18 replies to this topic

[WAQIII]

Does EMC 10 make use of a Quad Core CPU when it converts video files to DVD format?  In EMC9 converting a video file took FOREVER and it would only use one core of a CPU.

[gi7omy]

Nope - there's no multi-core support built in

However, try this:

Open the program and hit Alt-Ctl-Del to bring up Task Manager

Go to the running process and select 'Set Affinity'

Pick one (or more) CPU and allocate that exclusively to the process

That might help as it means that one or more cores are dedicated solely to the running process and you will be able to use other cores for other apps.

The only thing I've found that really speeds up the processors is the amount of L2 cache to be honest

[Tom at Roxio]

Does EMC 10 make use of a Quad Core CPU when it converts video files to DVD format?  In EMC9 converting a video file took FOREVER and it would only use one core of a CPU.

Yes, VideoWave and MyDVD are multi-threaded.  Easy Media Creator 10 will benefit from multiple cores.  I'm curious - how did you come to the conclusion that EMC9 used only one core of your CPU?

Tom

However, try this:

Open the program and hit Alt-Ctl-Del to bring up Task Manager

Go to the running process and select 'Set Affinity'

Pick one (or more) CPU and allocate that exclusively to the process

That might help as it means that one or more cores are dedicated solely to the running process and you will be able to use other cores for other apps.

The only thing I've found that really speeds up the processors is the amount of L2 cache to be honest

Hi Daithi,
I would be surprised if this helps... have you run any tests?  Setting the affinity for your preferred process to 1 CPU restricts the operating system from utilizing both CPUs for that process.  If you want to provide more CPU availability for a particular process the only thing you could do is to restrict other processes from using 1 or more CPUs (cores) by setting the affinity for those processes to remove all but one CPU.

To get the best performance when you are running MyDVD or VideoWave and you are creating DVDs or encoding video you should avoid running other programs, and take steps to minimize the number of applications / processes that run in the background.  With a modern PC your other applications will take a very small percentage of your CPU and memory resources, so restricting the affinity of other processes will have a very minimal effect on the performance of MyDVD/VideoWave.

Tom

[gi7omy]

Setting the affinity Tonm means that the program (obviously I meant to run just one) is that one core is dedicated to the OS and the other to the program

[WAQIII]

Yes, VideoWave and MyDVD are multi-threaded.  Easy Media Creator 10 will benefit from multiple cores.  I'm curious - how did you come to the conclusion that EMC9 used only one core of your CPU?

I have a CPU monitor gadget on my Vista Sidebar.  When EMC 9 converts a video file using My DVD it only uses one CPU core at a time.  It might switch CPU's, but it never uses all four together.    When I use another video application called 'Win AVI Video Convertor' It uses all 4 cores together and can get the job done in much less time.   What takes EMC 9 two hours to complete only takes 20-30 minutes using Win AVI Video Convertor.  If Roxio EMC 10 is not any faster than EMC 9 there is no need for me to upgrade.

[Tom at Roxio]

Setting the affinity Tom means that the program (obviously I meant to run just one) is that one core is dedicated to the OS and the other to the program

Hi Daithi,
That's not my understanding of "set affinity".

See http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documen...s.mspx?mfr=true

"Using the Set Affinity command limits the execution of the program or process to the selected processors and might decrease overall performance."

If you set the affinity of VideoWave to one processor you don't "reserve" this CPU (or core) for VideoWave, you restrict VideoWave to one CPU.  All of the other processes are unaffected, and they will run on either CPU.

Tom

I have a CPU monitor gadget on my Vista Sidebar.  When EMC 9 converts a video file using My DVD it only uses one CPU core at a time.  It might switch CPU's, but it never uses all four together.    When I use another video application called 'Win AVI Video Convertor' It uses all 4 cores together and can get the job done in much less time.   What takes EMC 9 two hours to complete only takes 20-30 minutes using Win AVI Video Convertor.  If Roxio EMC 10 is not any faster than EMC 9 there is no need for me to upgrade.

Interesting.  Can you point me to the CPU monitor gadget that you use?

MyDVD is designed to create DVDs.  If you only want to convert video from one format to another we have more appropriate components in Easy Media Creator.  Can you let us know what your typical work flow is?  What format are your source files in, and what format are you creating?

Tom

Edited by Tom at Roxio, 30 September 2007 - 09:54 PM.

[gi7omy]

Try this part of the link you gave Tom

"Changing the priority of a process can make it run faster or slower (depending on whether you raise or lower the priority), but it can also adversely affect the performance of other processes."

MS are covering their posteriors there by saying it can (not will) run slower rather than faster

What you do by setting affinity with one app to a single core is to allocate all resources of that core to the app, leaving the other core(s) running the OS and any general background work

[Beerman]

I have a CPU monitor gadget on my Vista Sidebar.  When EMC 9 converts a video file using My DVD it only uses one CPU core at a time.  It might switch CPU's, but it never uses all four together.    When I use another video application called 'Win AVI Video Convertor' It uses all 4 cores together and can get the job done in much less time.   What takes EMC 9 two hours to complete only takes 20-30 minutes using Win AVI Video Convertor.  If Roxio EMC 10 is not any faster than EMC 9 there is no need for me to upgrade.

What about the quality?  Is it as good as EMC9/10?  What kind of files are you converting?  I've found EMC's quality to be very, very good i nv9 & 10.

[WAQIII]

Interesting.  Can you point me to the CPU monitor gadget that you use?

MyDVD is designed to create DVDs.  If you only want to convert video from one format to another we have more appropriate components in Easy Media Creator.  Can you let us know what your typical work flow is?  What format are your source files in, and what format are you creating?

Tom

To find the gadget open the gadget window in Vista and click "Get More Gadgets Online"  At the web site click on "tools and Utilities"  Then browse to page 6.  The CPU monitor I use is called mCPU Meter.  You will find several different versions, but they all work about the same.

I tried to use My DVD to convert video files (mostly AVI and MPEG) to DVD format.  But I rarely use it because it takes too long.  To convert a 1 hour video file often takes 2 hours or more.   Divx to DVD that came with EMC 7.5 is much faster...it will convert a file in half the time.

I have also used "Disc Copier" to convert video files, but it lacks the thumbnail previews of My DVD.

Edited by WAQIII, 01 October 2007 - 09:23 PM.

[another_two]

Try this part of the link you gave Tom

"Changing the priority of a process can make it run faster or slower (depending on whether you raise or lower the priority), but it can also adversely affect the performance of other processes."

MS are covering their posteriors there by saying it can (not will) run slower rather than faster

What you do by setting affinity with one app to a single core is to allocate all resources of that core to the app, leaving the other core(s) running the OS and any general background work

You are wrong, Tom is right. Test that: run 2 benchmarking apps, assign affinity for them to the same CPU, run them. Both will be running.

a_t

[gi7omy]

Aetting affinity to high for one app pn one core gives that app practically full control of that core. You can't just set affinity and expect it to decide itself what core it's going to work on

Check this thread for more info (where they are actually RUNNING pMill with affinity set to one core)

Included you will find this:

"windows always defaults to use all the cores, and it will split work accordingly to whichever core is free. Me personally, I set PowerSHAPE to CPU-0, 1 session of PowerMILL to CPU-1, 1 session of PowerMILL to CPU-2 (when needed), and I leave CPU-3 free unless for some reason I need to run a 3rd session of PowerMILL."

[another_two]

Aetting affinity to high for one app pn one core gives that app practically full control of that core. You can't just set affinity and expect it to decide itself what core it's going to work on

Check this thread for more info (where they are actually RUNNING pMill with affinity set to one core)

Included you will find this:

"windows always defaults to use all the cores, and it will split work accordingly to whichever core is free. Me personally, I set PowerSHAPE to CPU-0, 1 session of PowerMILL to CPU-1, 1 session of PowerMILL to CPU-2 (when needed), and I leave CPU-3 free unless for some reason I need to run a 3rd session of PowerMILL."

Just test what I wrote. Set 2 benchmarks affinity to the same core. Guys in the discussion want to avoid costly cross-processor context swaps to speed up processing. A core with application affinity set is under normal scheduling. To demonstrate it even better, set priority of running benchmarks to lowest,  run another benchmark and see what happens.

a_t

[gi7omy]

You miss the point - you set ONE app to the core with high affinity and give it COMPLETE control - that way nothing else runs on it

Setting the same app twice isn't the same thing

[ggrussell]

Yes, VideoWave and MyDVD are multi-threaded.  Easy Media Creator 10 will benefit from multiple cores.

I hope that is true, but have a hard time believing it.  My last computer was an AMD 3000+ single core.  Last year I purchased this HP Dual Core 3Ghz that has a much larger L2 cache, too.  Did I see a boost in processing? Yes, but not what I was expecting.  I saw a modest increase in video processing, but by my calculations that was because of the difference in processor speed, L2cache and FSB, etc.  Dual core didn't seem to make ANY difference IN PROCESSING VIDEO.

I think someone in another forum said it best: "For multiple cores/processors to be used by the same program the program has to be written to use multiple threads when running calculations through the proccessor(s). This is a very difficult task and most apps are not set up to run this way. Right now multiple core and mupltiple processor computers give the biggest boost to using multiple programs (or multiple instances of a program) at once."

As far as I'm concerned, hyperthreading and multi- core is more hype than reality.  I'd rather have a single core running at 6Ghz than a dual core at 3Ghz.

Edited by ggrussell, 02 October 2007 - 06:38 AM.

[helmiec]

4 core  working fine  in roxio 10    ( vista x64)



http://img134.imagevenue.com/img.php?image...eo_122_55lo.JPG

[ggrussell]

As a test, set affinity to one core and then Render a one hour DVAVI to MPEG 2 using Videowave 10.  Note the time it takes.  Then reset affinity to all four cores and render that same file again.  If the processing time is ANY where near half the time using all four, then I might be convinced that Videowave is using all four processors to their full potential. But I can gaurantee you it won't be 1/4 the processing of using one core.

Edited by ggrussell, 02 October 2007 - 10:32 AM.

[Tom at Roxio]

I'll have to give this gadget a try.  I tend to use utilities from SysInternals (now a part of Microsoft)... like Process Explorer.  With this you can see all open threads and their CPU usage.  MyDVD has around 40 or 50 threads while creating a DVD, including two main encoding threads running on a dual-core processor.

Tom

[gi7omy]

Check the usage while the system is just running the OS Tom - you'll see that it does spread the load (and that's just to keep itself going)

[WAQIII]

What about the quality?  Is it as good as EMC9/10?  What kind of files are you converting?  I've found EMC's quality to be very, very good i nv9 & 10.

I can not tell any difference in the video quality.  EMC9 My DVD gives you better menu control and I use it when I need menus.   The files I convert are mostly AVI and MPEG files.