Batch Jobs

The Jobs window on the Batch page contains a list of files; past, present and future that are queued up for conversion. Each line shows the name of the input file, the output file and the current status of the encoding. You can see more details if you hover over a line item with your mouse pointer which causes a window to pop-up displaying the full file paths and which profile is being used.

Along the bottom of the Jobs window, there are a series of buttons for manipulating items in the queue. The first will be labeled Stop or Resume depending on what the doctor is currently doing. You'll probably need to use the Resume button to start encoding the first video on the Job list although there is a setting under Preferences to automatically start encoding.

Moving to the right you'll find the Configure button. If you have second thoughts about what encoding options you want to use, you can highlight any item in the job list and press the Configure button to make some tweaks. Dr. DivX will the job back to the File page where you can readjust the encoding parameters before pressing the Encode button to put the file back on the Batch page.

Of course there's a Remove button in the middle that obliterates jobs from the batch. Just highlight the item you want gone and press Remove. Be careful though. Dr. DivX will drop the job straight away without the customary, are you sure? warning.

The last two buttons are to reshuffle videos in the queue. Dr. DivX will work through the list sequentially from the top. If you care about which files get converted first, you can use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the sequence.

Batch Plugins

If you are really into encoding videos in batches, you might like to tinker with even more tools to automate processing your files. The Batch Plugins feature gives you lots of flexibility. Plugins are automatically executed as each job from the batch list is completed. There are a variety of plugins to choose from. For example, you can have your encoded videos automatically uploaded to a remote FTP server or simply ask the doctor play a sound when each job is done. There is even a plugin that lets you run any other application you'd like.

New plugins can be added to Dr. DivX by placing the new plugin DLL file into the Plugins directory. Someday there might be a Dr. DivX Developer's Guide that explains how to make new plugins. For now, you are on your own.

Add a Plugin

To add a plugin to one of the jobs in the batch list, highlight the job, and then click on the Add button under the Plugins box. You'll see a list of plugins to choose from in the Plugin Selection window. Click on the name of the plugin you want to use, fill in any options that are required, and then click on the Add button.

You can specify multiple plugins for each job and each job can have its own unique combination of plugins. When the job is complete, Dr. DivX will invoke the plugins you requested.

Batch Running Jobs Status

The Jobs Status box will keep you apprised of the doctor's progress while encoding your videos. Highlight a job in the batch list and the status box will indicate if the job is waiting to start, currently in progress, or completed. While the encoding is in progress, Dr. DivX will show some entertaining graphs parading by to assure you that real work is being done. When a job is complete, there will be two buttons in the Job Status box that will help you find your newly encoded video or start playing the video for your review.

Thread Priority

If it weren't for Thread Priority, using Dr. DivX would be unbearable. By default, the priority is set to Low. You probably want to leave it there. Encoding videos can take a long time. Actually, it can take a really long time. Using the highest quality settings, a full-length movie may take 15 hours to encode on an older PC. If you don't have a computer to dedicate to the task, you probably want to be able to do a few other things while your videos are being processed.

Setting the priority to Low means that the doctor's work takes a back seat to your work. You can go right ahead surfing the net or writing your term paper. Your computer won't feel much slower than it ever does. Dr. DivX will only work when your computer is idle. That's actually more often than you might imagine. While you are reading a page or trying to decide what to type next, your computer isn't doing much of anything. Dr. DivX uses that time to get some video encoding done.

The beauty of the arrangement is, if you are in a hurry for your video; just take your hands off the keyboard. The doctor should cruise along at top speed as long as your computer isn't trying to do anything else. That's why there are few reasons to bump the priority up to anything above Low. Your computer can't go faster than 100% and as long as you aren't using anything else, Dr. DivX will work just as fast on Low priority as on High priority. Although, for the best speed, you might want to turn off any screen savers you normally use.