# Creating a MediaConnect Router output group
When you create a AWS Elemental MediaLive channel, you might want to include a MediaConnect Router output group. For information about the use cases for a MediaConnect Router output group, see [Containers, protocols, and downstream systems](outputs-supported-containers-downstream-systems.md).
**Topics**
+ [Organize encodes](design-mediaconnect-router-package.md)
+ [Coordinate with downstream system](downstream-system-mediaconnect-router.md)
+ [Create output group](creating-mediaconnect-router-output-group.md)
# Organize encodes in a MediaConnect Router output group
A MediaConnect Router output group uses the M2TS (MPEG-2 Transport Stream) container. Each output can contain the following:
+ One video encode.
+ Zero or more audio encodes.
+ Zero or more captions encodes. The captions are embedded captions or sidecar captions.
You can have up to five outputs per MediaConnect Router output group.
# Coordinate with the downstream system for a MediaConnect Router output group
One advantage of MediaConnect Router is that you don't need to create any AWS Elemental MediaConnect resources before creating the MediaLive output. When you create a MediaLive channel with a MediaConnect Router output group, the outputs automatically appear as options in the MediaConnect Router API.
MediaConnect Router outputs support encryption for data in transit. You can choose one of the following encryption modes:
+ **AUTOMATIC** – The services handle encryption seamlessly using a service-managed secret. This is the recommended option.
+ **SECRETS\$1MANAGER** – You provide the ARN of an AES-256 secret stored in AWS Secrets Manager. The secret must exist before you create the MediaLive channel.
You must specify the Availability Zones for the output group. For a single-pipeline channel, specify one Availability Zone. For a standard channel, specify two different Availability Zones to provide zonal resiliency.
**Important**
If a MediaConnect Router resource has already been created, the Availability Zones you specify must match those of the existing resource. If the MediaConnect Router resource has not been created yet, the resource must be configured to match the Availability Zones you specify here.
You can use a MediaConnect Router input with a MediaConnect Router output to process video in MediaLive (for example, to normalize frame rate) and then pass the video back into MediaConnect Router. By design, when you use MediaConnect Router inputs and outputs, your entire transport workflow is end-to-end encrypted.
# Create a MediaConnect Router output group
You create the output group and its outputs when you [create or edit a MediaLive channel](creating-a-channel-step4.md).
1. On the **Create channel** or **Edit channel** page, in **Output groups**, choose **Add**.
1. In the **Add output group** section, choose **MediaConnect Router Output Group**, and then choose **Confirm**. More sections appear:
+ **MediaConnect Router Output Group** destination – This section contains fields for the destination of the outputs. In the Output Destinations section, a **MediaConnect Router Output Group** tab appears. The encryption type defaults to **AUTOMATIC**. To use a secret from AWS Secrets Manager, change the encryption type to **SECRETS\$1MANAGER** and enter the secret ARN.
+ **MediaConnect Router settings** – This section contains fields for configuring the output group. See later in this section.
+ **MediaConnect Router outputs** – This section shows the single output that is added by default. You can add more outputs (up to five per output group), and you can add video, audio, and captions encodes in each output. See later in this section.
**Topics**
+ [Fields in MediaConnect Router settings section](#mediaconnect-router-opg-settings)
+ [Fields for the video, audio, and captions streams (encodes)](#mediaconnect-router-opg-streams-section)
## Fields in MediaConnect Router settings section
| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Name | A name for the output group. This name is internal to MediaLive. It doesn't appear in the output. |
| Availability Zones | The Availability Zones for the output group. For a single-pipeline channel, specify one Availability Zone. For a standard channel, specify two different Availability Zones. The two Availability Zones must be different to provide zonal resiliency. |
| Connected Router Inputs | A read-only field that shows the MediaConnect Router inputs that are connected to this output. This information is purely informational. To connect or disconnect MediaConnect Router inputs, use the MediaConnect Router API. |
## Fields for the video, audio, and captions streams (encodes)
1. In **MediaConnect Router outputs**, choose **Add output** to add outputs.
1. Choose the first **Settings** link to view the first output. Each output has two sections: **Output settings** and **Stream settings**.
1. Complete **Output settings**:
+ **Output name**: Change the randomly generated name to a meaningful name. This name is internal to MediaLive; it doesn't appear in the output.
+ **Name modifier**: MediaLive assigns a sequential modifier to each output in the output group: **\$11**, **\$12**, and so on. Change the name if you want.
1. In **Output settings**, for **Container settings**, the container is set to M2TS. For information about M2TS settings, see the M2TS fields in [Fields for the UDP transport](udp-container.md).
1. Complete **Stream settings**. This section contains fields for the output encodes (the video, audio, and captions) to create in the output. For information about creating encodes, see the following sections:
+ [Set up the video encode](creating-a-channel-step6.md)
+ [Set up the audio encodes](creating-a-channel-step7.md)
+ [Set up the captions encodes](creating-a-channel-step8.md)