Flix vs. FFMPEG vs FMS

We're looking to add server-side encoding a la YouTube to our site, for a private community. We'll likely need to support a wide variety of input formats, much like YT.

I took at look at On2's Flix Server, pricey, but probably the best option. How does FFMPEG stack up in comparison, and does Flash Media Server do the same with uploaded files, or only streams captured from the player?

Also, what kind of overhead are we looking at, let's say at most a couple of dozen clips a month at first will get uploaded and crunched. Dedicated box? How powerful? Do we need to create an encoding queue, and notify people when their video is ready? (I've never uploaded to YT, so I don't know how they handle it.)

Thanks.

On2 is probably going to be your best option for encoding the videos on the server. At least, it is the only one I have actually tapped into. FFMPEG from what I remember is still a bit buggy and does not give the best results. FMS does NOT encode uploaded videos. It can only capture streams from a webcam or whatever.

The best way to probably set it up is in a queue. At least that is what YouTube does. It takes sometimes up to an hour for your submitted video to go live. And for a couple dozen per month, I wouldn't look at a dedicated box. I would save a dedicated box when you are doing around 1 per hour on average, or a bit sooner than that. But that all depends on the server situation you are in now. If you are current on a shared server with someone like Dreamhost, they will get angry for you encoding all those videos and they'll more than likely force you to a dedicated box.

what about video to flash console on geo website?
it is also for server side encoding

A little late on this thread, but you may want to take a look at Brightcove. They encode with On2 and will save you a headache. I believe they have a built in infrastructure to handle user generated content and I think the presentation layer is very customizable. I haven't used them yet but have a couple projects coming up that I might use them for.

the only problem is that on2 licence..
you will have to pay for it annually.