How to convert MKV to Xvid with 5.1 surround

[SpeedyLee]

My Humax pvr will play or upload via a memory stick using Xvid files. Is it possible to encode Xvid with 5.1 surround? If so, what is the best converter to use and where do I go to get software that is malware/virus free.
Thanks in advance,
Lee (UK)

[pandy]

Player support SD or HD? I would recommend ffmpeg with simple batch script but... StaxRip can be better choice if you prefer GUI.

[SpeedyLee]

Hi,
Many thanks for the info and advice. T he player can support SD and HD. Naturally if uploading to the pvr it will use up a larger amount of available space. So HD would be good for Supernatural or The 100 and SD for Nashville etc.

I'll see how that pans out,
thanks.

[netmask56]

Will it support MKV or MP4 if so you could use VidCoder. If the original file size is not a problem just wrap it in a MKV container, very quick and no loss of quality

[SpeedyLee]

Netmask56, no it (the pvr) won't support MKV. That is why I need a MKV to Xvid converter with the ability to encode 5.1 surround with Xvid.

[TimA-C]

OK. I'm not sure if this is a 'legal' combination, but my Humax HDR Fox T2 will play an mp4 file containing h.264 video and 5.1 ac3 audio created using AviDemux (Just copying the video track and encoding the audio to 5.1 ac3 and muxing to mp4)

Additional: My Bluray player will play the file but without sound. My Humax will also play a .ts file with h.264 video and 5.1 ac3 audio as well . . .

[LigH.de]

Please do not mix container formats (MKV, MP4, M2TS, AVI) and content formats (Xvid, H.264). Obviously, you cannot convert a container into content. If the container is the only unsupported part of a media file, try to preserve the content and only change the container, e.g. remultiplex from MKV to MP4.

Furthermore, please be a lot more specific than "Humax PVR". As if they only sell one model...

[SpeedyLee]

LIgH.de..... Apologies about the Humax, here in the UK it is an HDR-2000T, with the 1TB hdd. Thank you for the information.
I can understand (of sorts) what you are saying about contents and containers. However you lost me a little bit mentioning 'unsupported' and what that means in context. As yet, I haven't had a chance to try out any of the above suggested converters. Also, without becoming too repetitive all I want to do is convert MKV to Xvid along with 5.1 surround instead of 2 channel mp3. The HDR 2000T doesn't seem to support H.264. AAC etc. It makes me wonder what audio format the machine actually records in?

Currently I'm using apowersoft MKV converter which converts video well but then for Xvid it puts the audio to 2ch mp3---aaargh!

[sneaker]

The HDR 2000T doesn't seem to support H.264

I find that hard to believe. It supports HDTV, BBC iPlayer, Youtube etc. H.264 is pretty much standard for those nowadays. Post a MediaInfo log of the file. Are you trying streaming or USB?

The list of supported formats is lengthy – we had no trouble streaming XviD, WMV HD, hi-def AVI, AVCHD and MP4 but there’s no streaming support for DivX or MKV. On the music side the Humax HDR-2000T is limited to MP3 playback. Alternatively you can play files from USB storage devices and doing so allows you to play MKV and DivX.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/humax-hdr-2000t-review

[SpeedyLee]

When I download programs through Torrent via DL Magnet, the MKV files that contain 5.1 surround I either play or transfer via usb stick to the pvr. Upon playback the error message says it cannot support that file. Not sure if I'm doing something askew?

[sneaker]

Post a MediaInfo log of the file.

[LigH.de]

Sometimes it is hard to explain years of experience in only a few sentences, you know...

MKV is not the format of the contained video. It is the format of the container which keeps the video and audio together. You say that the container is MKV ... that doesn't tell me what the contained video is; I could guess that it might be H.264, but I'd prefer to know for sure (WMV VC-1 would be possible too). Neither does it tell me what the contained audio is; I could guess that it is already AC3 with 5.1 channels, but I'd prefer to know for sure (AAC or even HD audio formats would be possible too).

"5.1 surround" is no audio compression format. It explains the channel layout (must have 5 distinct channels + LFE), but not which codec was used to encode it (AC3, AAC, dts, FLAC...). It's like telling me that you want a car with 4 doors, but not if you prefer an SUV, a limousine, or a city shorty (e.g. Smart for four).

To know for sure, I would like to see an analysis report of MediaInfo. The MPC-HC player can show you such a brief analysis in its info dialog (Shift+F10). If you are lucky, it contains AC3 as audio format, then we can preserve that and do not need to convert it.

The Humax HDR-200T supports SD and HD TV broadcasts, so it will certainly support H.264 video and AC3 audio. Maybe just not inside an MKV container, or only with specific restrictions. Possibly inside MPEG TransportStream containers, though (TS / M2TS). Maybe even in MP4. You should better read specific forums about such devices (e.g. myhumax.org) to learn about it. The customer manual may not tell you such details.
_

Ah, I see, sneaker knows more than me.

BTW, do not download moviez via BitTorrent. At least never confess in public that you do.

[SpeedyLee]

Hi Guys,
Many thanks to all of you that have posted various suggestions over the past week or so. The only one that was suggested that appears to work (at this moment) is Vidcoder.
The others, XmediaRecode loads the file but no matter what video/audio and target settings I choose, the encode icon button or from the file drop down menu is always, but always remains 'greyed' out.
The program AVI Demux has a similar problem, yet with this one I cannot fathom out where the 'Encode/Go/Ok/Convert' button is hiding. These last two looked promising but seem non functioning.

The only downturn to Vidcoder is that it is painfully slow to convert and appears to work in real time, ie a 45 min video takes around 45 minutes to convert. Also, I had to change from Dolby Prologic II to 5.1 Channels. As leaving it in DP II the resulting conversion only came out as '2 Channels'. This I checked by using 'MediInfo' in order to confirm.

If anyone could elude further as to why Xmedia and AVI Demux wouldn't work I would be very interested in giving them another try.

Hanging in here for help..........

[TimA-C]

You're not helping yourself by not giving us the info we need in order to help you. Do as Sneaker asked and

Post a MediaInfo log of the file.

Then we'll know what video and audio codecs we're dealing with and (hopefully) be able to give informed help. (If you're worried about posting info like the film's name and maybe where it came from then edit the MediaInfo log before posting.)