Converting MKV to AVI (720p)

[shorto]

Hello all!

I just got this one little question. Since I hate .mkv I would like to convert a video (720p) to .avi. But the question is now how to do that it's how do to that and not loose any of the quality in the process and add subtitles (.ass or .srt it really doesn't matter to me).

A little more about the video
Video Codec: x264
Audio Codec: AC3 (yes it's in the .mkv)

So are there any ideas on how to do this? I really don't want to loose any of the quality, I just simply want to merge the .ac3 the .h264 and the .ass into .avi no compression whatsoever.

[Baldrick]

Why do you hate mkv? If you play the video on a computer it shouldn't matter at all, just use good players like vlc or haali media splitter, ffdshow, ac3filter. And even if you remux to avi you need basicly same software players and codecs.

But it might work to convert to avi without reconversion, it depends on the h264 video. I think it's possible with avidemux.

And this is not any digitaltv related. Moving you.

[shorto]

I want to play this on my PlayStation that's why I conver everything to .avi .

Bah I forgot to mention before I also want to change from h264 to XViD without loosing any quality is that possible?

[Midzuki]

AVI-Mux GUI can do that job.
However please notice that not all H264 streams
are suitable for the AVI container. MP4 and MKV
still are the safe choices in this case.

I forgot to mention before I also want to change from h264 to XViD
without loosing any quality is that possible?

It's not.

[Baldrick]

Playstation 3? Then use mkv2vob! I think it can add subs also.

[datakey]

I want to convert MKV to AVI, because the telly only wants XSUB as subtitles.
And I'd like to have in the same file multiple streams: video + two audio + two subtitle.
In my case, mkv2vob only adds one audio and one subtitle ( and moreover, needs to transcode ).
I tryed to use AVIDemux, although had only 1 audio, and later add with VirtualDubMod, but... didn't worked neither.

There is no easy way to create an AVI container with the same streams?
Thanks!

P.S.: Sorry for bumping an two-year old thread, but I dunno if its better to open a new thread with a the same question or rebumping

[jagabo]

There is no easy way to create an AVI container with the same streams?

Open the MKV file with AviDemux, set both audio and video to COPY, set the container to AVI and save. Not sure about subs. And I doubt the PS3 or your TV will play such a file.

[Ai Haibara]

If the TV wants XSUBs only, you can try to demux the subtitle streams from the MKV using MKVExtractGUI2 + mkvtoolnix, then depending upon what format the subtitles are in, you may have to convert them to .srt. If they're vobsubs (.sub/.idx) or .srt, AVIAddXSub can make a .divx video from the AVI with the subtitles added in XSUB format.

[datakey]

Thanks for replies.

Open the MKV file with AviDemux, set both audio and video to COPY, set the container to AVI and save. Not sure about subs. And I doubt the PS3 or your TV will play such a file.

As I told, AviDemux doesn't fit my neededs. Moreover after the conversion to AVI the final file was not indexed and I wasn't able to scroll the video.

If the TV wants XSUBs only, you can try to demux the subtitle streams from the MKV using MKVExtractGUI2 + mkvtoolnix, then depending upon what format the subtitles are in, you may have to convert them to .srt. If they're vobsubs (.sub/.idx) or .srt, AVIAddXSub can make a .divx video from the AVI with the subtitles added in XSUB format.

Yeah, this is what I was doing, demuxing MKV. Subs are in .srt. The problem is:
How can I put the streams: video h264 + audio AC3 + audio AC3, inside an AVI container (I used before the AVIAddXSub, but it requires an AVI)?

In fact, the question is: there is no MKVmerge software style but for AVI containers? I mean, an "AVImerge" where I put the streams and makes the container?

Thanks!

[jagabo]

there is no MKVmerge software style but for AVI containers? I mean, an "AVImerge" where I put the streams and makes the container?

AviMuxGUI can handle multiple audio tracks and SRT subs. But it won't accept an h.264 elementary stream (you have to put it in an AVI container first). It will accept an MKV as source but, as far as I can tell, will only output MKV when the source is MKV.

As I told, AviDemux doesn't fit my neededs. Moreover after the conversion to AVI the final file was not indexed and I wasn't able to scroll the video.

Did you answer yes when AviDemux asked if you wanted to update the index?

In the end, h.264 in AVI is not widely supported. Even many media players in Windows do not handle it properly.

I'd try remuxing into an MP4 container with YAMB. The PS3 can handle h.264 in MP4. If you allow it to install MKV support it can accept a MKV file directly. And it can handle multiple audio tracks and SRT subs. Although AC3 support was officially added to MP4 a year or so ago, I don't know if the PS3 can handle it.

If that doesn't work you will have to reencode and lose a little quality.