CloneDVD mobile Devices.ini (user-edited)

[AtTheAsylum]

This is getting interesting

I've just run a test of this on my Laptop (WinXP Pro, T2400 Core 2 Duo 1.83Ghz, 667Mhz FSB, 2MB cache).

Using the standard 'Generic (DivX) DTS/DD+ Copy' profile (ie: no multi thread) mencoder uses between 48 and 50% of the CPU. It never goes above 50.0% as you would expect. Also, it never uses more than 1 thread (according to Task Manager).

When I set threads to 2 and run the exact same test mencoder uses between 48 and 53% of the CPU and starts 3 threads. If I set threads to 4 the CPU stays between 48 and 53% and this time mencoder starts 5 threads.

Time to encode is about the same for all tests (ie: multi-thread offers no improvement).

At home I have an older Pentium 4 3.0Ghz with Hyperthreading running WinXP Pro. If I run the same tests on this PC, with no multithread the CPU sits between 48 and 50%. With threads set to 2 the CPU sits between 70 and 85%. Unfortunately I don't have thread counts nor timings for these tests. I'll redo them tonight and post an update.

So either mencoder has been designed to use Hyperthreading and not multi-cores (unlikely) or WinXP doesn't properly handle multi-core CPU's.

 

[KnoWei]

I set the threads=2 in devices.ini and the process that seems to be running the show, mencoder.exe still shows only one thread running...no improvement in the process time.

...time to encode is about the same for all tests (ie: multi-thread offers no improvement).

Thanks for picking this up. I have to timeshare on my dualcore PC with an avid gamer in my house.

My observations also show no real encoding time improvement when using 2 threads. I lack any experience testing multithreaded apps so I am starting at zero with this one. Between the timesharing and my lack of knowledge I just haven't made any progress. If you can figure this out I'd love to speed things up.

~KnoWei

 

[AtTheAsylum]

It would be great if somebody with access to a Vista machine can duplicate the multi-threading tests detailed above (with thread counts and encode times etc). This would allow isolate the problem to either Windows XP or mencoder itself.

 

[profcolli]

Thanks for picking this up. I have to timeshare on my dualcore PC with an avid gamer in my house.

My observations also show no real encoding time improvement when using 2 threads. I lack any experience testing multithreaded apps so I am starting at zero with this one. Between the timesharing and my lack of knowledge I just haven't made any progress. If you can figure this out I'd love to speed things up.

~KnoWei

Well, as I posted originally the encoding time did not improve (didn't test on full DVD's, just chapters) but the distribution over multiple cores did occur and the core temps were lower than when only one thread was used. For me, this was an important benefit because I have an overclocked Core 2 Duo (previously E4300 @ 2.7GHz, now an E4500 @ 2.75GHz). Because I just built a new HTPC with way too much stuff in it my case temperatures are really high, so keeping the core temps down is much more important than gaining a couple of minutes improvement on transcoding a DVD (which only takes me ~15-20 minutes anyway).

I use coretemp.exe to give me the true core temperatures, and RightMark CPU Clock/Power Utility (RMClock) to monitor core activity and throttle back the CPU when there is low activity. The longer the transcode (the more the activity), the higher the temps will go.

I did some screenshots for (1&2) idle (both cores shown), (4&5) during a single thread WMV transcode (single thread on CPU0, both cores shown), and (6&7) during a DivX profile (threads=2) transcode (two threads on CPU0 and CPU1, both cores shown). You can see the activity in those. The temps in the transcodes are similar because they were at the start of the process, but the WMV will end up with a higher temp on the single core of the main thread (over 80 Celsius, which is getting near meltdown time and system reboot). With the two thread DivX profile, both cores stay in the low 70's by the end. With my previous system (which had more fans and less stuff) the temps were way lower. Got to get a new case (I used an old case for the new build which could fit the 3 opticals and 4 HDD's that I added)

You can check them below.

Edit: maximum five attachments, so I've put the last one (7) in the next post (which shows the second thread on the DivX dualcore profile) as an inline screenshot.

Multithreading works on DivX, but WMV does not allow the specification of more than one thread (although your system may use more than one thread, you cannot explicitly call for it in MEncoder on an XP system).

 

[profcolli]

Here's the last screenshot (CPU1 DivX dualthread):

 

[profcolli]

So as an experiment I finally did a full DVD test while monitoring threads and temps. I mentioned in a previous post that for me WMV was way quicker to produce a file for my Samsung YP-P2 player, and a full transcode of Shaun of the Dead took only 14 minutes with most activity on CPU1 (screenshots 8&9 attached below). Thanks to our Canadian winter my basement is so cold that the PC is running at least 10 Celsius below normal, so I didn't go above 70 Celsius on CPU0

The DivX dual thread discussion is really academic for me now (as I have to do a second pass through Samsung Media Studio anyway, so the DivX output is not of much use to me especially as the video quality is equivalent on a 480x272 display), but just for fun I did a full transcode using the DivX dual thread option to compare the results - I really should get a life :agree:

The results are posted below (#10 with Windows Task Manager showing both cores). Note that the DivX transcode took 22 minutes compared to 14 minutes for WMV (another reason for me not to create DivX files, dual thread or not).

But, dual threads are spreading the load - end of story.

 

[tcg]

Wow! Oh yeah....

Lots of good info! Many thanks! Thanks to some of the info you provided and additional understanding by rereading posts my problem is not what I once thought it was...

I am converting to .mp4 for an IPOD Touch. The insertion of the threads=2 into the Touch profile does nothing for improved conversion time nor does it use more than one thread with mencoder.exe. Using the Divx profile I am able to write to an .avi file, but then need to convert to .mp4 and I can't do that. That being said, the use of threads=2 in the Divx profile yields 3 threads and usage of the cpu @ ~55%.

So...how can I have the multi-threaded option work for the conversion straight to .mp4 formats? Many thanks again for the extensive work on the load sharing of the cpus/cores. Also, thanks for any help on the .mp4 conversion process and multi-threaded happiness...

BTW-sure do wish it only took ~20 mins....at least by using the DIVX profile it takes ~60 mins instead of ~120...

 

[KnoWei]

Agree with tcg, thanks for doing the extra-credit homework profcolli. :clap:

BTW-sure do wish it only took ~20 mins....at least by using the DIVX profile it takes ~60 mins instead of ~120...

As for encoding times it's important to consider the resolution and quality setting you are using when comparing times. When I convert for handheld resolution (PSP, iPod Nano) I get 15 to 20 minute single pass conversion on a full movie. But I tend to convert for playback on my NTSC TVs (non-HD). In this case I'm using either 640X480 or 720x404 and try to keep the bit rate around 3000bps. That makes for about 50 minutes per pass and I do 2-pass.

~KnoWei

 

[tcg]

As for encoding times it's important to consider the resolution and quality setting you are using when comparing times. When I convert for handheld resolution (PSP, iPod Nano) I get 15 to 20 minute single pass conversion on a full movie. But I tend to convert for playback on my NTSC TVs (non-HD). In this case I'm using either 640X480 or 720x404 and try to keep the bit rate around 3000bps. That makes for about 50 minutes per pass and I do 2-pass.

~KnoWei

I run it for the IPOD Touch at max quality which is around ~760 kbps. Your post saying 3000bps would imply 3kbps...is this the case? or am I missing something to allow for a much lower setting? Even at max quality I see something just shy of 3000kbps at max size and min qualitt around 450kbps. It seems that when I run the Touch profile it takes twice as long(~120min) as the Vid Gen 5 profile (~60min), though both use only one thread for mencoder.exe and no more than 50% (1 core usage) cpu. For the touch I shoot for 480x320, and using the letterbox zoom does not change the conversion time. With the Gen 5 I use the max size at 640x480. I am all ears

 

[AtTheAsylum]

For those that are interested, here's a link to a thread (see 6th post) detailing a method of creating an MP4 with H264 encoded video and AAC 5.1 surround sound using Clone DVD Mobile and a couple of other tools

The resultant MP4 have been successfully tested on a PS3...

http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=12353

 

[KnoWei]

I run it for the IPOD Touch at max quality which is around ~760 kbps. Your post saying 3000bps would imply 3kbps...is this the case? or am I missing something to allow for a much lower setting? Even at max quality I see something just shy of 3000kbps at max size and min qualitt around 450kbps. ...

Sorry - left out that pesky "k". I've modified my DivX profile to set max bitrate to 4700kbps (MaxVBitrate=4700). So using a 640x480 resolution the 3000kbps bit rate is about halfway to max quality on the slider.

I can't imagine what a bit rate of "3" would look like.

~KnoWei

 

[stimy0226]

LG Chocolate vx8500

[Chocolate vx8500]
Manufacturer=LG
Res1=240x192
ResAna1=240x192
ResAna2=320x240
ARate=24000
ABRate=64
Format=lavf
lavfopts=format=3g2
FileType=3g2
Quality=75
NTSCFrameRate1=15
NTSCFrameRate2=15
NTSCFrameRateDeinterlace1=15
NTSCFrameRateDeinterlace2=15
lavcopts=aglobal=1:vglobal=1:vcodec=mpeg4:acodec=libfaac
MVolume=10
useMencoder=1
SubTitle=1
MaxVBitrate=192

For Verizon phones:
make sure memory card has already been formatted on the phone
Copy files to memory card in the folder my flix
on the phone goto get it now, my pics and flixs, and play

 

[blueyeguy192]

Im sorry if someone has asked this before, i haven't found it anywhere but where would I put the "threads=2" line in the new Ipod touch profile that it comes with standard. or what other ways would I go about getting the ipod touch profile to utilize both cores?

 

[profcolli]

Im sorry if someone has asked this before, i haven't found it anywhere but where would I put the "threads=2" line in the new Ipod touch profile that it comes with standard. or what other ways would I go about getting the ipod touch profile to utilize both cores?

The x264 encoder on my system seems to ignore the dual thread option, but this is where it should go according to the Mencoder specifications:

[iPod touch dual core]
Manufacturer=Apple (iPod/iPhone/AppleTV)
ScreenRatio=3:2
useMencoder=1
SubTitle=1
Res1=426x320
ResAna1=480x270
ResUnit=2
Format=avi
moac=faac
movc=x264
ABRate=128
threads=2
mopts=-faacopts br=%abrate%:mpeg=4:object=2 -x264encopts threads=2:bitrate=%vbrate%:level_idc=30:bframes=0:nocabac:nopsnr:nossim%PASS%
FileType=mp4
Quality=25
MaxVBitrate=768
AllowChapterFiles=0
MVolume=10
Remux=2642MP4

 

[AtTheAsylum]

Yeah, the 'threads=2' x264 behaviour is quite strange I've come across this before.

If I run a quick test using profcolli's profile ('threads=2' ignored, Windows Task Manager reports single threads and maximum 50% CPU) the following command line is used by CD-M to run mencoder:

"D:\Program Files\SlySoft\CloneDVDmobile\apps\mencoder.exe" - -af volume=10 -aspect 16:9  -of avi -oac faac -ovc x264 -faacopts br=128:mpeg=4:object=2 -x264encopts bitrate=316:level_idc=41:bframes=0:nocabac:nopsnr:nossim:threads=2 -vf scale=480:270,harddup -info name="test" -ofps 25 -o "D:\Video\test.mp4"|||c:\tmp\mnc8.tmp

If I run another test by running mencoder from the command line directly (see below) then the 'threads=2' option is heeded (ie: Windows Task Manager reports multiple threads and 90%+ CPU). The only real difference between my command line and CD-M's is that CD-M pipes its input to mencoder on 'stdin'.

mencoder.exe dvd:// -dvd-device d:\dvd -af volume=10 -aspect 16:9  -of avi -oac faac -ovc x264 -faacopts br=128:mpeg=4:object=2 -x264encopts bitrate=316:level_idc=41:bframes=0:nocabac:nopsnr:nossim:threads=2 -vf scale=480:270,harddup -info name="test" -ofps 25 -o test.mp4

 

[zmdqtxd]

Help...just got the Ipod Touch...can anyone help me download dvd's to the ipod Touch? would DVD Mobile from Slysoft do it easily? Getting very frustrated-having even tried DVD FAB4 free trial...I must say the instructions for the ipod touch leave much to be desired...

I welcome any and all suggestions...

Thanks,
zmdqtxd

 

[mike20021969]

does anyone have (or know if it's possible to make) a profile to make an MPEG2 file for clonedvdmobile?

 

[AtTheAsylum]

As far as I'm aware DVD's are encoded in MPEG2 format so there should be no need to re-encode them. The "VOB File (passthrough)" profile should work (and is very fast). You can then change the extension of the resultant file from "vob" to "mpg" if you like so that WMP11 etc will recognise it

 

[mike20021969]

thanks for the response AtTheAsylum.

i thought VOB was a container file for MPEG2.
i understand you can use tools to extract the MPEG2 from a VOB.
changing the extension by putting .mpg onto a VOB doesn't,in my case,enable windows media player to play the file.in fact the file name looked ridiculous and ended up: *.mpg.VOB.
also,i didn't want to play it on windows media player (we are in clonedvdmobile after all),and i also want to be able to alter the file size,quality and bitrate to-something which VOB passthrough doesn't enable.
after saying all that,i did manage to create single VOB's from my dvd's whilst being able to adjust the file size (no larger than 4000MB) by using dvd shrink.

 

[AtTheAsylum]

What about this profile then?

[* Generic MPEG2]
Res1=320x240
Res2=480x360
Res3=640x480
Res4=720x540
ResAna1=320x180
ResAna2=480x270
ResAna3=640x360
ResAna4=720x404
ResAna5=852x480
lavcopts=vcodec=mpeg2video
moac=copy
Format=mpeg
FileType=mpg
Quality=23
useMencoder=1
SubTitle=1
MaxVBitrate=3000

It produces a file with the 'mpg' extension and, according to GSpot, is a valid. It also plays fine in Windows Media Player. It allows you to change the bitrate/quality etc.

BTW - the rename you performed to get a file like '*.mpg.vob' didn't work because you have the 'Hide extensions for known filetypes' option enabled in Windows Explorer. Choose Tools -> Folder Options -> View tab to change it.

Hope this helps