Software faster than TmpgEnc...???

[rhodellf]

Hello to all.
I'm running my conversions on a 3 years old AMD Athlon 1.04GHz with 512 RAM. I use TmpgEnc for my conversions from .avi to dvd. The relults are always great BUT the thing takes 6 to 8 hours to finish a conversion of a full movie (say ~700MB avi of a 1:50' movie). I saw somewhere that it is due to my proccesor. Is there any reliable software like TmpEnc that can do the job faster without me having to spend a whole bunch of money for a new PC? By the way do not recommend me MainConcept. I tried it and it's fast but not really good, and it takes some decisions of it's own.
By the way this forum really helped me alot.
Thx to all the guys with the answers.

[freebird73717]

I was going to say mainconcept but since you have tried it and don't like it then you might look at cce ( cinemacraft encoder ) . It is faster than tmpgenc but to use it best you need to know avisynth.

[redwudz]

CCE as mentioned is a good choice, but can you upgrade just your CPU? Depends on your motherboard, but if I wanted more speed, the money would be much better spent on a CPU upgrade that a different encoder.

That said, TMPGEnc is one of the slower encoders around, but it is easier to use for a lot of people than CCE or Mainconcept.

[rkr1958]

I recently made the switch from TMPGEnc Plus to CCE-Basic. 2-pass VBR in CCE-Basic is so much faster than in TMPGEnc Plus and the quality of both appears the same. CCE-Basic costs $58 and is a fairly cheap way to increase your encoding speeds.

A suggestion, download the trial verision of CCE Basic and give it and TMPGEnc a go on two or three encodes. Try out and see for yourself if it's for you.

[whitejremiah]

for $58.00 you can probably upgrade your processor though................at least from a 1.04ghz

[Raga]

If it's Athlon 1Ghz you're probably on a Socket A motherboard. If you're lucky, the mobo might support Socket A AMD Sempron procesors, you can get them in the $60 range and upwards, 2400+ being at the bottom of the price range, and guaranteed to make your compression smoother.

[wulf109]

Give VSOdivxtoDVD a try,you might like the results.

[rhodellf]

Thanks to all for your responses. I've been trying some software of the ones mentioned in your replies. As of my proccesor it seems like I can't upgrade nothing but my RAM memory (I find out on a usefull site www.powerleap.com with a tool they have). I'm thinking gettin a barebone system of an Intel 4 and strip my old PC from the drives and hardware for the new one. (not quite sure but I think its a good idea)

Thanks.

[redwudz]

A barebones setup is generally a good way to go. I favor AMDs because they seem a good value for the money, but Intel is about equal in cost with some systems.

Your existing computer is only a few years old, but a lot has happened in those years. The CPUs are much faster, along with the memory and the internal MB bus. Most of the newer processors and motherboards use DDR memory, much faster than PC133. And a 200-400MHZ internal bus is common. Compare that with the 66-166Mhz buses a couple of years ago.

I put together a economy AMD Sempron 2200+ CPU and MB last month and it runs as fast as my 2 year old 2500 Barton AMD CPU computer at considerably less cost.

If you have a good case and power supply, you may be able to just upgrade the motherboard, memory and CPU for a better price.

Spend some time doing research for what you want. Costs nothing and pays off in the long run.

[rhodellf]

Agree
Research pays off BUT if you know what to look for. I am not that much familiar with technical aspects of a PC. I would like to built one myself so I know what I did and what I need to do in any given case. But I'm not that advanced into that. Thing is that I spend too much time on the computer and I need to have multitasking goin on and thats the reason for thinking about Intel's. I saw that they offer the advanced threshold system and even more lately the dual proccesors for having different procceses goin on at the same time. Imagine how it is to have your computer running for a TmpgEnc encoding for 8 hours and in the mean while you can't do almost anything for that entire time on your PC. It gets on my nerves. The question I have in all this is if Intel's Pentium are really better, faster and stable than lets say Athlons or Celerons. That would make a difference in my decision.

[rhodellf]

And by the way....
I do not use TmpegEnc because it's simpler but because I always have good results. The reason I stoped using Mainconcept was of the many sync problems. PLUS the "keep aspect ratio" check box in mainconcept, hardly makes any difference on the final output. It usually streches the pictures no matter what. I don't know.... maybe I'm missing something or doin something wrong, but with TmpgEnc it might take 8 hours but no problems.

[redwudz]

I agree. I don't use TMPGEnc because it's easier, though I have less problems understanding the settings. It always came out the way I wanted it. With my old systems, I encoded overnight because they took so long. But I always liked the results.

I don't usually do much with my computer while encoding, but if you need access during encoding a faster system should be able to give you more. You can also set the priority of TMPGEnc or other encoders lower. They will take more time, but you will be able to use your computer for other purposes during the encode.

[budz]

I have a INTEL P4 NORTHWOOD 3.0 processor pc that I strictly use for video encoding. It takes only 2-3 hours with TMPGE epending how big the avi file is. I capture from my digital cable box. I wouldn't even consider getting a Celeron processor for video encoding. I don't know much about AMD chips so I can't help you there.

Get a Intel processor if it fits your budget. I would suggest getting a NORTHWOOD CORE processor than a PRESCOTT. PRESHOT processors have high heat temps. NORTHWOOD CORE processors are getting scarce so get them while you can. You can still get a P4 NORTHWOOD 3.20ghz processor from Newegg.com: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819116164