Convert avi, mpg etc. to mkv?

[manutd]

Hi!

I´ve searched but I can´t find any guide how to convert avi, mpg etc. to mkv(?)

I would be very grateful if someone could post a good guide!

[poisondeathray]

You don't have to "convert"

.mkv is just a container - you can put whatever you want into it

You can "package" avi, mpg, whatever by using mkvmergegui (from the mkvtoolnix kit). Just push "add", select the file, and press "start muxing" - done!

Converting (re-encoding) videos using a lossy codec will make you lose quality.

Why are you doing this? I can't see the benefit of putting it into a .mkv container "just for fun"? The only reason might be to use the container level display settings like cropping and aspect ratios

[manutd]

I´ve heard that it gives good quality/mb.
I´ve seen several videofiles in mkv, like musicvideos.....if you compare an avi-file ~60MB and a mkv-file ~60MB, the mkv-file has much better quality.

So I assumed that mkv-files gives less quality loss than mpg, divs, xvid.

[poisondeathray]

I´ve heard that it gives good quality/mb.
I´ve seen several videofiles in mkv, like musicvideos.....if you compare an avi-file ~60MB and a mkv-file ~60MB, the mkv-file has much better quality.

So I assumed that mkv-files gives less quality loss than mpg, divs, xvid.

The quality is dependent on source quality, codec selected, settings used (like bitrate etc...), and postprocessing (like filters, etc..)

Many .mkv files have h.264 video codec compression which generally gives higher quality at the same bitrate (thus filesize) than other codecs.

You cannot increase the quality of a video by changing containers or re-encoding it.

[manutd]

No, thats not what I want to do.....I record tv-shows now and then, and I usually convert them into divx/xvid so I don´t get so large files. But....the quality is no good if you compare them to mkv-files.

I´ve downloaded mkv-files that other ppl have made, and if I compare them with mya divx/xvid-files at alomst the same size(mb) I can see that the mkv-file has much better videoquality.

[poisondeathray]

If they are experienced encoders (e.g. from scene release groups) they usually start with the highest quality source (like uncompressed or lossless codec @ 1080p) - if you cannot even record with this quality, your end quality will not be close.

If you are new to this a good easy program to use and learn is xvid4psp or ripbot264. You can try out different settings, some limited filters.

x.264 will always give better quality than divx/xvid at the same bitrate (filesize)

Once again, the container doesn't affect the quality. It can be .mp4 and have the same quality. It's just that x.264 streams are not completely compatible in .avi so you rarely see them in there (except from some anime groups)

[manutd]

Ok. Im recording in .ts(transport stream) and im editing my clips in Sony Vegas. After I finished the editing I render the file in uncompressed avi so I won´t get so much quality loss. The problem is that the files get large=)
And im recording in standard PAL(720x576).

So to make the files smaller i convert them in to xvid, but as I said, if I compare them to mkv the quality is bad=/

What im looking for is to get the best quality/mb and that´s why im asking about mkv=)

[redwudz]

Another fairly easy to use program for H.264 conversions is FairUse Wizard. There is a freeware version. MKV can be a PITA if you ever want to convert to other formats. But since it's a container, it has many options, video and audio. If you don't need many options, H.264 may be a better choice, no matter what program you use.

One thing to be aware of, H.264 and other highly compressed formats take a fair bit of computer power to encode, unless you have a lot of time. Playback is similar as it takes a fast computer to decode it to video on the fly without stutters.

[poisondeathray]

manutd - just take your uncompressed output from vegas, and plug it into any of the mentioned programs - xvid4psp, ripbot264, fairuse wizard (there are many others). If you go to each in the tools section there will be a guide usually with screenshots (click on "guides" button). Honestly they are easy enough to use without assistance.

You will definitely get better quality than your current xvid encodes, but remember you are capturing at standard definition. HD tv captures have 4-5x the number of pixels - so HD encodes done by the other people you mentioned will probably have better quality.

Remember .mkv is just a container, it's what's inside that counts

[manutd]

Ok thanks!

I´ll give it a try


EDIT: Works like a charm! 4 times smaller than a xvid-video and still good quality

I will experiment a bit with the video/audio-settings tomorrow. But so far it´s looking good!

Thanks for your help!