[FFmpeg-user] -threads option has no effect

[Rohit Talwar]

Hi

I ran the command - ffmpeg -threads <number of threads> -i <my file.avi>
<target.mp4> hoping it would not hog my cpu and consume only one core of my
machine. But it was still taking up all of my cpu. I ran the following
experiments to confirm my suspicion that including the -threads option has
no effect on cpu usage.

1. One instance of ffmpeg with -threads 1 -- results in full cpu usage

2. One instance of ffmpeg with -threads 2 -- results in full cpu usage
(similar was the case with -threads 3 and 4)

3. 2 Instances of ffmpeg one with -threads as 2 and the other with -threads
1 -- result both instances used same amount of cpu ~45-48%

4. 3 Instances of ffmpeg all with -threads 1 -- result is the same equal
cpu usage summing to ~95% of cpu

-threads option as advertised here [0] does not seem to work in that way.
I launch ffmpeg from inside a java program and am trying to limit its cpu
consumption, can anyone point me in the right direction on how to achieve
this.

Thanks !!

[0]
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4565567/how-can-i-limit-ffmpeg-cpu-usage

-- 
Regards

Rohit Talwar