media-processing.mdx

title	Media processing workflows
sidebarTitle	Media processing
description	Learn how to use Trigger.dev for media processing including video transcoding, image optimization, audio transformation, and document conversion.

import UseCasesCards from "/snippets/use-cases-cards.mdx";

Overview

Build media processing pipelines that handle large files and long-running operations. Process videos, images, audio, and documents with automatic retries, progress tracking, and no timeout limits.

Featured examples

Process videos and upload results to R2 storage using FFmpeg. Transform product photos into professional marketing images using Replicate. Convert documents to PDF using LibreOffice.

Benefits of using Trigger.dev for media processing workflows

Process multi-hour videos without timeouts: Transcode videos, extract frames, or run CPU-intensive operations for hours. No execution time limits.

Stream progress to users in real-time: Show processing status updating live in your UI. Users see exactly where encoding is and how long remains.

Parallel processing with resource control: Process hundreds of files simultaneously with configurable concurrency limits. Control resource usage without overwhelming infrastructure.

Example workflow patterns

Simple video transcoding pipeline. Downloads video from storage, batch triggers parallel transcoding to multiple formats and thumbnail extraction, uploads all results.

graph TB
    A[processVideo] --> B[downloadFromStorage]
    B --> C[batchTriggerAndWait]
    C --> D[transcodeToHD]
    C --> E[transcodeToSD]
    C --> F[extractThumbnail]
    D --> G[uploadToStorage]
    E --> G
    F --> G

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**Router + Coordinator pattern**. Analyzes video metadata to determine source resolution, routes to appropriate transcoding preset, batch triggers parallel post-processing for thumbnails, preview clips, and chapter detection.

graph TB
    A[processVideoUpload] --> B[analyzeMetadata]
    B --> C{Resolution?}
    C -->|4K Source| D[transcode4K]
    C -->|HD Source| E[transcodeHD]
    C -->|SD Source| F[transcodeSD]
    D --> G[coordinatePostProcessing]
    E --> G
    F --> G
    G --> H[batchTriggerAndWait]
    H --> I[extractThumbnails]
    H --> J[generatePreview]
    H --> K[detectChapters]
    I --> L[uploadToStorage]
    J --> L
    K --> L
    L --> M[notifyComplete]

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**Router + Coordinator pattern**. Analyzes image content to detect type, routes to specialized processing (background removal for products, face detection for portraits, scene analysis for landscapes), upscales with AI, batch triggers parallel variant generation.

graph TB
    A[processImageUpload] --> B[analyzeContent]
    B --> C{Content Type?}
    C -->|Product| D[removeBackground]
    C -->|Portrait| E[detectFaces]
    C -->|Landscape| F[analyzeScene]
    D --> G[upscaleWithAI]
    E --> G
    F --> G
    G --> H[batchTriggerAndWait]
    H --> I[generateWebP]
    H --> J[generateThumbnails]
    H --> K[generateSocialCrops]
    I --> L[uploadToStorage]
    J --> L
    K --> L

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**Coordinator pattern**. Pre-processes raw audio with noise reduction and speaker diarization, batch triggers parallel tasks for transcription (Deepgram), audio enhancement, and chapter detection, aggregates results to generate show notes and publish.

graph TB
    A[processAudioUpload] --> B[cleanAudio]
    B --> C[coordinateProcessing]
    C --> D[batchTriggerAndWait]
    D --> E[transcribeWithDeepgram]
    D --> F[enhanceAudio]
    D --> G[detectChapters]
    E --> H[generateShowNotes]
    F --> H
    G --> H
    H --> I[publishToPlatforms]

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**Router pattern with human-in-the-loop**. Detects file type and routes to appropriate processor, classifies document with AI to determine type (invoice/contract/receipt), extracts structured data fields, optionally pauses with wait.forToken for human approval.

graph TB
    A[processDocumentUpload] --> B[detectFileType]
    B -->|PDF| C[extractText]
    B -->|Word/Excel| D[convertToPDF]
    B -->|Image| E[runOCR]
    C --> F[classifyDocument]
    D --> F
    E --> F
    F -->|Invoice| G[extractLineItems]
    F -->|Contract| H[extractClauses]
    F -->|Receipt| I[extractExpenses]
    G --> J{Needs Review?}
    H --> J
    I --> J
    J -->|Yes| K[wait.forToken approval]
    J -->|No| L[processAndIntegrate]
    K --> L

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