split mkv and save as direct stream copy

[supercain]

Hi,

i need to split a mkv video but i dont want having to recode it because i need to save it losslesly and i dont need a file of too many GBs so the program must be able to direct stream copy. Is there any program out there that can do the job easily without the bullshit? I know in virtualdub is impossible, and i tried hypercam 3, as well as its free version but all of them suck. Im trying VideoReDo right now but i get an error when trying to save as mkv H.264. Could you please recommend me any different options?

Thank you.

[poisondeathray]

avidemux, mkvtoolnix, solveigmm video splitter

[supercain]

Hi,

thank you for your answer. I had avidemux so i tried it and it seems to split the videos very well. However, now im trying to join an avi file and a mkv to output them as a single mkv file. I got the video but it crashes exactly at the joint. I trie d by opening the avi in avidemux first and output it as mkv so i could join 2 mkvs but i had the same problem. Seems like avidemux cant do that job. What about the other 2?

Thank you.

[poisondeathray]

If the videos have different charateristics or even slightly different encoding settings it might not work. Or sometimes it's the audio that's the problem

Solveig should work the best, but even that isn't guarenteed to work . Sometimes nothing works and you need to re-encode

[budwzr]

Yeah, but is that an "editing" question? Maybe the newbie or transcoding forums might have the wisdom you seek. Yawn.

[supercain]

Solveig should work the best, but even that isn't guarenteed to work . Sometimes nothing works and you need to re-encode

This is one of those times, because nothing worked. I had to re-encode the mkv file and covert it into avi and even so im still unable to join it with the first avi because of the audio samples being different. This is incredibly painful. Its so sad there is no program thats saves you all the bullshit.

[yoda313]

Its so sad there is no program thats saves you all the bullshit.

Whoever said digital video had to be easy?

because of the audio samples being different.

If that is the case then you should demux the audio in each clip you want to join. Load them in an editor like audacity and reencode just the audio to the same type. Then remux the individual clips and start the joining process anew.

I am curious why doesn't virtualdub work for you? Can you open the files? Does it give you any error messages? Which type of virtualdub are you using, is it regular vdub or something like vdubmod? Also if you can't open the file have you tried opening them with the directshowsource option in the open window box?

[supercain]

I use virtualdub and the error i got is that both clips have different audio samples. So what i did for now is to extract the audio of each clip with AoA Audio Extractor. Then i opened each clip separately in virtualdub and made a direct stream copy of the video but using the new extracted audio. Finally, i joined them using virtualdub.

That did the job in the mean time, but thats the hardest way and i would like a more practical solution. The problem is that clip no. 1 is an avi and i need to convert it into mkv with the same settings as clip no. 2 because clip 1 is just the intro whereas clip 2 is the chapter of an episode. There are several episodes and I need to join each chapter with the same intro but all chapters are mkv and are made with the same settings. So in order to not go through the same hard process every time with each episode i need to fix the intro.

[yoda313]

Would you be able to just make a playlist? Or do you have some type of player that won't do playlists?

That might be an easier solution. Just make your mkvs and make a playlist to line them up properly. However if you are using a very basic player a playlist might not be an option edit - and then I could understand the need to physically join the files. I just thought I'd offer that as an easier alternative.

Good luck.

[supercain]

No, the intro is the same but not so the subtitles. They are unique for each episode. Besides each episode must include the intro, otherwise it would look incomplete. Thats why i need to join them physically.

[poisondeathray]

If it's the same settings for each episode you only have to match the intro once.

It shouldn't be that painful if you fixed the audio sample rate and got it to join successfully . This assumes all episodes were done the same way

But if the audio sample rate was different, then you might have different encoded episodes (audio and video settings were different). Then it will be a big pain



One solution might be to use ordered chapters in mkv. This means you have 1 intro, and every episode links to that intro. It only works with haali media splitter (won't work with hardware players for example), or maybe they added support in lavf and mplayer (not sure) .
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=66444

[supercain]

Yes, thats why i want to have it fixed but i cant find the way. Seems like the problem is not only the audio but also the video because i tried by stripping both clips from their audio and then join them with both mkvmerge and avidemux but it didnt work. The video stops playing exactly at the joint. For now i managed to come up with a solution but its not the most practical one by any means. I need to fix the intro somehow (its the same intro i just made in AE and you kindly helped me with).

[poisondeathray]

As I said earlier, everything has to match for the best chance of success, including audio

(Same encoding settings, same x264 version helps as well)

Use mediainfo view=>text and use the same settings for the intro as the main piece

When you split, make sure they are on IDR keyframes (the main piece starts with an IDR keyframe) . There are I-frames that are "non keyframes" as well

Even with all this, it sometimes doesn't work, and you have to re-encode (do the joining in an avs script then)

[supercain]

Yes, i looked at mediainfo but i dont even know how to convert the avi into mkv and match exactly the same settings as the mkv. In medioinfo it says the mkv was made with mkvmerge, but thats not exactly very useful information because thats only the program they used to merge the original video (whatever format it was) with a subtitles file so i dont know what they used to render it.

This is the info provided by Mediainfo

Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 511 MiB
Duration : 22mn 25s
Overall bit rate : 3 188 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-09-05 19:07:09
Writing application : mkvmerge v5.2.0 ('I can't explain') built on Dec 18 2011 18:12:03
Writing library : libebml v1.2.3 + libmatroska v1.3.0
Attachment : Yes

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 22mn 25s
Nominal bit rate : 3 072 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 30.303 fps
Original frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.049
Writing library : x264 core 120 r2120 0c7dab9
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=8 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=3072 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=6144 / vbv_bufsize=15360 / nal_hrd=none / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 22mn 25s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes

[supercain]

Help please?

[poisondeathray]

The settings are listed, and the version is r2120. You enter them. If you don't know how, use a GUI that has them labelled.

Writing library : x264 core 120 r2120 0c7dab9
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=8 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=3072 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=6144 / vbv_bufsize=15360 / nal_hrd=none / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60

If this was the same video as before, there are other problems. It hasn't been prepared properly (frame rate is 29.97 and there are duplicates every 5th frame - it probably wasn't IVTCed)

Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 30.303 fps
Original frame rate : 29.970 fps

It uses VFR as well. It might be difficult to join or it might not join at all


You're probably better off fixing the original (decimating the duplicates), and re-encoding the whole thing

[supercain]

You mean fixing the original mkv? but that would equal to fix it every time with each chapter because all episodes are like this. They are all released by the same person so they all have the same settings. Thats why i thought it was easier to adapt the intro i made to those settings instead.

[poisondeathray]

Yes I mean fixing everything. I didn't see another section, but chances are the guy who made it made some mistakes. It probably plays jerky (i don't know how you didn't notice???)

If you don't care about those problems, you can try joining it as you are now . But as you noticed - you will probably run into some problems and I doubt it will work

I mentioned earlier, if the main section wasn't cut properly (the first frame has to be a IDR keyframe), it won't join either

VFR potentially causes problems with joining too - you can't join a CFR intro stream with a VFR stream



It's probably easier to re-encode everything (and while you are at it, fix the duplicates)

[budwzr]

Yes I mean fixing everything. It probably plays jerky (i don't know how you didn't notice???)

That's probably why it judders, or stutters in Vegas Too, then.

Vegas automatically de-interlaces, so that must be where the problem is. Maybe needs IVTC too.

[supercain]

No, the video in vegas was a totally different one made by another guy. But the truth is that the videos look perfect to me. Great quality at small size so to me there is no way to notice any irregularities other than looking at the technical info. By the way, in case i decide to fix them. What program should i use to do that considering avi cant handle mkv videos (input only, and by installing a filter).

Thank you.

[poisondeathray]

No, the video in vegas was a totally different one made by another guy. But the truth is that the videos look perfect to me. Great quality at small size so to me there is no way to notice any irregularities other than looking at the technical info.

But you realize you're encoding 20% more frames for nothing.... Sure it won't be 20% larger, but those frames cost something to encode

More likely the guy who made it goofed up by deinterlacing instead of IVTCing (thus the quality will be much lower than it should have been as the resolution will effectively cut in half, also will be "jerky" playback with the duplicates)

By the way, in case i decide to fix them. What program should i use to do that considering avi cant handle mkv videos (input only, and by installing a filter).

I don't know what you mean by "avi cant handle mkv videos"

You do everything with an avs script , including the joining and decimation. You feed the script to an encoder. It doesn't matter if they are AVI, MKV or anything.

If the sources were truly VFR, you also need to copy the timecodes from the original and mux into the final . The audio you can copy as well.

[supercain]

Sorry, i meant virtualdub! not avi. My mistake...

[yoda313]

Sorry, i meant virtualdub! not avi. My mistake...

Actually it should be able to open them just fine. use directshowsource in the open window dialog box.

[supercain]

Yes, i cant open mkv files but what i mean is that i cant save my videos to formats other than avi.

[yoda313]

Yes, i cant open mkv files but what i mean is that i cant save my videos to formats other than avi.

What about frameserving?

[budwzr]

Yes, i cant open mkv files but what i mean is that i cant save my videos to formats other than avi.

Isn't X264 supported in AVI?

You can "park" high quality renders and remux later. X264 is BluRay Quality.

I think you're an example of the pickle the oldtimers are up against, unless they repent and move to an NLE. After all, why not use hollywood tools in this new great world of HD on the cheap?

Go with Sony Vegas. It supports VFW interface.. You can even skin off bootleg Xvids if that's your fancy.