I've been trying to convert an .mkv file to MPEG II using the NTSC 16:9 option for several days now with no success. I've attempted about 6 conversions, and eventually give up after about 8 hours have elapsed with no completed MGEG II file. The reason I purchased the MPEG2Works 4 Advanced software was solely for the purpose of converting high resolution films (in this case "Bladerunner: The Director's Cut" - resolution 1280x528) without losing too much picture quality (hence my choice of NTSC 16:9).

I get great results creating high quality MPEG II movies from lower resolution video files with Any DVD Converter Pro (which are quickly multiplexed and burned in Roxio Toast 10 Titanium). But what I can't do with ADCP is create NTSC 16:9 videos. So I'm more than a little frustrated at this point. I don't want to have to buy/download more software to convert .mkv and other high resolution video files so that MPEG2Works 4 Advanced can then make a quick (2-3 hours) NTSC 16:9 conversion. I honestly expected MPEG2Works 4 Advanced to be the all-in-one solution.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? Since the process is simple (open NTSC 16:9, choose the file and hit the start button) I don't know what else I can do. Could it be that the .mkv file I'm attempting to convert is bad? Or are converting high resolution video files using the NTSC 16:9 option also a problem for others here who use MPEG2Works 4 Advanced???

I need help...

Thanks:),
Alan

The encoding speed depends on speed of your Mac and input file format..In case of .mkv, since all the decoding is done via Perian component, the encoding is slower than with some other file formats like .avi or .mov...Try ti find some small .mkv move, not the full lenght HD movie, and do the encoding again just to make sure all is working properly...

You probably noticed that when you opening .mkv in QuickTime, QT first loads, slowly, whole movie...Thehn you are able to play it without problems...Since my app uses QT for decoding and since you are using HD movies to MPEG2 SD encoding the speed is slower than usual...

Thanks for the quick response. I didn't realize the MPEG2Works 4 Advanced application uses QT to encode (although that should have been obvious to me). And yes, I did notice that the .mkv file for the movie took a long time to load when I viewed it on QT to make sure the file was okay. Guess I'll just have to try it again and be more (4-8 hours?) patient...

Thanks again.

Yes, my app uses QuickTime's power for decoding unlike all the other apps which uses ffmpeg engine...QuickTime decoders /components/ and QT in general is much more powerful than ffmpeg and similar things and provides much better quality...Thats why I rely on QT and will do in the future...There is more advantages for using the QT but the speed is not one of them, unfortenatly...But nothing compares to the quality of QT and my 20+ years in video and film business teached me that the quality is always first ..

For example, using the some app based on ffmpeg engine to export DVD movie to DivX .avi will take 8 minutes on my Mac...Using the my application for the same conversion will take longer but the quality will be MUCH better since my app uses DivX component for QuickTime which gives MUCH better quality output and more exporting options that ffmpeg's avi output module...

Also, with my app you can use hardware encoders like El Gato's Turbo and Turbo HD h.264 .. with ffmpeg based apps you cannot use those...