MKVToolNix v24.0.0 released

[73ChargerFan]

mkvmerge's syntax and escaping rules have NOT changed when the new GUI was introduced. The reason the new GUI uses something different than the old one is that the method used by the old GUI was incomplete/buggy if the file name in question contains "quotation marks"

Did you mean the single quote character '
or the double quote character "

The single quote character ' is acceptable in a Windows file name.

Windows file naming convention (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365247(v=vs.85).aspx#naming_conventions) prohibits the reserved character " (double quote). Files can be created with invalid file names, but they can be difficult or impossible for Windows Explorer and command line interfaces to then delete.

[Mosu]

The real problem wasn't so much file names but the free-form strings the user might use: segment/file title, track names… Mentioning file names was misleading.

If you want to know the full extent of how unintuitive the whole escaping issue is with cmd.exe and the C runtime library then read this fine article (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/twistylittlepassagesallalike/archive/2011/04/23/everyone-quotes-arguments-the-wrong-way.aspx). It contains detailed explanation how each part acts and a lot of examples where you'd just think "what the frak!?" mmg's escaping worked for a lot of cases, but it also got cases wrong. That people didn't notice this much is due to mmg NOT using the command line when executing mkvmerge safe for the location of the option file.

[Jamaika]

Hi Mosu
I can't add tags with MP4. Do you know how to do it?

[sneaker_ger]

What exactly are you trying to do? Mkvmerge cannot ever output mp4 files. Mkvpropedit cannot edit mp4 files.
You can use mp4 files as input for mkvmerge but the output will always be mkv. You can add tags while converting from mp4 to mkv just like with any other input file.

[Jamaika]

I thought about the creation of MKV container. However, I don't want to add tags.xml. Tags are in the MP4 container.

[SeeMoreDigital]

I thought about the creation of MKV container. However, I don't want to add tags.xml. Tags are in the MP4 container.If you want to discuss tags for the .mp4 container. I suggest you either create a new topic or find an old topic about the subject.

[Jamaika]

If you want to discuss tags for the .mp4 container. I suggest you either create a new topic or find an old topic about the subject.
Thanks for the tip. I'm not interested MP4 container.:mad:

As a courtesy I don't ask about compatible subtitles (mov_text) and attachments (add-item) for players PC to the mp4 container.

[foxyshadis]

Pretty sure he's asking why tags aren't automatically propagated from mp4 input files to mkv output.

[Mosu]

The answer would be "because mkvmerge doesn't support it and because I haven't been motivated to implement something like that at all".

[Thunderbolt8]

when I muxed a file with subtitle (.ass) compression and I remux this file without selecting compression, will the compression then be removed? or is it like that once muxed with compression the state of the file will always be compressed/altered and cannot be reverted?

[Mosu]

It depends on the codec in question. The following codec types will always use compression unless it's actively turned off: VobSub, PGS subtitles, USF text subtitles, VobButton. All other types will never use compression unless it's actively turned on. Whether or not it was compressed in the source file plays no role in that decision.

[Thunderbolt8]

how can I check whether the subtitle file I muxed into my movie file might have compression applied to it? I cant find any information about this in the header editor.

[Mosu]

Analyze mkvinfo's output of the track headers. If it contains a "content encoding" element then it's compressed. Maybe MediaInfo outputs similar information, too.

[Nerva]

I bought a simple DVD on teaching football, and wanted to convert it to a MKV so it could be watched on a phone or tablet etc. It turns out there was no playlist on the DVD and hence no chapters -- so when I ripped it, all I got were dozens of individual tracks. When I tried joining them together using MKVToolNix, I got one big file with no chapters, which is pretty useless. I am wondering if there's an option I'm not aware of in MKVToolNix to have it create chapters based simply on the tracks that are being appended?

[Mosu]

No, there isn't, and I have no plans whatsoever of adding one due to various technical problems.

[Nerva]

No problem -- it looks like DVDFab can handle it -- not my first choice, but at least it will work.

[mastrandrea]

I'm having a problem remuxing mkvs from handbrake (encoding video only) with mkvmerge (8.8.0 win 64bit): when I try to add audio from the same source I used for the encode, the resulting mkv has a -83ms delay on each audio track, and the a/v sync is off by that value (forcing a +83 delay restore the sync), is there an option I can turn on/off to disable this behavior or is this intended am I missing something?

[Mosu]

mkvmerge can only keep A/V sync for tracks that are currently in the same container. If you're adding e.g. a raw DTS file to a Matroska file then you'll have to adjust that DTS file's sync manually in many cases. This is perfectly normal as those raw tracks simply don't provide the timestamp information required for A/V sync.

Even if you use a container that does provide timestamps (e.g. a M2TS file) and only use an audio track from it you'll end up having to adjust the sync manually as mkvmerge normalizes the timestamps from all tracks read frmo the same M2TS file to start from 0. This is required as a lot of M2TS files have timestamps that start anywhere – e.g. when you record a DVB broadcast.

So yes, this behavior is expected. In general A/V cannot be fixed automatically (that's true in general, not just for mkvmerge). It requires human attention.

[mastrandrea]

Ok, understood, thank you.

[isidroco]

You cannot as there is no such feature at the moment, and I currently don't have any plans on implementing one – mostly because mkvmerge's flexibility makes it very hard to say where such a mark would have to be put exactly.

I understand the general case problem for chapters. But it could be easily implemented if it just uses first video track length (or a tick for first audio track) of each file to be joined as the start time of the next chapter mark. Worst that can happen is to have chapter marks on undesired places on complex cases.
Most joining are of simple files (1 audio+ 1 video of same length). When filming a show I have to cut on each song. Rejoining is easy, but chapter marks takes a LOT of manual chapter edition for a typical case of 20 songs. Probably 90% of joining are of simple files where chapter marks would be on the right place...

[Nico8583]

Hi :)
I'm using mkvtoolnix 6.8.0 and I would like to try mkvtoolnix 8.8.0 in order to be up-to-date but I read I may use --disable-track-statistics-tags, --engage no_cue_duration and --engage no_cue_relative_position. Is it true ? What are the elements to consider when upgrading from older version (like 6.8.0) to a new version (like 8.8.0) ?
Thank you !

[sneaker_ger]

CueDuration and CueRelativePosition elements have already been introduced back in version 5.9.0. Only track statistics are new IIRC.

[Nico8583]

Thank you, I believed CueDuration and CueRelativePosition was introduced after 7.0.0 but this cannot be correct. So my 6.8.0 should already use CueDuration and CueRelativePosition and only Statistics tags could be problematic with some players ?

[Mosu]

CueDuration and CueRealtivePosition were introduced shortly after the release of v5.8.0.

[Nico8583]

Ok thank you for confirmation, so if I have a problem with a MKV I'll look at Statistics tags.

[Nico8583]

Is it possible to get informations about global tags from mkvinfo (at least the number of tags) ? Or it's only possible with mkvmerge -i ?

[Mosu]

Only with mkvmerge's identification mode. That's what it's there for, after all. Use mkvmerge's JSON output for easier parsing: "mkvmerge -F json -i yourfile.mkv".

[Jamaika]

Hi Mosu
Can you give examples of the "append-mode"? I want to join the files in the group.

[Mosu]

Don't play with --append-mode unless you have issues with A/V in the appended parts. The default is usually fine. There are very few cases in which "--append-mode track" works better than the default ("file"); whether or not that is the case can only be determined by experimentation.

[Mosu]

Hey,

Development speed has slowed down a little in the last couple of days. Nevertheless today's release v8.9.0 contains a lot of bug fixes and enhancements.

There's one small change for package maintainers: a Polish translation of the man pages has been added.

Here are the usual links: the MKVToolNix home page (https://mkvtoolnix.download/), the Windows installer and portable version (http://www.fosshub.com/MKVToolNix.html) and the source code (https://mkvtoolnix.download/source.html).

The Windows and Mac OS binaries are available. Most of the Linux binaries are still being built and will be available in a couple of hours.

Here's the full ChangeLog (https://mkvtoolnix.download/doc/ChangeLog) since the previous release:

2016-02-21 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* Released v8.9.0.
* MKVToolNix GUI: the default font size adjustment has been deactivated for the time being as it causes problems on high DPI displays. See #1602 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1602).
* MKVToolNix GUI: bug fix: ampersands (&) in file names were shown as keyboard shortcuts in tab titles in various tools (merge tool, chapter and header editors, job output tool). Fixes #1603 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1603).

2016-02-20 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* MKVToolNix GUI: header editor enhancement: when the user drags & drops files on an open header editor tab the GUI will ask the user what to do with them: either open the files as new header editor tabs or add the files as new attachments to the current tab. The action can also be set as the default. Implements #1585 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1585).
* MKVToolNix GUI: chapter & header editor enhancement: Matroska files are initially opened in read-only mode and only later re-opened in read/write mode in order to enable reading from write-protected files. Part of the implementation of #1594 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1594).
* MKVToolNix GUI: chapter & header enhancement: the error messages shown when a Matroska file could not be parsed have been improved to include the most likely reasons. Part of the implementation of #1594 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1594).
* MKVToolNix GUI: chapter editor enhancement: added a menu entry for removing chapters from an existing Matroska file. Inspired by #1593 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1593).
* MKVToolNix GUI: chapter editor enhancement: it is now possible to save chapters to Matroska files after having removed all entries (editions and chapter atoms). This effectively removes the chapters from the file. Implements #1593 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1593).

2016-02-18 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* MKVToolNix GUI: job queue enhancement: added keyboard shortcuts for removing all completed jobs and for removing successfully completed jobs. Implements #1599 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1599).
* MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool enhancement: added icons to the context menu actions in the "attachments" sub-tab. Implements #1596 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1596).
* MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool enhancement: made the context menu entries in the "attachments" sub-tab clearer. Implements #1597 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1597).

2016-02-10 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* mkvmerge: bug fix: fixed the handling of AVIs with a negative video height (which signals that the rows are arranged top-to-bottom).

2016-01-31 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* MKVToolNix GUI: job queue bug fix: fixed an invalid memory access in the "edit in corresponding tool and remove from queue" functionality.
* MKVToolNix GUI: re-write, merge tool bug fix: the file identification is now based on mkvmerge's JSON output instead of its verbose output. This also fixes the merge tool not showing names of attachments inside Matroska files properly if those names contain spaces (#1583 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1583)).
* MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool bug fix: the "mux this" combo box was disabled if a single attachment was selected.
* mkvmerge: bug fix: removed spurious output generated during file identification in the HEVC detection code (e.g. "Error No Error").
* mkvmerge: bug fix: fixed the output of the "playlist_file" and "other_file" properties of the "container" entity in the JSON identification format from a single string to an array of strings. The format version has been bumped to 3 due to this change.

2016-01-30 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* docs: added a Polish translation of the man pages by Daniel Kluz (see AUTHORS).
* MKVToolNix GUI: "run program after XYZ" enhancement: configurations can now be deactivated without having to change them. Implements #1581 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1581).

2016-01-24 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* mkvmerge: bug fix: fixed parsing of AAC in MP4 with a program config element with an empty comment field at the end of the GA specific config. Fixes #1578 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1578).

2016-01-19 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* mkvmerge: enhancement: when reading Matroska files created by HandBrake that contain chapters the existing edition UIDs and chapter UIDs are removed and random ones created. This is necessary as HandBrake assigns sequential numbers starting at 1 for each file. Therefore there are two chapter entries with the UID 1, two with the UID 2 etc. and those should, strictly speaking, be treated as if they were a single chapter whereas the user expects those entries to stay separate entries. Implements an improvement for issues such as #1561 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1561).
* MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool bug fix: the GUI no longer requires at least one source file to be present before muxing can start in order to allow creation of track-less files. Fixes #1576 (https://github.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/issues/1576).

2016-01-16 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* MKVToolNix GUI: enhancement: the "escape for Windows' cmd.exe" mechanism will only escape arguments that actually need escaping in order to produce easier to read command lines.

2016-01-15 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* mkvmerge: QuickTime/MP4 reader: fix a division by zero in the index generation for certain old audio codecs that have certain header fields (bytes_per_frame, samples_per_packet) set to 0.

2016-01-13 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
* mkvinfo: bug fix: global elements (EBML void and CRC-32 elements) are now handled correctly if they're located inside the segment info or the chapter translate parents.

Have fun :)

[filler56789]

Released v8.9.0

Danke! :thanks:

[SeeMoreDigital]

Cheers :)

[Sparktank]

Thanks for the bugfixes.:thanks:

[Jamaika]

Development speed has slowed down a little in the last couple of days. Nevertheless today's release v8.9.0 contains a lot of bug fixes and enhancements.
Do not worry, it's okay. Even when we complain. Practically there is nothing to improve. :)

[AYColumbia]

@Mosu,
Thank you for the update. I noticed that link to MKVcleaver on the last installation dialog is no longer available. Thought you'd want to know. ;)

[Mosu]

Thanks for the hint. I'll update the link.

[isidroco]

Sorry for the insistance, wouldn't it be possible to generate chapter marks on MKVs merged of only one type of content (ie: only WAVs as on a CD, or only video). Then one could add the rest of the content if needed.

[thewebchat]

I'm finding that mkvmerge is mangling the character encoding of ASS files. I have to explicitly specify the encoding as UTF-8 to avoid characters like emdash being replaced by gibberish. The only valid encoding of ASS scripts is UTF-8. Please fix.

[filler56789]

The only valid encoding of ASS scripts is UTF-8.

Nope, it isn't. Also, there is a difference between 'encoding schemes' and 'character sets'.

[leon]

Hi

this happens only for me ?

http://i65.tinypic.com/25ku9gy.jpg

[davidsama]

Yes, i just tried the site in firefox 44.02, ie 11 and chrome 48. I never once got any warning like that.

[Mosu]

I've implemented generating chapters in mkvmerge. Updated pre-builds (https://mkvtoolnix.download/windows/pre/) are available (build numbers 1144 and up).

[stax76]

Hello,

this is from a log file a french StaxRip user has sent me, first I though the mkv was MakeMKV created but it's mkvmerge created. StaxRip tried to extract A_PCM/INT/BIG with mkvextract and after it failed it used ffmpeg as fallback routine and this failed as well.

This is the message from the user:


It's because the audio format is "pcm_s16be" (aka A_PCM/INT/BIG) and ffmpeg can't demux this. I used eac3to for demux to pcm_s16le and it works.


Isn't wav suitable to extract A_PCM/INT/BIG ?


------------------------------------------------------------
Demux audio using mkvextract
------------------------------------------------------------

"E:\EvolFox\Desktop\DBconvert\StaxRip_x64_1.3.1.7_beta\Apps\MKVToolNix\mkvextract.exe" tracks "E:\Vidéo\EVANGELION_AIR\Bluray.mkv" 1:"E:\Vidéo\EVANGELION_AIR\Bluray temp files\Bluray ID2 Japanese.wav" --ui-language en

Error: Extraction of track ID 1 with the CodecID 'A_PCM/INT/BIG' is not supported.



General

Unique ID : 228284693106921395829134651014545420454
Complete name : E:\Vidéo\EVANGELION_AIR\Bluray.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
File size : 22.5 GiB
Duration : 1h 27mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 37.0 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2016-03-03 08:31:01
Writing application : mkvmerge v8.8.0 ('Wind at my back') 64bit
Writing library : libebml v1.3.3 + libmatroska v1.4.4
DURATION : 01:27:02.764000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES : 4372
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 23804592
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP : mkvmerge v8.8.0 ('Wind at my back') 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC : 2016-03-03 08:31:01
_STATISTICS_TAGS : BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES

Video

ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=12
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 27mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Maximum bit rate : 40.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Audio #1

ID : 2
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_PCM/INT/BIG
Duration : 1h 27mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Audio #2

ID : 3
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_PCM/INT/BIG
Duration : 1h 27mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Language : Japanese
Default : No
Forced : No

[stax76]

another report I received was this:

Error: The file 'H:\Renamed\Movies\Star Wars - Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999 6.3)\Star Wars - Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1080p) temp files\Star Wars - Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1080p)_attachment_Star.Wars.I.1999.German.DTSHD.DL.1080p.BluRay.x264-iNCEPTiON.nfo' could not be opened for writing: open file error.

the path length is 261 and the stupid Windoof limitation is 260, hence the error. In recent StaxRip builds all routines shorten paths if the limit of 260 is exceeded, I think the user's StaxRip build was too old.

mkvextract technically could support longer paths I think, here is some info:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365247%28v=vs.85%29.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396#maxpath

[73ChargerFan]

Did you notice that the file referenced is a text file? NFO
I wasn't aware that was a supported file type in StaxRip.

EDIT: As a work around, the windows command SUBST can create a virtual drive that points to the directory.

[wanezhiling]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1759700#post1759700
Hi Mosu, can you do something?

[Mosu]

Neither mkvmerge nor mkvextract support a codec ID S_DVBSUB. The official Matroska codec specs (https://www.matroska.org/technical/specs/codecid/index.html) don't contain such an ID either. This means that whoever wrote the program that creates such files went around the Matroska team. I have no plans to spend time on that.

[Mosu]

Isn't wav suitable to extract A_PCM/INT/BIG ?

I'm not sure, but I don't think there's a format tag for Big Endian PCM; so that would be »no, it doesn't«.

Nevertheless, I've just implemented support for extracting A_PCM/INT/BIG to WAV by byte-swapping it to Little Endian PCM. Pre-builds (https://mkvtoolnix.download/windows/pre/) are currently being compiled and should be up in a couple of minutes.

Additionally I've implemented the same byte-swapping inside mkvmerge, too – meaning that all PCM data will now be written in Little Endian with A_PCM/INT/LIT as the codec ID. This should prove helpful to people whose players don't support Big Endian PCM inside Matroska.

[Mosu]

Did you notice that the file referenced is a text file? NFO
I wasn't aware that was a supported file type in StaxRip.

I'm guessing that the user wanted to extract an attachment. mkvmerge doesn't support NFO files as anything other than an attachment; they're free-form text files with arbitrary content, after all.

[stax76]

I'm not sure, but I don't think there's a format tag for Big Endian PCM; so that would be »no, it doesn't«.

Nevertheless, I've just implemented support for extracting A_PCM/INT/BIG to WAV by byte-swapping it to Little Endian PCM. Pre-builds (https://mkvtoolnix.download/windows/pre/) are currently being compiled and should be up in a couple of minutes.

Additionally I've implemented the same byte-swapping inside mkvmerge, too – meaning that all PCM data will now be written in Little Endian with A_PCM/INT/LIT as the codec ID. This should prove helpful to people whose players don't support Big Endian PCM inside Matroska.

Thanks Mosu, I told the user to try it again after the next mkvtoolnix release.