HOW LONG? Quicktime encoding on G5!

[MacBoobsPro]

I dont encode much video so Im not sure if this is standard issue but when I try to export an AVI (about 2hrs) into Mp4 Quicktime starts off ok gets about 10% done in the loading bar and then hangs for absolutely ages. QT is still responding and Activity monitor says its using about 160% of the CPU - not sure how but its a Dual 1.8G5 so I guess both processors equate to 200% - but the processors are usually audible but dont seem to be making any noise.

Does QT usually hang for AGES or is there something wrong?

[MacBoobsPro]

2 and ahalf hours later it is now 20% done. How **** is this? :mad:

[TechnoPagan]

It's a pain, but you did say you're compressing 2 hrs of video? How many gigs? And how fast is your Mac?

My experience has always been to set up encoding (or rendering), walk away, and go to bed. It's the last thing I do at night, not the first thing in the morning. Especially since sometimes it'll spin and the application will say "not responding" (even when it totally is--it's not dead, it's just restin').

Seriously--walk away. Go see a really long movie. Or go shopping. Or clean the office.

[PerfectlyFlawed]

thats really long. I have a 2gh macbook. I do alot of encoding and it never takes longer than the length of the movie. typically however long the video is it does it in half the time. but I don't see why it your G5 would take that long even though mine is .2 gh faster per core.

what are the current specs on your computer

[Eric5h5]

My dual 2.5 G5 does 2 hours in about 1/2 hour, so no, it shouldn't take that long. But then I don't use Quicktime for encoding...so I don't know if that would be slower or not.

--Eric

[SMM]

If you are compressing high quality dual-pass MPEG2 using Quicktime conversion, you are experiencing what you should expect. I mean, that is the way it is. You can try different settings, go for lower quality for example.

What is your set-up and how are you launching the process?

[risc]

// delete please

[bigbossbmb]

avi to mp4 is a fairly draining process. you're speeds are about right.

[MacBoobsPro]

thats really long. I have a 2gh macbook. I do alot of encoding and it never takes longer than the length of the movie. typically however long the video is it does it in half the time. but I don't see why it your G5 would take that long even though mine is .2 gh faster per core.

what are the current specs on your computer

Specs: Dual 1.8G5 2GBRAM 256VRAM.

I originally was encoding/exporting with multipass and it was taking ages. I restarted using Single pass and it took just as long. I am keeping the resolution the same too so I am still confused why its so slow.

Im gonna try it on my macbook and see what that can do.

bigbossbmb if i left it alone to complete it would take about 7 hours. That cant be right.

[richyfp]

That's pretty speedy by comparison with my PowerBook G4! I was converting a video of the freefall portion of my skydive from H.264 to 3gp so I could put it on my phone. Quicktime seemed to think it would take just a shade over 4 millennia:

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/rfp26/qtexport.png

That extra 7 minutes just takes the p*ss! :)

[2009059]

get handbrake.

[MacBoobsPro]

get handbrake.

Handbrake only works on DVDs this an AVI. Ive already tried it.

[MacBoobsPro]

That's pretty speedy by comparison with my PowerBook G4! I was converting a video of the freefall portion of my skydive from H.264 to 3gp so I could put it on my phone. Quicktime seemed to think it would take just a shade over 4 millennia:

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/rfp26/qtexport.png

That extra 7 minutes just takes the p*ss! :)

Mine doesnt even show a time. Just says exporting. :confused: Same on MacBook too. Takes forever I have noticed that I need the DIVX component for QT to view the AVI so could this be why it is taking so long? If it was a pure AVI would it be quicker?

[nospleen]

Handbrake only works on DVDs this an AVI. Ive already tried it.

get isquint, www.isquint.org

[dextertangocci]

I know it's not the same as what you're doing, but when I encode a Video_ts folder (about 2 hours of video) into Mpeg 4, it does it in about 30 minutes:cool: :eek: :D

[MacBoobsPro]

get isquint, www.isquint.org

Thanks I'll give it ago.

[nospleen]

Thanks I'll give it ago.

You will love it, works great!

[MacBoobsPro]

You will love it, works great!

It does indeed seem alot quicker than Quicktime. That being said it is still going to take about 3 hours but that is with max settings unlike QT.

Thanks nospleen.

[nospleen]

It does indeed seem alot quicker than Quicktime. That being said it is still going to take about 3 hours but that is with max settings unlike QT.

Thanks nospleen.

Glad to hear it! :)

[MacBoobsPro]

Well this will make everyone laugh - apart from me :mad:

I used iSquint. It was indeed faster than Quicktime however the quality was ***** so after 3 hours of encoding I had to trash it. Turns out iSquint is only good for iPod screens. So I went back to QT and let it run over night. It worked beautiful Hi Res MP4. I place it in iTunes, press play and it looks great. Well I noticed that the title was all lowercase so I decided to change it. I click enter to confirm the change and iTunes freezes. So I forced quit and now guess what? The movie that I have spent about 12 hours in total trying to encode... is corrupt. It will only play the last ten minutes, the rest is just a white screen. So once again I have the black tape out to cover up the ACD and PMG5 lights for when I go to bed while the damn thing encodes again.

Damn it!

[nospleen]

Well this will make everyone laugh - apart from me :mad:

I used iSquint. It was indeed faster than Quicktime however the quality was ***** so after 3 hours of encoding I had to trash it. Turns out iSquint is only good for iPod screens. So I went back to QT and let it run over night. It worked beautiful Hi Res MP4. I place it in iTunes, press play and it looks great. Well I noticed that the title was all lowercase so I decided to change it. I click enter to confirm the change and iTunes freezes. So I forced quit and now guess what? The movie that I have spent about 12 hours in total trying to encode... is corrupt. It will only play the last ten minutes, the rest is just a white screen. So once again I have the black tape out to cover up the ACD and PMG5 lights for when I go to bed while the damn thing encodes again.

Damn it!

Did you set the quality to the highest, I think it is "go nuts", lol. Also, you can choose whether it is for an iPod or a TV and you can also choose h.264.

[MacBoobsPro]

Did you set the quality to the highest, I think it is "go nuts", lol. Also, you can choose whether it is for an iPod or a TV and you can also choose h.264.

Everything was max. Go nuts. TV and H264. Oh well another sleepless night with fans buzzing and lights flashing. Maybe i should find something good and big to download so im killing 2 birds with one... well 3 stones now! :o

[FireArse]

Hey,

I had a Dual 2GHz G5 with 2.5GB ram and 9600XT. For encoding into H.264, it was pretty good. I would encode 1920x1080p material at a rate of about 15FPS. Not bad. As for your fans blaring - I must admit, I very, very rarely heard my G5.

I had it next to my bed encoding (it was for my Final Year project for uni, needed loads of encoding at various bit rates) and the fans didnt rev up.

One of the reasons I sold the G5 in March was because I knew the x264 team were more into the Intel acceleration - however, these days the Altivec optimizations seem to be taking a far higher priority. There is plenty to get out of that G5 chip, believe me.

Oh, and the build quality of the Dual G5 is so much better than the Mac Pro's.

If i were you, I'd backup all my stuff, and reinstall 10.4 and run all the updates. I hope the Quicktime team are still working on optimizing the QT H.264 component, because there is plenty to get out of both PPC & Intel.

F

[risc]

If you need to transcode video a couple of apps to try would be ffmpegX and VisualHub, both are shareware but well worth the money.

[Eraserhead]

Another vote for FFMPEGX (http://www.ffmpegx.com)

[Eidorian]

I am a VERY happy owner of Visual Hub. It's the best $23.22 I've ever spent on software. I have yet to find a video format it can't handle or convert into.

[live4ever]

You never did mention the source of the video, all you said was avi and avi is just a container that can have many types of video inside it.

Also what is the output format desired (compress for the web, just viewing in iTunes)?

Any other information about the source video would help to design a workflow to minimize encoding time and maximize quality.

Some essential video properties to list (VLC or MPlayer should be used for avi to get their info) would be:

Video resolution: eg. 640x480
Runtime: eg. 45 min.
Video codec: eg. XviD, DivX, WMV
Audio codec: eg. mp3, aac, ac3

[uaaerospace]

I noticed a significant speed improvement in video encoding when I changed my processor energy setting to Highest (System Prefs > Energy Saver > Options > Processor Performance: Highest). I have a dual G5 2.0.

Video takes a while to encode. Patience ;)

[MacBoobsPro]

I noticed a significant speed improvement in video encoding when I changed my processor energy setting to Highest (System Prefs > Energy Saver > Options > Processor Performance: Highest). I have a dual G5 2.0.

Video takes a while to encode. Patience ;)

Its already set to highest.

Im at work now so cant check but i remember there is an Mpeg3 layer for inside the AVI as well as DIVx plug in needed to view it.

The file is only about 600 x 300px (1h 47m). I encoded at 30fps as i want good quality to view at full screen. But 7 hours to encode is a bit much isnt it?

I have done it now and changed the name before i put it in itunes. :D But more info on speed issues would be appreciated.