nVidia CUDA encoder

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Solved by

Jan 23, 2015 19:16

Because the known issue with the latest nVidia drivers not supporting anymore the CUDA accelerated video encoding, Cyberlink posted a notification:
http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector-ultimate/spec_en_US.html

For users of NVIDIA cards who have updated to graphics driver 340.43 or later, the video hardware acceleration feature in PowerDirector is no longer available. To re-enable hardware acceleration, please download and install an earlier driver.

Basically, that applies only to the cards in Tesla or Fermi generation (GeForce series 2xx, 4xx or 5xx, and Quadro series without a "K" in name). If we update the drivers past version 337.88, it wipes out the CUDA encoding capability of nVidia cards (so HA in in PowerDirector disappears).
The Kepler and Maxwell generation cards rely on a integrated hardware encoder (nvenc), so they will just switch the hardware acceleration from CUDA to newer nvenc.

My solution for Tesla and Fermi owners is simple:

1. Download the 337.88 drivers from nVidia: http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/75992
2. Extract the drivers on HDD - either by running the exe (will create a nVidia folder on the C drive) or using 7zip extractor.
3. Select the three CUDA encoder .dll files from 337 extracted installation folder and copy them in a safe location. Those .dll files are named:
nvcuvenc.dll, nvcuvenc32.dll and nvcuvenc64.dll.
4. Install the latest nVidia driver as desired.
5. Copy the three files in Windows\System 32 folder (take out the space between the bolded words, forum won't let me post otherwise).
6. Result: CUDA encoding is back for h264 files and nVidia cards from Tesla or Fermi generation.

If you don't want to do your own extracting, I added the files here.
Or, if this post attachment doesn't work, you can use this link with the missing files: CUDA_Encoder.zip
With those you need to do only the steps 5 and 6.

SoNic67

Filename	CUDA_Encoder.zip	Download
Description
Filesize	2541 Kbytes
Downloaded:	1833 time(s)

This message was edited 12 times. Last update was at Dec 24. 2015 06:32

jerryd2558

Member Joined: Jul 03, 2011 19:50 Messages: 60 Offline

Jan 24, 2015 08:47

I have a GeForce 9500Gt with 340.52 driver. I applied your technique of using the 3 dll files. I ran a 60 second test to mp4: took 1 minute 5 seconds with "Fast Video Rendering Technology/Hardware Video Encoder" checked and 26 seconds without! What's going on?

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Jan 24, 2015 11:17

Well, 9500 it is a fairly old card and even back then it was entry level. It's PassMark score is only 291. Compare that with Tesla generation entry level GTS 250 with a score of 901 and Fermi generation entry level GTS 450 that has a score of 1550.

Depending on the CPU, it might be faster, especially if is a newer i3/i5 that has it's own hardware video and encoder.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at Jan 27. 2015 06:16

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Jan 24, 2015 13:04

Thank you SoNic67 for posting the information here.
Dafydd

Doctor Keo

Newbie Location: Paphos, Cyprus Joined: May 25, 2014 08:07 Messages: 10 Offline

Jan 26, 2015 13:57

Hi - I've just updated to PD 13 and had the same problem with nVidia CUDA encoder not being able to enable, so I followed the advice and downgraded my nVidia drivers (Nvidia GeForce 520 GT) - This solved the hardware encoder option problem. I ran the same Produce on a 3 minute 22 second 1920 x 1080 50i video. This new production took 52 minutes 1 minute longer than the production without the HW encoder enabled. I noticed that there was a new version (2408 ) of PD - so installed that and then re-installed the latest nVidia drivers again. I am back to the HW encoder not being an option, and the new version has taken 59 minutes.

Any suggestions, please.

i5 650 @ 3.2GHz
2047 MB nVidia GeForce 520 GT
12GB DDR 3 665MHz HP Pro 3130 i5 650 @ 320Ghz
12GB RAM
Nvidia GT 520
PowerDiirector 13
Windows 7 64 bit

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Jan 26, 2015 18:52

To get back the HA follow the posted indications in the first post.

Doctor Keo

Newbie Location: Paphos, Cyprus Joined: May 25, 2014 08:07 Messages: 10 Offline

Jan 27, 2015 05:01

Thanks for the suggestion - It did restore the option for FVRT, but only improved the rendered time by 3 minutes. Is this what I can expect using the FVRT?

Doc HP Pro 3130 i5 650 @ 320Ghz
12GB RAM
Nvidia GT 520
PowerDiirector 13
Windows 7 64 bit

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Jan 27, 2015 06:15

GT520 is a... very entry-level card, Fermi family, with only 48 cores (running at 810MHz). PassMark bench is 360. See above my comments about a similar card.
Basically your i5 650 at 3.2GHz is as fast as your card.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at Jan 27. 2015 06:21

Doctor Keo

Newbie Location: Paphos, Cyprus Joined: May 25, 2014 08:07 Messages: 10 Offline

Jan 27, 2015 07:50

Hi
Thanks again - The graphic card bit on the computer is a little lost on me - most of the other bits seem to make sense. If I installed a Sapphire Amd R9 285 Dual-X Lite Retail Graphics Card (2GB, 256 Bit, GDDR5, PCI-E) card in my system would I see a significant reduction in rendering time - cost £170 sterling or do i need to think about new motherboard, processor and memory.

Thanks

Doc HP Pro 3130 i5 650 @ 320Ghz
12GB RAM
Nvidia GT 520
PowerDiirector 13
Windows 7 64 bit

HansR

Newbie Location: Allen, TX Joined: Jan 15, 2015 16:07 Messages: 11 Offline

Jan 31, 2015 21:34

Trying to figure out something similar with a brand new GTX780 (thanks to SoNic67 commenting on my GTX 260 a few weeks back...

)

I am using both PD13 and PD8. PD13 is better in every way except working with external codecs (like VC1) which I have been unable to do so far with PD13.

PD13 will do HA with both 338.88 and the latest, 347.25. With 337.88, PD8 retains full HA capability. PD13, on the other-hand, has full HA with one big exception - interlaced AVC. Given that most of my home videos are currently in 1080i and I take advantage of SVRT, PD13's ability to work with 1080i AVC and do HA is highly desirable.

With 347.25, interlaced AVC becomes HA enabled. But PD8 loses all HA. I have tried to use the 3 DLLs (SoNic67 nicely highlighted) with 347.25, but PD8 still does not get HA.

Any thoughts on either:
1 - How to get HA to work for PD8 with 347.25 given that PD8 can do HA with this card under 337.88. OR
2 - How to get HA to work for PD13 with 337.88 for AVC interlaced given that it does so with 347.25.

??

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 31. 2015 21:35

Hans R
i7-920, 12GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 780
Windows 7 64bit

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Jan 31, 2015 22:23

Quote: Any thoughts on either:
How to get HA to work for PD8 with 347.25 given that PD8 can do HA with this card under 337.88. OR

I never had PD8, isn't PD8 only 32 bit? You would need only the 32 bit dll then...

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at Jan 31. 2015 22:28

HansR

Newbie Location: Allen, TX Joined: Jan 15, 2015 16:07 Messages: 11 Offline

Feb 01, 2015 01:37

For some reason, the forum often errors out when I post. Not sure why. Trying again (and its not letting me - only a couple sentences)
------
PD8 is 32 bit - one of the reasons it works so easily with 3rd party codecs. Where (and what) might I look for the 32 bit DLLs?

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at Feb 01. 2015 01:42

Hans R
i7-920, 12GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 780
Windows 7 64bit

HansR

Newbie Location: Allen, TX Joined: Jan 15, 2015 16:07 Messages: 11 Offline

Feb 01, 2015 01:42

I have looked in both system32 and sysWOW64, but not really sure what I am looking for. Hans R
i7-920, 12GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 780
Windows 7 64bit

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Feb 01, 2015 08:19

You cannot post "System 32" in one word. I don't know how you did it above

So if you look in that folder did you see the dll's mentioned in first post (nvcuvenc.dll, nvcuvenc32.dll)?
I have extracted right now the 32 bit driver from nVidia and it has only the nvcuvenc32 inside, maybe that's is what you need for PD8 - see attached. It's digital signature is 2 minutes "newer" compared with the file I extracted from the 64 bit driver package

Filename	nvcuvenc32.dll	Download
Description
Filesize	2357 Kbytes
Downloaded:	693 time(s)

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at Feb 01. 2015 08:32

mar16

Newbie Joined: Feb 01, 2015 16:07 Messages: 1 Offline

Feb 01, 2015 16:08

If after trying these steps you can still not enable hardware decoder (but can enable encode).

Here hows I got mine working(thanks op nonetheless):

Run the program with "Run with graphics Processor" and choose high performance nvidia graphics card. See if that works.

Which is weird because I enable the program to run on high perfomance on default on the nvidia control panel. To run it without choosing the option everytime, I switched from Auto: Integrated to Auto: High performance on the nvidia control panel.

Specs:
Nvidia Geforce GT 540M (Optimus Technology)
Intel Core i5 480m

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Feb 01. 2015 16:24

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Feb 01, 2015 16:38

See that's again Optimus in play.... That's one of the reasons NOT to use a laptop for video editing. Or 3D gaming. Or anything that a modern Android/Apple tablet can't do.

Allan252

Newbie Joined: Feb 09, 2015 13:51 Messages: 1 Offline

Feb 21, 2015 10:16

I have just bought and installed PowerDirector 13 (Director Suite 3)and I am having a problem enabling the HA even after installing the 3 patch files as suggested by Sonic - HA still not enabled. I have also tried rolling back to the driver mentioned before Cuda was removed (337.8

but I am unable to complete installation as I get an error stating that driver is not compatible with Windows 8.1 I then tried the earliest NVIDIA driver for my GTS450 & Windows 8.1 that I could find (340.43) but no luck. I have a NVIDIA GeForce GTS450 graphics card, Intel i7 960 3.3GHz CPU with a Intel DX58S0 motherboard.

Any assistance to solve my problem would be greatly appreciated.

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Mar 01, 2015 10:43

Allan, my files come directly from nVidia 337.88 driver, that nVidia states is compatible with Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.
I actually used the files with a GTS450 card and PD13 without problems (Windows 7).
Note that HA will be enabled only for h264 formats (that's how CUDA encoder was designed).

However, I don't have that card anymore and I don't have Windows 8.1 on my main computer so I cannot test this anymore with latest patches of PD. Check to see if the files are really present in System 32 folder... Installing newer drivers will delete them.

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at Mar 01. 2015 10:52

Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Mar 08, 2015 15:20

How does the above impact the GTX960? (should get mine Monday late, already installed the latest drivers etc.)

And are you aware of any video related software that makes use of the HEVC capabilities? For example will the GOM, media player classic etc. use GPU or CPU decoding for HD?

Thanks

Eugene

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 08. 2015 15:27

73s, WA6JZN ex DL9GC
CYBERLINK PLEASE ADD UHD BLU RAY BURNING SOFTWARE
PD14,
Win10,64bit.CPU i7 6700,16GB ,C= 480 GB SSD ,GPU GTX1060 6GB 1 fan. Plus 3 int, 4 ext HDD's for video etc.LG WH16NS40 reads UHD.
4K 24" ViewSonic monitor.Camera Sony FDR-A

JL_JL

Senior Contributor Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Oct 01, 2006 20:01 Messages: 6091 Offline

Mar 08, 2015 17:54

Quote: How does the above impact the GTX960?

It doesn't, not really applicable. A big step backwards trying to enable older CUDA dll's vs NVENC on a modern card.

Quote: And are you aware of any video related software that makes use of the HEVC capabilities?

PD13 both encode and decode. Many examples of encoding, attached two pics show decoding during playback. CPU decoding with unloaded GPU and GPU decoding with unloaded CPU. A playback "sample" 4K created with PD used as test case so any user can easily compare (4K, 60p, 50Mbps).

Jeff


Filename	CPU decode.png	Download
Description
Filesize	344 Kbytes
Downloaded:	457 time(s)


Filename	GPU_decode.png	Download
Description
Filesize	341 Kbytes
Downloaded:	442 time(s)