The invention provides a video file parallel 
transcoding method and 
system. The method includes the following steps of firstly, obtaining the number of currently-available 
transcoding machines and the number of target video files to be output with different code rates; secondly, segmenting a source video file according to the number of the currently-available 
transcoding machines and the number of the target video files to obtain 
multiple stages of running streams, wherein each stage of running 
stream comprises a plurality of audio and video 
stream data segments; thirdly, sequentially starting the 
multiple stages of running streams from top to bottom according to the code rates of the target video files so as to transcode the data segments; fourthly, combining the transcoded data segments of each stage of running 
stream according to the corresponding target format, and obtaining the target video files with different code rates. By means of the video file parallel transcoding method and 
system, under the condition that the 
coding quality of output targets is not reduced, the transcoded data size is reduced, and therefore performance losses in the transcoding process are effectively reduced, the transcoding efficiency is improved, and 
response time of video transcoding tasks is effectively shortened.