Don't touch that computer!... if you're capturing/encoding?

[a6equj5]

I'm kind of confused as to which one would be the worst. I'm using Nerovision Express to burn a lot of AVI/WMV files to DVD and usually they take anywhere from 7 hours for only avi files, and up to 30 hours if there are a lot of WMV files. The thing is, I'd like to be able to use my computer while it's chomping away at transcoding all this video.

I know that while capturing live sources, you shouldn't have anything else running, or you'll drop (more) frames, but when encoding, is it ok to use your computer for other things like web browsing and other non-disk intensive tasks? And even if something needs to write to the drive for 10-15 seconds, will it foul up the encoding process making it skip?

[gizmofanv]

Usually, I do not use computer at the time of caputering and encoding. I noticed it slow the process. I do not know anything about dropped frames!

[dphirschler]

If you use the computer while it is encoding, it won't harm the quality of the file; it will only slow down the process. But if you need to use the computer, then you need to use it. I usually put off the actual encode to just before I go to bed so I can use the computer for other tasks, then let it encode overnight.

If you can afford it, set up a second computer just for surfing and general office type stuff. 300mHz should be fast enough and cheap too. You can get a KVM switch to share the same monitor, keyboard, and mouse. That way you can still do some meaningful surfing and email reading but keep your powerhouse PC free to do what it does best.


Darryl

[Gazorgan]

I can actually game while encoding (encoding basically stops), it's all a matter of priority settings. General surfing/email won't affect an encode (except to slow it down a few minutes).

[sammie]

I do the same as dphirschler. Most of the rest of the things I doon the 'puter are fairly non-intense. I just rebuilt a cheap second hand box and got a KVM switch. The encoding runs on the main box and then I do "work" on the cheapo .

If you game a lot, that's a different story. Both gaming and encoding are resource intense. You either need to monkey with the priority settings ala Gazorgan, or you end up with two high end boxes. In which case the only money you are saving with the KVM setup is if you want a high end monitor for both.

Geek admission here, I actually have 3 boxes. One is a real low end Linux box that I use becausse I do a lot of internet work. The setup works for me, but boy can the room get hot with 3 boxes going at the same time.

[bugster]

As every one else says, doing other things whilst encoding will simply slow down the encode. However, if you use an all-in-one program such as Nerovision Express to encode, author and burn the DVD with one click then be careful. Whilst it is actually encoding there should be no problem. Once it start the burn though beware disk intensive task such as moving/copying large files around as this could cause problems.

[sacajaweeda]

The setup works for me, but boy can the room get hot with 3 boxes going at the same time.

Five PCs here. All AMD chips that run nice and hot. This room is easily 10-15 degrees warmer than any room in the house, and the central AC is set to 74 degrees 24/7/365. I have a fan next to the doorway to circulate the air in here so that helps a little, but the noise is what really sucks. All 5 PCs have dual fan cases with dual fan power units with nice and noisy cpu fans. 25 fans buzzing away along with the one by the door.

I'm considering putting all of them except for the one with my optical drives in the closet in the next room and just fishing the cables thru the wall. It gets crazy hot in here if the door is closed for any length of time.

As for those KVM switches/hubs....they do rock, do they not?

[sammie]

@sacajaweeda Amen to the noise. The Linux box is also houses a large drive array, so it has 4 case fans and 8 hard drives. It sounds like a jet plane when it starts up. I tied a similar thing to what you are suggesting with a remote KVM. It was ok, for business and some video stuff, but the graphics quality wasn't good for photo work and gaming. Plus the response was noticeably slow for gaming (although no problem for anything else). What killed the idea though was this hobby, where I was always having to go to the closet to feed the disks.

[redwudz]

a6equj5, you don't have your computer profile listed. It is always better not to use your computer while doing encoding or other CPU intensive activities. But it is really important if you are using a slower computer. If your machine is 2GHZ or faster, you can probably get away with net surfing or email with little risk. Playing CPU intensive games is a bad idea. I do my encoding at night, with my computer set to turn off when done. That is probably the safest way to go.

[a6equj5]

Thanks for the replies! I'm not worried about slowing the encoding process a little bit, since most of my encoding jobs with a lot of WMAs usually take 20-30 hours. I would just hate to encode for 20 hours and then when watching the resulting DVD, have a big section that drops a lot of frames.

I'm encoding/burning a pretty big archive of old VHS tapes, mostly TV shows and home movies, so every night I have my computer encoding, and some of the discs I haven't watched yet, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything to harm the encoding process.

I'm running a regular XP1800 OC'd to 1.833ghz, 512 Kingston HyperX PC2700, dual 120gb drives WD&IBM, TDK 4x DVD burner and a 5? year old Pioneer DVD-ROM drive, video is a MSI Ti4200 VIVO, all running on Epox 8RDA+