What is the best/simplest .mkv to .avi (xvid) convertor? (no quality loss)

[loveranger]

I am looking for to edit .mkv just like I would with .avi in Virtualdub. However virtualdub is having trouble reading .mkv files so I'm looking for a covertor that could covert from .mkv to .avi. There is also subtitles inside the mkv so I would like to extract that to .srt or .sub (etc)

What would be the best program to do this? (with no quality loss) By best, I mean simplicity, effort, and speed.

And of course I don't want to have a 4gb .mkv file to be end up being 7gb+ in .avi file after it is converted...

[guns1inger]

mkvextract will extract the subtitles files from the mkv file.

Use mediainfo to find out how your mkv is encoded. You may be able to re-package the content is it is Xvid encoded.

If you have to re-encode it then you have a choice. Use something lossy (Xvid/Divx) get a smaller file, and lose quality. Or use something lossless, keep all your quality, and get a huge file.

You can't re-encode, get it the same or smaller, and not lose quality.

Or you could try editing your mkv in AVI Demux.

[loveranger]

mkvextract will extract the subtitles files from the mkv file.

Use mediainfo to find out how your mkv is encoded. You may be able to re-package the content is it is Xvid encoded.

If you have to re-encode it then you have a choice. Use something lossy (Xvid/Divx) get a smaller file, and lose quality. Or use something lossless, keep all your quality, and get a huge file.

You can't re-encode, get it the same or smaller, and not lose quality.

Or you could try editing your mkv in AVI Demux.

Thanks for the quick response.

I've tried editing with Avidemux, however there is a problem with audio-video sync. I don't expect the .avi to be smaller in size than .mkv and have same quality. I just don't want it end up being huge file (2x the original .mkv file size). What program can I use to convert?

[guns1inger]

AVI Demux, Xvid4PSP, MeGUI etc.

What sort of editing do you intent to do ?

[loveranger]

All I want to do is take the video and put subtitles (.ssa format) on the video with black bars. I use virtualdub to do this with .avi however I can't do this with .mkv file.

There must be a simple .mkv to avi convertor with limited quality loss.

[Baldrick]

You can do it with avidemux also.

[guns1inger]

So you want to add black bars to the file so that the subs will appear over the bars ?

Personally, I think it is a waste of time.

Try Xvid4PSP. Load mkv file, play with the resize settings to put your bars in place, adjust your subs (probably have to do this outside Xvid4PSP), encode back to mkv using high quality settings. Lowest quality loss. It may take several hours to re-encode, but that is the price of quality.

It would help if you posted a mediainfo tree output of the file.

[Calidore]

Can you add black bars in Virtualdub? I've never seen that, but it would come in very handy.

[loveranger]

Hmm.. I just downloaded a program called Super. It seems to be doing the job fine but I was wondering if there is any better program than this. I can't really tell how much quality is lost but through my naked eye it seems fine.

MediaInfo of the .mkv file

General
Complete name                    : C:\Users\VideoHelp\Documents\Downloads\VideoHelp.mkv
Format                           : Matroska
File size                        : 7.91 GiB
Duration                         : 3h 8mn
Overall bit rate                 : 6 008 Kbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2008-11-29 20:00:01
Writing application              : mkvmerge v2.4.0 ('Fumbling Towards Ecstasy') built on Oct 11 2008 20:13:15
Writing library                  : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 12 frames
Muxing mode                      : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 3h 8mn
Bit rate                         : 4 378 Kbps
Nominal bit rate                 : 4 494 Kbps
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 2.35:1
Frame rate                       : 24.000 fps
Resolution                       : 8 bits
Colorimetry                      : 4:2:0
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.262
Stream size                      : 5.77 GiB (73%)
Writing library                  : x264 core 65 r1028M 83baa7f
Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=12 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=tesa / subme=9 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=4494 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.40 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language                         : Tamil

Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : DTS
Format/Info                      : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID                         : A_DTS
Duration                         : 3h 8mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Resolution                       : 24 bits
Stream size                      : 1.99 GiB (25%)
Language                         : Tamil

Text
ID                               : 3
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language                         : English

Menu
00:00:00.000                     : :Chapter 1
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00:10:56.534                     : :Chapter 3
00:16:31.067                     : :Chapter 4
00:26:02.667                     : :Chapter 5
00:34:33.501                     : :Chapter 6
00:42:02.834                     : :Chapter 7
00:53:12.568                     : :Chapter 8
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01:13:09.735                     : :Chapter 11
01:18:22.801                     : :Chapter 12
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01:44:41.333                     : :Chapter 15
01:49:38.733                     : :Chapter 16
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02:07:13.066                     : :Chapter 18
02:18:05.633                     : :Chapter 19
02:23:20.633                     : :Chapter 20
02:28:45.066                     : :Chapter 21
02:37:21.232                     : :Chapter 22
02:42:50.132                     : :Chapter 23
02:52:32.332                     : :Chapter 24
03:05:41.565                     : :Chapter 25

[mail2tom]

AVI_Recomp can add subtitles to an AVI. Since the process requires a reencode to burn in the subtitles into the file you will lose some quality.

[guns1inger]

If you convert to Xvid or Divx, maintaining the same bitrate and resolution, the picture quality will drop a lot

[loveranger]

If you convert to Xvid or Divx, maintaining the same bitrate and resolution, the picture quality will drop a lot

It doesn't seem noticeable..... maybe the mkv quality is too good.