Convert 10-Bit MKV to 8-Bit

[wingfat]

Are there any programs or procedures available to convert 10-Bit MKV's to 8-Bit? Hardware devices like the C-200 Popcorn Hour are unable to process these 10-Bit files. I'm seeing this on Anime files but it's only a matter of time before 10-Bit files are everywhere.

Thanks!

[txporter]

You should be able to transcode the video using 8-bit x264 rather than 10-bit. Or even with ffmpeg.

Maybe something as simple as this:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -vcodec libx264 -crf 19 -acodec copy output.mkv

ffmpeg download

Adjust crf value to visual preference. I normally use 18-19 for SD transcoding and 20-21 for HD transcoding. (lower the number, the higher the bitrate of the final encode)

[Baldrick]

Or any converter/gui that uses x264/ffmpeg like handbrake, xmedia recode, etc. They can also copy the audio.

[wingfat]

You should be able to transcode the video using 8-bit x264 rather than 10-bit. Or even with ffmpeg.

Maybe something as simple as this:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -vcodec libx264 -crf 19 -acodec copy output.mkv

ffmpeg download

Adjust crf value to visual preference. I normally use 18-19 for SD transcoding and 20-21 for HD transcoding. (lower the number, the higher the bitrate of the final encode)

I tried using a ffmpeg tool called iffmpeg on Lion OSX and it would not handle subtitles.. This is rather important in the (in)fected anime files.
I was told ffmpeg has some problems with subtitles.

[jman98]

I'm seeing this on Anime files but it's only a matter of time before 10-Bit files are everywhere.

Thanks!

Unlikely. Anime files have been made with bizarre settings and sometimes the most bizarre codecs available (RealMedia? What the ...???) and very little of it has ever found wider acceptance. Do you think that Anime file makers do this because they are too stupid to know any better or because they actually enjoy making files that are problematic to playback outside of a computer?

The setting that has taken over the internet by storm now is stripped headers in MKV files. It reminds me of the old GMC problems with Divx/Xvid some years ago. I'm not interested in Anime so I'm not seeing 10 bit files in the MKV files I happen to find from time to time.

[wingfat]

I'm seeing this on Anime files but it's only a matter of time before 10-Bit files are everywhere.

Thanks!

Unlikely. Anime files have been made with bizarre settings and sometimes the most bizarre codecs available (RealMedia? What the ...???) and very little of it has ever found wider acceptance. Do you think that Anime file makers do this because they are too stupid to know any better or because they actually enjoy making files that are problematic to playback outside of a computer?

The setting that has taken over the internet by storm now is stripped headers in MKV files. It reminds me of the old GMC problems with Divx/Xvid some years ago. I'm not interested in Anime so I'm not seeing 10 bit files in the MKV files I happen to find from time to time.

I do hope that 10Bit MKV files are not to become main stream. There are no hardware media players that can currently handle 10Bit and contrary to what fansubbers think I watch anime on 60 and 70 inch screens.
I am getting some good results now on the newest Handbrake Nightly releases. Its re-encoding the 10 Bit files with subs and audio together.
I have only tested the MAC version.

[GrayStrickland]

I am fighting this battle too, also with an anime video. The source file is 10bit MKV (full details from MediaInfo at the end of this post). I tried re-encoding using Handbrake 0.9.6, but either Handbrake can't handle the job (unlikely) or I'm just too stupid to set the controls correctly. The MediaInfo on what I produced with Handbrake is also at the end. Handbrake did convert from 10bit to 8bit (and MKV to MP4), but the resulting file still won't play on my hardware media streamer (Popcorn Hour A-100, the very first and weakest PCH made).

Any suggestions on how I can convert this to a form that it will play on my lowly Popcorn Hour A-100?


ORIGINAL SOURCE

General
Unique ID : 195927856917581200227434448593971487811 (0x936655290E66C72599CA07BA8C82A443)
Complete name : C:\stuff\places\file.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 2.44 GiB
Duration : 1h 43mn
Overall bit rate : 3 374 Kbps
Movie name : Name
Encoded date : UTC 2012-01-25 13:02:26
Writing application : mkvmerge v5.2.1 ('A Far Off Place') built on Jan 2 2012 23:21:10
Writing library : libebml v1.2.3 + libmatroska v1.3.0
Attachment : Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High 10@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 6 frames
Muxing mode : Header stripping
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 43mn
Bit rate : 2 027 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 690 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.85:1
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.096
Stream size : 1.47 GiB (60%)
Writing library : x264 core
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : Header stripping
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 43mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 475 MiB (19%)
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Audio #2
ID : 3
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : Header stripping
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 43mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 475 MiB (19%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No

Text #1
ID : 4
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Text #2
ID : 5
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Language : French
Default : No
Forced : No

Text #3
ID : 6
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Language : German
Default : No
Forced : No

Text #4
ID : 7
Format : VobSub
Muxing mode : zlib
Codec ID : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Language : Chinese
Default : No
Forced : No

Text #5
ID : 8
Format : VobSub
Muxing mode : zlib
Codec ID : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Language : Korean
Default : No
Forced : No

WHAT HANDBRAKE MADE

General
Complete name : C:\stuff\places\Newfile.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 1.29 GiB
Duration : 1h 43mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 1 784 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 17:17:19
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-13 17:58:59
Writing application : HandBrake 0.9.6 2012022800

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1h 43mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 1 618 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 690 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.85:1
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Minimum frame rate : 23.810 fps
Maximum frame rate : 1 000.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.076
Stream size : 1.17 GiB (91%)
Writing library : x264 core 120
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=1 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=6 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=10 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 17:17:19
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-13 17:58:59
Color primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1h 43mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 160 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 219 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -83ms
Stream size : 119 MiB (9%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 17:17:19
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-13 17:58:58

Text
ID : 3
Format : Timed text
Muxing mode : sbtl
Codec ID : tx3g
Duration : 1h 42mn
Source duration : 28h 12mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 329 bps
Delay relative to video : -83ms
Stream size : 247 KiB (0%)
Source stream size : 253 KiB (0%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-13 17:17:19
Tagged date : UTC 2012-06-13 17:58:58
mdhd_Duration : 6135650

[wingfat]

This is your lucky day!

The solution to your problem can be found at the end of this thread:

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showthread.php?tid=53876&page=9&highlight=anime+10bit

Quick summary:

1) Make this into a .BAT file


@echo off
setlocal

FOR /f "delims=" %%i IN ('dir /b *.mkv') DO call :recode "%%i"
goto :done

:recode
set oldfile=%1
echo %oldfile% | find /i "[8bit]" > nul:
if not errorlevel 1 goto :eof
set newfile=%oldfile:.mkv= [8bit].mkv%
if exist %newfile% goto :eof
echo %oldfile%
set tmpfile=%oldfile:.mkv=.tmp.mkv%
if exist %tmpfile% del /f /q %tmpfile%
x264 --preset veryfast --tune animation --crf 18 -o %tmpfile% %oldfile%
mkvmerge -o %newfile% -D %oldfile% %tmpfile%
if exist %tmpfile% del /f /q %tmpfile%
goto :eof

:done
endlocal

2) Install MKVTOOLNIX 5.6.0 into windows http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/win32/mkvtoolnix-unicode-5.6.0-setup.exe
3) Download x264.exe http://x264.nl/ (Get 8bit version..not 10bit)

Place x264.exe ; above batch (.BAT) file ; and the shortcut to MKVMERGE GUI (Which should appear as a shortcut on your desktop after installing mkvtoolnix.. all together in a folder. Place anime you which to convert in folder and run batch file. Done.

Original method and directions: http://commiesubs.com/how-to-convert-10bit-to-8bit/ ((Use above .bat file instead of encode.bat))

Enjoy..

[leonel098]

Hi,
sorry to relive the topic, but, how could cut a part of the video?
I tried with this:

DirectShowSource("video(Hi10P).mkv", fps=23.976, audio=false, convertfps=true).AssumeFPS(24000,1001)
Trim(0, 2160)

but I just created a file of 160 bytes, and gray screen.