avconv: Saving MP4 Process Hangs

Question

not entirely sure if I should post this on askubuntu or stackoverflow. Posted on askubuntu and not getting any answers. I'm hoping I can find an answer here.

I'm setting up a website where users can upload videos and share them. I'm using avconv to reduce the video size and save it twice, once as an mp4 and again as a webm.

Uploading a .MOV from a phone, the video conversion is quick and manageable.

Uploading a .mp4 from a Samsung Galaxy S3, the video conversion to webm is also quick. But, the conversion to another mp4 takes FOREVER - literally hours. Why? Is anyone able to shed light on the problem?

My avconv output is below.

avconv -i /path/video.mp4 -c:v libx264 -vf transpose=1,transpose=1,transpose=1 -s 640x480 /path/video-out.mp4
avconv version 0.8.17-4:0.8.17-0ubuntu0.12.04.1, Copyright (c) 2000-2014 the Libav developers
built on Mar 16 2015 13:26:50 with gcc 4.6.3
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/path/video.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 0
    compatible_brands: isom3gp4
    creation_time   : 2015-09-04 15:08:21
Duration: 00:00:07.76, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 11756 kb/s
Stream #0.0(eng): Video: h264 (Constrained Baseline), yuv420p, 1280x720, 11967 kb/s, 29.81 fps, 90k tbr, 90k tbn, 180k tbc
Metadata:
  creation_time   : 2015-09-04 15:08:21
Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 119 kb/s
Metadata:
  creation_time   : 2015-09-04 15:08:21
File '/path/video-out.mp4' already exists. Overwrite ? [y/N] y
[buffer @ 0xc3d580] w:1280 h:720 pixfmt:yuv420p
[scale @ 0xc3dac0] w:1280 h:720 fmt:yuv420p -> w:640 h:480 fmt:yuv420p flags:0x4
[transpose @ 0xc3e280] w:640 h:480 dir:1 -> w:480 h:640 rotation:clockwise vflip:0
[transpose @ 0xc3e7c0] w:480 h:640 dir:1 -> w:640 h:480 rotation:clockwise vflip:0
[transpose @ 0xc3ede0] w:640 h:480 dir:1 -> w:480 h:640 rotation:clockwise vflip:0
[libx264 @ 0xc2b100] MB rate (108000000) > level limit (983040)
[libx264 @ 0xc2b100] using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 FastShuffle SSE4.2 AVX
[libx264 @ 0xc2b100] profile Main, level 5.1
[libx264 @ 0xc2b100] 264 - core 120 r2151 a3f4407 - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2011 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=1 ref=3 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x1:0x111 me=hex subme=7 psy=1 psy_rd=1.00:0.00 mixed_ref=0 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=1 8x8dct=0 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=1 chroma_qp_offset=-2 threads=3 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 bluray_compat=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=0 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 weightb=0 open_gop=1 weightp=2 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40 intra_refresh=0 rc_lookahead=40 rc=crf mbtree=1 crf=23.0 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=0 qpmax=69 qpstep=4 ip_ratio=1.25 aq=1:1.00
Output #0, mp4, to '/path/video-out.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 0
    compatible_brands: isom3gp4
    creation_time   : 2015-09-04 15:08:21
    encoder         : Lavf53.21.1
    Stream #0.0(eng): Video: libx264, yuv420p, 480x640, q=-1--1, 180k tbn, 90k tbc
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2015-09-04 15:08:21
    Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: libvo_aacenc, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 200 kb/s
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2015-09-04 15:08:21
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (h264 -> libx264)
  Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (aac -> libvo_aacenc)
Press ctrl-c to stop encoding

Here's an example frame output:

frame=124398 fps=142 q=33.0 size=   16885kB time=1.38 bitrate=100110.2kbits/s dup=124356 drop=0

I've had the process running the whole time I've been writing this question, and so far it's done... 22 frames.

What could be the problem?

EDIT: And this isn't a huge file, either. It's something like 11 megs, 1280 x 720.

EDIT AGAIN: Since posting the question, the process has just started hanging, and won't move past frame... 32 or so.

EDIT AGAIN: Hard rebooted the server in case the CPU was just getting overwhelmed with other processes. No dice, same problem.

Answer 1

For anyone finding this and experiencing a similar problem, the issue is basically that avconv sucks, and is full of bugs. Switching to using FFmpeg immediately fixed the problem.