x264 encoding on other OSes - what options?

[Kung Fu Hung-Su]

Hi guys, I've been doing lots of easy encoding to x264/mkv in WinXP x32 using Staxrip and have been curious about the idea of encoding in other OSes, like Vista and ubuntu.

If it is possible, are there are any performance improvements? In particular, is encoding possible in a 64bit OS?

Also what new skills are necessary? Since no GUI exists that I know of is non-Windows, a problem for Linux.

[Dark Shikari]

Handbrake is cross-platform, and h264enc exists for Linux.

You can also use mencoder/ffmpeg.

x264 is about 10-15% faster in 64-bit.

[Blue_MiSfit]

Indeed. Do keep in mind that magical AviSynth isn't available on other operating systems. If you rely on this powerful tool (as I do) there may not be other options.

~MiSfit

[Sharktooth]

why not? wine is your friend...

[akupenguin]

Agreed. And combining the above points (in case it's not obvious): if your choice is between x264 on win32 and linux64+wine, linux is faster.

[nm]

Also what new skills are necessary? Since no GUI exists that I know of is non-Windows, a problem for Linux.
Handbrake doesn't yet have an official Linux GUI that I know of (It has a nice OS X GUI though), but its commandline interface is very user-friendly.

Then there's Avidemux, which I'd recommend trying out in your case. Its VirtualDub-like GUI works on all major platforms.

[ToS_Maverick]

with what input do you feed x264 on linux+wine? does avisynth work with wine?

[nm]

with what input do you feed x264 on linux+wine?
With Aku's avs2yuv: http://akuvian.org/src/avisynth/avs2yuv/
Or if you want to use Avidemux as an encoding frontend, try Avsproxy that comes with it: http://avidemux.org/admWiki/index.php?title=Avsproxy

does avisynth work with wine?
Yes.

[Kung Fu Hung-Su]

Agreed. And combining the above points (in case it's not obvious): if your choice is between x264 on win32 and linux64+wine, linux is faster.

This sounds PERFECT. Thanks =)

Also, I just wanted personal opinions, do you guys see any benefit in having huge amounts (2-4GiB+) of RAM when encoding video? Personally I don't see any in winxp x86.

[Blue_MiSfit]

holy crap!

That's pretty cool.

Sounds like some black magic, but I bet it works just fine once you get it configured properly.

You linux guys!! Now I have to get a 64 bit linux partition squared away, and do some benchmark comparisons with Windows!

So, I'm to understand that Wine (obviously running 32 bit binaries) can feed YUV directly into 64 bit x264 on linux? What an interesting way to overcome the need for a fully 64 bit processing chain.

As to the RAM question, absolutely!!! I have 4 GB (3.75 on XP 32 bit), and regularly use over 1 GB just for x264 when I encode HD. If I was running Vista it would probably be more, and if you plan on doing more than one encode at once it would be a lot more!

Having a good amount of memory free is always a good thing. It's so cheap these days, why even worry about it? An extra 2GB is what, $40? That's the same cost as a DVDRW drive :D

~MiSfit

[akupenguin]

As to the RAM question, absolutely!!! I have 4 GB (3.75 on XP 32 bit), and regularly use over 1 GB just for x264 when I encode HD.
x264 maxes out at about 300MB for 1080p+16refs+B-frames+threads. Avisynth will take as much memory as you can give it, but any particular filter chain will have a certain threshold which is enough and any more memory is wasted buffering frames that will never be used again (if you're not seeking).

[nm]

So, I'm to understand that Wine (obviously running 32 bit binaries) can feed YUV directly into 64 bit x264 on linux? What an interesting way to overcome the need for a fully 64 bit processing chain.
To be exact, avs2yuv does the feeding through standard output. The same method should work on 64-bit Windows, if you manage to port the assembly code and build a 64-bit Windows version of x264 (there are older builds available though).

[cogman]

It should be noted that doing audio in linux isn't as slick as doing video (at least in my experiance). Nero AAC does exist for linux, but you have to go through Mplayer to get it there. It isn't very well documented either. Just be forwarnded.

[nm]

It should be noted that doing audio in linux isn't as slick as doing video (at least in my experiance). Nero AAC does exist for linux, but you have to go through Mplayer to get it there. It isn't very well documented either. Just be forwarnded.
Well, if you have some audio-encoding GUI as a Windows program, it might also work in Wine ;)

Personally, I just use Vorbis in Matroska...