An apparatus comprising a conversion application includes a capability determining element and a local transcode server. The capability determining element is configured to determine a first format of source data, determine an information format for converted data, and determine local conversion capabilities. The local transcode server is configured to convert the source data in the first format to the converted data in a second format using local resources in response to the local conversion capabilities indicating that conversion from the first format to the second format is capable of performance using local resources. If conversion cannot be performed using local resources, then remote resources are located and utilized for the conversion.