Conversion programs that are faster than TPMGenc3 Express

[ibzomie]

I have been told that there are faster conversion programs than TPMGenc.
What are they, and are they that much faster?

I admit from the start that I'm operating under the handicap of a system that's not state of the art, but that's not gonna change for now. It does the job; it just takes a long time. For example, it usually takes at least 24 hours to convert an average length movie from AVI to MPEG2 using TPMGenc Express.

If there are programs that are faster, are they enough faster to bother with changing over?

[sacajaweeda]

Speed is just a matter of money. How fast can you afford to go?

Slow hardware is going to result in slow encodes regardless. Depending on your PC setup you might be better off spending your cash on upgrading your computer. Spending money for a faster encoder isn't going to be worth it if you're running it on a slow machine.

My $.02
(sometimes not even worth a penny)

[guns1inger]

If you filled in your computer specs we could see if changing over will make much difference.

There are faster programs. Some are simple, but give a lower quality. Some are more complex and give a quality on par or better. Without seeing your specs, and going simply by the 24 hours time frame, I suspect that changing mpeg encoder at this stage will save you only a couple of hours over tmpgenc.

If you are primarily doing AVI to DVD conversions, look at DivxtoDVD. The freeware version will do conversions for you much faster than tmpgenc express will. I can't speak as to a quality comparison, having not seen the output tmpgenc express. The payware version is a little faster again, has multiple audio and sub tracks, and puts a rudimentary menu on discs that have more than one title.

At this stage, it might be your best bet until you can upgrade your machine.