Toast 9 Extremely Slow At Burning .mkv Video Files

[shmootz]

Hello,

 

I am trying to burn a DVD of some .mkv files. I would like it to be playable on my TV. I have started burning the disk over 12 hours ago, however, the disk burning is still only at 37%. It is a 2.2gb file, and I do not believe that it should be taking this long. Is there something that I am doing wrong? If I used the VisualHub software, I could create a DVD file and then use Toast to burn it, however, would that increase the speed overall?

 

Thanks a lot!

Adam

[tsantee]

The .mkv is a container for some form of encoded video, similar to .mov and .avi being containers. So it's hard to know what kind of video Toast is having to convert. I'm wondering what the are the specs of the source video.

 

You say the burning is at 37% complete. The first stage is encoding and the second stage is writing. Which stage are you referring to?

 

The long time this is taking is very curious. It seems that something is greatly slowing this down but I don't have a good guess for what it might be.

[shmootz]

The .mkv is a container for some form of encoded video, similar to .mov and .avi being containers. So it's hard to know what kind of video Toast is having to convert. I'm wondering what the are the specs of the source video.

 

You say the burning is at 37% complete. The first stage is encoding and the second stage is writing. Which stage are you referring to?

 

The long time this is taking is very curious. It seems that something is greatly slowing this down but I don't have a good guess for what it might be.

 

It just finished burning the file after around 48 hours! It was great quality though. I believe it was stuck on the "Encoding" stage. These are the only specs I have of the file:

Format: x264 HDDVD Rip

Video: x264,1280x720, 5700 kbps avg, 23.976 fps

Audio: AC3 5.1 448 kbps

 

I am now testing a .mp4 file and it is still taking forever so far. I have a MacBook with a Double-Layer Super-Drive that came with it. It is only at 2% after around 45 mins of burning. Seems to be slightly faster than the .mkv, however, it is still not reaching acceptable speeds. Thanks!

 

I think I am going to try actually using the "Burn" feature in VisualHub. I will see if it is faster. I will tell you how it goes. Thanks!

 

I would still like to find out what is wrong with Toast

Edited December 14, 2008 by shmootz

[tsantee]

It just finished burning the file after around 48 hours! It was great quality though. I believe it was stuck on the "Encoding" stage. These are the only specs I have of the file:

Format: x264 HDDVD Rip

Video: x264,1280x720, 5700 kbps avg, 23.976 fps

Audio: AC3 5.1 448 kbps

 

I am now testing a .mp4 file and it is still taking forever so far. I have a MacBook with a Double-Layer Super-Drive that came with it. It is only at 2% after around 45 mins of burning. Seems to be slightly faster than the .mkv, however, it is still not reaching acceptable speeds. Thanks!

 

I think I am going to try actually using the "Burn" feature in VisualHub. I will see if it is faster. I will tell you how it goes. Thanks!

 

I would still like to find out what is wrong with Toast

A video with those specs will take a very long time to re-encode to a standard definition DVD. Toast has to decode the h.264 video, resample to 720x480 (anamorphic), and change the frame rate to 30 fps. That's very processor-intensive work. The only way I know to speed it up is with a faster computer and lots of RAM.

[shmootz]

A video with those specs will take a very long time to re-encode to a standard definition DVD. Toast has to decode the h.264 video, resample to 720x480 (anamorphic), and change the frame rate to 30 fps. That's very processor-intensive work. The only way I know to speed it up is with a faster computer and lots of RAM.

 

Why is the .mp4 file also so slow? BTW: I have 4gb of RAM, shouldn't that be plenty?

[tsantee]

Why is the .mp4 file also so slow? BTW: I have 4gb of RAM, shouldn't that be plenty?

Technically, h.264 is a form of .mp4. If the source video is high-definition then it takes a lot of time to convert it down to standard definition. Recognize that Toast must also uncompress the the compressed video before it gets recompressed to MPEG2. It does sound like it is taking longer than what I'd expect. Are you using the Automatic setting? If you have it at the Best quality setting then change to the Better quality and I think that will cut the encoding time about in half. I think Toast turns on Half-Pel when choosing Best which is great when encoding video with lots of action but not needed otherwise.

[shmootz]

Technically, h.264 is a form of .mp4. If the source video is high-definition then it takes a lot of time to convert it down to standard definition. Recognize that Toast must also uncompress the the compressed video before it gets recompressed to MPEG2. It does sound like it is taking longer than what I'd expect. Are you using the Automatic setting? If you have it at the Best quality setting then change to the Better quality and I think that will cut the encoding time about in half. I think Toast turns on Half-Pel when choosing Best which is great when encoding video with lots of action but not needed otherwise.

 

Thanks! Will the "Better" setting still be great quality? I am trying to burn a Planet Earth disk, and the one that took 48 hrs is amazing quality! Will the "Better" setting still retain most of the quality?

[tsantee]

Thanks! Will the "Better" setting still be great quality? I am trying to burn a Planet Earth disk, and the one that took 48 hrs is amazing quality! Will the "Better" setting still retain most of the quality?

It still will look great from such a high-quality source.

[jerryx2000]

A video with those specs will take a very long time to re-encode to a standard definition DVD. Toast has to decode the h.264 video, resample to 720x480 (anamorphic), and change the frame rate to 30 fps. That's very processor-intensive work. The only way I know to speed it up is with a faster computer and lots of RAM.

Hi, I have the new imac 8.1, 2.4GHz, 1GB.

 

MKV coversion takes 12hrs and more! Would it really help to upgrade to 2GB or 4GB? Has anybody tried it out?

 

Thanks

[Pooter]

How did you folks get MKV's to work in Toast 9 in the first place, if I can ask?

 

When I drag one onto the Toast app, I get a dialog indicating that MKV is not a supported file type.

 

I am using the latest version of Toast 9 for Mac.

 

 

[shmootz]

Hi, I have the new imac 8.1, 2.4GHz, 1GB.

 

MKV coversion takes 12hrs and more! Would it really help to upgrade to 2GB or 4GB? Has anybody tried it out?

 

Thanks

 

That's still my prob! I really don't think more RAM would make a significant difference unless you have less than 1GB. Maybe 2GB of RAM would improve the speed, but I don't think the speed will differ between 2GB and 4GB of RAM. I hope this helps.

 

 

How did you folks get MKV's to work in Toast 9 in the first place, if I can ask?

 

When I drag one onto the Toast app, I get a dialog indicating that MKV is not a supported file type.

 

I am using the latest version of Toast 9 for Mac.

 

Click on the Video tab in Toast and drag it onto the open area in the middle of the screen. Then just burn as normal. Hope this helps!

 

EDIT: I forgot to add that Toast is very slow at actually loading the MKV file once importing. You have to wait around 15-20 mins for Toast to successfully import the file. During this time, it will seem that Toast is frozen but just hang in there!

Edited February 25, 2009 by shmootz