video/audio multiplexing only 26% CPU Utilization?

[wreels]

Hello everyone,

I'm running VS Pro X7 Ultimate on a custom built box with Windows 8.1 pro 64bit, an i7 4790k @ 4.24 GHZ, 12GB Ram and a 500GB SSD on an ASUS Z97-AR MOBO. I Built this rig to help with my blu-ray project rendering times.

My SD video to Blu-Ray project setup:
1. I have for SD Videos saved in 4 separate .vsp files with a total of 6 1/2 hours of video combined. No major editing, just trimmed the beginning and ending of the files with a fade to black at the end.
2. The SD (720x480) videos are DV Type1 AVI files.
3. Rendering for the blu-ray project is, Upper Field, 720x480, 16x9, 100% Quality, MPEG-2, 350000, 5.1 (Dolby Digital).


The CPU Utilization problem:
On testing a 6 1/2 SD video to blu-ray project I found that the 'Converting Titles' stage of the rendering utilizes anywhere from 40 - 45% of the CPU, which caused it to scream through the four .vsp files in about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Then once it got to ‘Prepare output content’ it was at 69 percent of the total project but the CPU utilization went down dramatically. It’s been hovering at 26% CPU utilization for over two hours and at the time of me writing this post, the total project was only at 75 percent and the total running time is 3 hours and 48 minutes. This has taken 2 hours and 28 minutes to go from 69 to 75 percent!

As a point of reference, the previous machine which was an old AMD Phenom II X4 850 @2.6 GHZ, completed a similar project of 6 ½ hours of SD video in just under 5 hours time. So if this i7 4790K beast of a machine doesn’t do much better than the old AMD machine, there is something seriously wrong with the optimization of VS Pro x7!

So all that to ask if there is some sort of setting (i.e. ini, config file) where I can change that will force VS to use more CPU utilization? I sincerely hope I didn’t go out and spend all this time and money building this new machine only to get similar results as my 5 year old AMD system.

Any help with this is greatly appreciated...

God bless,

Warren

[lata]

Hi

I don’t know much about the conversion speeds so cannot really help with the Multiplexing times.
But one thing struck me that using DV Type1-Avi files will use Lower Field First as the interlacing option.
When you convert to Bluray Mts files you should use Lower Field. Changing the field order will/may cause jagged edges and certainly impact on quality.

For HD Bluray and AVCHD video uses Upper Field as that’s the default standard.
You have to manually set Lower Field, you should be able to do that via the Project Settings Cogwheel. (lower left)

However………………..

You may be best to convert your projects to MTS before burning the disc.
Using Make Movie Manager (Movie Profile Manager X7) create your own template.
Modifying an existing template may be best, changing the field order.

Then with each project open in the timeline Share create video File using your own template.
To burn a disc--- from a new project Share Create disc
Adding your video files using Insert Media / Insert Video Files.

The final burn process will start with Convert Menu, Convert Title will not be used.

[wreels]

I don't ever have any playback issues with the setup I described, however, I really appreciate your field order suggestion.

[canuck]

Are you really trying to put 6.5 hours of SD video on a BlueRay DVD?

[wreels]

Are you really trying to put 6.5 hours of SD video on a BlueRay DVD?

lol yes, but it's not a 'DVD' it's a single layer Blu-ray disc and I've been doing this for my clients for quite some time. With the project specs I described in my original post, I can get just over 7 hours of SD 720x480 video on one single layer Blu-ray. My clients love it and since I charge $15 (25% off special right now, normally $20) per hour of video, it's a good money maker too! Ut oh... posting this info on this sight, I just may have created some competition for myself. lol j/k

God bless,

Warren

[lata]

Hi

I must admit I missed the obvious in the video duration, 6 hours + is a lot to fit to 25 Gb discs. I was more concerned with the interlacing.
A little surprised that you can fit a video using 35000kbps to the disc.

I have never tried to fit that amount to a disc, do you get a message to “Fit to Disc”
That would change the render properties to a much lower rate.

Anyway I have just run a Multiplexing process on my program to create a Bluray folder, my system ran at 50%, the speed of the processing will depend on the type of files being used, although I would have thought multiplexing speeds would be pretty constant for a particular pc.

[canuck]

Warren,
you are obviously not creating a BlueRay project but only a SD project on a BluRay disc.

These are your specs:

Rendering for the blu-ray project is, Upper Field, 720x480, 16x9, 100% Quality, MPEG-2, 350000, 5.1 (Dolby Digital).

the 720x480 makes it a standard video project.

[wreels]

Warren,
you are obviously not creating a BlueRay project but only a SD project on a BluRay disc.

These are your specs:

Rendering for the blu-ray project is, Upper Field, 720x480, 16x9, 100% Quality, MPEG-2, 350000, 5.1 (Dolby Digital).

the 720x480 makes it a standard video project.

OK, the fact that It's burning to a Blu-ray disc makes it 'technically a Blu-ray project' . I never claimed that I was creating an 'HD' Blu-ray project, just that I was putting up to 7 hours of SD video on a Blu-ray to play back on a Blu-ray player. The only things in the project that renders in 1080p HD are the menus. The SD videos get converted to SD .mts AVCHD videos for playback. See an example of the SD .mts AVCHD specs below. Now you may ask why would I do such a thing. When I have a client give me several tapes totaling 50 hours of video and they want to archive them. I have the options of putting one hour of video to one DVD, two hours of video to one DL DVD or 7 hours of video to one single layer Blu-ray disc. 7 hours on one disc is a great option for that kind of project.

Videos Type: MPEG-2 Video, Lower Field First
Total frames: 212,565 frame(s)
Attributes: 24 bits, 720 x480, 16:9
Frame rate: 29.970 frames/sec
Data rate: Variable bit rate (Max. 7000kbs)

[wreels]

Hi

I must admit I missed the obvious in the video duration, 6 hours + is a lot to fit to 25 Gb discs. I was more concerned with the interlacing.
A little surprised that you can fit a video using 35000kbps to the disc.

I have never tried to fit that amount to a disc, do you get a message to “Fit to Disc”
That would change the render properties to a much lower rate.

Anyway I have just run a Multiplexing process on my program to create a Bluray folder, my system ran at 50%, the speed of the processing will depend on the type of files being used, although I would have thought multiplexing speeds would be pretty constant for a particular pc.

Hi lata, thanks for that bit of info. I noticed that my AMD did use a lot more CPU, upwards of 65-70%. As I think more about it, it seems that since it's a weaker CPU, it needs to use more of it's resources. In contrast, I wonder, since the i7 4790k is so much more powerful that the VS X7's programing determines that to accomplish what took the AMD 65-70% utilization, only 26-27% is needed to do the same task on the i7. I'm just brainstorming here, I really don't have any other explanation as to why the CPU utilization would go down on the i7. The final project took just over 4 hours to render on the i7 but the AMD took just under 5 hours, so the i7 really didn't gain me much in rendering time. I wish there was a way to make VS x7 utilize more CPU. Any of you programers out there know if this can be done; maybe a config, ini, etc, file setting?

God bless,

Warren

[canuck]

Do you clients all have a BluRay player? Even though you have created just another SD DVD disc, you would still need a BluRay player to play that disc or?

BTW, those specs are standard DVD specs and have nothing to do with AVCHD

[wreels]

Do you clients all have a BluRay player? Even though you have created just another SD DVD disc, you would still need a BluRay player to play that disc or?

BTW, those specs are standard DVD specs and have nothing to do with AVCHD

No my clients don't all have a Blu-ray player so my Blu-ray archive option is only for those who have a Blu-ray player or someone who intend to buy one, and so they want this option to cut down on all the discs.

Yes, it does require a Blu-ray player. And those specs are SD specs in a Blu-ray compliant .mts AVCHD file. Again, whether or not it's DVD specs is not the point, the files are Blu-ray playback compliant and the final project REQUIRES a Blu-ray player for playback, since it's on a Blu-ray disc - not a DVD.

[Ken Berry]

Yes -- it's rather like using a standard DVD to burn, say, DivX/XVid movies on. They are not DVD-compliant, but can be burnt as archive files, and just about all stand-alone DVD players can recognise the file format and play them.