Compression times w/ Ex-1 footage at DVinfo.net

Adrian Svircic · March 23rd, 2010, 06:37 PM

I know this might be too vague, but I'd like to know what kind of compression times you guys get preferably for vimeo standards using fcp 6 and compressor:

Audio Encoder
AAC, Stereo (L R), 44.100 kHz
Video Encoder
Format: QT
Width: 1280
Height: 720
Pixel aspect ratio: Square
Crop: None
Padding: None
Frame rate: (100% of source)
Frame Controls On:
Retiming: (Fast) Nearest Frame
Resize Filter: Linear Filter
Deinterlace Filter: Better (Motion Adaptive)
Adaptive Details: On
Antialias: 0
Detail Level: 0
Field Output: Progressive
Codec Type: H.264
Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On
Pixel depth: 24
Spatial quality: 75
Min. Spatial quality: 25
Key frame interval: 30
Temporal quality: 50
Min. temporal quality: 25
Average data rate: 5.12 (Mbps)

I edit/compress with a macbook pro 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo w/ 2 gigs of ram GeForce 8600M GT 512MB and it takes around 3-4hrs for 7 mins of footage with a minimal amount of transitions/effects. I want to find better ways (faster) to do renders/compression and wonder if these compression rates are standard or if there is a slow in compression due to heat on the gfx card and cpu. I am looking into getting a new computer either the iMac or Macpro and would like to see what kind of rates you guys get with your setups. Thanks

Craig Seeman · March 23rd, 2010, 10:41 PM

MacPro 8 Core with Matrox CompressHD card. Faster than real time. 90 minute video takes around 80 minutes and it looks good too.

MacBookPro with Matrox MXO2-LE with MAX. About 30% faster than MacPro 8 Core with QMaster 8 Instances.

If speed is important it's the best investment you can make.

It needs PCIe for desktop and Express slot for laptop so an iMac is out of the question.

Craig Seeman · March 23rd, 2010, 10:51 PM

I found my speed tests
MacBookPro early 2008 15" 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
1080p30 EX codec to 720p30 5000kbps for Vimeo
Source 10 minutes 58 seconds. Time to encode 17 minutes with MXO2-LE with MAX.

Same file on MacPro 8 Core 2.8GHz with CompressHD(MAX) 8 minutes 40 seconds.

Note though this is for a rendered source file encoding to H.264 for Vimeo.

When in FCP set your timeline renders to Apple ProRes even if timeline codec is EX.

Adrian Svircic · March 25th, 2010, 02:27 AM

have you tried without the MXO2-LE on the MBP? I'm wondering if my graphics card is dying or is the macpro just that much more powerful? 3-4hrs seems a lot with the setup I have.

March 23rd, 2010, 06:37 PM	#1
Adrian Svircic New Boot Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: San Pedro, CA Posts: 20	Compression times w/ Ex-1 footage I know this might be too vague, but I'd like to know what kind of compression times you guys get preferably for vimeo standards using fcp 6 and compressor: Audio Encoder AAC, Stereo (L R), 44.100 kHz Video Encoder Format: QT Width: 1280 Height: 720 Pixel aspect ratio: Square Crop: None Padding: None Frame rate: (100% of source) Frame Controls On: Retiming: (Fast) Nearest Frame Resize Filter: Linear Filter Deinterlace Filter: Better (Motion Adaptive) Adaptive Details: On Antialias: 0 Detail Level: 0 Field Output: Progressive Codec Type: H.264 Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On Pixel depth: 24 Spatial quality: 75 Min. Spatial quality: 25 Key frame interval: 30 Temporal quality: 50 Min. temporal quality: 25 Average data rate: 5.12 (Mbps) I edit/compress with a macbook pro 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo w/ 2 gigs of ram GeForce 8600M GT 512MB and it takes around 3-4hrs for 7 mins of footage with a minimal amount of transitions/effects. I want to find better ways (faster) to do renders/compression and wonder if these compression rates are standard or if there is a slow in compression due to heat on the gfx card and cpu. I am looking into getting a new computer either the iMac or Macpro and would like to see what kind of rates you guys get with your setups. Thanks

March 23rd, 2010, 10:41 PM	#2
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	MacPro 8 Core with Matrox CompressHD card. Faster than real time. 90 minute video takes around 80 minutes and it looks good too. MacBookPro with Matrox MXO2-LE with MAX. About 30% faster than MacPro 8 Core with QMaster 8 Instances. If speed is important it's the best investment you can make. It needs PCIe for desktop and Express slot for laptop so an iMac is out of the question.

March 23rd, 2010, 10:51 PM	#3
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	I found my speed tests MacBookPro early 2008 15" 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo 1080p30 EX codec to 720p30 5000kbps for Vimeo Source 10 minutes 58 seconds. Time to encode 17 minutes with MXO2-LE with MAX. Same file on MacPro 8 Core 2.8GHz with CompressHD(MAX) 8 minutes 40 seconds. Note though this is for a rendered source file encoding to H.264 for Vimeo. When in FCP set your timeline renders to Apple ProRes even if timeline codec is EX.

March 25th, 2010, 02:27 AM	#4
Adrian Svircic New Boot Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: San Pedro, CA Posts: 20	have you tried without the MXO2-LE on the MBP? I'm wondering if my graphics card is dying or is the macpro just that much more powerful? 3-4hrs seems a lot with the setup I have.