Recode H264 from... H264

[TheParadox2]

Hey all, im having some problems with a MKV container with H.264 & DTS encodings in it. When i open the file on my computer, the file plays fine and all is well.

However, when i put the file on my TV to decode, i get an error stating "Unsupported Video Codec"... other H.264/MP4/AVC & DTS MKVs play fine.

So i need an easy way to decode the MKV video to a (prefeberably lossless) format and then convert that back to a (hopefully) fully compliant H264 MKV.

Sign... i found a guide to convert H264/mkv to VC-1 using AVIsynth (but it would have taken 10 days to complete ) and when i changed some setting around (only with WMNicEnc) so now i get an error stating "video: C:\path\file.mkv is not a valid video source, Audio: C:\path\file.mkv is not a valid audio source." from AVIsynth. same with Vdubmod.

1) what did i change/do to make this happen if it worked an hour or so ago... i've had this error other times too.

2) What is the easiest way to re-encode this video? How about doing it lossless at the intermediate step and not using VC-1?

3) I'm running out of ideas/options and google links are purple.

[Baldrick]

A MKV is not a blu-ray so moving you to our video conversion forum.

Can you post the details from the mkv that work and the ones that does not work. Use MediaInfo, open mkv, view->text and paste and copy here.

And WHAT do you play with? My TV? I haven't see any tv with mkv support...)

I would probably just use handbrake or xvid4psp and reconvert the mkvs.

[guns1inger]

Unless you need to edit the video before converting it back to H264, you gain nothing by adding an intermediate stage. You could in fact lose quality through colourspace conversion if you chose the wrong codec.

If all you need to do is re-encode the H264 that you have to a profile that your player is happy with, your best option is encode directly to H264 in a single step.

As to what you did to screw up the file . . . . . your explanation is simply too vague to determine. What settings did you change ?

[TheParadox2]

I tried demux - remux the file with no success and im going to try to convert the DTS track to AC3 as 'some' DTS based MKV files will play with "Unsupported Audio Codec" (and have no audio)

... After i demux/remux the original - i got a different hash (used SHA256) But it still won't play.

Converting the DTS track to AC3 to rule out that this is strictly the video track, and nothing else??

[TheParadox2]

Samsung LA52B750 plays H264 MKV/MP4 as well as divx, xvid... and a bunch others

[TheParadox2]

sorry im trying to do a bunch of things at once... i'll calm down and post some USEFUL information... somehow i thought i wouldn't get any replys that quick.

[TheParadox2]

ok, this plays:

Complete name : D:\1080p.AC3.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 9.76 GiB
Duration : 2h 15mn
Overall bit rate : 10.3 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2008-06-16 18:12:16
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.2.0 ('Turn It On Again') built on Mar 4 2008 12:58:26
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@5.1
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2h 15mn
Bit rate : 9 449 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 9 651 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.400
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.257
Stream size : 8.95 GiB (92%)
Writing library : x264 core 60 r880M 2389de2
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=hex / subme=6 / rdcmp=psy / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=9651 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=1.00 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=2:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 2h 15mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 622 MiB (6%)
Language : English

This doesn't:
General
Complete name : D:\1080p.AC3.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 9.23 GiB
Duration : 2h 1mn
Overall bit rate : 10.9 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-06-19 11:05:58
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.8.0 ('The Tree') built on May 9 2009 16:17:12
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 8 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@5.1
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2h 1mn
Bit rate : 10.2 Mbps
Nominal bit rate : 10.5 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 040 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.850
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.214
Stream size : 8.66 GiB (94%)
Writing library : x264 core 56 svn-680
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=5 / brdo=0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=2 / deadzone=4,6 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=10457 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / zones=166636,174356,b=0.15 / aq=1:0.3:15.0

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 2h 1mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 388 MiB (4%)

[TheParadox2]

The file's never played at all... specifically the error is "unsupported video data" which is different from "unsupporred video codec".

When i tried to convert the MKV to VC-1 i got an error from AVISynth stating something along the lines of direct show source couldn't support the video data and audio data...

...but the same file plays fine on my PC... flawless... so i think i need to just dump the H264 out into something, and then convert it back.

[TheParadox2]

wow, this program xvid4psp is really good. I thought it sounded a little misleading (trying to stay away from lossy formats) but i'm encoding to x264 under a lossless profile... and i'll just use that with the AC3 audio... im thinking it'll fix my prob... find out in 7 hours

[guns1inger]

You will most likely get a huge file is you use the lossless setting.

I have found that even the build of of mkvmerge used to create an mkv file can affect it's playback. Sometimes it is as simple as repackaging the contents without any re-encoding.