Does iDVD really take advantage of multiple processors?

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jeffdmjeffdm
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I am using iDVD and it is taking a very long time to "Burn DVD", seemingly taking forever to encode the video and audio before it gets to even write to the DVD. I check the activity monitor and it's effectively only using one CPU, or half of each CPU. In fact, it sat stalled before starting the audio encoding for maybe ten minutes, for no apparent reason.



I am puzzled why Apple is pushing dual processors on their entire product line when key parts of their own software doesn't even take advantage of it when it could be used.



I am using iLife '06 on a dual G5, 2.5GHz.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JeffDM

    I am using iDVD and it is taking a very long time to "Burn DVD", seemingly taking forever to encode the video and audio before it gets to even write to the DVD. I check the activity monitor and it's effectively only using one CPU, or half of each CPU. In fact, it sat stalled before starting the audio encoding for maybe ten minutes, for no apparent reason.



    I am puzzled why Apple is pushing dual processors on their entire product line when key parts of their own software doesn't even take advantage of it when it could be used.



    I am using iLife '06 on a dual G5, 2.5GHz.



    A DVD burner is an optical-mechanical device. That disk can spin only so rapidly and that laser can burn only so quickly. Throwing additional processors at the burner can't do much to speed up these mechanical and materials processes.
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  • Reply 2 of 4
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr. Me

    A DVD burner is an optical-mechanical device. That disk can spin only so rapidly and that laser can burn only so quickly. Throwing additional processors at the burner can't do much to speed up these mechanical and materials processes.



    I am aware of that, but before the burning, it does the video and audio encoding and that's the part that is taking so long. It is still part of the process that iDVD calls "Burn DVD". It takes the program maybe an hour just to prepare the data, before it even starts putting it to the plasic.
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  • Reply 3 of 4
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,573moderator
    I can only say my experience using Final Cut Pro, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro but I have a similar problem. I use those on a quad and they use at most two CPUs. But I've noticed something odd: if I encode from Pixlet video, it takes forever (using only 1/2 CPU - i.e 80% or so of the machine idle) but if the source is in DV, it takes just 10-15 minutes and uses 2.5 processors worth.



    For a full 1.5 hour movie, the quad takes 15 minutes to go from DV to DVD format not including the burn and that is using 2.5 processors out of 4, which are each 2.5GHz.



    They are at the same bitrate so it's not the HD that's bottleneck when compressing from Pixlet. It's frustrating when apps kill you system by using too much CPU but it's infinitely more frustrating when they go slow but there are unused resources.



    What is the source format you use, DV?
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  • Reply 4 of 4
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Marvin

    What is the source format you use, DV?



    Yes, I used DV. I am afraid to find out how long it would take to make a DVD from an HDV source. For iMovie and FCE sources, I don't think it matters as I believe it has to use the Apple Intermediate Codec in order to edit. I understand that FCP can edit many codecs without using AIC.
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