Very slow transcoding at very high CPU usage

Hi,

I have a question about transcoding.

I have a Panasonic 2011 model and I’m using the Panasonic Viera (No DivX) profile.

I’m using a Toshiba Satellite Pro 750S as my media server. That laptop has 4GB of RAM and a Quad Core i5 2520M CPU that runs at 2.5GHz with turbo of up to 3.2GHz (if I’m not mistaken).

Every time I transcode files, mostly MP4 or MKV at 720p and 6-channels audio, it takes forever to transcode them and all my CPU cores are constantly at 99-100%.
The CPU fan is screaming and blowing intense heat from the opening.

Before I started using 6-channel audio, it was doing the same thing, very slow transcoding at 99-100% CPU usage.

I run Windows 7 Pro x64 and my files are local. The max fps I’m getting is 27-29 and the minimum is between 5-7.

I recently increased priority to Very High after reading that someone said his CPU is never above 80%, but this also has no effect on my system.

Is there anything I can do to improve transcoding speeds?

Thank you,

Please post the FFmpeg information for one of the videos that has slow transcoding. Right-click on the video in Mezzmo and click 'Get FFmpeg Information'.

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your reply.

I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you with that problem.

Here is the ffmpeg info of an MKV movie I am transcoding right now. It started at 110 fps then shortly after it went down to 30 and now it's at 27. It took it an hour to transcode 45%.

I hope you can come up with a solution to this problem.

Thank you,

ffmpeg version N-50460-g393dcbf Copyright (c) 2000-2013 the FFmpeg developers
built on Jun 27 2013 17:20:20 with gcc 4.6.2 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86_64 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=x86_64-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/home/peter/ffmpeg/build/gpl64 --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/peter/cc64/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/peter/cc64/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads --enable-zlib
libavutil 52. 17.103 / 52. 17.103
libavcodec 54. 92.100 / 54. 92.100
libavformat 54. 63.102 / 54. 63.102
libavdevice 54. 3.103 / 54. 3.103
libavfilter 3. 41.100 / 3. 41.100
libswscale 2. 2.100 / 2. 2.100
libswresample 0. 17.102 / 0. 17.102
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'C:\Users\Arie\Videos\Chennai Express.mkv':
Metadata:
title : Chennai Express (2013) 720p Blu-Ray x264 - Hindi - AC3 - 5.1 - Mafiaking
creation_time : 2013-11-16 13:31:45
Duration: 02:21:19.25, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1035 kb/s
Stream #0:0(hin): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x544 [SAR 1:1 DAR 40:17], 24 fps, 24 tbr, 1k tbn, 48 tbc (default)
Metadata:
title : Mafiakintg
Stream #0:1(hin): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 160 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
title : Mafiaking
At least one output file must be specified

<MEZZMO>: Child process ended with code: 109, ExitCode=1


---> DB Level Info: 31, 100
---> Frame rate: 24.00
---> Aspect ratio: 40:17 PAR=1:1

To improve transcoding speeds, you need to improve your computer's processing speed - i.e. CPU and memory.

This MKV file may stream directly to TV without transcoding. Try this: Right-click on the MKV video in Mezzmo and click Properties. On the Properties dialog, go to the Transcoding tab and delete any transcoded files listed there. Then click the ‘Use Original File’ button and select your TV. This tells Mezzmo to stream the file natively to your TV and not transcode it. Try streaming it now and see how it goes.

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your reply.
I just want to confirm with you, my TV is Panasonic Viera TCP50S30, are you sure that MKV files can play natively, without transcoding?
Also, when I transcode, the memory is not an issue. I have 4GB and it never uses more than 2.2GB while transcoding.
The CPU is a different story. As I said, it is always on 98-100% for all 4 cores (I don't have 8 cores).

I will try playing the movie natively and report the results back.

Thank you,

No - I'm not sure the MKV will play natively, but it is something to try since you say that your CPU is running at peak usage when transcoding and you are not keen for this to happen. So apart from upgrading your computer to a higher spec, trying direct (non-transcoding) streaming for your files is another thing to try.

Hi Paul,

Sorry for the late reply.

I tried to direct play this particular MKV file and it actually worked. I was so surprised about this, so I tried on a couple more files, MKV’s MP4’s and AVI’s – none of them played natively. Is there anything I can identify in the ffmpeg info that I can determine which files will or will not play on my TV?
Since I have the ffmpeg info of a file that does work, maybe there is something in particular to look for?

Thank you,

You are welcome to email us the FFmpeg information for the files that work and that do not work, and we'll see what are the attributes to look for. Email them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.