.MKV Converter

[bwana]

Actually he was right, yes, MKV is a wrapper format, similar to OGM. The video file in the MKV file is probably an .avi file, and using something like VirtualDubMod you would be able to extract the video/audio and save it as an .avi, without the need to convert.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska

According to that wiki entry

Matroska is similar in conception to other containers like AVI, MP4 or ASF, but is completely open source.

...

It usually carries H.264 video, AC3/AAC/DTS (also multiple) audio tracks and sometimes subtitle tracks.

 

[mh348]

Try nanVue it was made to be used with a Tivo, but you can just change the output Directory to a location on your pc and it will work fine. It's a Free program, made by TivoZA.

 

[mercurial]

Vlc?

While I'm not 100% sure about batch but I think it will handle the conversion.

VLC is not a converter. it's a media player

 

[bwana]

VLC is not a converter. it's a media player

Check again.

The Streaming/Transcoding Wizard leads you step by step through the process of streaming your media on a network or saving it to your hard drive. This Wizard offers easy to use menus but provides a restricted set of options.

...

If you chose the Transcode/Save to file option, you can now specify the new audio and video codecs and bitrates you want you input converted to.

 

[mercurial]

How sure are you on that?

pretty darn sure

the title alone states "VLC Media Player", although it could've offered conversion as well, but AFAIK, it doesn't. it plays almost all formats including .mkv but I've never ever heard or read that it is a converter.

 

[mercurial]

Check again.

is this not referring to streaming video? it doesn't say anything about converting across formats.

 

[mh348]

is this not referring to streaming video? it doesn't say anything about converting across formats.

I think "streaming" in the context refers to streaming into anto format.

Output formats for streaming/encoding

VLC can transcode into several formats depending on the operating system.

Container formats
ASF, AVI, FLV,[17] MP4, Ogg, Wav, MPEG-2 (ES, PS, TS, PVA, MP3), MPJPEG, FLAC, MOV
Video formats
H.263, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2, VP5,[15] VP6,[15] Theora, DV
Audio formats
AAC, AC3, DV Audio, FLAC, MP3,[20] Speex, Vorbis
Streaming protocols
UDP, HTTP, RTP, RTSP, MMS, File

 

[bwana]

is this not referring to streaming video? it doesn't say anything about converting across formats.

Its a useful little app.

Transcoding options

If you chose the Transcode/Save to file option, you can now specify the new audio and video codecs and bitrates you want you input converted to.

 

[qinglung]

@bwana: yeah, that's why I said it is probably an .avi, not definitely. As the wiki shows, it can be H.264 as well.

i have never seen avi produce the quality that an mkv file does

That's cause the video file in that case inside the MKV probably was not an AVI file, but a H.264 file, or something similar for HD content, MKV itself is not a video codec.

 

[mercurial]

VLC can transcode into several formats depending on the operating system.

Container formats
ASF, AVI, FLV,[17] MP4, Ogg, Wav, MPEG-2 (ES, PS, TS, PVA, MP3), MPJPEG, FLAC, MOV
Video formats
H.263, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2, VP5,[15] VP6,[15] Theora, DV
Audio formats
AAC, AC3, DV Audio, FLAC, MP3,[20] Speex, Vorbis
Streaming protocols
UDP, HTTP, RTP, RTSP, MMS, File

i don't see it anywhere saying anything about MKV in your list. i will have to check this out later as i have never heard of this before
btw, i use WinAVI Video Converter 8 to convert MKV to AVI.

 

[killadoob]

yup WINAVI FTW

it coverts just about all formats

dont know everyone does use it

 

[bwana]

Vlc?

While I'm not 100% sure about batch but I think it will handle the conversion.

Ok - I'm testing the conversion and VLC will convert to divx (1,2 or 3 - whatever that means ) and from the looks of it you can queue via the playlist.

 

[mercurial]

Ok - I'm testing the conversion and VLC will convert to divx (1,2 or 3 - whatever that means ) and from the looks of it you can queue via the playlist.

cool. this will be awesome.

 

[qinglung]

To just extract the video from MKV files, you could use the MKVExtract tool in MKVtoolnix (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVtoolnix), at the bottom of that page there are some guides to use it as well.

 

[marine1]

Winavi keeps crashing when I click convert

 

[killadoob]

yea i get the same thign sometimes

try make a new folder for the converted file or copy the file u convert onto the same hdd

 

[marine1]

Screw this, using Convertxtodvd - works perfectly. What a useless file extension

 

[killadoob]

must be something your doing wrong cause my winavi works like a dream

 

[marine1]

On Windows Vista?

 

[killadoob]

yup 64 bit as well

are you running the latest version