<aside> 👋 This page is part of the Getting Started collection. If you’re new to Thea then familiarizing yourself with the pages in this collection is a good idea.
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<aside> 📢 This documentation is only relevant to you if you’re planning to take advantage of on-the-fly, or pre-transcodes. If you only plan to direct stream your media, then this page is not relevant to you.
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Thea has a comprehensive set of features for users that need to be able to transcode their media, either automatically after Importing Media is completed or manually afterward.
To provide a flexible solution to a rather complex problem, Thea exposes a concept called transcode targets.
These targets are user-defined and tell Thea exactly how to perform ffmpeg transcoding of a piece of media, e.g., the resolution and bit-rate.
<aside> 📢 Workflows are only useful for users that plan to take advantage of automated pre-transcodes. Users only planning to use on-the-fly or direct streaming do not need to use transcode workflows.
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Workflows are the backbone of automated pre-transcode streaming. They allow users to define a set of match conditions; when a newly ingested piece of media matches these conditions, a set of transcode targets are automatically created.
For example, a workflow might specify its match conditions like so:
1920x1080“Avengers”If media were to be ingested that met these criteria, then the transcode targets that have been associated with this workflow would automatically be scheduled by Thea.