> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL. > For a complete documentation index, see https://fastpix.com/docs/llms.txt. > For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://fastpix.com/docs/_mcp/server. # Set your own encoding ladder An encoding ladder is the set of renditions FastPix makes for a video, each at its own resolution and bitrate. With a custom ladder, you set that list once for your organization, then create media with `mediaQuality` set to `"custom"` and FastPix encodes them with exactly those renditions. Use it when you need precise control of data use, for example short videos watched on mobile networks. \ ## Why set a custom ladder The built-in quality levels (`standard`, `pro`, `premium`) choose renditions and bitrates for you. A custom ladder puts that choice in your hands: * You pick each rendition's resolution and bitrate, in kbps. * The bitrate you set is the average the rendition delivers. FastPix does not raise or lower it for the content. * The ladder is set once for your whole organization, not in each request. Every media created with `mediaQuality: "custom"` uses it. * Media created with `codecTier: "plus"` are also encoded in H.265, so each rendition also carries an H.265 bitrate. See [Deliver H.265 alongside H.264](/docs/video-on-demand/deliver-h265-alongside-h264). Each media keeps the ladder it was created with, so changing the ladder later only affects new media. \ ## Set your organization's ladder Your organization has one custom ladder. Set it in the FastPix dashboard. Under **Manage**, open **Media Quality**. The page shows the quality options for your organization: Standard, Pro, Premium, and Custom. Select **Custom** to open the ladder table. It has a row for each resolution, with `480p`, `720p`, and `1080p` required and `270p` included by default. Enter an H.264 bitrate in kbps for each row, and an H.265 bitrate in the H.265 column for the renditions you also want in H.265. Each field shows its allowed range. Use **Add resolution** to add `144p`, `360p`, `540p`, `1440p`, `2160p`, or a second `1080p` rendition. Select **Save and apply**. From now on, media you create with `mediaQuality: "custom"` use this ladder. To change it later, select **Edit values**. The custom ladder stays saved even when you select another quality, such as Pro, as your organization's default on this page. It then shows as **Saved but not in use**. You can still choose Custom for an individual upload, and that upload uses the saved ladder. The fields, the allowed bitrates, and the ladder rules are below. \ ## Ladder fields Each entry in your ladder has these fields: | Field | Type | Description | | ------------- | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `resolution` | string | `2160p`, `1440p`, `1080p`, `720p`, `540p`, `480p`, `360p`, `270p`, or `144p`. Named by the short side, so on a portrait video `1080p` is 1080 x 1920. | | `bitrate` | integer (kbps) | The H.264 rendition's average bitrate. | | `h265Bitrate` | integer (kbps) | The H.265 rendition's average bitrate. Required on every entry when `codecTier` is `plus`, and ignored otherwise. | \ ## Allowed bitrates Set each rendition's bitrate within the range for its resolution. These ranges double as a guide to the recommended video bitrate for each resolution, from 4K (2160p) down to 144p. | Resolution | H.264 bitrate (kbps) | H.265 bitrate (kbps) | | ---------- | -------------------- | -------------------- | | 2160p (4K) | 3000 to 30000 | 1800 to 30000 | | 1440p | 1400 to 15000 | 840 to 15000 | | 1080p | 800 to 10000 | 480 to 10000 | | 720p | 350 to 6000 | 210 to 6000 | | 540p | 200 to 3500 | 120 to 3500 | | 480p | 150 to 2500 | 90 to 2500 | | 360p | 90 to 1500 | 50 to 1500 | | 270p | 50 to 800 | 30 to 800 | | 144p | 30 to 240 | 20 to 240 | \ ## Ladder rules Your ladder must follow these rules. If it breaks one, media created with `mediaQuality: "custom"` fail with a message that names the rule. * Include `480p`, `720p`, and `1080p`. If you leave out `270p`, FastPix adds it at 100 kbps or half your `480p` bitrate, whichever is lower, in each codec. * List each resolution once. `1080p` may appear twice, as a lower and a higher rendition that are at least 1.25 times apart. * Bitrates must rise with resolution, in each codec. \ ## Create a media with the custom ladder Set `mediaQuality` to `"custom"`. The request does not carry the ladder: FastPix applies your organization's ladder to the media. **Upload a video from a URL:** ```json { "inputs": [ { "type": "video", "url": "https://static.fastpix.com/fp-sample-video.mp4" } ], "accessPolicy": "public", "maxResolution": "1080p", "mediaQuality": "custom", "codecTier": "plus" } ``` **Upload a video from a device:** ```json { "corsOrigin": "*", "pushMediaSettings": { "accessPolicy": "public", "maxResolution": "1080p", "mediaQuality": "custom", "codecTier": "plus" } } ``` ### From the dashboard When you upload a video, open **Media settings**. The **Media quality** dropdown shows your organization's default quality. Open it and choose **Custom** to use your custom ladder for this upload. Custom appears in this dropdown only after you set up a ladder on the Media Quality page. Until then it is disabled and labeled **set up in Media Quality settings**. You can still choose Standard, Pro, or Premium for the upload. To also encode H.265, set **Codec tier** to **Plus (H264 + H265)**. The Codec tier dropdown is available when **Media quality** is Pro, Premium, or Custom. On Standard it stays fixed at Basic (H264), because Standard is H.264 only. > **Billing:** `codecTier` sets which codecs FastPix encodes and bills. `basic` encodes H.264 only. `plus` encodes both H.264 and H.265, and both are billed. \ ## How FastPix fits your ladder to the video Your ladder is a template. FastPix adapts it to each source video: * **No upscaling.** A resolution larger than the source, or above `maxResolution`, is skipped in both codecs. If every entry is larger than the source, FastPix makes one rendition at the source's size and your lowest bitrate. * **Shape.** Every rendition keeps the source's aspect ratio. * **Above your top rendition.** When the source and `maxResolution` allow 1440p or 2160p and your ladder stops below them, FastPix adds them. Each added rendition is 1.875 times the bitrate of the one below it for 1440p, and 2 times for 2160p, in each codec. It never exceeds the source's own bitrate or the maximum for that resolution. The default `maxResolution` of 1080p adds nothing. An added rendition that would not be at least 1.25 times the one below it is left out, along with any above it. To cap the media at your own top rendition, set `maxResolution` to it. ### Examples **A ladder for mobile viewers.** 480p at 200 kbps, 720p at 700, and 1080p at 1800, with H.265 at 100, 500, and 800. FastPix adds 270p at 100 kbps (H.264) and 50 kbps (H.265), so viewers get four renditions in each codec. **A 4K video with a ladder that ends at 1080p.** With `maxResolution: "2160p"`, a 1080p entry at 5000 / 3000 (H.264 / H.265) gains 1440p at 9375 / 5625 and 2160p at 18750 / 11250. With the default `maxResolution`, the top rendition stays 1080p. | Your 1080p (H.264 / H.265) | Added 1440p | Added 2160p | | -------------------------- | ----------- | ------------- | | 800 / 480 | 1500 / 900 | 3000 / 1800 | | 1800 / 800 | 3375 / 1500 | 6750 / 3000 | | 5000 / 3000 | 9375 / 5625 | 18750 / 11250 | \ #### Frequently asked questions An encoding ladder, also called a bitrate ladder or ABR ladder, is the set of renditions a video is encoded into, each at its own resolution and bitrate. Players switch between them as the viewer's network changes, which is how adaptive bitrate streaming works. Set each rendition within the range for its resolution in the Allowed bitrates table above, for example 800 to 10000 kbps for 1080p in H.264. Lower values save bandwidth; higher values hold more detail. Pick for the content and audience you serve. No. A custom ladder uses the same fixed bitrates for every media created with it. Per-title encoding changes bitrates per video. A custom ladder gives you exact, predictable control, which is useful when you need to cap data use. No. A media keeps the ladder it was created with. To use a new ladder, change your organization's ladder, then create a new media from the same source file with `mediaQuality: "custom"`. No. Every media created with `mediaQuality: "custom"` uses your organization's ladder. A request cannot carry its own. FastPix skips the entries larger than the source, in both codecs, so it never upscales. Only for media created with `codecTier: "plus"`. Media created with `basic` ignore the H.265 bitrates and are H.264 only. \ ## What's next * [Deliver H.265 alongside H.264](/docs/video-on-demand/deliver-h265-alongside-h264): add an H.265 rendition to each step of your ladder. * [Configure media quality levels](/docs/video-on-demand/configure-media-quality-levels): compare standard, pro, and premium. * [Play your videos](/docs/video-on-demand/play-your-videos): deliver playback to any device.