Terminology

Tasks

Tasks are individual activities you can perform in FreeConvert.

Import Tasks

Import tasks are used to upload files into FreeConvert for use in subsequent tasks. For example: downloading files from a device, a URL, or an S3 bucket. FreeConvert stores imported files for up to 4 hours. See Importing Files for the different ways to import files into FreeConvert.

Processing Tasks

Processing tasks are used to perform file transformation operations in FreeConvert. Processing tasks subject the files imported by Import tasks to modification according to the processing task type. See the Convert, Compress, and Merge operations for more information.

Export Tasks

Export tasks are used to retrieve one or more output files from FreeConvert, for example by generating public URLs or storing them in your S3 bucket. See Exporting Files for the different ways to export files from FreeConvert.

Jobs

A Job is a collection of tasks. A job can include import tasks, processing tasks, and export tasks, defining a workflow for FreeConvert to execute. For example, the first task of a job could be importing a file from your device, the second could be converting it to a different format, and the final task could be exporting the file to an S3 bucket or generating a download URL.

It is also possible to have multiple processing tasks and export tasks within a single job to include your entire file processing workflow. This is useful when, for example, you want to convert a file and create a thumbnail from it simultaneously.

A file can be converted using a Job that defines all its tasks, or individual tasks can be executed step by step. The following sections demonstrate how to execute individual tasks before explaining how to submit a Job containing multiple tasks.

Tip: You can use API Job Builder to conveniently construct your Job workflows.