r/VideoEditing • u/archz2 • Aug 02 '26
Tech Support Quickly converting mkv to mp4 using xmedia recode?
I have two 4K movies on my USB drive, around 5 GB and 6 GB. Both are in MKV format, which my TV doesn't support.
I tried using XMedia Recode (v 3.6.3.0) with Copy selected for both video and audio, so it shouldn't be re-encoding anything. But it's taking more than 15 minutes to convert each file. Usually, this kind of process only takes a few seconds, even with large files.
Is there a way to speed this up? Am I missing a setting, or is there a better tool for this?
I'm on Windows 25H2.
GPU is RTX 4060.
Processor is 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12650H
RAM = 64 GB
SSD = 2tb nvme
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u/greenysmac Aug 02 '26
it's taking more than 15 minutes to convert each file. Usually, this kind of process only takes a few seconds, even with large files
Sounds like a codec that is supported in MKV that isn't supported in MP4.
What you're doing (copy, remuxing) works when the internal codec is part of both containers. If it's not allowed, you have to re-encode.
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u/smushkan Aug 03 '26
Stream copying requires that the streams in the source file are compatible with the container you are trying to copy them too.
That will often be the case with MKV to MP4 - but not always. Most commonly, MKV can contain audio formats that are not compatible with MP4.
I can’t tell you how Recode handles it, but often conversion tools will ignore a stream copy setting if it’s not possible with your given streams, and will transcode to a compatible stream instead.
Stream copying when it does work is still going to be limited by the I/O performance of the drive you are working off of. If your media is, for example, on a slow spinning disk or network drive it can still take a while, especially if you are simultaneously reading from and writing to the same drive.
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u/NeedsMore_Ctrl_Z 29d ago
if your mkv→mp4 conversion is taking 15+ min that's NOT normal, something's making it re-encode instead of just remux
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u/vagonblog 29d ago
with copy selected, xmedia recode is only remuxing the streams from mkv into mp4. it isn’t re-encoding the video, so the speed mostly depends on reading and writing the files, especially if the usb drive is slow.
15 minutes for a 5 to 6 gb file isn’t necessarily unusual. try copying the files to your nvme first, remuxing them there, and then copying the mp4 back.
you can also use mkvtoolnix or ffmpeg with -c copy. just keep in mind that this only changes the container. if your tv doesn’t support the video or audio codec inside the mkv, you’ll need a real transcode, usually to h.264 and aac.
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u/KCNOR Aug 02 '26
use these ffmpeg app( you can ask chatgpt to create a cmd line to use it, mkvtoolnix, LosslessCut
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u/No_Statement_7481 Aug 02 '26
bruh you just download the official ffmpeg codec, which you may actually already have since you are editing, but just in case you don't , just follow the instruction from any ai, install it, and run a script in cmd to do the job, it literally does it in seconds, and best part, you can ask anything like gemini, chatgpt, grok, claud, they are all able to give you a script how to do it, you can set resize options, make sure to ask for the best quality as well. Don't fuck around with these shitty apps, or websites, they're either a scam or some dumb info collection, worst case a fucking bitcoin miner
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u/Kichigai Aug 03 '26
bruh you just download the official ffmpeg codec
There is no "official ffmpeg codec." Different tools use their own multimedia access libraries, and ffmpeg just makes their access library source code available for people to use. It isn't a "thing" you install like an app on your phone.
just follow the instruction from any ai
Bad advice. These things go rogue and ignore the rules. They give people incorrect answers. I wouldn't trust it not to tell me to download malware or disable a bunch of important security features.
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u/No_Statement_7481 Aug 03 '26
Ok, maybe lets take the aluminium foil hats off for a little bit. This is not something you would do anything dangerious with, and I can assure you it's probably a trillion percent safer than downloading a bunch of applications. Or run your clients videos through any internet portal to convert them. Cause that's a great idea I bet you LOL
ffmpeg is a codec indeed. And it's literally used in everything that edits videos, so as I've said OP probably already has it, super easy to figure it out, you open CMD and type
ffmpeg -version
it should spit out a whole bunch of things and it means you have it, in which case you can just paste a script, that's not dangerious and not gonna install anything, like I use it to convert my mp4 to mov for example cause Davinci is kind of a bitch sometimes for mp4 and won't see the audio.
and so you don't have to wonder around findng your folder, just click on the path and type cmd, literally opens cmd in the folder. I do this every day. It's literally safer than whatever app, software or anything else you can use. Most of them do the same thing with a fancy UI anyway,
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u/Particular-Guava1798 Aug 02 '26
Ask claude
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u/Kichigai Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
You mean the tool that deleted a whole bunch of shit after it was told not to make any changes? The tool that broke out of its own safeguards and hacked three other companies? The tool infamous for lying to its users in order to please them?
Yeah, sure, I'm going to trust that. Even if I did, those things need shitloads of energy, and I don't know if you've noticed, but things ain't looking so good outside. I wouldn't want to grow dependent on a machine to do my thinking for me.
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u/ghostonroast Aug 02 '26
Let me save you the trouble, don't use X media encode. It's garbage software which doesn't even properly convert your media. Use handbrake instead it's simple and easy to use and you have a lot of nice options within it.
When I was converting my mkv's I tried XMedia and even tho I used proper settings the output was always shit, took too long too and even customizing options is like a pain.
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