Converting MKV/OGM to AVI w/ sub support?

[nmaster64]

I'm a big fan of the MKV/OGM formats, despite how messy they are to work with. I like being able to flip between subtitles and whatnot. Problem I recently discovered: way too big of files. I'd like to convert them to an avi of some format and compress them a bit, but my main concern is the subs.

How can I take an MKV/OGM file and convert it to an AVI while still having some way of watching it on my computer with the subtitles, but NOT having the subs actually in the video (i.e. no hardsubs)? Making the AVI is easy enough, it's the subs I don't know how to work with...

Edit: I've been hunting around some more, and would a combination of SubRip and SubStitler work maybe? Rip the subs, convert the video, then stitler them back on? Or would that make hardsubs?

[foxyshadis]

Why not just stick to mkv? The format does not add any overhead, the switch to mkv has just accompanied a switch to higher bitrates overall. The only reason to use avi would be to use a standalone.

If you must use avi, demux the subs and give them the same name as the avi (minus the extension). That way vsfilter will pick them up. For multiple languages I think .eng.srt, .jpn.srt, etc work, but I've never tried it.

[nmaster64]

Why not just stick to mkv? The format does not add any overhead, the switch to mkv has just accompanied a switch to higher bitrates overall. The only reason to use avi would be to use a standalone.The files I have right now are definitly too big, despite their high quality. I'm not familiar with how a MKV is encoded though, does it use DivX or some other specific compression, or is it like an AVI which could use a thousand different compressions? Is there a way I can easily recompress the MKV w/o much quality loss and w/o making it an AVI? (my apologies if these are newb questions, I've really never worked with MKV and OGM before...)

If you must use avi, demux the subs and give them the same name as the avi (minus the extension). That way vsfilter will pick them up. For multiple languages I think .eng.srt, .jpn.srt, etc work, but I've never tried it.What would you recommend program-wise for demuxing a MKV?

[foxyshadis]

mkv can be thought of as a more advanced avi, at its most basic. (ogm was a sort of half-way cross between avi and ogg that wasn't terribly well designed and is no longer supported by anything, but you can easily change them into avi or mkv with vdubmod.) If you can stick it in avi you can stick it in mkv, plus some stuff you can't put in avi. One option is to simply recompress to avi and mux everything into mkv at the end, or you can use a tool like mkvmagic to do it all in one step.

If it's an old (vfw) mkv, you can open them in virtualdubmod and get to subs & audio via streams menu. If not, you can use mkvextract from mkvtoolnix and mkvextract gui.