Converting 720p files for playback on a PS3

[jh76]

Hi. I need to convert several 720p MKV movies I have (most of them H264 or AVC with AC3 or DTS audio) into something that my Playstation 3 will play (avi, mp4, m2ts) keeping the resolution and the image quality as much as possible and that it will fit in a DVD5. I don´t care that much about the sound, regular stereo suits me just fine.
I was using the DivX Converter which did the job just fine but it doesn´t support DTS. Lately it just won´t work, it hangs at 99% every time regardless of the audio codec in the movie. Their support has been of no use whatsoever. Usually it will convert just fine if you uncheck the audio track, but whenever I mux the resulting avi with the audio track I always (99% of the time) get it out of sync with the video.
I have tried almost every video converter out there, from SUPER to mkv2vob, tsMuxer, AVI-mux, meGUI, HD Convert to X, Handbrake, All to Avi, etc with bad results. Either they don´t convert anything at all after hours of work, they produce a huge file that won´t fit on a DVD5 o get audio sync issues.
I´m open to suggestions, I don´t care whether the program is free or paid for as long as it works, but please bear in mind that my knowledge in this area is rather limited, so if the program requires you to set/select a lot of very specific variants I probably won´t be able to do it (properly at least).
Thanks a lot in advance

[Baldrick]

If none of the above tools works for you it might be time to get another solution...a HTPC.

Or try use multiAVHCD and make a avchd that should work on a ps3. It should be able to shrink it also or use uncropmkv.

[guns1inger]

I use MultiAVCHD. If the file is not completely compliant I use the transcode function to prep it as part of the authoring process. I have only done a handful, but so far they have all be successful. That said, be prepared for relatively long encodes. Even on a quad core they can take several hours.

[jh76]

Still no joy. I tried Xvid4PSP and the audio is completely out of sync. I also tried some of the other tools recommended in this forum that I hadn´t already and they didn´t work either, either the results won´t play at all or the audio will be out of sync
So far the only combination that has "worked" has been to mux the video that the DivX converter successfully converted into avi with the ac3 audio track (extracted from the mkv with MKVextract) using AVImux, the result is good video and audio in sync, but unfortunately it is too big for a DVD (4,54 Gbs)
Any ideas? Any other software I could try?
I am currently running MultiAVCHD but I´m not sure it´s working, the window is all grey, shows nothing except for the title bar, but according to the Task Manager it is using 50% CPU, so it might be working. Is that normal?

[wrathofbod]

i found it easer to run all my movies hd,blu-ray & divx rips from my pc using
PS3 MEDIA SERVER.With no loss of quality.i have used orb & tversity but didnt play mkv files.
ps3 media server does with ease
http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com/

no more converting to compatible format.no recodes its great

[jh76]

Yes, I know and use PS3 Media Server, but I want to be able to play these movies on the PS3 directly, so I can save them to DVD and delete the originals in order to save HD space, and this way I can also lend them to friends who have a PS3

[Megahurts]

Use tsMuxerGUI and output to a m2ts file. There is no re-encoding.

Put it in a VIDEO folder on a DVD disc or USB stick.

[jh76]

I tried that, didn´t work. I don´t recall if it had created a working file that was too big for a single layer DVD, if it was unplayable or if the audio was out of sync.
When I came back home MultiAVCHD was still "working", that is to say the window was still grey and using 50% CPU after a little over 20 hours (I have an E6400 Core2Duo, 2 Gbs of RAM and a GeForce 7950 GT with 512 Mbs). I closed it, didn´t say it was not responding, it just closed, there was no output file. Yesterday I also tried Yambi and another program I can´t remember (found in some thread here, supposedly for transcoding into an Xbox compatible mp4) but both produced unplayable mp4 files (all I got when trying to play them on VLC was a black screen, no audio. WMP would just come up with an error saying it´s not supported).
I have tried extracting the video and audio tracks using MKVextract and then muxing them back together in a different container but even then the audio will be out of sync (it is in sync in the original mkv). I should mention that most (though not all) of these movies have dual audio, the main track in Italian and the secondary track the original English (the one I want to keep)

[Megahurts]

Could you post a MediaInfo screen shot of the 720p MKV file in text mode.

[jh76]

This is just one of the movies giving me grief:

General
Complete name : C:\Downloads\The Descent.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 4.67 GiB
Duration : 1h 35mn
Overall bit rate : 6 983 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2008-11-06 23:17:28
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.4.0 ('Fumbling Towards Ecstasy') built on Oct 11 2008 20:13:15
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 2
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@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 : 1h 35mn
Bit rate : 5 756 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 5 626 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Original frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.331
Stream size : 3.85 GiB (82%)
Writing library : x264 core 54 svn-654
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-2:-2 / analyse=0x1:0 / me=umh / subme=7 / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=2 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=5626 / 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
Language : English

Audio #1
ID : 1
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 35mn
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
Video delay : 22s 560ms
Stream size : 307 MiB (6%)
Title : Italiano
Language : Italian

Audio #2
ID : 3
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 35mn
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 : 438 MiB (9%)
Title : Inglese
Language : English

Text
ID : 4
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : Italian

[jh76]

So, do you guys notice anything wrong or odd with this file that may be causing all of these issues? So far I have another movie (Saving Private Ryan) that is giving the same issues. Another (Ghostbusters) I was able to convert properly, the video with the DivX converter, extracted the audio with MKVextract and muxed them together with AVI-mux. The only difference I could see between the 3 files is that this one had AAC audio instead of AC3, but other than that they were practically the same (dual audio, Italianand English)

[guns1inger]

You wouldn't have any of these problems if you just bought the bluray or DVD of the videos.

[1karl1]

after adding mkv files to multiavchd,you'l notice the title is red,double click on that and press transcode from the menu that pops up,then ok on the following menu,then your mkv will be changed to a playable hd resolution,just click start after that then select what output u want,i put mine on avchd strict then once its done select the avchd file that is produced in write folders to disc using imageburn then u got what u want,this way also works for multiple episodes of hd tv programmes too,you will have a root menu

[Ceesar]

first of all,
which program do you use to get the information posted on #10?

second,
I use AnyVideoConverter
Before i convert a full size movie i use a sample video file of say 1 minute long.
that has brought me to the conclusion that the following settings can be used for PS3 playback:

Movie.M2TS


Video options:

Video codec: x264
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Video Bitrate: 2000 (its probably possible to go higher but that would take more space)
FPS: 25 (thats what i use. Good quality)

Audio Options:

Audio Codec: AC3
Audio Bitrate: 128 (you can probably go higher)
Sample Rate 48000 (is the highest. provides good quality sound)
Audio Channel: 2 (i dont know what that is for)
Audio Track: only with multi audio track files
Subtitles: your chosen subtitles (can be embedded or in same folder)

[1karl1]

its your mkv resolution thats causing a problem i've since found out,ps3 plays ac3 audio fine,have a look at my tutorial on you-tube on mkv to ps3 cos i've completely wiped this problems arse after much struggling,in my vid ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK8xRcsfDZA,any probs just leave comment i check every day