CCE 2.66 freezes on specific file + bitrates

[KuroNeko]

I have a test DV file (20 sec appr.; 77MB) I use to bench PCs on CCE SP. I used to run CCE 2.64. Now that I learned 2.66 is optimised for P4 I dl'ed a demo version of this revision (from Doom; VisibleLight was down).

To make it hard on CCE, I changed my bench from DVD bitrates to something closer to SVCD: min 1000, ave. 1500 max 2600.

Now suddenly CCE freezes on the encode. I changed to an AthlonXP, to a PIII, no good. I changed back to CCE2.64, lo and behold, same freeze...

This does not happen on CBR or single pass VBR, only on multipass VBR. The encode stops somewhere around 25-30% into the first phase, the analysis phase (which explains why it doesn't happen on CBR, single pass VBR).

I can manually kill the task, it's not the wholoe PC that hangs.

I don't understand why this happens. Is there I way I can have CCE explain to me what it is doing at that point (log file?)? Is this a known issue - I was planning on buying CCE but maybe I should look at MainConcept or Procoder instead??

*edit* - I noticed the max rate displayed in the status window is over the specified max rate (CCE miscalculated?). Also, I encode by dragging the file into the CCE window, this isn't the Avisynth script memory leak thing.

TIA for any tips!

Neko

[digitalman]

This issue happens when you run out of memory or space, on multiple passes. Especially if you have your swap file on the same drive you are encoding to. The bug stated below may apply to you.

From the FAQ:

Q14.3: CCE-SP 2.66/2.67/CCE-Basic leaks memory when encoding from an AVISynth script. How can I fix this?

Again, this happens only when the AVISynth script does not contain audio and seems to be a new bug in CCE-SP and CCE-Basic. When you are monitoring memory usage in task manager during encoding in these versions, you'll notice that for each file and for each encoding pass (be that one pass VBR, CBR or multipass VBR) the program grabs another large chunk of memory and never releases it until the program is closed. Depending on the number of files and passes, you can eventually run out of memory.

The fix for this again is to add a fake audio track to the AVISynth script as outlined in Q14.1, above.

[sh03z]

what you need to do is this:

go to my computer (lame) or windows explorer (31337137137)
now...
navigate, and find your CCE SP exe which will be called cctsp.exe
right click it, and select the third tab, which is compatability
and select this one:
Run This program with compatability for:
then choose
Windows 98/ME

[KuroNeko]

Thanks, I'll try compatibility mode!

DigitalMan, I don't use AVIsynth, so it can't be that known issue. Thanks for responding though!

Neko

[KuroNeko]

Unfortunately, this does not solve the issue.

Note that I run W2K SP3. I chose NT5 compatibility, because W98 is not available (only W95, which makes CCE not work at all well, and NT5)

Any other tips I can try?

BTW, I checked: CPU use is at 0%, memory is normal (nearly all free of 512MB) so it's definitely not a memory issue...

Neko

[sh03z]

you got me :-/

All I would know to do is actually run a duel boot, with Xp and Win2k3...
IT would solve your problem, but as for your current set up...maybe you'll need to wait till another version of CCE SP comes out!

I did all those steps to solve the error CCE SP gave me when I tried to use it with DVD2SVCD, but it still crashed.

Are you sure there isn't a setting where you can run with compatibility mode for 98/ME in Win2k3? That sounds kind of odd to me.


I'm sorry I couldn't help you more, don't get discouraged, there is always an answer

[KuroNeko]

I can always change to XP, but I rather be sure it works first. I'll try it on a PC at work monday.

Keep you posted...

Neko

[sh03z]

ok. I'll be here

[auenf]

Originally posted by KuroNeko
BTW, I checked: CPU use is at 0%, memory is normal (nearly all free of 512MB) so it's definitely not a memory issue...

usually CCE stops like that with a file that has a little bit of an error in it. Usually with a avs'ed m2v that was decrypted from a dvd, simply decrypting the m2v out of the dvd again can fix the problem. but for an AVI, there might be a problem in the file and you might have to restore a backup of it, or recreate it.

Enf...

[KuroNeko]

Originally posted by sh03z
ok. I'll be here

Finally had the time to try it out. Makes no difference it still freezes.

It's particularly odd that it doesn't happen on higher bitrates, nor does it happen on 2.5...

Neko