TABLE OF CONTENTS Most people who've learned a little bit about streaming media understand the importance of codecs. In simplest terms, a codec is a mathematical formula that transforms source files to streamable files. The Windows Media Encoder applies these formulae to your optimized audio and video files.
However, codecs are also rather mysterious and slightly scary. People with high-level math and physics degrees design codecs. Microsoft and its competitors spend large amounts of money researching codecs or buying the rights to use them. Some people say the word stands for enCOde/DECode. Others say it means COmpress/DECompress. Even the word "codec" has a certain other-worldly feel to it.
It's important to keep codecs in perspective. You're correct if you understand the central importance of codec choice. But, hopefully, you've gathered from the rest of this book that codecs are only one piece of a bigger puzzle. Don't get hung up on them.
What's Meant by "Codec"
This book discusses a number of different source file formats, such as WAV for audio and AVI for video. These files are also created by codecs, but not streaming media codecs. In this book, we use the term codec to refer to mathematical formulae that transform source files to streamable files.
Streaming media is just one of many ways producers can deliver sound and light to an audience. Professionals in every medium, from music to painting to filmmaking to codec engineering,...
