converting mkv to avi files is the bane of my mac existence

[thinkblot]

Hi all,

Have been searching for ages for answers. I’m new to forum posting so please let me know if I should have posted this somewhere else, or missed something in my searches, etc. I know a lot has been posted on this topic (mkv to avi) but none seem to answer my specific questions. I would really appreciated some help!

Here’s what I’ve been dealing with: I downloaded some unlicensed anime in mkv format and I would like to convert them into avi format. The mkv files have two audio tracks (English and Japanese). I’m not sure if the subtitles are embedded in the file or not.

On VLC, the audio is perfect and the video stutters and gets stuck (it’s pretty bad, i.e. not tolerable).
On MPlayer, the video is perfect and the audio is choppy and broken.

Ideally, I would like an avi file with two audio tracks and separate (or embedded) subtitle files. I realize, from reading other forum threads, that a lot of people do not like the avi format and will suggest that I keep the mkv format since VLC does play them. But my computer (old school PowerBook G4, Mac OS X.4) apparently can’t handle them and I’ve never had a problem with avi’s.

This is the method that I’m trying to use:

1. Use MoKgVm2DVD1.0.2 (earlier version of MKVTools) to extract the subtitle files.
2. Use VisualHub (1.34.1) to convert the video to avi.
3. Watch the resulting avi with separate subtitles in VLC.

I don’t like to convert the files using MoKgVm2DVD1.0.2 because the video quality is very poor compared to that of VisualHub.

I’ve tried ffmpegx to convert the files to avi, but the resulting file can’t be played with VLC (audio, but no video).

I’ve tried avidemux but can’t seem to get anywhere with that program.

My version of Handbrake (for Mac OS X.4) can’t open mkv files.

Problems:

1. For some reason, with these mkv files, nothing happens when I open them with MoKgVm2DVD1.0.2. I’ve extracted subtitles and audio tracks before but, for these files, nothing happens. Activity Monitor shows that MoKgVm2DVD1.0.2 and mencoder are running and taking up a lot of processing power, but nothing ever shows up - and I’ve let it sit for a few hours. So, I am unable to convert or extract files.

2. I can’t choose the audio track in VisualHub. It automatically chooses the English audio track (it doesn’t matter if it is the first or second track - I tried different files to test this).

Unfortunately, techspansion has discontinued VisualHub and removed all support forums but I cannot afford to buy another video converter and I don’t feel confident enough to try out “building Film Redux” (or whatever that means). Plus, my copy of VisualHub works like a charm - so why change to something else?

Questions:

1. What are some possible reasons that MoKgVm2DVD1.0.2 would be unable to open an mkv file?
2. How can I choose an audio track in VisualHub?
3. Is there a better method for converting .mkv to .avi?

Keep in mind that I’m a true newbie to video conversion - it has been quite the ordeal to get this far. Just let me know if I’ve left out some important information.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help me out.

[ffooky]

Have you tried Video Monkey ? Download VideoSpec and/or MediaInfo Mac and see what they say about the streams in your MKV.

[thinkblot]

Thank you for your reply!

Video Monkey requires Mac OS X.5. I used MediaInfo Mac (thank you for the suggestion) and found out the following:

General/Container Stream #1
Total Video Streams for this File: 1
Total Audio Streams for this File: 2
Video Codecs Used: AVC
Audio Codecs Used: MPEG-1 Audio layer 3/MPEG-1 Audio layer 3
File Format: Matroska
Play Time: 22mn 48s
Total File Size: 201 MiB
Total Stream BitRate: 1234 Kbps
Encoded with: mkvmerge v2.2.0 ('Turn It On Again') built on Mar 4 2008

Video Stream #1
Codec: V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Codec (Human Name): Advanced Video Codeec
Frame Width: 720 pixels
Frame Height: 400 pixels
Frame Rate: 29.970 fps
Total Frames: 41020
Display Aspect RAtio: 16/9
Interlacement: Progressive
Codec Settings (Summary): CABAC
Codec Settings (CABAC): Yes
Video Encoder: x264 - core 58 svn-736M

Audio Stream #1 and Audio Stream #2 (same specs)
Codec: MPA1L3
Codec Profile: Joint stereo
Audio Stream BitRate: 192 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode: CBR
Number of Audio Channels: 2
Sampling RAte: 48 KHz
Bit Depth: 16 bits
Audio Encoder: Xing (new)
Audio Stream Language: English (Stream #1) and Japanese (Stream #2)

I think that's everything. Does this help?

[ffooky]

Don't seem to be any monsters lurking there. It doesn't say how many reference frames are used but I doubt that's a problem. Tried Movist to play it with ?

[terryj]

emmgunn's MoKgVm2DVD has problems with video encoded with AVC,
as well as some mkvs encoded with h.264.
I have encountered this myself on several anime of
recent note ( Shin Mazinger being the most obvious).

What I have done in those instances is to simply use iShowU
to capture the anime file playing in whatever plays it back the smoothest
on my Mac, in my case VLC. I playback at standard (Normal) window
height, with Jap Language on, English Subs on, and capture to a
DV Stream file.

I then take the DV Stream file and drag drop it into VisualHub to
make my .avi files.

[thinkblot]

@ ffooky: I just tried Movist, but the video plays in slow motion and the sound barely plays at all.

@ terryj: I didn't know about the problems with AVC and H.264 in MoKgVm2DVD. Thanks for suggesting this other method. A question: The video plays best in MPlayer but it basically has no sound. Will iShowU capture the full audio or just the nonsense I hear?



So, is it correct to say that we are not able to choose audio tracks in VisualHub? (It seems better to establish this first since it would cut out a whole step).

[ffooky]

Does your version of Handbrake accept MP4 as an input container format ?

Edit: Sorry, forget that. I was hoping it would be possible simply to switch containers with VLC's transcoder/exporter but despite accepting the input and options it seems to choke on every MKV I've tried

[thinkblot]

It seems that my version of Handbrake can't open mkv, avi, mp4....Maybe the 10.4 version can only handle DVD input?

If only there were some way to choose the audio track in VisualHub. I've read posts that hinted that when a conversion is started, VisualHub should recognize the different audio tracks and ask which one is preferred. That, or there is some sort of ffmpeg flag that can tell it which audio track to use. But I can't find any more information than that.

[ffooky]

When you say that you're not sure whether the subs are embedded or not, if you don't have a separate file then they must be. Do they appear as a stream with MoKgVm2DVD or in the Miscellaneous section of Videospec ?

MPEG Streamclip can extract the streams from an MKV and saves them as MOV files. If you can obtain your subs elsewhere (I bet you can), you can convert the video MOV to AVI DivX with ffmpegX and then use it again to mux your converted video and extracted audio to AVI.

[thinkblot]

This is what confuses me. There is no separate subtitle stream listed in MediaInfo Mac (I can't tell what's in the file using MoKgVm2DVD because it just keeps running mencoder with no results - can't convert or extract or see any files listed). But, when I convert with VisualHub, the resulting avi has no subtitles embedded and English audio only.

[ffooky]

MediaInfo doesn't seem to check for subtitles...you need to use Videospec or VLC for that.

[thinkblot]

There is definitely a separate subtitle track - I can select it in VLC. In fact, there seems to be two English subtitle tracks that I can choose but only the second subtitle track actually has subtitles that show up in the video.

[piershot]

There is definitely a separate subtitle track - I can select it in VLC. In fact, there seems to be two English subtitle tracks that I can choose but only the second subtitle track actually has subtitles that show up in the video.

Often subbers put in two tracks, one is "styled" text and the other is plain. Styled text will often have Karaoke with advanced timing tricks. If you have a slower processor you might want to leave styled subs alone. The fact that you only see the second sub displayed might mean something.

Have you tried MKVTools yet? I can get it to run in 10.4. It's slooow but it does what I need it to do.

I have some really high resolution AVC videos in MKV containers. This is the steps I take:
1) Extract Subs using MKVTools
2) Convert to AVI using MKVTools - NO SUBS!
3) Convert to lower resolution DviX using ffmepgX add subs back in.
4) watch on my cheap wallyworld DVD player.

If you burn the subs in with MKVTools then downgrade the video the subs become unwatchable.

As ffooky pointed out Mediainfo Mac doesn't check for subtitles. I use mkvmerge on the command line in terminal. Don't be afraid, it's a Mac! Install mkvmerge, it may already be there as it's part of MoKgVm2DVD, open a terminal window and type "mkvmerge -i " without the quotes and a space at the end. Drag and drop the file you want info on. hit return. Sometimes you'll see more than video, audio and subs, there may be fonts in there as well.

regards,
piershot

[anarchyx34]

I know this isn't much help but I've been dealing with the same thing on my Mac for months. The only thing that I've found that works is Toast. It will at the very least hard-code the subs into the video. Of course it takes a zillion years, so converting a 5 minute episode of Hetalia Axis Powers takes about 30-45 mins on an Intel Imac.

Here's where it gets interesting. I just bought a $400 Windows-7 notebook that has a dual core Celeron processor, not to replace my mac but just to have a nice cheap computer on the go. I decided to let it try some video conversion. Using ConvertXtoDVD, it encoded those same nightmarish MKV files at about 70fps. It took 5 minutes to convert two of these episodes AND burn the disc, which came out flawlessly BTW. You can even completely change the subtitle fonts and position and whatever you want. Unfortunately all this app does is burn dvd's and doesnt transcode to other formats, so it may not be of any help to you, but you may want to look into using Paralells or VMware Fusion and try seeing what's available in the Windows world.

I just think it's silly that I now have a $400 notebook that's more useful for dealing with video than my Mac is.

[Ai Haibara]

Wonder if the Mac version of AVIDemux would be able to do it. You'd have to demux the subtitles and then add them as a hardsub filter to the video (yes, even .ass subs), though.

[terryj]

@ ffooky: I just tried Movist, but the video plays in slow motion and the sound barely plays at all.

@ terryj: I didn't know about the problems with AVC and H.264 in MoKgVm2DVD. Thanks for suggesting this other method. A question: The video plays best in MPlayer but it basically has no sound. Will iShowU capture the full audio or just the nonsense I hear?

Sorry, sometimes I miss a thread.

Yes, because iShowU is capturing the video as it is played in VLC.
So I set VLC to play the video at least 720 x 480 ( or close to that),
select the audio track i want ( always Japanese) and to display
subs. I test play it for a few seconds to make sure it is playing
and sounding ok, then I go back ( rewind) launch iShowU,
and make it "hijack" VLC and record to a DV Stream file.
VLC plays, iShowU records, and voila, I've got embedded
subs, proper language track, and good to great video
(depending upon the person who originally encoded it).

rinse and repeat as necessary, and then drag and drop
the DV Stream files into either Toast ( for Quick DVDs)
or Batch encode through Compressor ( for Season Sets).
More often though I have been doing Toast, because
somethings are more of a watch now, rather than watch later
when all epsiodes are done ( like Shin Mazinger and Ultimate Hellsing )