Just downloaded and installed newest Nero 6603 and NVE 30114.
On my dual 2.0GHz Xeon computer (1GB RDRAM) it took the new version of Recode (2.2.6.1) with the H.264 codec, about 17 hours to transcode 2 hours of video to the new AVC mp4 format using the "Cinema-AVC" profile. This is about 14 hours longer than the previous "Cinema" profile using H.263.
While the resulting mp4 video was stunning, I noted only 25-30% cpu utilization with priority set to "Normal" throughout the entire encoding process! This seems like very low cpu utilization and could account for the exceedingly long encoding time.
Does anyone have any more insight into this - i.e. why the low cpu utilization and very long encoding time?