Why is Handbrake converting soooo slow??

[roker]

I just downloaded the latest version of Handbrake (Version 0.8.5b1 (2007042301)) as an update when it would previously take around 3 Hrs to convert a 1.5 hour movie. After updating it seems to be going slower, at the moment I've been converting a 2 hour movie for 5 hours & still have an eta of 1 hour (75% now) . I'm using a Mac mini 1.5Ghz Intel C/Solo with 512mb RAM. I've had a go at changing things around, & it doesn't seem to make any huge difference what quality I have it set at & have tried just handbrake running but it doesn't seem to be a spec issue. Is this normal & is there anything I can do to speed it up?
Thanks!

PS; at the mo converting @ 10 fps

 

[juanm]

Because it's, relatively speaking, a huge amount of data to be processed, and you only have a relatively slow processor.

If you're using the computer at the same time for other stuff, it'll slow down even more...

That's what comes to my mind. Maybe there are other things, but I'm no handbrake expert.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

I have a MB 1.8Ghz CD and it converts a 2 hour long DVD at 2500kbps using H264, averaging 21fps and taking a total of 2.5 hours in single pass mode.

If I keep the same settings but use Mpeg instead of H264 I get 60fps and takes about an hour. The quality difference is barely noticeable. Infact I am doing an experiment right now. I ripped a DVD in Mpeg using the above settings and the quality was extremely poor for some reason even though I have used these settings before and got great results. So I am re ripping using H264 to see if i get a better result. If the result is the same or similar I think the new version of handbrake has taken a major leap backwards. The film is VERY dark and very blocky.

Just for your info, my PMG5 1.8DP with 2GB RAM rips much slower then my MacBook.

 

[clevin]

it is normal.
if you are not encoding for appletv, try use ffmpegx to encoding the movies into xvid or divx, rather than H.264, they might have slightly lower (5%) quality, but its much faster (if u choose ffmpeg enine, it would reduce time by half.)

 

[MacBoobsPro]

it is normal.
if you are not encoding for appletv, try use ffmpegx to encoding the movies into xvid or divx, rather than H.264, they might have slightly lower (5%) quality, but its much faster (if u choose ffmpeg enine, it would reduce time by half.)

I think the OP is trying to say that the new version of Handbrake is slower than the old version. I have found it produces crappier results. As mentioned above I have run an experiment and have just finished encoding in both Mpeg and H264. While H264 takes longer the results do seem a little bit better; mainly because any pixelation is softened.

For me the update seems to produce very dark rips and poor quality too. I may go back to the old version.

 

[CaptainCanuck]

Actually, there's been a problem recently where Handbrake will suddenly drop the audio from the file being encoding. The rate of encoding will drop when Handbrake drops the audio in the encoded file.

This seems to only occur when encoding to H.264, and may be caused by either zero cells on the DVD or by a bug in Handbrake's encoder.

You may want to take a look at this thread posted in Handbrake's forum on the subject.

Hope it helps.

 

[clevin]

arr, sorry, I didn't get it straight, well, don't know, I never really use that,

if there is some sort of regression in a newer version, you might want to submit bug report to the author so (s)he can fix it, im sure (s)he would appreciate your feedback.

 

[roker]

Ok cool thanks for your help! I'm encoding for iPod video so I spose I'll just have to put up with it being so slow .

 

[tombarnes]

I have recently updated Handbrake to the newer version and I have noticed it seems alot slower. I haven't got any figures or anything, maybe its a bug with the newest version? I'm sure they will get around to fixing it if it is!