Burning 720p mkv to Video DVD

[rickatnight11]

I suppose this is the correct forum as my ultimate goal is to burn a video to DVD. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have an mkv of a tennis match in 720p that I would like to burn to a DVD for my dad. As the match is over 5 hours long (and I only have a single-layer DVD burner) my idea was to use any software to create a Dual-Layer Video DVD image and then use DVDFab to split it into two DVDs so as to lose the least amount of quality. My first attempt was to use DVDFlick, some free software I have had success with in the past. The process took about 12 hours from start to finish, but the video quality on the DVD was noticeably poor. Considering the original source is a gorgeous 720p video stream, I expected more from this process. The video quality is blocky and the animation a bit stuttered.

My next attempt was to use Adobe Encore CS4, as I figured it would have some better options for increasing the quality (such as triple-pass or another method). Unfortunately, I can't seem to import the mkv into Encore. I have tried updating my K-Lite Mega Codec Pack to 4.9.0 and even splitting the mkv into h264 (video) and ac3 (audio) files. The ac3 file imports just fine, but the h264 still gives me an error about not having the correct decoder. Lastly, I even tried importing the file into Adobe Encoder CS4 (as much as I hate adding another layer of transcoding) but that application wouldn't import the file either.

My ultimate questions are thus:

• 1.) Is there a good program for burning an mkv to a DVD (or at least creating an ISO to split across two DVDs) and maintaining as much quality as possible or...
  2.) Is there a way to import mkv files into Adobe Encore CS4

Here is the codec information that MediaInfo generates from the file:

General
Complete name : 	F:\Videos\Sports\Tennis\2008\Wimbledon 2008\Wimbledon.2008.Men's.Final.AC3.5.1.720p.x264-QXE.mkv
Format : 	Matroska
File size : 	14.4 GiB
Duration : 	5h 32mn
Overall bit rate : 	6 187 Kbps
Encoded date : 	UTC 2008-07-21 20:00:19
Writing application : 	mkvmerge v2.0.2 ('You're My Flame') built on Feb 21 2007 23:40:55
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 : 	6 frames
Muxing mode : 	Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID : 	V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 	5h 32mn
Bit rate : 	5 680 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 	5 800 Kbps
Width : 	1 280 pixels
Height : 	720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 	16/9
Frame rate : 	25.000 fps
Resolution : 	24 bits
Colorimetry : 	4:2:0
Scan type : 	Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 	0.247
Stream size : 	13.2 GiB (92%)
Writing library : 	x264 core 58 svn-736M
Encoding settings : 	cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=2 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=5800 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=1.00 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:0.5:13.0
Language : 	English

Audio
ID : 	2
Format : 	AC-3
Format/Info : 	Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : 	A_AC3
Duration : 	5h 32mn
Bit rate mode : 	Constant
Bit rate : 	384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 	6 channels
Channel positions : 	Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 	48.0 KHz
Stream size : 	912 MiB (6%)

[Baldrick]

Try instead FAVC or AVS2DVD and use HCENC as encoder. And try stay below 2 hours/ single layer dvd.

[rickatnight11]

Thank you for such a quick response. Which utility will make selecting the start/stop time of the video (to keep with the 2 hours/DVD you mentioned) the easiest.

Will I be using HCENC as a separate utility, or do both of these utilities you mentioned just provide it as an encoder?

[jman98]

In my opinion FAVC would probably be easier for you to use. And you don't REALLY have to stay below Baldrick's limit. Your plan to encode to dual layer size and split is really not bad.

[fastman]

Try using TheFilmMachine. This is all I use on all MKV's to DVD
I set it to best quality and use HCencoder which is included and
get a really high quality video. The program is free. I hope this
helps you.

[MysticE]

In my opinion FAVC would probably be easier for you to use. And you don't REALLY have to stay below Baldrick's limit. Your plan to encode to dual layer size and split is really not bad.

If you choose FAVC stick to version 1.06 as the latest will re-encode your audio to 2 channel.

[pkiula]

Hi. I quite like "TheFilmMachine".

Is there a similar software for Mac OSX?