Can several encodes be done at the same time?

[Dunnyman]

With MPEGWorks, you can run an encode int he terminal, then start another immediately (it's kind of slower, but..) Can the same be done in ffmpegX? It'd sure be nice to run 2 or 3 encodes overnite, or over a weekend. Also, I've recently run 6 encodes of 1/2 hour TV eps, the MPEG sizes were all within 1 or 2 megs of each other, the bitrates were all the same, and the fastDVD settings I used never changed, but my final DVD sizes range from 412 megs, to 678 megs? The quality of them are all excellent, and the sync is perfect, but why the different sizes?

[major]

With MPEGWorks, you can run an encode int he terminal, then start another immediately (it's kind of slower, but..) Can the same be done in ffmpegX?

Yes, you can run multiple processes at the same time (excepted when you enable the "Decode with mplayer" option). Either you launch them in the Progress window, and start them all by clicking the small triangle icon, either you launch them in Terminal window (by enabling the "Open Terminal window" option in the Tools tab).

but why the different sizes?

Possibly your sources are CBR and your final product is VBR.

[Wibbler]

I would have tought that yiou could only do one encode at a time, as the stream.yuv node and the audiodum.wav filenames are unique and the second invocation would screw up the first..

W.I.Bbler

[major]

Correct, but those files are only used if you select the "Decode with mplayer" option.

[Wibbler]

I always use 'decode with mplayer' as I am more familiar with the output from mplayer/mencoder and don't bother much with Quicktime if I can help it.

W.I.Bbler

[major]

Added support for multiple concurrent "decode with mplayer" processes to the to-do list.

[Wibbler]

I've just been having a play around and with a simple change to
/Applications/ffmpegX.app/Contents/Resources/mencvcdX


diff mencvcdX.std mencvcdX

23c23,27
< TMPDIR="/tmp" # path to directory for creating temporary files, recommended 2-3GB space
---
> # create unique directory for temporary files under /tmp, recommended 2-3GB space
> TMPDIR=`/sw/sbin/tempfile -d /tmp -p ffmpeg`
> rm $TMPDIR
> mkdir $TMPDIR
>

This sets the TMPDIR to a unique name, where stream.yuv! and audiodump.wav are kept.

As long as the source files are in separate directories, the change will let you run several at once.

The /sw/sbin/tempfile is from the Fink distribution..