MKV to MOV to working iPod file

[buzzbrn]

Hi, I have some home videos from a friend who took them off of VHS for me and put them onto a file. The thing is that the file is in MKV format. I used QT Pro to move the files into a MOV format, but I want to use the home movies on my iPod and TV. I want to convert the MOV movies in the best format. Working with ffmpegX, I have some general questions about how to use it that the ffmpegX site doesn't answer. What will be the best solution to get these videos to play on PS3, Macbook Pro, and an iPod using ffmpegx. I want the setting that will provide the least amount to damage to the quality.

[tomlee59]

Ok, here's Video101: MKV, MOV, AVI, etc. are "containers." Think Rubbermaid vs. Tupperware, for example. Both are containers that can hold the same things, but Rubbermaid and Tupperware are not identical.

The video and audio that live inside these containers can be encoded a great variety of ways. You don't have to lose quality when you switch containers, but you can lose quality if you need to re-encode the video or audio. Switching containers does not imply re-encoding. You didn't say what type of codec is used for the actual video and audio files inside that mkv container your friend wrapped them up in, so there's not much we can say at this point.

Now, as to playability: A computer is very flexible. With the right software, you can pretty much play any type of media file, encoded in any way, wrapped inside any container (with very few exceptions). So, whatever will play on the PS3 and iPod can be made to play on the Macbook.

So it comes down to a question of what formats are supported by the PS3 and iPod. And these may be found from googling for 3 seconds...(drumroll, please)... http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html
and http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/specs.html

Looking at the intersection of these two lists of specs, you see that some form of h264 is the way to go. And yes, your Macbook will happily play such files, too.

If your mkv already contains h264, then no reencoding is needed. If the mkv doesn't, then you will have to reencode.