Fresh install.. encoding using VERY low CPU usage..

[dothesmash]

Hey all. Fresh install of Win 7 64 here on a new 2600k build. Installed Avisynth, ffdshow and have MeGUI up n running. Went to encode a BD rip in basic 2 pass HQ, and noticed I was only getting 30fps on first pass and it was using only 20% of the CPU and only 15 threads.

I noted MeGUI defaulted to using 64 bit x264, so I renamed the target and it used 32 bit to see if it would make a difference. None.

I know this topic has been brought up before, yet could not find a definitive solution. Feel it may be due to some setting, or a decoder being used by the gui?

Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

[Sharktooth]

are you using avisynth MT and/or a multithreaded source filter?

[dothesmash]

are you using avisynth MT and/or a multithreaded source filter?

Nope.

[Sharktooth]

then you should... ;)

[dothesmash]

lol.. will try that n post back when I get back home

[Sharktooth]

ok. remember also ffms2 that comes with megui is not multithreaded. replace it with the multithreader version if you want more performance out of it.

[dothesmash]

OK. I'm at a loss. Think I'm grabbing the right files, and putting them in correctly, but doesn't seem to do much good. MeGUI = not an installer, so installing avisynth mt and ffdshow, etc prior should be a moot point, correct?

I have attempted to follow the following threads to accomplish anything, but still remains the same:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=158456
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=152800 and
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1464262#post1464262

not quite sure where I'm going wrong. :/

[Sharktooth]

post your .avs script

[dothesmash]

DirectShowSource("E:\EXTRACTED\MOVIE1\F1_T2_Video - .mkv", fps=23.976, audio=false, convertfps=true)
#deinterlace
#crop
#resize
#denoise


let me know

[Sharktooth]

ok, here's the problem: DirectShowSource.
Try using ffms2 instead.

[dothesmash]

k.. trying to load the edited script.. error is "there is no function named "ffms2""

[Sharktooth]

ffmpegsource() ... ensure to load the plugin though.

[dothesmash]

I'm tryin here lol. "ffmpegsource2 does not have a named argument "fps"

[dothesmash]

ffmpegsource without the "2" didn't work btw.. in case that matters.

*EDIT*
also at work, so can't play too much with this right now. Just giving you initial errors. Can check into it when I get home if I don't hear from you by then. Thanks in advance!

[sneaker_ger]

You have to use a numerator and a denominator, for example:
FFVideoSource("video.mkv", fpsnum=24000, fpsden=1001)

If you don't want to do VFR -> CFR or change framerate you can simply omit any fps parameters:
FFVideoSource("video.mkv")

[dothesmash]

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files (x86)\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\ffms2.dll")
FFVideoSource("E:\EXTRACTED\MOVIE\F1_T2_Video - .mkv")
#deinterlace
#crop
#resize
#denoise


This is the basic script.. loading it hung the app for about 2 minutes. then it loaded the preview. Doesn't seem to be using ffdshow and no gain in performance. Let me know if you'd like a remote session or somethin to check it out rather than try troubleshooting heh. Thanks again!!

[sneaker_ger]

FFVideoSource does not use ffdshow, that is correct. The 2 minutes hang comes from it indexing the whole file prior to the first playback.
Make sure you use the "-mt (http://code.google.com/p/ffmpegsource/downloads/detail?name=ffms2-mt-r411.7z)" version of the plugin to make use of multiple threads.

[Sharktooth]

the megui development build comes with the -mt version

[dothesmash]

OK. tried using ffms2-mt-r411. put both in the megui tools dir and avisynth dir.
Latest dev build crashed trying to update with a "could not load file or assembly" error, so I placed files in the original dir.
Loaded up the same avs script, let the index build.
Test encode actually decreased in performance about 6fps :(

[dothesmash]

actually going to stop with this for the night n spend time with the wife before she kills me. Grateful for any thoughts though. I don't want to have spent all this cash on a build and get nothin out of it ;)

[dothesmash]

K.. any other thoughts?

[dothesmash]

Strange thing. If I change the setting in the "Unrestricted 2 pass HQ" config from "2 pass" to "CQ" at 20, the CPU spikes between 90-99% and it's encoding about 16-18fps. Change it to 19 and it does the same at around 14fps or so.. Tested for about 3 min. Never used CQ before, but curious as to what the change could be.. ideas?

[dothesmash]

Just an update... Imaged the OS and went with 32 bit for now. May go back to 64 in the future. Am now using CQ 18, slow setting and from what I've read is better that 2 pass anyway. Hovers around 15fps and maxes out CPU. Quality looks mighty nice, but there is a jagged line mid screen.. this is probably a vid card issue. Have to investigate further.

This whole process is simply for backups and to watch from the HTPC and to compress enough to stream to other TV's and devices, so it seems this should be a decent solution.

[Sharktooth]

sorry, no ideas here. it's a very weird behaviour...

[dothesmash]

is that a decent speed (15fps) for conversion with a 2600k setup at cq 18? or should things be moving swifter?

Admittedly, it is much better than my DC AMD i had previously, but again, would just like to verify..

[Sharktooth]

it depends on the encoder settings and on the avisynth script.

[dothesmash]

avs script would just be this:

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\ffms2.dll")
FFVideoSource("H:\Movie\F1_T2_Video - .mkv")
#deinterlace
#crop
#resize
#denoise


Encoder settings are set to Constant Quality 18, slow.. and tune to film. all other settings are kept as is.

[Sharktooth]

supposing ffms2 is the mt version, the avisynth scripts is ok.
so, check the CPU usage while encoding, if its around 90/100% then it cant encode faster.

[dothesmash]

yup.. seems right. works for me vs a 18-20 hour encode.

[Sharktooth]

a couple of advices. if you're using slow settings and your encoding FPS are relatively low, you can use your GPU for decoding your source (if it's AVC for example) using DGNVTools (it requires a small donation to get a license).
that will free the CPU from the decoding task and will give x264 more CPU cycles for encoding. the result is you get more FPS.
also check the CPU temps, if it's getting too hot (70C or above) it's probably throttled down resulting in slower encoding.

[kypec]

also check the CPU temps, if it's getting too hot (70C or above) it's probably throttled down resulting in slower encoding.
What utility would you recommend for checking Intel CPU temperatures?

[Sharktooth]

real temp or core temp.

[Tuik]

ok, here's the problem: DirectShowSource.
Try using ffms2 instead.

What about DSS2()?

[Sharktooth]

dss2 is still directshow... hence, weird. you should avoid decoding thru directshow whenever is possible.

[Tuik]

dss2 is still directshow... hence, weird. you should avoid decoding thru directshow whenever is possible.

Hum, but i found that using DSS2() encodes faster than using FFVideoSource() with ffms2

Should ffms2 be faster?

[Sharktooth]

it all depends on the directshow decoder installed on your system. if it's hardware accelerated (like CoreAVC for example) it may help encoding by offloading the decoding part on the GPU.
however GPUs have limited hardware decoding capabilities. so out of specs streams wont decode or you speed will be limited by your GPU. in some cases ffms2(-mt) is better, in some other GPU accelerated decoders can help.
the rule of thumb is if you have a fast CPU, GPU accelerated decoders could slow down your encoding process.

[Tuik]

it all depends on the directshow decoder installed on your system. if it's hardware accelerated (like CoreAVC for example) it may help encoding by offloading the decoding part on the GPU.
however GPUs have limited hardware decoding capabilities. so out of specs streams wont decode or you speed will be limited by your GPU. in some cases ffms2(-mt) is better, in some other GPU accelerated decoders can help.
the rule of thumb is if you have a fast CPU, GPU accelerated decoders could slow down your encoding process.

The GPU is not an issue here because mine is an onboard one. The only thing is processing is the the CPU i7 950 8 threads. And both with FFVideoSource and DSS2 i only get about 40/50% of cpu usage. I tested on a full movie last night (1080p bluray to 720p xvid) and the difference was about 1 fps between dss2 and ffvideosource, dss2 was faster.

[Sharktooth]

what decoder have you installed for AVC?

[Tuik]

what decoder have you installed for AVC?

CoreAVC Pro

[Sharktooth]

CoreAVC is quite a performing decoder. However ffmpeg-mt should be at least on par.

[Tuik]

CoreAVC is quite a performing decoder. However ffmpeg-mt should be at least on par.

I've already tried ffmpeg-mt (with ffdshow, last rev.) and it show much lower results than CoreAVC, i'm doing something wrong?

[Sharktooth]

i think not. eventually, on your system, ffmpeg-mt is slower than coreavc.

[Tuik]

i think not. eventually, on your system, ffmpeg-mt is slower than coreavc.

hum, any hint why?

[Sharktooth]

nope, sorry

[Tuik]

no problem, i will do some more tests