mkv2vob: New App to Remux MKV x264/AC3 which play on PS3

[KopfSick]

Love the software! Just have one question. When transcoding, does the choice of MPEG-2/XviD/x264 affect the resulting quality, resolution or just filesize? If it affects quality, is it noticable for the common eye?

[Sephiroth0000]

Just updated to the lastest MKV2VOB (great program by the way) and now whatever file I throw it just simple responds with Error:mencoder crashed....what gives?

[burnsdg]

Can somebody please explain me why the PS3 don't support DTS soundtracks in mkv files?
Simple, really. Because Sony hasn't made the PS3's firmware able to do that. And nobody has any idea if they ever will.

[burnsdg]

When transcoding, does the choice of MPEG-2/XviD/x264 affect the resulting quality, resolution or just filesize? If it affects quality, is it noticable for the common eye?
Well, only YOU can truly answer that! At the same bitrate or same file size, in "quality" terms you should get a "better" picture from x264, then xvid, then MPEG2. MPEG2 will be fastest to finish if transcoding is required and create a larger output file, so if YOU can tolerate the visual difference then go that way if time is important. If time isn't important, I'd stick with x264. I don't think 3r1c has ever told us officially what bitrates he uses when transcoding, or how he goes about determining what bitrate to use if it's variable. Nor are there options you the user can set to enable a higher bitrate. But even knowing that wouldn't matter really (other than for us techno-junkies). In all honesty, YOU have to play with the settings and figure out what works best for YOU. What looks great to you on a 37" 720p LCD might not look good to someone else on a 52" 1080p Plasma, so nobody will ever be able to truly answer your question but you.

So much of the "quality" of the transcoding result is dependent on the bitrate of the source file. If it's a 1.5Mbps mkv, the results (and file sizes) would be drastically different if you MPEG-2 transcoded at 1.5Mbps versus 15Mbps (or some number in between). There is of course a point of diminishing returns where a higher output bitrate won't give any noticeable improvement for a given input bitrate, but that point is subject to much conjecture and there is NO 100% true answer. Since ALL are "lossy" compression schemes, ANY transcode will have lower perceived "quality" than the source. The ideal situation is for the PS3 firmware to support MKV container playback natively AND support the various compression formats (for which PS3 has codecs) that can be stored in an MKV container. But who knows if Sony will ever give us that???

[Sephiroth0000]

31rc (or anyone with revelant knowledge),

I have been using MKV2VOB pretty much problem free but for some reason now regardless of what mkv I put into MKV2VOB I get an error after it saids it needs transcoding... Error:Mencoder crashed. I have attempted uninstalling, reinstalling, using another computer and checking all my codec settings (K-Lite Codec Pack full 3.8) but can't see what is causing this? Can anyone at all shed any light on this?

[SpeedracerX]

Thanks for a great program!

I recently had a problem converting mkv, it appears that during a conversion process it errors out with the message "BeSplit Crashed", I think on phase 2. When converting from AAC to AC3. Is there any workaround? I checked BeSweet and the version is current and the beta doesn't seem to make any difference.

TIA

[zzebulonn]

the only workaround i found is to use the previous version and to rename the exe to avoid auto update each time you launch.

[bigtony04]

hey guys. I keep getting this BeSplit Crash thing after the files tries to get encoded. The program will work but just before it finishes doing its job, it shows me this BeSplit Crash therefore, the file would can not be completed. In fact, i can't even see the output file. I currently have K-lite codec pack installed, and here are my computer specs.

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp.080413-2111) (final version)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: HP Pavilion dv9500 Notebook PC
BIOS: Ver 1.00PARTTBL
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5250 @ 1.50GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2038MB RAM

Maybe I should try to see if the program works if I remove k-lite codec pack.

edit: I even removed k-lite codec pack from my system, yet I am still getting the same problem as before. Can someone please point me in the right direction on how to use this application properly?

[zzebulonn]

hey guys. I keep getting this BeSplit Crash thing after the files tries to get encoded. The program will work but just before it finishes doing its job, it shows me this BeSplit Crash therefore, the file would can not be completed. In fact, i can't even see the output file. I currently have K-lite codec pack installed, and here are my computer specs.



Maybe I should try to see if the program works if I remove k-lite codec pack.

edit: I even removed k-lite codec pack from my system, yet I am still getting the same problem as before. Can someone please point me in the right direction on how to use this application properly?

i've the same problem with 2.2.3, with previous version all is working perfectly.

[bigtony04]

i've the same problem with 2.2.3, with previous version all is working perfectly.

if its like that, then can someone upload the old version to rapidshare, zshare, sendspace, etc? Any uploading site will do.

[MrSTI]

if its like that, then can someone upload the old version to rapidshare, zshare, sendspace, etc? Any uploading site will do.

Just goto Videohelp.com (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/mkv2vob) (linked straight to mkv2vob) and you get all the previous versions there.

It's strange that all these people are having problems with the latest version. I've done atleast 10 conversions so far and no problems at all, if anything less problems for me have occured. Although i think none of them have had to have been transcoded, so i will give a movie i know that needs transcoding and see if i get the same problem and will get back to you guys soon.

Cheers

Edit - Doing a test now on a movie that needs transcoding with a couple of pics that i'll add with task mng, to show what is being used.

[MrSTI]

Well i have just done a 1080P 6.6gig movie that needed Transcoding ans all is perfect. Plays back on the PS3 fine and more importantly no errors in mkv2vob. I'm using Vista Ultimate 32bit. I took some images of the process with mkv2vob and task manager to show what is happening.

Whether if any of the below helps i don't know. But hopefully by sharing some things we might be able to get to the bottom of things.

Start of the process - With the pics i blocked what i was Transcoding for certain reasons:devil:
http://forum.doom9.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=8401&stc=1&d=1210568798

Middle of the process
http://forum.doom9.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=8399&stc=1&d=1210568808

End Of Process
http://forum.doom9.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=8400&stc=1&d=1210568808

Also below are all the stats of the particular file i Transcoded.

General #0
Complete name
Format : Matroska
File size : 6.52 GiB
PlayTime : 1h 21mn
Bit rate : 11.4 Mbps
Movie name :
Encoded date : UTC 2007-03-06 21:14:05
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.0.2 ('You're My Flame') built on Feb 21 2007 23:40:55
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1
Cover : Yes / Yes / Yes

Video #0
Codec : AVC
Codec/Family : AVC
Codec/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Codec profile : High@L5.1
Codec settings, CABAC : Yes
PlayTime : 1h 21mn
Bit rate : 10.3 Mbps
Nominal bit rate : 10.8 Mbps
Width : 1920 pixels
Height : 1040 pixels
Display Aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Chroma : 4:2:0
Interlacement : Progressive
Title :
Writing library : x264 - core 54 svn-627
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=7 / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=2 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=2 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / mbaff=0 / bframes=4 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=10800 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30
Language : English

Audio #0
Codec : AC3
PlayTime : 1h 21mn
Bit rate mode : CBR
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Rear: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Title : AC3 5.1 640 kbps
Language : English

[nunyabuizness]

General #0
Complete name
Format : Matroska
File size : 6.52 GiB
PlayTime : 1h 21mn
Bit rate : 11.4 Mbps
Movie name :
Encoded date : UTC 2007-03-06 21:14:05
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.0.2 ('You're My Flame') built on Feb 21 2007 23:40:55
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1
Cover : Yes / Yes / Yes


how were you able to obtain a 6.52GB, 1080p rip at 11.4Mbps?
the most i see on 1080p rips are 8gb, 8mbps
just intrigued

[bigtony04]

Just goto Videohelp.com (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/mkv2vob) (linked straight to mkv2vob) and you get all the previous versions there.

It's strange that all these people are having problems with the latest version. I've done atleast 10 conversions so far and no problems at all, if anything less problems for me have occured. Although i think none of them have had to have been transcoded, so i will give a movie i know that needs transcoding and see if i get the same problem and will get back to you guys soon.

Cheers

Edit - Doing a test now on a movie that needs transcoding with a couple of pics that i'll add with task mng, to show what is being used.

thanks its now working. I using one of the old versions. So if anyone is getting a BESPLIT error, use one of the older versions! it will work!

Also, does anyone know how to disable auto update for this program?

[MrSTI]

how were you able to obtain a 6.52GB, 1080p rip at 11.4Mbps?
the most i see on 1080p rips are 8gb, 8mbps
just intrigued

I cant really say how it was done at that Mbps, but i suppose it comes down to the encoder doing the Encode and their skills, along with the programs they are using. If you want more info PM me.

thanks its now working. I using one of the old versions. So if anyone is getting a BESPLIT error, use one of the older versions! it will work!

Also, does anyone know how to disable auto update for this program?

Not a problem happy to help out. At the same time something must be happening with these other people that are having the same problem, when there are some of us using the updated version with no problem.

As for the Auto update, i think it was mentioned above, that you can change the name of the .exe file and that will do the trick. Havnt tried it myself though and i'm sure 3r1c could help more on this also.

Cheers

[pxr5]

I'm also using the updated version and have had no problems whatsoever. I've encoded 1080p files, that needed transcoding, to both mpeg and x264. This is in WinXP.

Very odd that so many people are having issues when others aren't

[RedSwirl]

Okay, first of all this program is a lifesaver for me. I wouldn't be able to get most of my HD anime on my PS3 without it (don't know why those guys use mkv anyway).

After getting the 2.2.3 update, a 720p 5GB movie that I couldn't convert before went through perfectly. But now I'm getting that same BeSplit Crash with other files.

The Files that did go through the crash went through a whole different process too. On the one that worked (but would say "muxing failed" before the 2.2.3 update) it just said "transcoding video" and then something like "muxing."

On this other file it goes through a whole other process where it does something in 3 parts, then something else to finally say "BeSplit Crashed."

Should I try another format like AVI?

This is all in Windows Vista by the way.

[Sephiroth0000]

I have downgraded to version 2.2.0 and went all the way right up to 2.2.3 and still errors....nothing about my setup has changed (Vista32, K-Lite Codec full 3.8, VLC Media player) I either get mencoder crashed or error transcoding....this is now beginning to become very irratiting. Is there an error log or aything in MKV2VOB we can look at to try and work out where its going wrong?

[DCFreak]

Hi everyone

First i want to say that mkv2vob is really a great tool for converting media files for usage on the ps3 :)

The reason i'm posting here is that i detected a bug in the creation of the avi container when transcoding to XviD. I transcode to XviD because i want to be able to use soft subs in 1080p media files and stream that to the ps3.

When such a file is streamed (or copied to the internal hdd), after about 44/45 minutes the AC3 DD5.1 is mixed to stereo and the ps3 also wrongly identifies the container as mp4.

Since a few days a new version of AVIAddXSubs is released (v7.1) that can handle the AVI-2.0 container format (previously only AVI-1.0 with 4GB filesize limit, and as such unusable for 1080p content). This new version rebuilds the container while muxing the subs in, and that makes the bug go away.

[kreegee]

is it possible to add an option to disable audio transcoding? i have a mkv with h264 and aac (5.1). if i remux it with mkv2vob (whatever target container), the sound gets transcoded to ac3, resulting in either drastic overdrive (with "boost ac3") or cracking (without "boost ac3").

when i create my own mp4 with MKVextractGUI und MP4Box, everything just works fine (without any transcoding) - but this is quite a detour...

ps: also had the beSplit crash before downgrading.

[ancarloro]

too many "memcoder error´s" in last movies , any help ? I transcode many movies with last version of mkv2vob, but now i can´t converte to vob many of realeses.

[stesmi]

Is there a way to figure out exactly WHY it decides to transcode video and/or audio?

I just ran mkv2vob on a file that had 384kbps AC3 5.1 sound and it wrote "Repairing AC3" and then reencoded my 5.1 sound to 2.0 which is not quite what I was after. I know the PS3 handles AC3 5.1 just fine (unless it's broken of course).

Original:
Audio #0
Codec : AC3
Bit rate mode : CBR
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Rear: L R, Subwoofer
Sampling rate : 48 KHz
Language : English

After mkv2vob:
Audio #0
Codec : AC3
Bit rate mode : CBR
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : L R
Sampling rate : 48 KHz

This is according to MediaInfo. Just noticed something though ... 384kbps AC3 2.0? Sounds .... high.. ?

[ancarloro]

Memcoder error in last versions , no solution ? in some movies work fine , but other´s.... :(

ANY HELP PLEASE !!!

[azyd]

I feel for all you people that have the memcoder error, but have any of you thought to include the name of the movie thats giving you problems........ maybe its not just memcoder, it might me the movie.

cuse telling us..... well 3r1c that you have a memcoder error with out telling him(us) what movie caused the error isnt very helpfull.

[Horo]

i also did a file that had DTS sound and it transcode it to 2 channel AC3 only...

[3r1c]

Is there a way to figure out exactly WHY it decides to transcode video and/or audio?

I just ran mkv2vob on a file that had 384kbps AC3 5.1 sound and it wrote "Repairing AC3" and then reencoded my 5.1 sound to 2.0 which is not quite what I was after. I know the PS3 handles AC3 5.1 just fine (unless it's broken of course).

Original:
Audio #0
Codec : AC3
Bit rate mode : CBR
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Rear: L R, Subwoofer
Sampling rate : 48 KHz
Language : English

After mkv2vob:
Audio #0
Codec : AC3
Bit rate mode : CBR
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : L R
Sampling rate : 48 KHz

This is according to MediaInfo. Just noticed something though ... 384kbps AC3 2.0? Sounds .... high.. ?

Your original file really had 2 channel audio with the other 4 being null channels, this was "repaired" showing the correct value of 2 channels.
The "Repairing AC3" step does not do any transcoding or compression, it just remux.

[stesmi]

Ah ok. Thanx for enlightening me. The file however does not play on my PS3. It plays in the preview miniwindow but when I try to play the file - nothing, which is weird. Just a black screen and pressing the button for more info shows it standing still at 0:00.

Preview miniwindow = after copying the title over the network it plays the first few seconds over and over on the dashboard.

Are you interested in any more info to try to track this down? If so, just let me know and I'll give you as much as I can. I'm running latest mkv2vob btw.

[3r1c]

I already have files that have this problem but I do not have a solution.

The AC3 streams seems to be corrupted somehow.
Even remuxing it still results in problems.

I do not know the cause of the problems, but most likely whoever created the mkv is using a buggy ac3 encoder.

Some files that go through the "Repairing AC3" step will work perfectly, but others will freeze with black screen and not play.
These problems started happening a while ago, for months nobody has this problem.
I suspect a bug in a recent update to an ac3 encoder, but as ac3 encoders do not put any identifying headers in the files i cannot track it down.

[stesmi]

Alright. So I guess my next step is to demux it and reencode it using another ac3 encoder. I'll try that in a bit and see if it helps. (And then remux of course)

[ancarloro]

That realeses dont convert to .vob , memcoder error :


National Treasure Book of Secrets PROPER 720p BluRay x264-
NGR

Into the Wild 720p HDDVD x264-Chakra

27 Dresses 720p BluRay x264-REFiNED

[Flomsen]

Hi

Thx for a nice apps :)

I have some problems with danish character in subtitles ÆØÅ don't shows normal.

Req to the new version:


Moving Subtitle position up and down



Thanks,
Flomsen

[Sephiroth0000]

Hmmm,

With regards to the mencoder crashed error it was with Batman Begins 1080P (VC-1 Codec) yet the big robot movie worked fine (MPEG4-AVC).....concindence? National Treasure: Book Of Secrets, 27 Dresses and Into The Wild......what codecs do they use? Im no genius with regards to codecs but could it possibly be presenting a problem? Or what about the MKVMerge you have to use to put the MKV video and AC3 audio together? Could that be causing this?

Oh and 31RC do you know exactly what is making mencoder crash at all? Is it something wrong with the MKV file itself?

EDIT: Oh and also I used a TruHD audio source for Batman Begins which I then converted to AC3?...could that of caused me the problem?

[japr99]

Request to new version:

it´s possible the opcion when transcoding fit video and audio into one or two dvd´s and output Blueray format for make bluerayDVD for PS3 ?, Thanks.

[3r1c]

Hmmm,

With regards to the mencoder crashed error it was with Batman Begins 1080P (VC-1 Codec)


are you sure the mkv is VC1 or the blu-ray source is?
mkv with VC1 is not supported.

[rotatorkuf]

hi there

i was having problems with "muxing failed"

apparently, the new version fixes this, through "repairing ac3"

i'm just curious, what exactly was the fix? why do some seemingly good ac3 audios need to be repaired?

[Sephiroth0000]

are you sure the mkv is VC1 or the blu-ray source is?
mkv with VC1 is not supported.

The original source is VC-1. All im doing is ripping the HD DVD/Blu-Ray and then running the EVO(s) through EAC3TO and getting a VIDEO ONLY mkv file, then I do the audio and mux them together via MKVMerge. Like I said I proclaim to be no genius in this respect but just thought it was weird how the big robot movie works (MPEG4-AVC) but the VC-1 file I have does not.

Oh and I also find when I load up the single files into MKVMerge it does have either VC-1 or MPEG4-AVC in the file name before muxing. It probably means nothing but hey if you don't ask you don't know.

EDIT: Also 3r1c is there anychance of putting an error log in the program so it can least show us where it is going wrong? Because the program itself when it works is superb and I am eager to use this program again.

[stesmi]

rotor: Look at my post above and his reply below it - it's not as if it was 50 pages back ..
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1137899#post1137899

[naj]

Just to let all you guys know, AVIAddXSub has been updated to v7.1:

AVI 2.0 support, files over 4GB and PS3
From version 7.1 AVIAddXSubs supports AVI 2.0 file generation. This means that it can handle avi files bigger than 4GB. AVI 2.0 is an extension to AVI 1.0, which had a limit of 4GB.
This feature is intended mostly for PS3 owners because PS3 can play videos of high resolution (up to 1080p) and so files can easily overcome 4GB. But while trying to implement the feature I found that the "market" generally is not ready for such big files especially when they contain XSUB streams. I saw a lot of problems in various applications (players and some avi analyzers) that cause me headache because originally I thought the problem was in my code. Even DivX Player (from www.divx.com) is not able to handle big AVI 2.0 files with XSUB subtitles correctly. It crashes on exit and it doesn't show them.
Because I don't own a PS3, I am not sure if PS3 can show XSUB subtitles in such files. So PS3 owners have to inform me about the current situation for avi files above 4GB: If subtitles for those files do not appear then, possibly, only one thing we can do: Wait for a new firmware version that does its job better. But if all goes well... then I will fix this paragraph and... celebrate.

UPDATE: One user told me that PS3 works fine with avi files above 4GB generated from AVIAddXSubs and displays the incorporated subtitles as expected. But I want confirmation from more users first to... open champagnes!

http://www.calcitapp.com/AVIAddXSubs.php

[Fenix]

Hi there,

I get an error extracting DTS to WAV always at 0,99 GB (1.067.524.140 bytes) files, and I don't why!
Anyone knows if there is a size limitation?

BTW I checked the time lenght of both two wave files and it's 1.32.40, then a crossed to the Video (MKV) lenght and they have the same 1.32.40! I don't know why we got an error extracting since both wav's seem to be okay. I think the error has something to do with muxing back to AC3.

Thanks in advance,

Regards,

[Rotor]

rotor: Look at my post above and his reply below it - it's not as if it was 50 pages back ..
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1137899#post1137899



If you're going to be sarcastic, please get the name of the person right! I think it was rotatorkuf you were referring to...

Rotor

:stupid:

[stesmi]

EDIT: Ignore. Nothing to see here. Move along.

[stesmi]

If you're going to be sarcastic, please get the name of the person right! I think it was rotatorkuf you were referring to...

Rotor

:stupid:

It was yes. I shortened his name (as so often so many do) and I am sorry that I did not know you (with your 6 total posts including this one) had that exact name. My bad. (and I also noticed I should have written rotat and not rotor as his name is rotatorkuf.

[ancarloro]

Another memcoder error :

Live Free Or Die Hard 2007 PROPER 720p BluRay x264-SiNNERS


P.S.- I tink is from the realese, i try 3 diferent versions of National Treasure Book of Secrets 2007 , only IAPULA do not the memcoder error , and work fine.

[_leech_]

Has the quality of MPEG2 transcoding dropped? I transcoded a roughly 12GB h.264 MKV into MPEG2 and the final size came up to... 12GB. Isn't it supposed to be much higher because MPEG2 needs more bitrate to reach the same level of quality?

[rotatorkuf]

If you're going to be sarcastic, please get the name of the person right! I think it was rotatorkuf you were referring to...

Rotor

:stupid:

lol yeah

sorry about that

i plead ignorance

[mmace]

any chance of forcing borders to make the videos 1920x1080 or 1280x720 so we can make blu-rays from the videos?
really love the software and would love this as an added feature!

[djhazardous]

How come the FAT32 (4GB) option makes the movie too big for a 4GB Memory Stick? Part 1 of my encoded video is 3.90GB whereas my memory stick only holds 3.81GB. :confused:

Anyway, great program and thanks for the continuous support!

[_leech_]

Alright, I can definitely confirm that there's something really wrong with the MPEG2 transcoding. Just did a transcode of a 7.94GB h.264 MKV (with AC3 audio, so no audio transcoding was done) and the final MPEG2 VOB came out to 6.94GB, a full gigabyte less. There's macro blocking everywhere.

[Chouonsoku]

3r1c: Is there anyway to make it so that mkv2vob will honor DAR tags already in place by some matroska files and apply them to the remuxed or transcoded files? I know that the mp4 container supports the tags, not sure about the others.

[ancarloro]

i will try explain with my bad english.
In the realese "Live Free Or Die Hard 2007 PROPER 720p BluRay x264-SiNNER", make the momcoder error if in the splitter file options we choose any option not the DVD5 Slipt, if we choose another split option that make the "memcoder error". Its strange . I will try with another movies.