A method of dynamically preparing a media clip for delivery from a server to a client is provided. Media attributes comprising media playback formats compatible with the client are provided to the server. A request is made by the client to provide a media content item at a specified starting time, and the server identifies a source where a media content file related to the selected media content item is located. The server obtains the media file from the source, and obtains a transcoded media segment file having a playback format compatible with the client media attributes. The transcoded media segment file may further be prepared in a transport format that is compatible with transport format media attributes of the client device, and a location of the prepared transcoded media segment file may be communicated to the client for the client to access the media segment.