Confirmation Required: Slow Encoding

[Red Kawa]

After a couple of users reported slow encoding, we did some investigation and came across some very odd behavior in the program. We need to find out if these results are occuring on other machines as well.

Please execute the following test case and report your results.

Test Case #1
1. Start up Videora iPod Converter
2. Click the "Convert" button in the top menu
3. Click the "Convert Video" button
4. Select a video file (any kind)
5. Select the profile "H.264 QVGA 512kbps Stereo/128kbps
6. Click the "Start" button
7. Wait until 2% of the conversion is complete
8. Record the "Elapsed Time" value
9. Click the "Abort" button
10. Repeat steps 2-8 for the exact same video

Once you have the two elapsed time values, please post them up to this thread.

If you want to give results for multiple videos, please follow the above test case to the letter. This means you must shut down Videora iPod Converter before starting a new test case.

Bascially we are trying to see if the first conversion made after the program starts is always slower than subsquent conversions. We picked 2% as a reference point to compare the two conversions, you could also pick an elapsed time as a reference point and note down the two percentage complete values for each encode.

Our results are below.

[Red Kawa]

Test Case #1 Results

Video #1
Type: avi (xvid/mp3)
Reference Point: 2%
First Elapsed Time: 1:19
Second Elapsed Time: 0:36

Video #2
Type: avi (xvid/mp3)
Reference Point: 2%
First Elapsed Time: 0:42
Second Elapsed Time: 0:18

[Rizla]

Type: 350MB avi (xvid/mp3)
Reference Point: 2%
First Elapsed Time: 2:54
Second Elapsed Time: 0:54

Enough said I think :eek:

[trekkie101]

Type: 175MB avi (xvid/mp3)
Reference Point: 2%
First Elapsed Time: 1:08
Second Elapsed Time: 0:26

[Red Kawa]

Thanks for the additional confirmation. This issue should now be fixed in version 2.04. Please let us know if you still encounter it.

See our blog post for more details:
http://www.redkawa.com/blog/post.php?t=486

[justrick]

FWIW, I'm currently trying to encode a 30-minute DVR-MS file, and Videora is telling me it has *5 hours* remaining. The previous version (0.91) took about 30 minutes (though it didn't do the audio correctly; hoping this version fixes that).

[Red Kawa]

Regarding slow encoding times, read the blog, as we've explained everything about that issue there.

From our tests:

0.91 Encode Times
0:38 "MPEG-4/320x240/768kbps Stereo/128kbps"
1:02 "H264/320x240/16:9/768kbps Stereo/128kbps"

2.04 Encode Times
0:34 "MPEG4 QVGA 768kbps Stereo/128kbps No Flags"
1:01 "H.264 QVGA 768kbps Stereo/128kbps Few Flags"

As you can see, they are pretty much exactly the same.
Encoding times are totally dependent on the profile used.

[justrick]

Regarding slow encoding times, read the blog, as we've explained everything about that issue there.

From our tests:

0.91 Encode Times
0:38 "MPEG-4/320x240/768kbps Stereo/128kbps"
1:02 "H264/320x240/16:9/768kbps Stereo/128kbps"

2.04 Encode Times
0:34 "MPEG4 QVGA 768kbps Stereo/128kbps No Flags"
1:01 "H.264 QVGA 768kbps Stereo/128kbps Few Flags"

As you can see, they are pretty much exactly the same.
Encoding times are totally dependent on the profile used.

I can only report what I've experienced at my end, which is significantly longer encoding times with the new version. Granted, I've only tested DVR-MS files, and I still love the program--but those are my results thus far.

Thanks,
Rick

[mihies]

I think mine is slow, too (2.04). For a movie (not sure exactly how long - around 3Gb VOB) it takes around 4 hours. Is it supposed to be that slow?
This happens on E6600 and RAID0+1 and Vista x86.

Let me know if you need more details.

[Red Kawa]

Encoding speed depends on the profiles used and your hardware (cpu/ram/etc). Since everyones hardware is different, speed will vary for each person.

If you want the same exact speeds (on your computer) that you had in version 0.91 (with similar profiles) then use the following profiles:
"MPEG4 QVGA 768kbps Stereo/128kbps No Flags"
"H.264 QVGA 768kbps Stereo/128kbps Few Flags"

A few things to note about these profiles:
- Encoded video will have a maximum size of 320x240
- Quality will be worse since no advanced video codec features are in use

If you want higher resolution video, better quality through the use of advanced video codec features or are using H264 (in this version) instead of MPEG4 (in the older version), your encoding times are going to be slower. You simply have to accept this.

[mihies]

Ok, I am not complaining, just letting you know my subjective feelings. Anyway, are you planning to enable multicore CPUs in the future? Since dual CPUs are a reality now a lot of users would benefit...