MKV vs. AVI

[smackyourfupa]

I have a bunch of VOB music video files I ripped from a DVD (about 4 mins long each). I'd like to retain the 5.1 AC3 audio track. Would I have better results using AutoGK to rencode them as 40MB AVIs or Handbrake as 40MB MKVs? Thanks!

[Baldrick]

MKV with h264 video. The container does not matter that much but mkv is better for h264 video.

[jagabo]

AVI and MKV are containers. Which container you use has nothing to do with the quality of what's inside. You can put a cake in a cardboard box or a steel box. The box won't change the "quality" of the cake.

[smackyourfupa]

AVI and MKV are containers. Which container you use has nothing to do with the quality of what's inside. You can put a cake in a cardboard box or a steel box. The box won't change the "quality" of the cake.

MKV container h264 codec

[smackyourfupa]

would a 40mb size file be ideal for a 4 min video? (10 mb per minute)?

[jagabo]

10 MB/m will usually give decent quality at 720x480. But it will depend on the individual video. For some it will be overkill, others it won't be enough. If you use constant quality encoding you'll always get the quality you ask for. The encoder will use whatever bitrate is necessary to deliver that quality. Use CRF mode in x264. A front end like Xvid4Psp works very well.

[lordsmurf]

Why MKV and not MP4, anyway?
It's probably obvious, something to do with subtitles. (I've not looked, don't care that much.)

[jagabo]

It's probably more a matter of the programs that created them and where they came from, but I've seen a lot more problems with MP4 than I have with MKV. So I use KMV. Oh, and Quicktime is such a piece of crap.

[cowboyup910]

Xmedia Recode has all those options and many more.

[Bonie81]

for many reason I wud recommend MKV container over AVI.
First of all, AVI can not handle AVC video successfully.
While MKV is very flexible and ideally can handle any video and audio format inside a magic egg.
Plus there are tons of Muxing and Demuxing tools available for MKV for FREE.
MKVToolnix, XViD4PSP, XMedia Recode, HandBrake are the best examples. Keep in mind some of them can handle AVI too.

[jagabo]

AVI can not handle AVC video successfully.

Yes, it can. It's only VFW that has problems with out of order encoding.