Converting produces a new version of an asset in a different format or at different settings. The original is not replaced, so you end up with both.

For format changes, resizing, or producing a version suited to a particular destination.

Transcoding changes the format or codec, which is what you need when a destination will not accept what you are holding.

Encoding is about the settings within a format: bitrate, resolution and quality. This is where you make the tradeoff between file size and how the result looks.

Conversion is lossy in one direction. You can always produce a smaller version from a large one, but you cannot recover detail that a compressed output threw away.

So keep the highest quality version you have, and treat converted outputs as disposable. If you ever find yourself deleting an original because a converted version looks fine, that is the moment to stop.

Converted files accumulate quickly, and a directory holding six versions of the same asset is only useful if the names say what each one is for. Web, social, broadcast, review. Anything but final, final2 and finalv3.

Because outputs sit in the directory alongside the original, the directory becomes the place where every version of an asset lives together, including the captioned versions and an editor's finished cut.

Transcription and captions covers producing a captioned video, which works the same way. Video streaming and delivery covers how ioMoVo handles playback.