoding process. Sure, YouTube is great for some purposes, but it's not really the ideal platform for getting high-quality video onto the web in a number of different formats. \nYou can encode video into multiple formats on your desktop computer, but the process just to go from MPEG-2 to .h264 can be extremely time-consuming, especially if you want to actually get any work done on your computer while the encoding process is taking place. Plus, the best encoding software (which can do multiple formats and batch processing) can cost a lot of money. Plus, once you do have the video encoded, you still have to upload it to a web server anyway. \nThat's why Encoding.com is so brilliant. Encoding.com utilizes cloud computing platforms like Amazon Web Services and the Rackspace Cloud to make video encoding efficient and hassle-free for small businesses and larger production houses alike.\nThis Software as a Service lets you upload video using the program's web-UI or Adobe Air desktop app and select what formats you want the video to be encoded to use. Then Encoding.com will process the video and upload it directly to either your web server or back down to your hard drive. It can also integrate with video services like Brightcove and even Hulu. You can even get plugins for Drupal and WordPress sites to directly link up with your Encoding.com account.\nThis video shows off Encoding.com's Adobe Air desktop app.\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\tEncoding.com has a number of different payment plans \u2014 monthly, prepaid or usage-based. Using parallels servers, the encoding process can take place much more quickly and efficiently. If you've been looking for a way to encode your video content into multiple formats in an efficient and inexpensive way, check out Encoding.com.\t\nSponsored by Microsoft BizSpark\nBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.\nEntrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the \"new CloudApp()\" contest - use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).\u201D"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2010/01/04/encoding-com/>