Handbrake - 2 encodes at once

[rebelstriker]

I'm in the process of using handbrake to put my library on my ATV. I have 2 DVD drives and was wondering if it was possible to encode 2 DVDs at once. So far I have had no luck. I tried downloading Handbrake a second time and opening another window and trying the second one from there, but it does not work. When I start the second one it stops the first encode.

Thanks

 

[alust2013]

I don't believe it is possible to do two at once, but even if you could, they would be lower quality and it wouldn't be any faster, as just one encode will use up all the processing power it can get, so with two, they would have half the power available, which reduces both speed and quality.

 

[rodman109110]

Why would it reduce the quality of the encode if you were doing two at once? Wouldn't it just take a lot longer to process the movies while still achieving the same results as if you were doing one encode?

 

[waw74]

use the queue, let handbrake finish one and the start the other automatically.

you really won't gain that much time by having 2 running at a time, it will probably be a bit faster overall to just let it do one at a time.

what computer do you have?

 

[rebelstriker]

I have a 2011 27" iMac with 3.4 GHz i7 Processor and 16 GB RAM, so processing power isn't an issue.

I was wanting to be able to set both to run and leave for a while, even if it took longer for them both to finish. I am, however, unfamiliar with the the queuing works on Handbrake, would that be a better option?

 

[ansalmo]

If you have a lot of DVDs to transcode then you'd be best to consider a more effective workflow. As an example, I use RipIt to rip the DVDs to my hard drive and then enqueue them in HandBrake. You can keep ripping more DVDs one after another whilst HB's doing its thing, and just add them to the queue. HB just works through each rip in the queue in turn, so you can build it up and then leave it running for several hours.

 

[88 King]

Do you have Windows 7? It is possible to have multiple HandBrake encoding on Windows. The 2011 i7 imac can handle 3 HandBrake encoding at the sometime without drop performance in Windows 7 on the default ipad setting.

 

[rowley]

I'd use the queue, having two instances running would make your hard drive work really hard.

I've tried multiple instances on a windows pc (3ghz, 8gb ram), and the machines just melts with Disk IO.

 

[88 King]

I'd use the queue, having two instances running would make your hard drive work really hard.

I've tried multiple instances on a windows pc (3ghz, 8gb ram), and the machines just melts with Disk IO.

I've been use ssd on my last few machines, forgot the I/O limit on mechanical hard drive.

 

[DustinT]

If you have a lot of DVDs to transcode then you'd be best to consider a more effective workflow. As an example, I use RipIt to rip the DVDs to my hard drive and then enqueue them in HandBrake. You can keep ripping more DVDs one after another whilst HB's doing its thing, and just add them to the queue. HB just works through each rip in the queue in turn, so you can build it up and then leave it running for several hours.

This is the approach I'd use. Much more effective use of resources. You could easily add in dozens of DVDs for Handbrake to encode and let it run for hours.

 

[gnasher729]

I'd use the queue, having two instances running would make your hard drive work really hard.

I've tried multiple instances on a windows pc (3ghz, 8gb ram), and the machines just melts with Disk IO.

Check exactly what amount of I/O is happening and send the good guys developing Handbrake an error report. On my Mac memory usage for Handbrake is trivial (tens of MB only), and disk I/O is trivial (few MB per second max).

I've been use ssd on my last few machines, forgot the I/O limit on mechanical hard drive.

Handbrake doesn't even slow down when the DVDs are on another machine over a wireless network. Next time you run Handbrake start Activity Monitor and see what actually happens.

 

[rebelstriker]

I use RipIt to rip the DVDs to my hard drive and then enqueue them in HandBrake. You can keep ripping more DVDs one after another whilst HB's doing its thing, and just add them to the queue. HB just works through each rip in the queue in turn, so you can build it up and then leave it running for several hours.

Good idea. I'll look into RipIt.

Thanks for the help guys.