How can I setup sync to convert more than 1 file at a time? My goal is convert 4 to 8 at a time, at least or let me configure it. My server can handle it.
Is there some hidden config file setting i can tweak to enable this? Under Server → Transcoder, I have Transcoder Quality set to “Make my CPU hurt”; but, that only seems to be for realtime transcoding - not syncing.
/TL;DR
I do this pretty often:
set up new devices
wiping a device and setting up again
mass-change “Quality” rating to save space, or to increase quality because i didn’t like what i had.
It takes a long time to get all 14+ TV shows and episodes and movies back onto the new/wiped device when doing any one of these: and I do all 3 a few times a month, so it is very painfully slow.
I noticed that the vast majority of the time the device(s) all say that the server is “Converting” and that all devices are idle, waiting on the converting.
It seems the server only converts 1 file at a time, for all devices total. My server’s CPU with 12 cores and 24 threads is barely being used, at around 8 to 10 %. HDD throughput is no where near peaks on any disk (i read from one cluster and write the tmp transcoding to a dedicated SSD before syncing).
For example, last night the boss (wife) decided to sync a new tv series that has 72 episodes… And she wanted all episodes on her 128 GB device (Surface 3 w/128GB SD card dedicated to Plex). I’ll give you one guess as to what i am waiting for in order to get the 1 episode I need synced onto my device from an episode this morning. ARGH.
One could say I’ve invested more than the average plex user (or even the 1%?) into my home server:
Intel Xeon E5-2690v3 12C/24T
Engineering sample (cheap!) @ 2.4Ghz, 3.1Ghz turbo ST
20,139 CPU Benchmark (actually benched the ES at 19,911)
64GB DDR-4 ECC ram
no so cheap was more than the CPU
48 TB on SAS2 w/SATA3 4TB drives
Gets ~130 to 170 MB/s per disk over a single SFF-8087 Expander, have seen 1.9 GB/s peak in testing.
24 Gbps max throughput, more than enough for Plex transcoding
240 GB SSD on another SATA3 controller, dedicated to Plex’ “Transcoding/Conversion” temp files
As you can see, I carefully planned for Plex encoding/transcoding to not interfere with the main 24 Gbps bus I have of my storage system (read-only for Plex) and have moved the TMP transocding/processing to a dedicated SSD drive (write for Plex).
Is there a way to setup a “queue” of Plex servers? Like, setup 3 Plex “slave” servers in some VMs/Containers/Docker and have the primary Plex server divvy out the work to be performed?
The sync process should try to use up as much of your CPU as possible. The only thing I can think of is that you are dealing with VC1 encoded files. Plex’s transcoder cannot utilize multiple processors for VC1. This would fit with your 8-10% load numbers. If this is the case I would take the time to turn these into H264 first and get rid of the VC1 files. Then any work you do in the future should go quickly with that powerhouse you have.
Looks like the Sync started properly. It is transcoding just the audio because you have DTS audio, which cannot be synced as-is. The transcoder is running at ~ 5x speed, which is pretty slow for just transcoding audio. I’m trying to find out if there is some sort of limit when transcoding only audio.
One of your users started playing a video during your test that required a full video/audio transcode. Your computer was able to handle both without slowing down. So PMS appears to be working, I just need to check if there is a limit.
BTW, PMS can handle multiple simultaneous transcode streams, but unfortunately, for Sync and Media Optimizer, they are set up as jobs in series.
@MovieFan.Plex said:
BTW, PMS can handle multiple simultaneous transcode streams, but unfortunately, for Sync and Media Optimizer, they are set up as jobs in series.
That was the whole reason I started this thread - to enable this feature, or create Feature Request for it as it is desperately needed.
See my 2nd post above: can I create multiple PMS servers on my network and concurrently transcode with some complex setup?
Looks like the Sync started properly. It is transcoding just the audio because you have DTS audio, which cannot be synced as-is. The transcoder is running at ~ 5x speed, which is pretty slow for just transcoding audio. I’m trying to find out if there is some sort of limit when transcoding only audio.
Please do and let me know! For that particular sync, I think it is for my Windows 10 Pro tablet device.
If I can somehow enable DTS playback on Windows 10, so there is no transcoding, let me know. I know DTS is one of those “needs a license for” kind of things. I have several PowerDVD and similar software, all with a DTS license to make it legal.
One of your users started playing a video during your test that required a full video/audio transcode. Your computer was able to handle both without slowing down. So PMS appears to be working, I just need to check if there is a limit.
Not sure if you saw my system specs above… But, yes it was able. I’ve stressed the PMS setup for 11 transcoding streams at the same time, and the server only utilized about 58% CPU across the 24 threads (12 cores). It has a CPU rating of nearly 20,000.
Got some info. Yes, some audio decoders/encoders can only utilize 1 core similar to the limitation for certain video codecs.
@eduncan911 said:
That was the whole reason I started this thread - to enable this feature, or create Feature Request for it as it is desperately needed.
Plex currently does do 1 file at a time, so a feature request would be the most appropriate. Please post in http://forums.plex.tv/categories/feature-bug-voting and include “[Feature Request]” in the title.
If I can somehow enable DTS playback on Windows 10, so there is no transcoding, let me know. I know DTS is one of those “needs a license for” kind of things. I have several PowerDVD and similar software, all with a DTS license to make it legal.
Any license would be tied to the program. I would doubt the license would cover all uses on the computer.
Please do and let me know! For that particular sync, I think it is for my Windows 10 Pro tablet device.
It is not possible to sync DTS audio currently to any device. The Sync mechanism doesn’t currently take into account the codec capabilities of the target device so it ends up using a generic profile to ensure compatibility. We are looking to enhance Sync features in the future but i have nothing specific to share.
Plex currently does do 1 file at a time, so a feature request would be the most appropriate. Please post in http://forums.plex.tv/categories/feature-bug-voting and include “[Feature Request]” in the title.
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bumping the thread – plex still today (January 2020) syncs only one file at a time. Can someone at Plex share some insight as to whether this (configurable simultaneous conversions for sync) is something that can be implemented?
was more than the CPU