Does MP4 conversion use up space?

Discussion in 'Mac Apps and Mac App Store' started by Tulani, Jan 17, 2014.

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  1. Tulani, Jan 17, 2014

    Tulani macrumors 6502a

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    #1
    i am noticing that each time i use a mac app on my air to convert HD videos of other forms to mp4 they seem to eat up my storage space.

    is this a correct observation?:eek:
     
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  2. maflynn, Jan 17, 2014

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    #2
    I'd say so, as it needs some temp space to do any conversion and after the conversion wouldn't you have two copies of the files?
     
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  3. Tulani, Jan 17, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #3
    Even if I delete both I still notice a significant marked usage as compared to before the conversion process.

    I wonder if that space will ever get recovered.
     
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  4. Unami, Jan 17, 2014

    Unami macrumors 6502a

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    #4
    earlier versions of mp4-tools (for example) didn't delete the demuxed files created while converting, you had to delete them manually (and they ate up just as much space as the original/converted file). look into the preferences of your conversion-tool, maybe there's some folder the temporary files are saved to - or do some digging in your file system for size changes after a conversion.
     
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  5. Tulani, Jan 18, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #5
    No trace of residue.
    Been using MacX Video Converter Pro
     
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  6. blue-fireball, Jan 19, 2014

    blue-fireball macrumors member

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    #6
    Does this space free up after you reboot?
     
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  7. Tulani, Jan 19, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #7

    No, it does not
     
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  8. simsaladimbamba, Jan 19, 2014

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    #8
    How much storage space are you talking about?

    To find out, where you storage capacity is being used, you can use the following free applications:
    Maybe try a combination of several, if you still can't find the "missing" capacity.
     
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  9. Tulani, Jan 20, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #9
    does mp4 conversion use up space?

    I converted two files of about 3 Gig each and it gobbled about 9Gig of my hard drive.

    I will try those apps but I tried some other disk analyzing utility apps with no success
     
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  10. simsaladimbamba, Jan 20, 2014

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    #10
    Meaning the source files where 3 GB each in size, and the transcoded files where each 3 GB in size, but strangely 9 GB instead of 6 additional GB were taken?
     
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  11. Tulani, Jan 20, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #11
    Yes
     
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  12. simsaladimbamba, Jan 20, 2014

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    #12
    Which application did you use and did you try any of the ones I recommended?
    Strange.
     
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  13. Tulani, Jan 20, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #13
    does mp4 conversion use up space?

    I used disk scope and daisy disk. Let me try yours
     
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  14. blue-fireball, Jan 20, 2014

    blue-fireball macrumors member

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    #14
    DaisyDisk is my preference for visual organization of drive usage. What conversion app are you using? Does it keep a cache?
     
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  15. Tulani, Jan 20, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #15
    I used MacX Video Converter Pro
     
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  16. blue-fireball, Jan 20, 2014

    blue-fireball macrumors member

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    #16
    It may be worth trying Handbrake to see if it is an application-specific issue. I certainly can't say I have ever had such a problem with Handbrake.
     
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  17. Tulani, Jan 20, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #17
    Thank you. I can't seem to find the source of the problem and how my space is getting eaten up. I am going to stop using that app for now or maybe just delete it.
     
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  18. Tulani, Jan 21, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #18
    Suddenly after all these days the space seem to be gradually coming back to where I expected it to be.
     
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  19. simsaladimbamba, Jan 21, 2014

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    #19
    Do you have that few storage space, that the 3 GB are detriment to your computer experience? And where do you see those numbers?
     
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  20. Tulani, Jan 21, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #20
    I have an app my free space that monitors my disk
     
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  21. simsaladimbamba, Jan 21, 2014

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    #21
    Which app? Maybe it was not updating correctly.
     
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  22. Tulani, Jan 21, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #22
    My free space

    ----------

    Daisy disk was also confirming the same
     
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  23. blue-fireball, Jan 21, 2014

    blue-fireball macrumors member

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    #23
    Sounds like TRIM on your SSD is freeing up the "free space." Deleting files on SSD's does not actually free up the space, so TRIM works to free it up over time when your computer is idling.
     
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  24. Tulani, Jan 25, 2014

    Tulani thread starter macrumors 6502a

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    #24
    My space has been fully recovered
     
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  25. Weaselboy, Jan 26, 2014

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    #25
    Sorry I am late to the party, but do by any chance have Time Machine turned on?

    If you do, what you are seeing is perfectly normal. Time Machine stores deleted files in a hidden folder until the disk gets to 80% full then starts to delete the files. This page explains it pretty well.

    Try this test to see what I mean. Turn Time Machine off then back on to clear (empty) the hidden local backups folder.

    Now run this command in Terminal to show the size of the local backups. It will be very close to zero. Now make a couple copies of a big video file or something, then delete the files. Run the command again and you will see the size of the local backups folder has increased by the size of the files you deleted.

    Code:
    sudo du -hs /.MobileBackups
     
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