Use Parallel Encoding to Compress Faster in Adobe Media Encoder

NOTE: I rediscovered this feature while researching my recent webinar: Media Compression in Adobe Media Encoder.

There’s a feature in Adobe Media Encoder that can speed your compression work: Parallel Encoding. Here’s how it works.

In Media Encoder > Preferences > General make sure that Enable Parallel Encoding is checked.

Import the clip you want to compress and assign at least two different compression presets to it. (You can, of course, only assign one, but parallel encoding only kicks in when you are creating more than one compressed version of a source file.)

In this example, I’m creating three versions: SD, 720p and 1080p.

NOTE: You could create separate versions for YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and Twitter. However, each of these is actually compressed the same way, the only difference is what happens to the compressed file. You could handle this more easily by assigning multiple Publish tasks to the same compressed file.


(Image courtesy of Jody Eldred. (JodyEldredProductions.com))

Now, when you compress the file, AME plays the source file once, while creating three separate compressed files at the same time. This minimizes the time AME spends playing the same file over and over, while delivering your compressed files much more quickly.

Cool.


Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Use Parallel Encoding to Compress Faster in Adobe Media Encoder

  1. bunny says:

    Hi, I was wondering why this only works with one file to multiple destination codecs. It was kind of disappointing that Adobe ME doas not support parallel encoding of a batch encoding list. I have 12 CPU-Cores (24 with hyperthreading) and with that AME should start as many encodings as possible in parallel. I don’t get the point why this is not possible. Is this feature still to com? Or are there any obsticles in principal that avoids this?

    • Larry says:

      Bunny:

      This is a really good question that can only be answered by Adobe. However, my suspicion is that the basic programing architecture of Adobe Media Encoder (AME) is based on a time when CPUs were much less powerful. Adding support for multiple concurrent compression tasks would, probably, require a major rewrite of the entire application. And, given all the stuff Adobe is working on, they probably figure that the amount of effort needed to accomplish this is not worth delaying other projects for.

      But that’s just my guess.

      Larry

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Larry Recommends:

FCPX Complete

NEW & Updated!

Edit smarter with Larry’s latest training, all available in our store.

Access over 1,900 on-demand video editing courses. Become a member of our Video Training Library today!

JOIN NOW

Subscribe to Larry's FREE weekly newsletter and save 10%
on your first purchase.