.MKV Containers?

[F22RJ]

I'm converting a .mp4 into a .mkv, but I don't know what video and audio containers/format I should use. My goal is to have the video highly compressed while it is still watchable. I'm thinking H-264 for video and ACC for audio, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure about what the bitrate for the audio and video should be.

Can anyone help me out?

[davexnet]

Why not just copy the AVC video as-is and convert the aac to ac-3?
Perhaps AVIdemux ?

[F22RJ]

I'm fiddling with Avidemux, but it only appears to output video in H-263. No 264 I would have to recompile it to at 264 support, and I'm not going through the trouble to do that. I have a program that does what I need already anyway.

What are the advantages of AC-3 over ACC?

[thezanny]

If it's a BRRip or a sortof thing, Use AAC audio 5.1 in 448Kbps which gives superb complexion in audio.
For video, use H264 - 2 pass - Bitrate around 2500 or higher in 720p or 1080p resolution.
This shall get you a Awesome output in max quality. ( High File size and encoding time depending on the PC )

[guns1inger]

AVIDemux does output H264.

While AAC does give good compression, many players do not like it, or do not output multi-channel, only stereo. Older recievers also often do not understand it. AC3 is far more universal.

I prefer XmediaRecode for this typoe of conversion.

[jagabo]

I'm fiddling with Avidemux, but it only appears to output video in H-263. No 264

They call it MPEG 4 AVC. In general, MPEG 4 part 10, AVC, and h.264 are the same thing.

[F22RJ]

I've decided to use Avidemux for doing this since it does the job faster than the program I was using, but I'm running into a problem. I tested it out on some videos beforehand and it worked fine, but now when I try to convert the videos I'm wanting to it gives this strange choppy effect. The sound is fine, but the video seems butchered and laggy. Any idea why it's doing this?
EDIT: Nevermind that, I fixed it. Thanks for your help guys.