converting out mkv (yes, i read other threads)

[diomedes]

Trying to convert these mkv files to mp4 40x360 format for Iphone. I can't for the life of me find a way.
for those that can't read (sorry, there are always a few)
I CAN PLAY THE FILES ON MY PC JUST FINE, i need CONVERSION advice to mp4.

I tried the following:

3GP mobile convertor
This was an incredible convertor, but lately it has started to choke on these mkv files and when it tries to convert them, it chokes and stalls. I think I re-installed windows and running this proram after that has not been the same. Am i missing codecs? I would kill to have this operating the way it did once.

MKVcleaver
Asks me to MKVextract.exe location. I don't know where that is.

AlltoAVI
Runtime 70 error. I knowthat can't be fixed.

FormatFactory
Running a conversion right now, I'm almost certain it will not work. It proposes 5 hours to convert an hour long mkv to avi. That's really pushing the boundary of what i'd call sensible.

 

[isityours]

Total video converter is ok and you can set both dimensions and bitrate. AVS is also ok and is fairly customizable, although i dont have an iphone so cannot speak to success rates.
you could also try using a program like handbrake and make a rip of the file, rather than a conversion.
before you try those programs you could try remuxing the MKV files in question. as was pointed out recently, mkvmerge (mkvtoolnix) used compression on its file headers by default for its last 2 or 3 releases. this can cause compatibility issues (on hardware based devices primarily). this has apparently been rectified in the most recent version (4.9.1). you could install mkvtoolnix and see if muxing the MKV again allows the file to be recognized by your conversion software.
regarding mkvcleaver (although im not sure it will help in this case), if memory serves, it needs to be extracted/placed into the mkvtoolnix install folder which also contains the mkvextract.exe file.
install mkvtoolnix then extract mkvextract.exe into the install folder. if remuxing the MKV doesnt work then extracting probably wont either. the raw video file is not likely compatible with conversion software. even if it was, you would need to mux the audio and video files again which could create another incompatibility.

i think most video converters contain everything they need to do their job but Total video conv gives the option to use internal codecs or search for external ones.

 

[EzikialRage]

Trying to convert these mkv files to mp4 40x360 format for Iphone. I can't for the life of me find a way.
for those that can't read (sorry, there are always a few)
I CAN PLAY THE FILES ON MY PC JUST FINE, i need CONVERSION advice to mp4.

I tried the following:

3GP mobile convertor
This was an incredible convertor, but lately it has started to choke on these mkv files and when it tries to convert them, it chokes and stalls. I think I re-installed windows and running this proram after that has not been the same. Am i missing codecs? I would kill to have this operating the way it did once.

MKVcleaver
Asks me to MKVextract.exe location. I don't know where that is.

AlltoAVI
Runtime 70 error. I knowthat can't be fixed.

http://tfouster.blogspot.com/2009/01/alltoavi-runtime-error-70.html

FormatFactory
Running a conversion right now, I'm almost certain it will not work. It proposes 5 hours to convert an hour long mkv to avi. That's really pushing the boundary of what i'd call sensible.

UNless you got a slow computer that sounds like it might be the file itself. I know that sometimes at least with alltoavi it does not like weird symbols and non-English characters in the file name. I know with avi it does not do Japanese characters in the file name, or any weird symbols like ~,!,* or any other weird symbols nor does it like long file names or the file you are trying to convert to be really deep the in the sub folder tree.



If you can get a copy of a pay program called Aiseesoft Total Video Converter, it does a pretty job when a lot of other converters fail. The downside is that you can not usually select the subs or audio track. So if you wanted a specific audio track then you would have to use mkvmerge to create a MKV file with only the desired audio tracks before using Aiseesoft Total Video Converter. And if you only wanted subs then you would have use Aiseesoft Total Video Converter to first create a avi file with the settings on high and then use mkvextract to extract the subs and then use alltoavi to hardsub the subs to the avi file.

 

[guy]

Depending on the MKV's framerate, H.264 profile/level, and audio codec, it could be as simple as remuxing the streams into an MP4 without completely re-encoding the whole file (or maybe only re-encoding the audio). Take a look at mp4box and the YAMB gui.

Of course, if you're interested in small file sizes, or if your device does not support whatever H.264 profile/level is in the MKV, you have no choice but to re-encode.

If you are lucky enough to have a 2nd gen Core i5/i7 processor, you may want to consider any transcoder that supports Intel Quick Sync (two popular ones are Media Espresso and Media Converter 7). It uses hardware encoding found in the new Intel CPUs, and can transcode a 1-hr video file into MP4 in ~10 minutes. You can customize resolution and basic bitrate of the MP4 files, but the only disadvantage is you have very little control over the H.264 encoder settings, so the final files are generally larger than you get from other encoders, like x264 (in Handbrake, etc).

 

[diomedes]

Thanks for the feedback, after much trial and error I eventually got around a very odd problem. Avs and format factory have good presets, but strangely, they set the video to be displayed in widescreen format, which the 3gp never did, it always sets it to a nice full display which is a big benefit for a small iPhone

Anyway, I do a file factory convert to avi, and then put that through the 3gp and it all seems to work in the end. Longer conversion, but at least it works.