.mkv to divx

[kenshin2190]

hello all,


i have a .mkv file that i'd like to convert to divx to play on a standard dvd player. i can't seem to find a program for my MacBook Pro that will do this and would appreciate any help or advice from you all.

Thanks in advance.

Kenshin2190

[redwudz]

You would likely get more answers to Mac specific questions in our Mac Forum. Moving you.

When you say 'standard DVD player' do you mean for a MPEG file or a Divx file?

And welcome to our forums.

[kenshin2190]

ok, thanks for moving my post to the appropriate forum.

And yes, by "standard" dvd player, i mean for an MPEG and Divx file.


Any suggestions?

[levdr]

Well, there's mokgvm2dvd that specializes in converting .mkv and .ogm files. It's a really great application that shows exactly what is in the .mkv container and you can look at each track, preview your actions etc. Another application that can handle .mkv files is VisualHub (that can just about convert anything to anything). Both application have options for softsubbing when converting a .mkv file to .avi (by way of an .srt file)
http://www.emmgunn.com/mokgvm2dvd/mokgvmhome.html
http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/

[kenshin2190]

Levdr- thank you for the two app suggestions. however, i have downloaded and tried both of them to no avail. when i try and play them on my divx compatible dvd player it says, "HD format not supported". Even when i convert it to an .avi file it won't play.....this is driving me crazy! LOL

[Alan69]

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

Wikipedia has a software section a little down the page that lists a bunch of players that handle MKV. Of course likely not up to date, but lists at least a Mac OS X item at the end..

Ah that is only listing players, didn't see you wanted conversion more at first. A more detailed search gives..

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=mac+video+converter+mkv&btnG=Search

Ton of options, but likely many will only give you the same results. Seems like many only convert the container or something similar, possibly not really resizing and converting.

Note that if you're getting a HD complaint, you can't just 'convert' to AVI. So one of those programs may already work, but you have to set the frame size etc down so it will really convert it down to something your player will handle ok. If you just 'convert' it can convert fine and still be too large for your player to play it, you need to set it to resize..

[Ai Haibara]

What DVD player are you using?

Some things you may or may not need to watch for in any AVI file you want to play on a DivX/Xvid-compatible DVD player (from a list made by jman98 in another post, found here):

1) GMC (Global Motion Compensation). Some support it up to 1 warp point. Some don't support it at all. If it's used during encoding, it probably has 3 warp points and no standalone DVD player at this time appears to support that. Despite some claims to support it, I've seen reviews where 3 warp point GMC was tested and it always failed.
2) QPel (Quarter Pixel)
3) Packed bitstream.
4) Resolutions greater than 720x576.
5) Video bit rates higher than 2000 Kbps. With some Divx playback chips, if your audio is anything other than MP3, you may have to drop the video bit rate as low as 1400 Kbps or you may have audio playback problems.

Also, VBR audio might cause problems with some players, as well. If your AVIs have any of the above, you might need to modify/recompress them before they'll play on your player.

[Levina]

Strange, for I have converted several .mkv files with VisualHub to .avi (DivX) and my DVD-player (a somewhat older Panasonic) plays them beautifully.

[tomlee59]

The error message you're getting is an important clue: "HD format not supported." Remember that avi is a container format. Divx can have all sorts of resolutions and bitrates; your player will not necessarily be happy with all of them, as Ai Haibara/jman98 have outlined. Your cpmverted stream evidently has an excessive frame size/bitrate. Dial those down to values that your player does support, and you'll probably be good to go.

[kenshin2190]

tomlee59-

Thanks for the insight. I will definately give that a try and get back to you.

Regards,

Kenshin2190