No video conversion with Emby Premiere

[ielmax 1]

Hello,

I have Emby server on ASUSTOr and I’m very happy about it but I have to migrate to Synology and Emby does not behave in the same way at all.
I pass on the special settings and permissions (at the expense of security) through which it is necessary to run Emby on Synology...

The big problem I can’t solve is this:
Video conversion does not work at all.
Once the conversion is complete I always have the original video and, in addition, several 600 MB files (video(1), video(1)(1), video(1)(1)(1),...) whose total size is that of the original file...
Unable to get a converted video in the correct format.
This problem seems to be specific to the Synology server, the conversion works perfectly on my ASUSTOR servers as on my PC

 

Thanks you for your answers

[Luke 37183]

Quote

Video conversion does not work at all.
Once the conversion is complete I always have the original video and, in addition, several 600 MB files (video(1), video(1)(1), video(1)(1)(1),...) whose total size is that of the original file...

Hi there, can you please go over a specific example? What were you expecting? Thanks.

[ielmax 1]

Hi,

I was just expecting a converted video according to the settings I chose.
Namely a single file, . mkv with the original name of the video, and my conversion choices (H264, aac, 1.5 Mbps).
In short, the result I have always obtained on all the servers used until today.

Instead, for an original video (ex: Spiders.mkv) h262,aac, and 4Mbps I get about ten files (Spiders - custom.mkv, Spiders - custom (1).mkv, Spiders - custom (1) (1).mkv, Spiders - custom (1) (1) (1).mkv,...) of 618Mb each and only 1.0 Mbps.

In addition, once my work folder is emptied, new files (Spiders - custom.mkv, Spiders - custom (1).mkv, Spiders - custom (1) (1).mkv, ...) appear over time without me asking anything.

[Carlo 4331]

@ielmax Can you show us what the meta-info looks like on the detail screen for spiders.mkv?

Can you also upload the server log file covering the time period these took place?

[ielmax 1]

Voici les meta-infos des vidéos originales (Spider.mkv) et "converties" (Spiders - custom.mkv et Spiders - custom (1).mkv) après un nouvel essai...

en pièces jointes les journaux du serveur emby pour cette conversion.

/volume1/Video/Conversions/Spiders.mkv
MKV    2563MB

Vidéo
Titre    1080p MPEG4
Codec    MPEG4
Profil    Simple Profile
Niveau    1
Résolution    1920x1080
Ratio d’aspect    16:9
Entrelacé    Non
Images par seconde    25
Débit    4 178 kbps
Profondeur des échantillons    8 bit
Format des pixels    yuv420p
Images de référence    1

Audio
Titre    English AAC 5.1 (Default)
Langue    English
Codec    AAC
Profil    LC
Disposition    5.1
Chaînes    6 ch
Débit    320 kbps
Taux d’échantillonnage    44 100 Hz
Par défaut    Oui

/volume1/Video/Conversions/Spiders - custom.mkv
MKV    618MB

Vidéo
Titre    480p H264
Codec    H264
AVC    Oui
Profil    High
Niveau    30
Résolution    720x404
Ratio d’aspect    3048:1717
Entrelacé    Non
Images par seconde    25
Débit    1 007 kbps
Profondeur des échantillons    8 bit
Format des pixels    yuv420p
Images de référence    1

Audio
Titre    English AAC 5.1 (Default)
Langue    English
Codec    AAC
Profil    LC
Disposition    5.1
Chaînes    6 ch
Débit    320 kbps
Taux d’échantillonnage    44 100 Hz
Par défaut    Oui

 

/volume1/Video/Conversions/Spiders - custom (1).mkv
MKV    618MB

Vidéo
Titre    480p H264
Codec    H264
AVC    Oui
Profil    High
Niveau    30
Résolution    720x404
Ratio d’aspect    3048:1717
Entrelacé    Non
Images par seconde    25
Débit    1 007 kbps
Profondeur des échantillons    8 bit
Format des pixels    yuv420p
Images de référence    1

Audio
Titre    English AAC 5.1 (Default)
Langue    English
Codec    AAC
Profil    LC
Disposition    5.1
Chaînes    6 ch
Débit    320 kbps
Taux d’échantillonnage    44 100 Hz
Par défaut    Oui

 

 

embyserver.txt ffmpeg-transcode-aada6b17-071f-4cde-88e2-89fe2d3da4aa_1.txt

[Carlo 4331]

Looking at your log I see the following error taking place:
System.UnauthorizedAccessException: System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path is denied.

Please check to make sure the destination media folders have read/write permissions set for Emby Server.

Let us know what you find or what the current permissions are set to.

Carlo

[ielmax 1]

The Emby user has all the permissions of an administrator on the entire shared folder containing work folders, including those that are not related to Emby Server.
There is no other possibility despite the risk that this represents for the other files and data...

Otherwise, I don’t know which folder Emby Server is denied access to or which folders it may need apart from those containing the media files it is asked to manage. Regarding permissions on specific installation and work folders and/or in the background of the server this should be managed at installation as it seems to be the case on my other NAS.

[Carlo 4331]

Assuming this is running on Synology you need to grant read/write access to the "emby" system internal user:

Check this post out to see if it helps.

Let us know how you make out after applying these permissions and restarting Emby Server.

Carlo

[ielmax 1]

Hi,

I have granted read/write access to the user "emby" for a long time, otherwise it would be impossible to create mediaeques on emby server, it would be especially impossible that this one manages to create all these parasitic files.

In addition, since my last post, and without my intervention in any way, these files have multiplied.

Oddly, the creation date is always the same while the time changes. You can check on the attached screenshot that the last file (Spiders - custom (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1).mkv, created at 09:56) was created before the others (11:56 to 14:56)

[Carlo 4331]

Just to make sure we're talking the same thing.  Granting access to the "emby" user was for DSM versions up to and including version 6.
DSM 7 uses a different account that is the system internal emby user as linked to above.

BTW, meant to mention this before.  Your server log is hard to read due to all the harmless errors being logged trying to setup automatic port mapping that your router isn't allowing.
You don't need this enabled so go to Emby Server's Network menu and turn off the option to try and automatically map ports.

Your above issue is that Emby is reprocessing the converted files as if they are the original files which is likely permission related.  Once you have the auto port mapping turned off and restart the server the logs will be much easier to read and we can see if any other errors or issues show up.

For now, please check to make sure if running DSM 7 that the system internal emby user has read/write permissions to all locations used by this process.

[ielmax 1]

I have just acquired my Synology server in order to definitively replace my ASUSTOR which has reached its limits. So I am in DSM 7 and have never known version 6.
I have a user of the internal system "emby" to whom I have assigned read/write access on the work file. I don’t know if I should give him the same access on other files.

Some additional files appeared while the folder had been completely emptied, which leaves me puzzled...

Anyway I have just disabled the automatic port mapping on emby server and empty the working folder again. I am going to do a conversion test with another video to eliminate the possibility of seeing new copies of the first one and I am sending you the results of the test with the corresponding logs.

Thanks again for your help.

[Carlo 4331]

Normally you would not assign rights to specific files but would do it at the share level for media.  For other things such as conversions, transcoding or similar you would want to grant the internal system emby user read/write access at the parent level which could be just the directory itself.

But it's important to set this at the directory/folder level and not file level so new files can be created that inherit the permissions of the directory.

 

[ielmax 1]

Hi,

After disabling the automatic port mapping the situation has greatly improved, the conversion is done almost correctly since I have only one result file.

However, this file does not match the requested parameters. For a requested bitrate of 1.5 Mbps we obtain a real bitrate of 930 kbps, 1,010 kbps for 2 Mbps requested or 1,801 kbps for 3 Mbps...

For comparison on my ASUSTOR or on a PC I get the same results for the same media on all servers, 1,311 kbps for 1.5 Mbps requested.

 

After some additional tests I can summarize the situation as follows:

On Synology, read rights must be granted to the internal user of the system “emby” in order to create media libraries. These accesses can only be granted at the highest level of the shared folder, not on sub-folders. Be careful to create a specific shared folder for emby.

To convert media it is imperative that the accesses are read/write (always at the highest level of the shared folder).

It is imperative to disable automatic port mapping, this is what causes a multiplication of converted files (object of this post).

Finally, converting to Synology degrades the media considerably compared to other servers.

Thanks again for your help.

[Carlo 4331]

I don't think the automatic port mapping needs to be off (especially if it's working), but if you don't have UPnP turned on for the router then it's just throwing errors which get logged and that could be an issue.  But like you said, just turn it off anyway if not using it as it makes the logs a lot easier to read!

What did you mean by this?

On 2/17/2022 at 12:29 PM, ielmax said:

Finally, converting to Synology degrades the media considerably compared to other servers.

 

[ielmax 1]

On 2/22/2022 at 12:51 AM, cayars said:

What did you mean by this?

On 2/17/2022 at 6:29 PM, ielmax said:

Finally, converting to Synology degrades the media considerably compared to other servers.

Hi,

I simply say that on all my previous servers I had a result that suited me, the video perfectly matched what I had asked in terms of container, codecs, audio and video rate (always the same result regardless of the server) and that on the Synology the result does not correspond to what is requested, in particular the bitrate does not exceed half of what is requested which gives a video of poor quality.
I tried by multiplying the bitrate by 2, the result still does not match what I want. I don’t have time to manually search for the right bitrate for each video, (I have more than 3000).
I have to use a PC only for this because the emby conversion does not work properly on Synology and it takes time.

[Carlo 4331]

If it's working differently on Synology than other OSes like Windows that would be an issue we need to look at as you should get the same results, using the same media.
The only difference might be different hardware used.  For example you could be using QuickSync on the Synology but Nvidia on a PC and those could produce different results.
Same with doing software vs hardware transcoding which will produce difference results but all of them should be similar to what's requested.

If you have Emby setup on a PC as well as your Synology make sure you're using the same version of Emby and try converting the same media on both servers to see if there really is a difference.  If you find this to be the case we can take a look at both sets of logs to figure out why.

[Luke 37183]

@ielmax I looked at your ffmpeg log example of 1.5 mbps. I think the answer to keep in mind is that 1.5 mbps corresponds to the entire file bitrate, not the video.

So the audio stream takes 320 kbps from that, and then the video stream gets the remaining amount, which will be less than 1.5 mbps. 

Does this help answer your question?

[ielmax 1]

I’m sorry, but that doesn’t quite answer my question.

I know very well what these figures represent, I have been working in video for several years, windows was not yet invented...

Nevertheless, the result on Synology is about half of what is required.
Whether I work on a PC, in Windows, in Linux or on an ASUSTOR server the result is substantially identical, a speed close to 1.5 Mbps (between 1.2 and 1.3 depending on the video) and a file size of about 1.2 GB.
With Synology the resulting file does not exceed 600 MB for a bitrate of 800 to 1000 BPS and an image quality close to a good old VHS.

I did several tests with the same emby version (4.6.7.0) installed on the different machines, always starting from the same files to always get the same results, satisfactory on all systems, disappointing on Synology.

[Carlo 4331]

Try using the same file on a couple different platforms with the same conversion job.
Grab screen shots of the resulting file meta-data and send that with the any logs for that period of time.

If they generate differently on similar hardware the logs will show why.  But I think we're comparing apples and oranges as you likely are using Nvidia or software transcoding on one box and then QuickSync on the Synology. They're going to produce difference results.

[ielmax 1]

10 hours ago, cayars said:

But I think we're comparing apples and oranges as you likely are using Nvidia or software transcoding on one box and then QuickSync on the Synology. They're going to produce difference results.

You’re basically explaining to me that if I buy fruit in the same place they’ll be twice as big at the finish line if I transport them by car rather than by motorcycle...

If what you say is true it is absolutely necessary to forbid the use of emby on Synology because the degradation of the files is much too important.

 

10 hours ago, cayars said:

Try using the same file on a couple different platforms with the same conversion job.
Grab screen shots of the resulting file meta-data and send that with the any logs for that period of time.

I’m sending you the logs and the latest test info. Same original file, conversion results on ASUSTOR and Synology.

Rather, I think there is a different predefined parameter on Synology that I have no access to.

Resultat Synology.txt Resultat ASUSTOR.txt Original.txt ASUSTOR ffmpeg-transcode-f5ab251f-68d0-49a7-9fbc-a6c573bb725a_1.txt synology ffmpeg-transcode-b4c0680d-157d-464b-a9bf-620fb14993c1_1.txt Synology ffmpeg-transcode-692d8d97-d302-49ee-b8b9-df2b8527a0f6_1.txt Synology ffmpeg-transcode-92f0d85b-64fe-4e24-8fbc-0183c68e42e7_1.txt

[Luke 37183]

I notice that on Asustor you're using hardware transcoding and on Synology you're using software transcoding. As it turns out, the hardware encoders generally tend to come closer to the maximum bitrate that we request than do the software encoders. It's something we are looking into tweaking to get them closer.

Actually if you'd like to help, try lowering the server transcoding CRF option on the Synology. Let me know how far down you have to lower it in order to match the bitrate of the output on Asustor. When you're done I would suggest changing it back to the default 23 as it will impact streaming transcoding as well. 

Thanks.

[Luke 37183]

But I wouldn't go lower than 18. Once you get to 18, if it still doesn't match, then I would try changing the h264 preset option to one of the slower options. And again, I would make sure to set it back to the default veryfast when you're done. Thanks.

[Carlo 4331]

On 3/6/2022 at 3:58 AM, ielmax said:

I’m sending you the logs and the latest test info. Same original file, conversion results on ASUSTOR and Synology.

Rather, I think there is a different predefined parameter on Synology that I have no access to.

Which model Synology do you have?  Same for Asustor?
Does your Synology NAS support hardware transcoding?
Have you tried a test conversion with the Asustor set to software and not hardware transcoding?

The Asustor info would be a good help to show the difference on the same box doing both software and hardware conversions.

[ielmax 1]

Synology DS1821+ (2.2 Ghz, 32GB RAM, HD 8*16TB)
ASUSTOR AS6404T (1.5 GHz, 8GB RAM, HD 4*16TB)

I confess that I did not verify it by purchasing it but it seems that the Synology does not support material transcoding.

I lowered the CRF to 16 for a result corresponding to what I want although always weaker. Unfortunately the result remains random and depends a lot on the starting file.

I will now test on the ASUSTOR in software transcoding leaving the CRF at 23 and I give you the results.

Thanks again for your help.

[Carlo 4331]

Thanks for doing that.  Did you get a chance to do any additional testing?