REAL-TIME VIDEO OPTIMIZER

A video optimizer receives a request to optimize a video, wherein the request includes optimization parameters and a uniform resource locator (URL) of the video. The video optimizer retrieves the video from an origin server and transcodes the video based on optimization parameters. The video optimizer load balances several transcoding sessions over one or more servers and tracks each session based on session identifications (IDs). Additionally, the video optimizer tracks each session to determine when a server is at or near capacity to prevent an overflow situation. The video optimizer is also enabled to stitch together two or more transcoding sessions in the event of a seek operation by a user during video playback. The video optimizer streams the video to the client device, enabling the client device to stream videos in substantially real-time after requesting the video.