MP 09 and Handbrake X 2

[fgonz44]

Is it possible to rip 2 movies at the same time, if you have a second optical drive installed, using Handbrake on any of the 09 MP?
If so, how is the performance vs only one at a time?

[NRose8989]

I don't know how the performance would be but I'm pretty sure you can run two instances of handbrake as long as they are no in the same install location. So in theory you could run one instance of handbrake in your applications folder, then run another instance from you downloads folder.I haven't tried this myself but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[Nautigar]

Just copy Handbrake inside the Applications folder and give it some other name (e.g. Handbrake 2).

[NRose8989]

Just copy Handbrake inside the Applications folder and give it some other name (e.g. Handbrake 2).

Ya I retract my previous statement because this sounds like a more logical way to do it. I really should not post stuff in the morning because my brain doesn't fully function until noon-ish.

[plinden]

You probably won't get any performance gain since Handbrake is good at taking up available CPU. Each instance is likely to run half as fast. I don't have a MP to try it, but you do. It wouldn't hurt to experiment and let us know.

What I did when encoding my kids DVDs to watch in Front Row, I ripped a DVD to the HDD (using Fairmount to drag the VIDEO_TS folder to the Mac's hard drive), started encoding, then ripped and queued more DVDs up in Handbrake. Then when I had ten hours or so of encoding left, let it go overnight. This is only useful though, if Handbrake takes longer to encode a movie from HDD than it takes you to rip a movie from DVD to HDD. Which is not likely with the newer MPs.

[Zandalus]

With one Handbrake, my mac use only half CPU, with 2 handbrake i use all the CPU :)

[plinden]

What Mac do you have? What version of HB do you use?

I have used HB on three dual core Macs and it uses all available CPU. However, an earlier version of HB (about three years ago) would only use 100% CPU if I added the source to the queue and started the encoding from there.

If you have a > dual core Mac, let us know.

[Zandalus]

What Mac do you have? What version of HB do you use?

I have used HB on three dual core Macs and it uses all available CPU. However, an earlier version of HB (about three years ago) would only use 100% CPU if I added the source to the queue and started the encoding from there.

If you have a > dual core Mac, let us know.

Yes, with a dual core handbrake use all CPU :)

With mac pro, with 8 core, handbrake use only half power. (I have the last version and Mac Pro 2009)
I've also try to make only 1 conversion and 2 conversion in parallel, and the total time of a single conversion isn't change :)

[plinden]

Ok, that's good to know - so the OP should see improvements with two instances of HB running.

[iamcheerful]

This post may help.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7381768&postcount=45

The thread has information you may like to review too.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=668951

[fgonz44]

What Mac do you have? What version of HB do you use?

I have used HB on three dual core Macs and it uses all available CPU. However, an earlier version of HB (about three years ago) would only use 100% CPU if I added the source to the queue and started the encoding from there.

If you have a > dual core Mac, let us know.

I currently have a G5 and am getting a 2009 MP so the question is for when I get the 2009 2.26 MP. The reason for my question was because I am debating on whether to use the 2nd optical drive bay for an optical drive or a HDD. If there is no benefit to ripping two movies at the same time then I would use the 2nd bay for a HDD.
It sounds like there is a benefit of ripping two movies at the same time with the 2009 2.26 MP so I will order a second optical drive from OWC.
I will be downloading the most recent version of HB when I get the MP.
Thanks everyone for your help

[Zandalus]

I currently have a G5 and am getting a 2009 MP so the question is for when I get the 2009 2.26 MP. The reason for my question was because I am debating on whether to use the 2nd optical drive bay for an optical drive or a HDD. If there is no benefit to ripping two movies at the same time then I would use the 2nd bay for a HDD.
It sounds like there is a benefit of ripping two movies at the same time with the 2009 2.26 MP so I will order a second optical drive from OWC.
I will be downloading the most recent version of HB when I get the MP.
Thanks everyone for your help

For now (with the last version of handbrake), use 2 handbrake is the only way to use 100% CPU, so ripping two movie have a benefit.
If in a future, with new release, this can change :)

So, for NOW rip 2 movie have benefit :)

[Mattww]

With one Handbrake, my mac use only half CPU, with 2 handbrake i use all the CPU :)

If you just run one instance of Handbrake how responsive is the computer for other tasks? Can you run another intensive application like a 3D game without the encode impacting performance?

[Zandalus]

If you just run one instance of Handbrake how responsive is the computer for other tasks? Can you run another intensive application like a 3D game without the encode impacting performance?

I've played at World of Warcraft + 1 handbrake with no problem :)

[Mattww]

I've played at World of Warcraft + 1 handbrake with no problem :)

Very Cool :) - I'm torn between a Quad or the entry 8-Core and was leaning back towards a Quad as I'm not doing 3D rendering - mainly regular H264 encoding (Handbrake, Eye TV), 3D gaming and audio (Garangeband and Logic). The video encoding is too much for my G5 and all the new games are Intel only. It seems to handle audio OK but I love a quieter machine.

With the 2008 models I felt it was an easy choice of the 2.8 Octo as the saving for the Quad or increase for the faster chips didn't make sense.

The decision with this 2009 range is much harder with the Quad 2.93 and 2.26 Octo so close in price when configured with the same RAM and video card (4870).

When looking at the Quad I then question if it is also worth loosing 10% and saving some money by going with the 2.66.

It is difficult to read the tea leaves regarding Snow Leopard and future software. I imagine Apple apps, encoding apps and audio apps will move towards making better use of more cores but games are another matter. I'd really like one machine that will be capable of running whatever I throw at it for 4 or 5 years at least - heck my Swatooth G4 is 10 years old and still in use for everyday tasks.

[wayne226]

mac pro 09 , 266 quad ,this seems to use nearly all cpu only one instance running,this is on version 0.9.2.
http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=165611&stc=1&d=1238789328

[Zandalus]

mac pro 09 , 266 quad ,this seems to use nearly all cpu only one instance running,this is on version 0.9.2.
http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=165611&stc=1&d=1238789328

So:
quad -> handbrake use all CPU
octo -> handbrake use 50% CPU

[Mackilroy]

Not quite. I have a 2006 Mac Pro with four cores, and the latest version of HandBrake. Sometimes the app will max out my CPUs, and sometimes it'll only get to 50-70 percent.

[Mattww]

mac pro 09 , 266 quad ,this seems to use nearly all cpu only one instance running,this is on version 0.9.2.
http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=165611&stc=1&d=1238789328

How responsive does the Quad remain whilst encoding? Can you say watch a DVD or H264 video file from iTunes and browse the web without any dropped frames?

[giffut]

You shouldn´t rip your movies directly from the optical drive, as this severly limits the speed of your transcode to optical I/O, but much more causes serious wear´n´tear on the optical drive itself. The processing power you got is much faster than the speed the drive can deliver to handbrake.

Better way to do this is to rip the movie to harddisc first and then choose this as source input for handbrake.

As already mentionned: You can just dublicate the application (or more, as you wish) and let all of them them do the transcoding at the same time.

[Mackilroy]

How responsive does the Quad remain whilst encoding? Can you say watch a DVD or H264 video file from iTunes and browse the web without any dropped frames?

You can. With VLC or Plex you can also watch HD video simultaneously, though you'd better not be doing anything else processor-intensive.

:D