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

[DiRTDOG]

Thanks a lot B4tm4m!!

[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...

sorry to bump this, 3r1c, any chance to get this in the next version? i just had another aac file which took a lot of time to transcode just to end up with a messed ac3-stream. as said, the ps3 seems to play aac just fine.

btw, no chance to play dts on the ps3?

[3r1c]

sorry to bump this, 3r1c, any chance to get this in the next version? i just had another aac file which took a lot of time to transcode just to end up with a messed ac3-stream. as said, the ps3 seems to play aac just fine.

btw, no chance to play dts on the ps3?

it doesnt play aac just fine, if you are using optical audio cable the ps3 converts aac 5.1 to stereo.

[Clumpco]

Still using this fine piece of software, many thanks to 3r1c!
A couple of GUI feature requests that would make using it so much simpler...
Please could there be an option for the Browse Destination button to have default actions? For example 3 choices a) Browse from dekstop (as it is now); b) Browse from previous destination (as the Input browse button does) and c) Browse to input folder.

Please could the input file box accept drag and drop?
Maybe also the queue window could accept drag and drop too, in this case the default destination folder could be a choice of a user-defined default or the source folder.

Finally including a "watch folder" could be useful - this could allow finished torrents to be automatically remuxed.

Thanks again!

[veggav]

Hi,

I would like to know why the files get always bigger them the original one ?

I`m using video transcoding (automatic) and transcoding codec mpeg-2, and I have a lot of movie with like 8.4GB 1080p that fits on a dvd DL and them with mkv2vob it is not possible.
Why is that ?

[metoo999]

FYI: Someone made a certain NYC monster movie in 720p Blu-ray standalone compliant. They included a file called mkv2bluray that converts the file so that it can be burned and played on a PS3 or other Blu-ray player. I wish more movies were done this way.

[DJ_Phatic]

I am converting 1080i TS files and whenever i try to run it through MKV2VOB, i get an error saying "error repairing AC3" what does this mean? how do i fix it?

I am getting the same issue with a couple of mkv's.

If i open the mkv in question into Mediainfo it states it is AC3 2.0 channel audio, but when I play the actual file back within KMPlayer/Zoomplayer AC3Filter shows input from all channels.

After mkv2vob had finished with the mkv, if I open this into Mediainfo again it also states 2 channels AC3 but upon playback AC3Filter is showing input from all channels.

How do I fix the AC3 audio manually? I have found h264info to be faster changing 5.1 profile material to 4.1 than mkv2vob but I cannot but it all back together because of the AC3 problem.

[3r1c]

There is a bug in tsmuxer that causes it not to accept certain ac3 streams.
I reported it months ago but the author seems uninterested in fixing it.

I have done my best to try to work around it with the "repairing ac3" step, but there is not much more i can do.

[DJ_Phatic]

Ah well, even when I copied the repaired ac3 file from mkv2vob it still did not accept the stream. The main reason I wanted to try was to see if h264info had worked when I changed its profile because it was alot quicker than the transcoding which took place in mkv2vob.

Is there anyway to know prior to putting it into mkv2vob that it will require a full transcode?

[3r1c]

No other way will work if mkv2vob wants to transcode the file.
Transcoding is a last resort measure, if there was another way mkv2vob would be using it already.

Im trying to fix this ac3 problem now.
The problem is the ac3 files are at least partially corrupted.
Either they are 6ch with a header that says they are 2ch, or they are 2ch with a header that says 6ch.
I dont really know how to tell the difference.

Please explain what you mean by "shows input" do you mean it says 6ch on the screen, or there is actually audio coming out of all speakers?

[DJ_Phatic]

No other way will work if mkv2vob wants to transcode the file.
Transcoding is a last resort measure, if there was another way mkv2vob would be using it already.

What I meant was, is there any details from the encoding which would suggest transcoding is necessary or any h264 settings which should be used to avoid having to transcode. If there is a way to find out whether transcoding is necessary or not I can stay away from certain encoded settings.

Please explain what you mean by "shows input" do you mean it says 6ch on the screen, or there is actually audio coming out of all speakers?

What I mean is, opening the file in Mediainfo shows that the audio is a 2-channel AC3 but when the file is actually playing, within Zoomplayer for example, and I open the AC3filter dialog it shows there is sound on all channels on input and output.

[3r1c]

When encoding make sure to use level 4.1.
See here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=972503

I see the mediainfo 2ch and player says 6ch.
The problem is i do not know yet which one is right.
There seems to be only 2 "usable" channels, any attempt i have made to extract all channels has failed, or gave me 6ch with 4 of them being complete silence.
My thinking so far is that these are 2ch files, where the broadcaster added fake channels for their decoding equipment which only supports 6ch.

I do not have surround sound in my pc only on ps3/tv and because i cant get the stream playable on ps3 i dont know what the problem is.

What im asking you is if you can check that sound is actually coming out of all your speakers when playing the original mkv file.

[DJ_Phatic]

Hi

I have a query to do with MKV2VOB (which I think is great and nearly solves all my problems!)

However I have been trying to watch some content which has english subtitles for non-english dialogue.

I have been unable to hardcode the subtitles for this content without hardcoding throughout the content. Would it be possible to allow a user to select which subtitle track to use rather than the language? When playing original MKV using VLC I can select the right subtitle track and I know which number it is, but when I use MKV2VOB I either have no subtitles, or I have them throughout. Examples of content which I have been trying to watch are Rendition (arabic parts) and 30 Days of Night (vampire speak?!) both of which have english subtitles for the non-english parts.

Thanks for any advice on how to sort this out!

Gus

Gus did you ever find out a way to do this?

[DJ_Phatic]

What im asking you is if you can check that sound is actually coming out of all your speakers when playing the original mkv file.

Unfortunately I only have a stereo setup on my PC at present. I can try and rip each channel from the AC3 file and see what happens.

[3r1c]

Gus did you ever find out a way to do this?

Just check "always encode subtitles" in the configuration tab and select English as preferred subtitle language.

[DJ_Phatic]

Just check "always encode subtitles" in the configuration tab and select English as preferred subtitle language.

But would this not encode ALL the english subtitle throughout the full-length of the movie instead of just the parts which require subtitle because it is in a foreign or weird language.

[3r1c]

It will encode whatever subtitles are in the subtitle track marked "english" in your mkv.
It will be the same as what you see when playing the mkv with english subtitles on.

[3r1c]

Unfortunately I only have a stereo setup on my PC at present. I can try and rip each channel from the AC3 file and see what happens.

Ive tried that, but mencoder/besweet all recognise it as only 2ch and only extract two channels.

[DJ_Phatic]

I will have to test it out with some files.

I have just tried to extract the channels from the file which is coming up as 2-channel AC3 in MediaInfo, I can only select the left and right channel, so it must be only be 2-channel even though AC3filter is detecting it as Stream format: AC3 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000Hz

A similar file which is detected as 6-channel AC3 in MediaInfo I am able to extract all channels but both rear channels are completely silent/blank, again AC3filter is detected it as Stream format: AC3 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000Hz.

So looks like it is some sort of fake AC3 5.1, though I am unable to try them on a true 5.1 system at present to see if sound would come out of the other speakers.

[3r1c]

Managed to get one of these ac3 files playing on my decoder, its says its 2ch.

[codyunderblood]

FYI: Someone made a certain NYC monster movie in 720p Blu-ray standalone compliant. They included a file called mkv2bluray that converts the file so that it can be burned and played on a PS3 or other Blu-ray player. I wish more movies were done this way.

it worked perfectly, but i dont think theres a way to get this to work by itself, with other files, is there?

[3r1c]

Not really, converting to m2ts adds 6% to the filesize, and then the movie wouldnt fit on a single disc.
also the dimensions must be exactly 1280x720 or 1920x1080, so cropped files wont work unless you reencode with black bars.

[azyd]

it worked perfectly, but i dont think theres a way to get this to work by itself, with other files, is there?

yes there is its called tsmuxer and its off topic.


back on topic..... has any one found a way to edit the video made by mkv2vob, im trying to trim the credits on a couple of movies that i dont have the mkv anymore.

[stesmi]

Worst case : Extract streams, edit streams seperately, make MKV, run MKV2VOB, voilá. Or Extract streams, make MKV, edit MKV, run MKV2VOB, voilá.

[azyd]

Worst case : Extract streams, edit streams seperately, make MKV, run MKV2VOB, voilá. Or Extract streams, make MKV, edit MKV, run MKV2VOB, voilá.

tried that with mkvmerge(doesnt recognize audio) and tsmuxer(wont let me demux gives some kind of error about the streams not being sincked)

[3r1c]

tsremux will extract the streams from the mkv2vob output files

[azyd]

tsremux will extract the streams from the mkv2vob output files

thank you you just made me feel like a retard cuse i knew that...... but for some reason i couldnt put 2 and 2 together and my brain kept telling me to use tsmuxer and not tsREmuxer.

[ancarloro]

:( , no one can tell me why some movies make the " memcoder error" ?

[stesmi]

Because there's a bug somewhere.

[gusf1]

Gus did you ever find out a way to do this?

Yes actually... it was a while ago now and I've wiped my machine so don't have it all installed yet to check... I think I remember how though.

I believe subtitles must be in SRT format. If you are lucky they may be already but otherwise you can do this by demuxing (tsMuxeR) and then Subtitle workshop to convert to SRT (I think mine were *.ass or *.ssa).

Then use mkvmerge to add the SRT and remove all other subtitles

Finally check "Always encode subtitles" and "Load subtitles from SRT" in MKV2VOB specifying the language. I _may_ have changed the description of the language somewhere to match the language I wanted (usually it's something like "English for non-English parts" - clearly that won't match the preferred subtitle language drop-down in MKV2VOB, unsure if the first subtitle track is chosen if there is no match?) Sorry I can't remember... best to try with a sample first if you can.

Hope that helps... there may be quicker ways of doing this but the above worked for me.

Thanks
gus

[splange]

Hi
Just found this great software just a couple of questions.
Should the ps3 recognise vobs or do i need to rename them to mpg which i have done and they work fine.
If vobs are recognised can they be called anything ie beemovie.vob or do they have to be in a certain name format ie vts.0.01.vob e.t.c.
I am currently streaming the movies from an HP media server which the ps3 finds but do the vobs need to have a seperate folder for each movie or can i just add movies to the video folder on the server?.
And lastly i got an error when trying to convert a mkv movie which had a DTS sountrack , something like cannot convert DTS to WAV.
Sorry for all the newbie questions but what i have tried so far looks amazing on a 50 inch pioneer.

[stesmi]

Just call them .mpg, stick them in the same dir or different dirs, doesn't make a difference.

[DWells55]

First off, bug report. If something happens and the program or system crashes while working with a file, the temp files are left in that user's temp directory. Then, if the user attempts to convert the same video, they will receive a "could not parse mkv error" until the temp files have been manually cleared out.

Anyways, I converted a 1080p MKV to VOB just fine, a single 8GB or so VOB. I tried streaming it renamed to .mpg to my PS3, but the PS3 only sees it as 3780MBs and cuts off around 52 minutes in. Any idea why?

[stesmi]

I haven't tried any 1080p MKVs myself but I have done >4GiB MKVs that are converted to vob and streamed and they worked fine. What firmware are you on?

If you want you can try the splitting options and cut it to smaller size.

[lazarusbf]

Hello
i've used this program and it's fine except for (french) subtitles files, it used to work fine too but lately all special characters (é ù è à etc) bug in the final output.
can anyone help please ? (my subs SRT files have been saved as ANSI and UTF8, which is best ?) and in mkv2vob settings, i've checked all boxes except 'always encode subs' as anyway it does the work)

:stupid:

[djhazardous]

Just a heads, I was searching the web and found a guide on how to do the "Monster in NYC" method.

Not sure if I'm allowed to post the link but I will remove it if it's inappropriate:

http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/convert_mkv_to_avchd_for_ps3_and_blu-ray.cfm

Unfortunately my attempts at getting a conversion to fit on a DVD5 have failed. It's strange because that groups release is 4.11GB complete with 5.1 sound and all the credits so this leaves me to wonder how they've done it considering all other releases have the same specs and are 4.37GB.

Wish they'd share it with us so we could convert all the previous releases.

EDIT:

Just realised, could it be because it is such a short movie (85 mins) and it only has AC3 640 kbps? Only idea I can think of.

Anyway, sorry for being off-topic. Won't go on about it anymore.

[xamphear]

Would it possible for a future version of MKV2VOB to insert chapter marks at certain per-minute intervals? Skipping around in files using only the 120x FFWD can be time consuming and annoying. Skipping ahead by chapters would be great.

[nosnoop]

After transcoding to Xvid/no splitting, mkv2vob was stuck at "Muxing" status. No errors, just no activity (waited for an hour just to be sure). It was AC3 to start with, so no audio file to mux. In the temp directory, I was left with a "mux.tmp" file, a "dos.txt" and a vcf file. Can I just rename the mux.tmp file to mpg? Anything I can do manually to "finish" the job instead of starting all over again?

As for output mpeg vs xvid vs x264, I understand that for the same file size, x264 would look the best. But ignoring the file size / encoding time advantage, is the Image Quality of x264 > xvid > mpeg as implemented by mkv2vob? Or will they look more or less the same?

And thanks for a great program.

[stesmi]

Muxing means "creating output file out of video and audio" (simplified) so if it's AC3 it will simply mux the AC3 track. If it didn't mux in the AC3 track then you wouldn't have sound :)

As implemented by mkv2vob the quality is h264 > xvid > mpeg.

[anothadave]

a CANCEL button would also be a nice addition. theres no way to tell if the mkv needs to be transcoded until its started, it can take several hours for a transcode an the only way to shut it down seems to be to go into task manager and manually end everything from there.

[dreamk]

I was just going to ask same thing, i mean "cancel" button.

Anyway great program and big thank you from me to the author.

[anothadave]

just spent 5 hours transcoding and mkv and its just stopped with "unable to mux (crashed)" :( is it worth trying an earlier mkv2vob? im using 2.2.3.

[3r1c]

First off, bug report. If something happens and the program or system crashes while working with a file, the temp files are left in that user's temp directory. Then, if the user attempts to convert the same video, they will receive a "could not parse mkv error" until the temp files have been manually cleared out.

This shouldnt happen, mkv2vob deletes any old/existing temp files before it gets to the step that would result in a mkv parse error.

The only problem would be if the files are still "in use" by the old process they would not be deletable, that is a windows limitation.

The general reason for a parse error is that mkv2vob could not execute mkvinfo.exe in the tools folder, some virus software prevent one program from running another and controlling its output.

Anyways, I converted a 1080p MKV to VOB just fine, a single 8GB or so VOB. I tried streaming it renamed to .mpg to my PS3, but the PS3 only sees it as 3780MBs and cuts off around 52 minutes in. Any idea why?

Are you using latest ps3 firmware?
Did the file need to be transcoded?, if yes what codec did you choose?

[3r1c]

V2.2.4 2/June/2008
Fixed bug where subtitle SRT filename that contained a comma would result in no subtitles in resulting conversion.
Disabled return code checking (this caused mencoder error for some people), instead its only treated as a warning of possible failure.
Improved "Repairing AC3" step, should keep all channels from the original ac3, this is a work-around to a tsmuxer bug, tsmuxer author please fix it!

[djhazardous]

You've also added Memory Stick splitting options & more output extensions, nice one! Especially on the former. Thanks a lot for this update.

I have a new question regarding the file extension output: I'm now aware that using .M2TS makes the output file larger but does it have any improved visual difference over .MPG or .VOB?

[RedSwirl]

Anybody solved that "BeSplit Crashed" thing yet?

[3r1c]

You've also added Memory Stick splitting options & more output extensions, nice one! Especially on the former. Thanks a lot for this update.

I have a new question regarding the file extension output: I'm now aware that using .M2TS makes the output file larger but does it have any improved visual difference over .MPG or .VOB?

Oh yeah forgot about that.

File extension only means extension, it doesnt change the contents of the file or its size.
Its no different then renaming the extension of a file with explorer.

[rahzel]

is there anyway to merge videos put through mkv2vob? i originally split a movie into 3 parts, but now i'm wanting to merge them back.

[Audioboxer]

Hey 3r1c, do you think you could ever add integration to the windows shell - In other words, the ability to right click a video file and click say "Process in MKV2VOB" ?

Maybe like how Winrar works when you right click a file...

You could mux/transcode on the spot with the settings you have setup, or have MKV2VOB load with the file in question loaded, but the muxing/transcoding doesn't take place till you click start.

[james12]

Hi im getting bespitcrashed error all the time, Is there a fix to this? Everytime it starts converting aac to ac3 it goest through step 2 then after that is says be splitcrashed? Any idea why this is happening? I am using windows vista 64bit.


Ok it didnt get be spit error any more but encoding was completed with errors, I open up movie and i get sound but no picture.. oh well... This is using the latest mkvtovob.