Changing an FLV to MKV Container without Re-Encoding

[Tom Saurus]

I downloaded the videotovideo Converter program. I have been using it mainly to join YouTube segments together into one file using the Direct Stream Copy option so I do re-encode. I noticed if I click on the Video Container Option I can select the ,mkv container among a slew of other containers. I tested out a file where I changed the container and played in from my thumb drive on my LG Blu-Ray Player. If it had remained a .flv file I wouldn't of been able to Pause, Fast Forward or Rewind the file. I probably didn't do a good job describing how to use VideotoVideo Converter to accomplish this task, but it is a fairly simple process.

[Baldrick]

Or use mkvtoolnix / mkvmergegui to remux to mkv. It should support flvs.

* mkvmerge: new feature: Implemented a reader for the Flash Video format (.flv). Implements #735.

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[Tom Saurus]

Baldrick: I am sure you are correct in your response and it is always good to have additional tools to accomplish tasks.

I just dropped 40 complete .flv files into the video to video converter and chose Direct Stream Copy and changed the container to .mkv and the program quickly breezed through all the files.

It is nice to join .flv files together with the join function and Direct Stream Copy and chose a different container.

I used to join the files and then convert to an .avi file, then I got some advice here and then started converting to .mkv files instead. Since one can't really improve on the original file, it is ideal just to change the container and if the Blu-Ray Player will play it, you save a lot of hard drive space and you can save a lot of time not having to convert the files to another format.

[ConverterCrazy]

Or use mkvtoolnix / mkvmergegui to remux to mkv. It should support flvs.

* mkvmerge: new feature: Implemented a reader for the Flash Video format (.flv). Implements #735.

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Hi Baldrick,

That's a good suggestion. Just what I was looking for!

Is it possible to do this using a batch file?

I got 100s of FLV files I'd like to convert to MKV container using MKVMergegui.
Though I would like to convert audio to AC3 format and leave video untouched.
But, will be satisfied if no such option is there.
Just change of container will do.

Thanks.

[jagabo]

You can make a simple batch file to remux to MKV and put it in your SendTo folder. Then you can right click on just about any video file (not limited to FLV) and select Send To -> Remux_to_MKV.bat to remux to MKV.

Remux_to_MKV.bat:

 "c:\program files\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec copy "%~d1%~p1%~n1.mkv"

Change the path to ffmpeg.exe if you have it installed elsewhere.

There are some cases where this may not work right. For example, if the source file has multiple audio tracks it may not get the one you want.

You can modify this a bit to remux all FLV files in a folder to MKV:

for %%F in (*.FLV) do "c:\program files\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec copy "%~d1%~p1%~n1.mkv"

Put that batch file in a folder and double click on it. Or you could put it in your SendTo folder to remux all FLV files in any folder by right clicking and selecting Send To -> Remux_all_FLV_to_MKV.bat (or whatever you call the batch file).

[Selur]

@jagbo: never tried to use ffmpeg directly (always use FLVExtract for the extraction), will this also properly work for files with vfr?

[jagabo]

will this also properly work for files with vfr?

I don't know. In truth, I don't deal with FLV much. But it's worked fine with the files I've tried.

[poisondeathray]

Yes, the ffmpeg method supports VFR timecodes

Though I would like to convert audio to AC3 format and leave video untouched.
But, will be satisfied if no such option is there.

ConverterCrazy wanted to encode to AC3 , so he could just change -acodec ac3 -b:a 192k , instead of -acodec copy for example (or change whatever bitrate he wanted)

[Selur]

Nice, good to know.

[ConverterCrazy]

I followed suggestions of @jagabo and @poisondeathray; both don't work for me

[Baldrick]

Don't work how?

You can read this tutorial for how to make batch commands for ffmpeg: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/356314-How-to-batch-convert-multiplex-any-files-with-ffmpeg

[jagabo]

In MMG you can use the Copy To Clipboard button to see what command line will be used. You can then build your own batch files that use mkvmerge.exe instead of ffmpeg.exe.

[ConverterCrazy]

Don't work how?

You can read this tutorial for how to make batch commands for ffmpeg: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/356314-How-to-batch-convert-multiplex-any-files-with-ffmpeg

Thanks for the reply.

Both commands given in the examples made the batch file flash on screen and nothing happened - no files generated! Had to add PAUSE at the end of batch file to see what message was displayed.

It was simple Help message as one can see by entering the command with options and their explanation.

Then I used it for a single line command for each FLV file in the batch file, it created one AVI or 264 file and one MP3 or AAC file for each FLV file.

E.g.
FLVExtractCL.exe -v -a -t VDL-0015.flv

It worked.


The following command did not work:

for %%F in (*.FLV) do "C:\7z\ffmpeg-20130813-git-bbbd959-win32-static\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec ac3 -b:a 256k "%~d1%~p1%~n1.mkv"

Running the batch file with above command gave error and exited.

What happened?
Thanks

[jagabo]

The following command did not work:

for %%F in (*.FLV) do "C:\7z\ffmpeg-20130813-git-bbbd959-win32-static\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec ac3 -b:a 256k "%~d1%~p1%~n1.mkv"

Sorry, I made some mistakes when I copied/pasted the earlier batch command. It should have read:

for %%F in (*.FLV) do "c:\program files\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -i "%%F" -vcodec copy -acodec copy "%%~dF%%~pF%%~nF.mkv"

And yes, you can add PAUSE on the next line to keep the window from closing automatically on completion. Remember, you may have to change the path to ffmpeg.exe if it's installed in a different location on your computer.

[ConverterCrazy]

Sorry, I made some mistakes when I copied/pasted the earlier batch command. It should have read:

for %%F in (*.FLV) do "c:\program files\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -i "%%F" -vcodec copy -acodec copy "%%~dF%%~pF%%~nF.mkv"

And yes, you can add PAUSE on the next line to keep the window from closing automatically on completion. Remember, you may have to change the path to ffmpeg.exe if it's installed in a different location on your computer.

Thanks a ton, it worked!

Oops! For some files it gives this error message:

[flv @ 02957aa0] Stream discovered after head already parsed

Any suggestion?Thanks

[ConverterCrazy]

Don't work how?

You can read this tutorial for how to make batch commands for ffmpeg: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/356314-How-to-batch-convert-multiplex-any-files-with-ffmpeg

A belated Thanks @Baldrick for link to Tutorial on FFMpeg.

[Wazza10]

for what i need to do videotovideo is perfect! it copies mkv audio + video streams flawlessly and repacks them into a number of diffrent containers, so glad i stumbled across this thread, thank you, OP.

[Tom Saurus]

Wazza10: I am glad that my post was useful to you and perhaps others as well. It feels good to contribute to the knowledge even if it is just in a small way. I have learned so much here at VideoHelp. Thank you to everyone who has given me advice over the many years that I have been a member here.