>>SPEEDIN UP>> encoding process!

[nick_gr]

Me again!

is there any "tricks" or anythin that could speed up mpg encoding with CCE (or other encoder)?

Maybe disabling some Windows features?

[kush]

Motherboard maker/model #? About the only useful, and working 'trick' to speed it up with your machine would be to overclock it - assuming you're not already doing it.

There is a multi-threading plugin for Avisynth which would likely speed up encoding, and if I recall the 2.6 release of Avisynth has got the same functionality built-in..However, it's only really useful for true multi-core CPU's, ie: Core2Duo & Pentium D's / AMD X2 & Opteron's. I don't think it would really make a hill of beans worth of difference on a pseudo-multi core (Hyperthreading) chip such as yours...Assuming your 'Pentium 2.8' isn't of the dual-core 'D' variety of course.

Alternately, assuming you run a DDR2/PCI-e system now, you could upgrade to a C2D based CPU/motherboard for ~$200-300 US (you do the US $ -> Greek math [Euros there?] - too lazy/not enough coffee yet )...excluding VAT, not sure if you'd have to pay such taxes in Greece or not.

[edit] ps Goto oldversion.com fr Everest Home (http://oldversion.com/program.php?n=everesthome) to get the details for your setup, in particular the motherboard..It wouldn't hurt to fill in some of the other info in your VH profile as well, like video-card (assuming you're not running IGP [built-on] video). Your memory maker/model/rated speeds (PCxxxx/DDRxxx)..Maybe clear up exactly which Pentium 2.8 you run - b/c there's like 3-4 revisions of that speed grade around ('C' rev Northwood, Prescott (PresHOT), the dual-core 'D' Prescott, 533 and 800 FSB revisions in there somewhere)..

[nick_gr]

Ok. profile updated!

Intel Pentium 4, 2800 MHz (14 x 200), Northwood HyperThreading
*
Motherboard Asus P4P800 SE
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 200 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 800 MHz
Bandwidth 6400 MB/s
*
1GB RAM
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC3200 (200 MHz)
*
Graphics Processor Properties
Video Adapter Asus A9200SE
Bus Type AGP 8x
Memory Size 128 MB
GPU Clock 200 MHz (original: 200 MHz)
RAMDAC Clock 400 MHz
*

hope these help!

I want to avoid any hardware adjustment (overclocking etc).

I mean some windows changes (maybe to reduce amount of used memory?)

[jagabo]

There's not much you can do unless your computer has a problem that's eating all the CPU time. Use Alt+Ctrl+Del to bring up Task Manager. Go the the Performance tab. If your CPU Usage is more than 1 or 2 percent when the computer is idle you should look to see what's eating up the CPU time.

[Alex_ander]

The most simple 'trick' is to disable multi-pass mode and select maximum bitrate like 9200 for CBR, the price will be just bigger file size an not quality.

[redwudz]

Thanks for updating your profile. But memory doesn't have a lot to do with encoding speed. Encoding speed is based primarily on CPU speed. My computer uses about 300-400MB during an encode. Adding more memory won't help.

You could check your Task Manager and see if there are any background processes that are running that might be stealing CPU cycles. Your CPU should be showing close to 100% usage when encoding. CCE is one of the faster encoders, so unless something is slowing down the encode, that may be as fast as it gets with your present setup.

I doubt Windows is doing much of anything that would slow down a encode. But Task Manager would tell you that.

You may be able to adjust your encoder settings to gain a little speed there, but that may also sacrifice quality. With any encoder, you can make up a short representative clip of maybe 10 minutes and try different encoding settings, time each one, and check the quality. You may be able to fine tune the settings a little and speed up the process without losing much quality.

One more item that 'might' have some effect on speed is your hard drive setup. It generally is more efficient to have more than one hard drive. Using the boot drive can slow things down on occasion when the OS is making use of the drive. A separate 'video' drive may help in that instance.

I don't turn off, disable or unplug anything in the computer when encoding. But I also don't run any other CPU intensive programs that might slow down the encode.

[nick_gr]

ok. that's all i needed to know.
thank u very much people!