h.264 Hardware Encoding Acceleration, anyone try it?

R

RyanBellaCine

Well-known member
If there is anyone out there who has tried Elgato's new Turbo264 hardware encoder, please do share what they think of it.

If this thing does what it says it does, and can intergrate with Compressor while still maintaining my custom export settings, Well, i just might buy a few of these. Only 100 bucks, this looks to be quite the time saver. And tons cheaper then buying a new rig just to speed up rendering.


here's the link to the product page.

http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvturbo




®yan
 
where do you see that it will integrate with compressor? this could be a life saver for a lot of people who might buy a new computer simply for better video encoding. especially for people doing podcasts or encoding for AppleTV.
 
It seems to show up as a QuickTime export option so I don't see why it wouldn't work with Compressor. I'll write them a note and see if they want to send me a free one to review for the site.

-Noah
 
I'm also very interested in this. My only concern was regarding the output frame size limit. The info is kind of confusing, but it seems to suggest the unit can not output a frame larger than 800x600 (I need 1024x576 every day).

Of course this may just be a limit in their included app and with other Quicktime aware apps you can output what ever you like (as you would normally be able to do with H264), I'm just not sure. I emailed Elgato to ask about this, no reply yet.

I can't see it making too much sense to lock it to only a few frame sizes, so hopefully this is not true.
 
Thats why i'm interested in its intergration with other apps. If we can still use the size settings that we want, and still be able to access its acceleration, then i'm sold. But if its restrected to its own presets, it won't do me any good.

Oh, i didn't meant to imply that it says it works with compressor. I meant "if it does acceleration like it says it does *AND* that if it can intergrate into compressor..."

But it does note that it will work with other quicktime based apps, such as Final Cut Pro, and you don't need to use its software specifically. Thats the magic statement.


I just read the tech specs (didn't notice that link before) where it states it has frame size limits and such. Based on that page, it does look like its outputs are limited to withen its own presets. If that is true, perhaps enough demand on our part will educe them to create a "Pro" model that will have no restrictions in output.

If they are smart enough to do it, they would sell those things like hot cakes.
 
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Spot on Ryan. I just got en email back from Elgato:

"The Turbo actually encodes in preconfigured profiles. It's a tiny little encoder, so 800x600 is the maximum of what the hardware can reliably do. The current version does not allow customisation of the profiles or a one time custom export to a format."

What a shame, I thought this was going to be a life saver, but that limit is not good enough for my work unfortunately.

I'll pass me feelings on, anyone else who would like a hardware encoder with pro frame sizes or even better, customisable pre-sets, let them know.
 
thats a bummer, h.264 is a hog

thats a bummer, h.264 is a hog

Even on the latest and greatest that codec is a pain in my arse.
 
NoahK said:
I wouldn't be surprised if what you want already exists, just nowhere near Elgato's price point.

http://radio.irt.de/docs/codecs.html

Noah
Click to expand...

I've no doubt. The thing is that Elgato's approach is spot on with regard to simply integrating with Quicktime apps. However that's a great list, can you point to a product along the lines we are talking about? Thanks
 
Here's an interesting post regarding a company building PCI, Express Card and USB H264 solutions, which would eventually go up to HD at "very affordable" prices.

Their site only shows the SD PCI card as of now, hopefully more to come from these guys.

Edit - Here's their Express Card solution. Say's available March 2007, but can't immediately see at what price and where from. It is SD only though :-(
 
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