Using variables in your job settings

You can use variables, also called format identifiers, in your job settings. Format identifiers are values that you can put in your job settings that resolve differently in your outputs depending on the characteristics of the input files or the job. They are particularly useful in output presets, job templates, and jobs that you intend to duplicate and re-use.

For example, you might use the date format identifier $d$ for your Destination setting. If you want your outputs organized by the date and time that the job starts, for Destination you might enter s3://mediaconvert-output-bucket/$d$/. For a job that starts June 4, 2020, the service will create your outputs in s3://mediaconvert-output-bucket/20200604/.

For a list of the available format identifiers and examples of how to use them, see List of settings variables with examples.

For information about format identifiers that function differently in streaming outputs, see Using settings variables with streaming outputs.

List of settings variables with examples

The following table provides information about each of the format identifiers that you can use in your AWS Elemental MediaConvert job. For information about format identifiers that function differently in streaming outputs, see Using settings variables with streaming outputs.

Format identifier	Value to put in the job setting	Compatible job settings	Description and example
Date and time	$dt$	Destination Name modifier Segment modifier	UTC date and time of the start time of the job. Format: YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS Example: For a job that starts at 3:05:28 PM on June 4, 2020, $dt$ resolves to 20200604T150528.
Date	$d$	Destination Name modifier Segment modifier	UTC date of the start time of the job. Format: YYYYMMDD Example: For a job that starts on June 4, 2020, $d$ resolves to 20200604.
Time	$t$	Destination Name modifier Segment modifier	UTC start time of the job. Format: HHMMSS Example: For a job that starts at 3:05:28 PM, $t$ resolves to 150528.
Video bitrate	$rv$	Name modifier Segment modifier	The video bitrate of the output, in kilobits. For QVBR outputs, the service uses video max bitrate, in kilobits. Example: If you set Encoding settings, Video, Bitrate (bits/s) to 50000000, $rv$ resolves to 50000.
Audio bitrate	$ra$	Name modifier Segment modifier	Total of all the audio bitrates in the output, in kilobits. Example: If you have an output with a single audio tab and you set Encoding settings, Audio 1, Bitrate (kbit/s) to 256000, $ra$ resolves to 256000.
Container bitrate	$rc$	Name modifier Segment modifier	Combined audio and video bitrate for the output, in kilobits. Example: You have an output with a Video settings tab and Audio 1 settings tab. If you set Encoding settings, Video, Bitrate (bits/s) to 5000000 and you set Encoding settings, Audio, Bitrate (bits/s) to 96000 (96 kilobits), $rc$ resolves to 5096.
Video frame width	$w$	Name modifier Segment modifier	The frame width, or horizontal resolution, in pixels. Example: If you set Encoding settings, Video, Resolution (w x h) to 1280 x 720 , $w$ resolves to 1280.
Video frame height	$h$	Name modifier Segment modifier	The frame height, or vertical resolution, in pixels. Example: If you set Encoding settings, Video, Resolution (w x h) to 1280 x 720 , $h$ resolves to 720.
Framerate	$f$	Name modifier Segment modifier	Framerate, in frames per second, truncated to the nearest whole number. Example: If your framerate is 59.940, $f$ resolves to 59.
Input file name	$fn$	Destination Name modifier Segment modifier	Name of the input file, without the file extension. For jobs that have multiple inputs, this is the first file specified in the job. Example: If Input 1 for your job is s3://mediaconvert-input/my-video.mov, $fn$ resolves to my-video.
Output container file extension	$ex$	Name modifier Segment modifier	Varies depending on the output group. For File group outputs, this is the extension of the output container file. For other output groups, this is the extension of the manifest. Example for file group: If you choose MPEG2-TS for Output settings, Container, $ex$ resolves to m2ts. Example for HLS group: If your output group is HLS, $ex$ resolves to m3u8.
$	$$	Name modifier Segment modifier	Escaped $. Example: Suppose that you provide the following values: Input file name: file1.mp4 Destination: s3://mediaconvert-input/ Name modifier: my-video$$hi-res- Your output file name and path resolves to s3://mediaconvert-input/my-video$hi-res-file1.mp4.

Using settings variables with streaming outputs

Variables in your job settings, also called format identifiers, function differently for outputs in Apple HLS and DASH ISO output groups. Here are the differences:

For Apple HLS Outputs

When you use the date and time format identifiers ($dt$, $t$, $d$) in the Segment modifier setting, these format identifiers resolve to the completion time of each segment, rather than to the start time of the job.

Note

For jobs that use accelerated transcoding, segments might complete at the same time. This means that date and time format identifiers don't always resolve to unique values.

For DASH ISO Outputs

You can use two additional format identifiers in the Name modifier setting. These affect the DASH manifest in addition to the output file name. Here are the identifiers:

$Number$

In your output file names, $Number$ resolves to a series of numbers that increment from 1. This replaces the default, nine-digit segment numbering in the segment file names. For example:

• If you specify video_$Number$ for Name modifier, the service creates segment files named video_1.mp4, video_2.mp4, and so on.

• If you specify only video_ for Name modifier, the service creates segment files named video_000000001.mp4, video_000000002.mp4, and so on.

In your DASH manifest, AWS Elemental MediaConvert includes duration and startNumber inside the SegmentTemplate element, like this: <SegmentTemplate timescale="90000" media="main_video_$Number$.mp4" initialization="main_video_$Number$init.mp4" duration="3375000"/>

Note

If you use the $Number$ format identifier in an output, you must also use it in every other output of the output group.

$Bandwidth$

In your output file names, $Bandwidth$ resolves to the value of Video, Bitrate plus the value of Audio, Bitrate in the output. Regardless of whether you include this format identifier, the service uses nine-digit segment numbering in the segment file names.

For example, suppose you specify these values:

• Video, Bitrate (bits/s): 50000000

• Audio, Bitrate (kbits/s): 96.0 (96,000 bits/s)

• Name modifier: video_$Bandwidth$

The value for $Bandwidth$ resolves to 50,096,000. The service creates segment files named video_50096000_000000001.mp4, video_50096000_000000002.mp4, and so on.

In the manifest, AWS Elemental MediaConvert includes duration and startNumber inside the SegmentTemplate element, like this: <SegmentTemplate timescale="90000" media="main_video_$Bandwidth$.mp4" initialization="main_video_$Bandwidth$init.mp4" duration="3375000"/>.

$Time$

In your output file names, $Time$ resolves to the duration, in milliseconds, of the segment. When you include this format identifier, the service doesn't use the default nine-digit segment numbering in the segment file names.

For example, if you specify video180__$Time$ for Name modifier, the service creates segment files named video180__345600.mp4, video180__331680.mp4, and so on. In these examples, the segment durations are 345,600 ms and 331,680 ms.

In the manifest, AWS Elemental MediaConvert includes SegmentTimeline inside the SegmentTemplate element, like this:

<Representation id="5" width="320" height="180" bandwidth="200000" codecs="avc1.4d400c">
        <SegmentTemplate media="video180_$Time$.mp4" initialization="videovideo180_init.mp4">
          <SegmentTimeline>
            <S t="0" d="345600" r="2"/>
            <S t="1036800" d="316800"/>
          </SegmentTimeline>
        </SegmentTemplate>
      </Representation>

Note

If you use the $Time$ format identifier in an output, you must also use it in every other output of the output group.

Specifying a minimum number of digits

For format identifiers that return a number, you can specify a minimum number of digits that the format identifier will resolve to. When you do, the service adds padding zeros before any value that would return fewer digits.

Use the following syntax to specify the number of digits: %0[number of digits]. Put this value just before the final $ of the format identifier.

For example, suppose that your video frame height is 720 and you want to specify a minimum of four digits, so that it appears in your file name as 0720. To do that, use the following format identifier: $h%04$.

Note

Values that are too large to be expressed in the number of digits you specify resolve with more digits.