mpovedano

Q: "Send to Compressor" Vs. "Compressor" Transcoding Time

Hi everybody,

 

When transcoding a H.264 video (1280x720; 25p; 1hr. approx.) to MPEG-2 using the default settings in Compressor, it takes around 2,5 hrs to complete the job.

 

However, I have realized that if I first import the H.264 media in FCPX (neither optimized nor proxy), create a project (default settings) with that media and then use the "Send to Compressor" command, it takes only about 20 min. to transcode it (same MPEG-2 default settings in Compressor).

 

Does anybody knows why this could happen? By the way, this issue is not only constrained to H.264 to MPEG-2. It happens with any transcode combination.

 

Many thanks for your help,

Miguel

 

Compressor 4.2.1

FCPX 10.2.2

OSX  10.11.2

MacBook Pro 2,2 GHz i7 Quad (early 2011); 500 GB SSD; 8 GB RAM; AMD Radeon HD 6750M

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 4, 2016 4:17 AM

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Q: "Send to Compressor" Vs. "Compressor" Transcoding Time

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  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H Jan 4, 2016 5:14 AM in response to mpovedano
    Level 7 (21,770 points)
    Quicktime
    Jan 4, 2016 5:14 AM in response to mpovedano

    I would expect both workflows to be approximately the same times for the MPEG and audio files encoding. (That's notwithstanding the additional time that exporting a stand alone H.264 file from FCP will take.)

     

    I assume that your test times also include the job action, which either creates a disk image or a physical DVD.

     

    The 2.5 hour test is the one that seems way out of line. Check Activity Monitor to ensure that you have sufficient physical free memory. And check to see that you have sufficient free space on your boot drive for Compressor to write the temporary files it needs.

     

    Russ

  • by mpovedano,

    mpovedano mpovedano Jan 4, 2016 6:50 AM in response to Russ H
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 4, 2016 6:50 AM in response to Russ H

    Russ, thanks for your replay.

     

    I do not create nor disk image nor physical DVD, just the MPEG-2 file.

     

    I am attaching a screen shot for both processes, including the Activity Monitor. Apparently, It does not seem to be a memory problem  

     

    About the SSD boot drive, it has about 400 GB of free space.


    For some reason I do not understand, Compressor itself takes boy x10 longer than through the workaround.


    Many thanks,

    Miguel

    Compressor.jpgSend to Compressor.jpg

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 4, 2016 7:02 AM in response to mpovedano
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 4, 2016 7:02 AM in response to mpovedano

    Please give complete specifications of this H.264 file. You're only giving the codec. When you import into FCP, the file is often rewrapped to a different framework, which might be much more efficient.

  • by mpovedano,

    mpovedano mpovedano Jan 4, 2016 7:35 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 4, 2016 7:35 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Thanks, Tom.

     

    H.264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10) (avc1)

    2.06 GB; 5,58 Mb/s.

    1280x720

    25p

     

    When imported to FCPX, it is not optimized and it is left in place. It is imported as a matter of seconds. Furthermore, it is sent to Compressor in seconds as well.

     

    I have tried with files of different specs and have compressed not only to MPEG-2, but different formats as well, with same result: Compressor itself takes much longer (about x10) than through the workaround.

     

    Moreover, I have made a test with AME (same settings than in Compressor): about 20 min. to perform de job.

     

    Miguel

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 4, 2016 7:47 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 4, 2016 7:47 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    .

  • by mpovedano,

    mpovedano mpovedano Jan 4, 2016 8:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 4, 2016 8:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Hi Tom,

     

    For some reason your reply did not attach correctly.

     

    Thanks,

    M

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H Jan 4, 2016 8:54 AM in response to mpovedano
    Level 7 (21,770 points)
    Quicktime
    Jan 4, 2016 8:54 AM in response to mpovedano

    Where are your files originating from…a camera? If so which one? What application is reporting the files as AVC1?

     

    Please open one of the files in VideoSpec or MediaInfo and post a screenshot of the report – like the following.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-01-04 at 11.51.14 AM.png

     

    Thanks.

     

    Russ

  • by mpovedano,

    mpovedano mpovedano Jan 4, 2016 9:27 AM in response to Russ H
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 4, 2016 9:27 AM in response to Russ H

    Hi Russ,

     

    The file did not came from a camera. It was already given to me in that format.

    VLC gave me the AVC1 info.

     

    I am attaching the Media Info screenshot.

     

    Many thanks,

    Miguel

     

    Media Info.jpg

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 6, 2016 11:13 AM in response to mpovedano
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 6, 2016 11:13 AM in response to mpovedano

    I can reproduce the problem. I have no idea why it's happening. Doesn't seem like normal behavior.

  • by mpovedano,

    mpovedano mpovedano Jan 7, 2016 8:35 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2016 8:35 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Many thanks, Tom, for your feedback.

     

    Hope an engineer from apple reads this post and could explain us the reasons for such behavior of the program.

  • by Karsten Schlüter,

    Karsten Schlüter Karsten Schlüter Jan 7, 2016 10:06 PM in response to mpovedano
    Level 7 (32,668 points)
    Video
    Jan 7, 2016 10:06 PM in response to mpovedano

    mpovedano wrote:

    Hope an engineer from apple reads this post …

    here? HA!!  these are the outer rims … no  here

     

    tell Apple firsthand:

    http://www.apple.com/feedback/compressor.html

  • by mpovedano,

    mpovedano mpovedano Jan 8, 2016 12:31 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 8, 2016 12:31 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

    Thanks, Karsten. Done!