Convert from mkv to simple avi

[diomedes]

Could anyone please offer some help how to convert from mkv files to avi?

I've stopped watching anime completely for a whole year because i can't watch recent series that are constantly encoded in mkv. My home theater system has a disc player that can run an avi, but not these frivolous mkv files.



If someone can give me a straightforward method on this, i can't tell you how much you'd make my day.

thanks...

[noquarter]

I found the easiest way was to just use PlayOn or TVersity. They transcode a stream on the fly, for a modest amount of CPU power. Saves a lot of time because you don't have to actually reencode the file, plus you can keep the original higher quality .mkv.

PlayOn costs money but works better and lets you stream Hulu/NBC/YouTube etc, TVersity is free but their Hulu support is really weak, I could never get it to work, so I just bought PlayOn when it was on sale.

If you want to change them to AVI the only way I found to do it in a way my player could handle was to just reencode it using Handbrake, MeGUI is more powerful but more complex too. You may be able to just demux the video stream and play it with your player instead of reencoding it, my player just couldn't handle the high quality x264 settings so it didn't matter if I demuxed it but since you're talking anime it would probably work fine for you and would be far quicker and easier than reencoding. (I think the tool you want is MKVExtractGUI)

[diomedes]

Thanks for the reply, but i have lots of trouble understanding all that you have said.


...
What's TVersity? Do i have to plug in my media player conncted to the tv to a router? Never hear of this software, and the site assumes you already know what it is. Couldn't figure it out, and i don't think it's really meant for me due to hardware....unless i could get a explanation on what to do. As is, all i know is that TVersity lets you stream...

Handbrake didn't work, and i cannot find any tutorials on it online anywhere. I downloaded handbrake, and did what appeared to be obvious, and it said conversion was done (after 4 minutes ?!) and there was no output file in the specified folder.

I tried Xilisoft, since there was a clear youtube tutorial but then the sample conversion didn't have any subtitles. (i used mkv files from this uploadhttp://www.akiba-online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114080&highlight=queen%27s+blade) .

I can't stream any data to my media player, wouldn't be able to connect those ethernet cords to a router ... I just need a way to convert these files....


This just doesn't make sense: mkvs have been around for so many years, now they are standard and we still can't come up with simple ways to convert them to avi..... I find that incomprehensible.....

[chompy]

MKV is a container just like AVI.

You should (assuming the streams are compatible with AVI) be able to remux it with "avi mux gui"

http://www.alexander-noe.com/video/amg/

That certainly beats transcoding.

HOWEVER

Since you're using a DVD player to play these on, chances are it only supports MPEG-4 part 2 (Xvid or DivX rips) rather than MPEG-4 part 10/H264/AVC (x264 rips) which is the standard with anime fansubs (the anime fansub scene tends to opt for Xvid+AVI or x264+mkv rather than any other combination) and therefore your best bet for watching it on your MPEG-4 part 2 enabled DVD player is for you to transcode it to Xvid+AVI.

Use a tool such as "media info" to find out what video format a video is
http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en

I find the easiest transcoding tool is mediacoder. You'll want to transcode it to Xvid at 2-pass, mp3 or AVC audio and output to AVI.
http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/


(Re)muxing: Putting video/audio/meta-streams into a file container format without modifying the streams
Transcoding: Converting video/audio from one standard to another using a codec
MPEG-4 Part 2: Most non-high def video floating around these days is encoded in this format. It is typically Xvid or DivX (DivX players are included in most modern DVD players)
MPEG-4 part 10: also known as H264, this standard is the current highest video quality format that exists. It typically uses more power to decode than other, lower quality video.

[diomedes]

I probably should be specific as to what i have to play these. It's this thing :

http://www.negustore.com/products/Au...gital-AC3.html

It plays quite a few of the avis and other things i put into it.

Ok, will try mediacoder next. Is there some tutorial that i would find useful? I have head out now, and i used default settings on it, seems to be doing some kind of encoding right now while i'm out.

I think i've used this program the last time i was wrestling with this issue a couple years ago, but i must have reached some dead end somewhere.

[chompy]

Mediacoder is pretty straightforward.

At default settings with xvid 2-pass and avi you should be OK.

Just check over the output file on your computer and see how it compares with the original (assuming you can play the original on your computer, I hope that wasn't the problem though).

[diomedes]

MediaCoder does not work (with the current settings) The output file plays fine on the pc, subtitles and all. It does not play in the media player. I don't know why.

I left the default settings on but changed one thing, set it to Two Pass under the video tab (see screen below). I loaded the output avi file into gspot (see screen below). I don't know what most of it says but that's the data on what mediacoder put out.

I changed that setting because the bitrate based default didn't work either (it did on the pc though) on the media player.





edit:
Added media info

[Rollyco]

Originally Posted by diomedes

It does not play in the media player. I don't know why.

Probably because your video has a non-standard resolution of 960x720. Look up your media player's specs and find out the accepted resolutions for MPEG-4 video.

[chompy]

From your link it doesn't say anything about your DVD player even supporting video.

Regardless, you should change profile from 'unrestricted' (which will use encoding options only supported in recent versions of a decoder) to something like 'DXN home theater' which will use less potentially incompatible options. Most videos will use one of the 'advanced simple profile' options.

I've googled but there's very little information on your model out there.

Edit: Yea, and resolution. Definitely don't need the video to be over 640px high.

[diomedes]

hmm, thanks.... looks like a dead end approaching....

The media player, it's a cheap peice of crap really. You should hear the noise it makes. Not to mention it's new -_-
Anyway, i'm ready to continue troubleshooting with it since it has proved to be tolerant with a number of video files i asked it to play so far. As for gathering data on what it will and will not play, i'm not surprised you could find nothing. The packaging box has virtually nothing useful to say with regards to specific codec/video files it's supposed to play. Enough about that...

I'll try making the recently suggested adjustments to the encoding process. But looks like i have to plug in my old x box again after all. At least it's easier to figure out what it will and will not play. But that means i have to move furniture and do wiring behind the tv..... *sigh*

Digression: Is there any good substitute hardware for what i have that actually kicks ass and would have a lot more versatility like a modded xbox? I don't have much in the way of disposable income, specially since i'm finally quitting my 2nd job, but just curious. I mean, i'm pretty sure there are alot of people out there who have ways of watching anime somewhere other than their computer desk, which is something i adamantly refuse to do.