x265 HEVC Encoder

[DarrellS]

I can't get the x265.exe encoder to encode on Windows 7 at 3200x1800. I'll have to try and encode a one frame clip (I can't find anything to join the one frame clips though. Both Rovi mkvmerge and mkvmerge 6.8 don't recognize the hevc file). It doesn't seem to matter what I use for bitrate. All my encodes using these solid background (white) frames seem to all look the same no matter how much bitrate I throw at them.

Here is an encode with the DivX265 encoder at 2000 bps...

[DarrellS]

Here is a one frame mkv that x265.exe created...

[Selur]

a. updating x265 might help
b. since x265 is a command line encoder post the command lines you used to create the clip; if you used some gui, to create the clip it might also be a problem of the gui
-> without a sample of the original and command lines this is hard diagnose

[LigH.de]

a. updating x265 might help

After upgrading to a 64-bit Windows; I believe insisting in staying with XP was the reason for the trouble. More than 1 frame already exceeds the available RAM for a 32 bit process because x265 is not yet finally optimized, but instead much more complex than DivX265, and thus not very "conservative".

[Selur]

yup, 3200x1800x1.5 = 8 640 000 byte ~8.2MB per Frame is a problem assuming x265 allocates max GOP size of frames (-> 8 640 000 byte * 250 = 2,01GB).
-> lowering the max GOP size might help if 32bit applications or a 32bit OS were used

[DarrellS]

I'll try a newer build but it seemed like XP had an easier time than Windows 7 and I can only think that XP needs 512MB of memory to run and Windows 7 needs a lot more memory just to run the OS. I doubt I'll do any better until I'm able to get more memory but I'm having trouble living from month to month on my limited income so I don't know when that will be. Probably when MS drops support for W7.

I'm just using the ultrafast preset in Virtualdub. Here is a png from the original AVI...

[DarrellS]

Ligh's latest 64bit encoder encoded the whole file at 3.39 fps without any problems.

[*] Beginning dub operation.
[i] Dub: Input (decompression) format is: RGB888.
[i] Dub: Output (compression) format is: YUV420.
[i] VideoEnc: yuv [info]: 3200x1800 fps 25000/1000 i420 unknown frame count
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: HEVC encoder version 0.8+190-fe3fcd9838c0
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: build info [Windows][GCC 4.8.2][64 bit] 8bpp
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 Cache64 SlowShuffle
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: Main profile, Level-5 (Main tier)
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: WPP streams / pool / frames : 57 / 4 / 2
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: CU size : 32
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: Max RQT depth inter / intra : 1 / 1
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: ME / range / subpel / merge : dia / 25 / 0 / 2
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: Keyframe min / max / scenecut : 25 / 250 / 0
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: Lookahead / bframes / badapt : 10 / 4 / 0
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: b-pyramid / weightp / refs : 1 / 0 / 1
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: Rate Control / AQ-Strength / CUTree : CRF-28.0 / 0.0 / 0
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: tools: cfm esd rd=3 lft

[i] VideoEnc: encoded 1122 frames in 331.16s (3.39 fps), 272.33 kb/s

[i] VideoEnc:
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: frame I: 5 Avg QP:17.60 kb/s: 19600.12
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: frame P: 221 Avg QP:17.29 kb/s: 719.62
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: frame B: 896 Avg QP:19.29 kb/s: 54.15
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: global : 1122 Avg QP:18.89 kb/s: 272.33
[i] VideoEnc: x265 [info]: consecutive B-frames: 0.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 99.1%
[i] Mux: mkvmerge v6.8.0 ('Theme for Great Cities') 32bit built on Mar 2 2014 21:27:07
[i] Mux: 'F:\Temp 3\HEVC\Test\VirtuaGirlHD-a1145.mkv.hevc': Using the demultiplexer for the format 'HEVC/h.265'.
[i] Mux: 'F:\Temp 3\HEVC\Test\VirtuaGirlHD-a1145.mkv.hevc' track 0: Using the output module for the format 'HEVC/h.265 (unframed)'.
[i] Mux: The file 'VirtuaGirlHD-a1145.mkv' has been opened for writing.
[i] Mux: Progress: 68%
[i] Mux: Progress: 100%
[i] Mux: Progress: 100%
[i] Mux: The cue entries (the index) are being written...
[i] Mux: Muxing took 0 seconds.[*] Ending operation.

DivX265 32bit encoder encoded the same file in 2:24.00. The file size of the divx265 encode was a little bigger (not much) but the encoding speed was over twice as fast.

x265.exe encode ( --preset ultrafast --input-res %(width)x%(height) --fps %(fps) - -o "%(tempvideofile)" )...

Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Codec ID : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration : 44s 880ms
Bit rate : 270 Kbps
Width : 3 200 pixels
Height : 1 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.002
Stream size : 1.44 MiB (98%)
Default : Yes
Forced : No


DivX265.exe encode ( -i - -s %(width)x%(height) -qp 18 -aqo 1 -o "%(tempvideofile)" )...

Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Codec ID : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration : 46s 750ms
Bit rate : 276 Kbps
Width : 3 200 pixels
Height : 1 808 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 24.000 fps
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.002
Stream size : 1.54 MiB (98%)
Default : Yes
Forced : No

[LigH.de]

Is there anyone with a big fat modern intel multi-core CPU who can provide some coarse "benchmark" results for 720p and 1080p material at different (ultrafast .. fast) speed presets?

I have only some AMD Phenom-II available: no AVX, no SSE4+, x265 honors at most "SSE2Fast" (SSE3 seems to be not very relevant for HEVC encoding algorithms, or its implementation is too slow on K10).

Samples from LDV tests on a Phenom II X6 1045T using v0.8+195 (GCC 4.8.2, Win64):

720p

• ultrafast: 25.73 fps
• superfast: 24.14 fps
• veryfast: 23.42 fps
• faster: 22.07 fps
• fast: 11.64 fps

1080p

• ultrafast: 11.22 fps
• superfast: 10.64 fps
• veryfast: 10.50 fps
• faster: 10.42 fps
• fast: 5.74 fps

Update: preset "superfast" was missing; simple script instead of YUV file

[gonca]

LigH.de

If you're willing to help with the command lines, etc I can put my i7 3930k @4.4GHz to use.

[LigH.de]

Here is a set of batch files that may be useful for you:

test_x265_preset.bat

@IF NOT "%1"=="" GOTO run
@ECHO %0 {testscript}.avs [preset (default=medium)] [more x265 options ...]
@PAUSE
@EXIT
:run
@SET preset=%2
@IF %preset% == "" SET preset=medium
@SET out="%~n1.%preset%.hevc"
@SET csv="%~n1.csv"
avs4x265 -o %out% --preset %preset% --psnr --ssim --csv %csv% %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 %1

test_x265_presets.bat

@IF NOT "%1"=="" GOTO run
@ECHO %0 {testscript}.avs [more x265 options ...]
@PAUSE
@EXIT
:run
@REM brief set if only the few faster presets are interesting
@REM full set: (ultrafast superfast veryfast faster fast medium slow slower veryslow placebo)
@FOR %%a IN (ultrafast superfast veryfast faster fast) DO CALL test_x265_preset.bat %1 %%a %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8
@PAUSE

BTW: I avoided "@ECHO OFF" on purpose, to have the command line of the call printed.

Make an AviSynth script returning a brief YV12 video (e.g. test_x265_720p.avs and test_x265_1080p.avs) and run
test_x265_presets.bat test_x265_720p.avs
and
test_x265_presets.bat test_x265_1080p.avs

The resulting CSV file will contain summarizing statistics, including an fps value.

For the test scripts,
ColorBarsHD(1280, 720).Trim(0,239).Info().ConvertToYV12()
or
ColorBarsHD(1920, 1080).Trim(0,239).Info().ConvertToYV12()
may be only little challenging for x265, but at least fast enough not to take much of the encoding time.
__

P.S.:

Preset "superfast" was missing in the help output of x265.

[racer-x]

x265.exe encode ( --preset ultrafast --input-res %(width)x%(height) --fps %(fps) - -o "%(tempvideofile)" )...

That string doesn't work properly in VirtualDub, but this one does:
--crf 23 --preset ultrafast --input-res %(width)x%(height) --fps %(fps) -o "%(tempvideofile)" -

Anyway my 6 year-old Q9300 2.5ghz exporting to 1080p via - AVS > VirtualDub:

Meduim = 2.16 fps
UltraFast = 5.63 fps

This was using x265_0.8+190 / 32-bit

[racer-x]

Here's some UltraFast CRF-23 cookies:

[gonca]

check attached jpeg

[LigH.de]

Well, gonca, I fear this is not the right place to give you a lengthy introduction to using the command line interpreter. And changing the directory to C:\ is already suspicious, I would never recommend to store the batch files, the video files, and the encoder right there; instead, they should be at least in an own subdirectory, if not even another harddisk (to separate system and data).

[gonca]

Found another way, used Selur's software (Hybrid)

original 693 MB
x265 1080 88.3MB
x265 720 48.1MB

1080p 24.27 fps average

Starting Main@17:29:12.380:
"C:\Users\LUIS\Desktop\HYBRID~1.1_S\x265.exe" --preset ultrafast --input - --input-res 1920x1080 --fps 23.976 --frames 7200 --crf 23  --colormatrix bt470bg --output "C:\Users\LUIS\AppData\Local\Temp\SCARY_MOVIE_01-002_17_29_08_3210_01.265"
x265 [info]: HEVC encoder version 0.8+190-fe3fcd9838c0
x265 [info]: build info [Windows][GCC 4.8.2][32 bit] 8bpp
x265 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX
x265 [info]: Main profile, Level-4 (Main tier)
x265 [info]: WPP streams / pool / frames         : 34 / 12 / 3
x265 [info]: CU size                             : 32
x265 [info]: Max RQT depth inter / intra         : 1 / 1
x265 [info]: ME / range / subpel / merge         : dia / 25 / 0 / 2
x265 [info]: Keyframe min / max / scenecut       : 23 / 250 / 0
x265 [info]: Lookahead / bframes / badapt        : 10 / 4 / 0
x265 [info]: b-pyramid / weightp / refs          : 1 / 0 / 1
x265 [info]: Rate Control / AQ-Strength / CUTree : CRF-23.0 / 0.0 / 0
x265 [info]: tools: cfm esd rd=3 lft
encoded 7198 frames in 296.52s (24.27 fps), 2466.65 kb/s
x265 [info]: frame I: 29     Avg QP:21.79  kb/s: 11626.12
x265 [info]: frame P: 1412   Avg QP:23.14  kb/s: 5249.61
x265 [info]: frame B: 5757   Avg QP:25.19  kb/s: 1737.94
x265 [info]: global : 7198   Avg QP:24.78  kb/s: 2466.65
x265 [info]: consecutive B-frames: 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 99.9%
finished after 00:04:56.720

720p 45.76 fps average

Starting Main@17:40:35.751:
"C:\Users\LUIS\Desktop\HYBRID~1.1_S\x265.exe" --preset ultrafast --input - --input-res 1280x720 --fps 23.976 --frames 7200 --crf 23  --colormatrix bt709 --output "C:\Users\LUIS\AppData\Local\Temp\SCARY_MOVIE_01-002_17_40_30_4510_01.265"
x265 [info]: HEVC encoder version 0.8+190-fe3fcd9838c0
x265 [info]: build info [Windows][GCC 4.8.2][32 bit] 8bpp
x265 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX
x265 [info]: Main profile, Level-3.1 (Main tier)
x265 [info]: WPP streams / pool / frames         : 23 / 12 / 3
x265 [info]: CU size                             : 32
x265 [info]: Max RQT depth inter / intra         : 1 / 1
x265 [info]: ME / range / subpel / merge         : dia / 25 / 0 / 2
x265 [info]: Keyframe min / max / scenecut       : 23 / 250 / 0
x265 [info]: Lookahead / bframes / badapt        : 10 / 4 / 0
x265 [info]: b-pyramid / weightp / refs          : 1 / 0 / 1
x265 [info]: Rate Control / AQ-Strength / CUTree : CRF-23.0 / 0.0 / 0
x265 [info]: tools: cfm esd rd=3 lft
encoded 7198 frames in 157.28s (45.76 fps), 1343.70 kb/s
x265 [info]: frame I: 29     Avg QP:22.55  kb/s: 7012.84
x265 [info]: frame P: 1412   Avg QP:23.89  kb/s: 3018.96
x265 [info]: frame B: 5757   Avg QP:25.87  kb/s: 904.25
x265 [info]: global : 7198   Avg QP:25.46  kb/s: 1343.70
x265 [info]: consecutive B-frames: 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 99.9%
finished after 00:02:37.396

[racer-x]

1080p 24.27 fps average

Dang.......that makes my 6 year-old pc seem so slooooow.

[gonca]

I am presently doing a chart from ultrafast to fast. It seems that I am only using 70 to 80% of my CPU. If anyone wants diffent settings for comparison let me know

[deadrats]

I am presently doing a chart from ultrafast to fast. It seems that I am only using 70 to 80% of my CPU. If anyone wants diffent settings for comparison let me know

if you're using selur's software there is a setting to manually set the number of threads and the number of frame threads, set each to 12 (the number of virtual cores you have).

also, if you can run a few divx265 benchmarks that would be great.

[gonca]

1080p
ultrafast 24.27 fps
superfast 18.01 fps
veryfast 17.08 fps
faster 15.24 fps
fast 12.77 fps
slow 4.73 fps

720p
ultrafast 45.76 fps
superfast 35.56 fps
veryfast 35.00 fps
faster 26.97 fps
fast 23.04 fps
slow 8.82 fps

Faster presets used about 80% CPU --- slower presets about 60%

With deadrats suggestion I got CPU usage in the range of 95%

1080p slow 9.16 fps

[gonca]

also, if you can run a few divx265 benchmarks that would be great.

Can do, but not sure if this is the proper thread for DivX benhmarks

[deadrats]

1080pFaster presets used about 80% CPU --- slower presets about 60%

this is very odd, x264 tends to load up the cpu more as the presets get slower; hevc is a codec designed from the ground up to be easily parallelizable and the x265 people claim that x265 is highly threaded. i fail to see how they can make such a claim if cpu usage declines as the settings get more aggressive and i fail to see how x265 will ever benefit from gpu acceleration if it can't even load up a 3930k to 100%.

[gonca]

deadrats

took your suggestion and now its using mid 90's of my CPU.
here are some DivX benchmarks. I'll do some more in a day or so

1080p
speed 68.50 fps
balanced 31.29 fps
higher quality 9.87 fps

bitrate is approximately that used by x265
did load my CPU to mid 90's

720p
speed 99.66 fps
balanced 59.93 fps
higher quality 19.57 fps

[DarrellS]

x265.exe encode ( --preset ultrafast --input-res %(width)x%(height) --fps %(fps) - -o "%(tempvideofile)" )...

That string doesn't work properly in VirtualDub, but this one does:
--crf 23 --preset ultrafast --input-res %(width)x%(height) --fps %(fps) -o "%(tempvideofile)" -

Anyway my 6 year-old Q9300 2.5ghz exporting to 1080p via - AVS > VirtualDub:

Meduim = 2.16 fps
UltraFast = 5.63 fps

This was using x265_0.8+190 / 32-bit

It works fine for me. I tried your's also and it works.

I was using the long command lines that both x265 and Selur had posted for their presets and those features were built into the official presets in the latest builds so that there is no need to add all those settings in the commandline.

[LigH.de]

If your CPU is not fully utilized, it probably takes much time reading the video source from the harddisk.

Thank you for your results. So, realtime encoding is (almost unexpectedly) already "possible", even though not "practical"; the real advantage of HEVC is in the efficiency at a reasonable complexity, and that takes its time.

[gonca]

Just for the record --- the source, temp and output drives are all SSDs

X265 seems to crash on slower preset with 12 threads set
Does seem to start with threads set to 0 (auto) but we are talking about 1 fps

[LigH.de]

Slower presets may require more memory due to the more complex relations between several frames.

If there is a "crash", please describe its kind more verbose. Yes, there are different kinds of crashes, due to different reasons...

[gonca]

Sorry it took so long to respond but I just got home from work.

First --- I didn't install Hybrid, I used 7zip on the setup executable. Seems fully usable.
Second --- During the benchmarks X265 was using between 700 and 800 MB of ram according to task manager. I have 32 GB installed.

The CPU utilization might be due to a decoding / frame serving issue.
If I could get hybrid to see my video card I might be able to use DGDecNV for that purpose.
The crash was basically a windows popup saying x265 has stopped working. There is an exception code in Event Viewer, but I haven't had a chance to check on its meaning. If need be I can recreate it and see if hybrid reports anything.

[Selur]

First --- I didn't install Hybrid, I used 7zip on the setup executable. Seems fully usable.

bad move,... I especially provide separate packages and in my forum I also mention how to create a portable version
-> using Hybrid this way is bound to cause problems and at least I will not try to trace bugs that way.

I have 32 GB installed.

this only helps if you don't use any 32bit components

The crash was basically a windows popup saying x265 has stopped working

sounds like a bug in x265

[gonca]

bad move,... I especially provide separate packages and in my forum I also mention how to create a portable version
-> using Hybrid this way is bound to cause problems and at least I will not try to trace bugs that way.

Did not mean to imply that it was a bug, that's why I stated how I was using it. I was using it primarily for testing x265, found it to be a good all round package for x264 as well.

this only helps if you don't use any 32bit components

I am aware of the addressing limitations of 32 bit OS's and apps. Does Hybrid install a 64 bit version of x265?
Is Hybrid a self contained package? In simple terms --- does it change anything that could affect other apps.

sounds like a bug in x265

possibly, or a 32 bit app needing more ram than it can get to

[Selur]

Does Hybrid install a 64 bit version of x265?

on a 64bit the installer will install a 64bit version of x265 (and most of the other tools, if a 64bit version is available)

In simple terms --- does it change anything that could affect other apps.

Hybrid shouldn't influence other apps, doesn't write stuff into the registry and normally stays inside it's own folders.