OSX resource allocation?

Question

I am in the process of converting all .avi files to .mp4 (for compatibility with my PS3 and iPad).

I noticed today that both the applications I've used so far (MPEG Streamclip & Handbrake) only use around 30% of my CPU and only about 300Mb of my available RAM (4GB installed). Why is this? Is there any way to speed this conversations up by somehow allowing the applications to use more of the available resources?

I am currently running Mavericks on an MBP with a 2.4GHz i5, 4GB RAM, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce GT330M and a hybrid drive so I don't know where, if any, bottle necks would be.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The easiest solution would be to simply duplicate the apps a few times and run multiple copies. The latest versions of Handbrake and MPEG Streamclip do seem to support multithreading, but it probably depends on which features you're using.