i am going to test this service and see how the results are compared to vegas > handbrake

https://app.zencoder.com/docs/api/encoding

its got:

a decent amount of encoding options
some other interesting stuff like security options
generates thumbnails
can do pay as you go @ 5 cents a minute
etc...

....might be worth it for me. will have to test it to find out. they have free testing with limited clip length