Video snaps (.mp4) running slow on RP1

[wirelessjava2002]

I've managed to get my AM layout just as I want it running on my main desktop machine, perfect.

However when transferred over to the Raspberry Pi 1 512k, the video snaps play incredibly slowly.
I've taken them off YouTube from MameVideoSnaps I believe. Converted them with a firefox plugin to create an .mp4 file. Aprox 35 seconds long, and about 1.5 meg in size, 320 x 200 ish

The question is, is there a preferred format, or a process I need to convert the files to, or is it more tuning the RP

Probably a question for @nitrogen_widget as they are running smoothly in his RP video online.

[omegaman]

I would say the mp4 format is preferred for its compatibility and storage. AVI is superior in quality with more detail but has less compatibility and takes up a lot more space for storage. So, mp4 is a no brainier.

I'm also having some video issues on my rpi2. Some of the mpegs run fine but others stop after a second. So, I am trying to track down that issue now.

 

[verion]

mp4 is so convenient, but also CPU intensive if there is no hardware acceleration for decoding.

see my other post with some test data http://forum.attractmode.org/index.php?topic=251.msg1580#msg1580

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even if your system and hardware is capable of hardware video decoding (and both my mac or your rpi are) - AM is not using this acceleration and playing video only using your CPU.
Well... at least on OS X - the same video snap (720p) plays is AM @ 60% CPU and in video player (with hardware decoding) @30%.

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Good candidate for video encoding is XviD (in AVI container). It is less cpu intensive and produces fairy small files.
Or simply FLV - with bigger files but lower CPU usage.

[omegaman]

Verion-

IMHO, Flv is not an efficient option for storage when you have lots of media for multiple emulators. I agree with the CPU utilization part, though. Pros and cons to everything, I guess. 

[verion]

^FLV - Totally agree, it is a waste of space, but it can be the last resort if you want something not CPU intensive.

For me XviD is the best choice for less powerfull hardware. It runs flawlessly on my XBOX (1st gen.) Pentium III 733Mhz without hardware accelerated decoding - so it is more or less on par with RPi 1st gen. computation power.

[wirelessjava2002]

Perfect, cheers guys (kicking myself I didn't spot @verion's thread mentioned above, heavens know what I was searching on)

I converted them to AVI (XVID) and loaded them on the RPI, which worked nice and smooth. Bigger file size as you've mentioned, but runs a lot, lot better on the PI

Many thanks

 

[omegaman]

Wirelessj-

If you come into some extra cash, I highly recommend upgrading to the rpi2 for game emulation. You will be glad that you did. Night and day difference, performance wise.  With the retroarch libretrocores even n64 runs decent.