MKVToolNix v24.0.0 released

[netmask]

I'm using Firefox with the Foxbleed add-on. When I went to the author's page I was presented with a HeartBleed warning. Not sure if it is a false positive, so far I have only detected it on 2 other web sites.

[Mosu]

The SSL libraries are up to date on my server (I did that on the day Heartbleed was revealed to the public), but I haven't revoked and re-issued the certificate. It is highly debatable whether or not one insignificant site such as mine warrants panic over non-re-issued certificates, though.

PS: Please no discussion about this here, it's highly offtopic.

[Selur]

to the Mac users: http://jonthn.free.fr/MKVtoolnix/ has a new mkvtoolnix build for Mac OS X!

[Mosu]

Indeed, and it's already been added to my download section. I've also been working with a kind German Mac user who has spent quite a lot of hours trying to compile everything, and yesterday he has succeeded (including the GUIs; statically linked; for 10.8 and newer). So we may hopefully expect more up-to-date DMGs in the future – independent of Jon's erratic update schedule.

[Selur]

Jonathans builds are 10.7+ compatible, so personally I would prefer them over the 10.8+ versions. (I would even more prefer a 10.6+ compatible version )

[Mosu]

You may use whichever you wish, of course. But Jon's track record for updates hasn't been stellar for a year. So you may have to switch some day. Or maybe he'll update regularly again now. We'll see.

[szabi]

Hi

Is that possible by mkvtoolnix after a given time, automatically switch from one audio stream to an other?

bye
szabi

[Mosu]

No, that is not possible (even though I don't really understand what you want I can still answer »no« because none of the possible interpretations that I have for your question can be fullfilled with Matroska in general or MKVToolNix in particular).

[Simon88]

Originally Posted by szabi

Hi

Is that possible by mkvtoolnix after a given time, automatically switch from one audio stream to an other?

bye
szabi

It is the player's job to do the audio track switching, so a script/batch file to "force" the switching from one audio to the other can be done.

Another workaround, is just use the "Append" button in mmg. It will not require any scripting by the media player. File size will of course be doubled... Good luck...

[Simon88]

I have some MKVs w/ parts of it broken. I find MKVtoolnix will skip and re-mux OK if it's the end or somewhere in the middle is broken, with the missing parts eliminated after a re-mux and most of the video recovered and plays fine without freezing the media player.

However, how would I make mkvtools read an MKV file that is broken or missing the beginning of the file? Is there a switch I can use to force the scanning & re-muxing of valid MKVs that is broken in the beginning? Or can you offer a "generic" chunk of binary data I can simply append or hexeditor copy to the beginning of the file to force mkvtools to scan, read, and fix the good portions of the file and create a viewable file? Thanks..

[Mosu]

If the track headers have been damaged: not really, no. First you'd have to know exactly which codecs were used for which track, which track had which track number etc. Then you'd also have to know the exact format of CodecPrivate for a lot of video codecs (which you don't, with almost absolute certainty). From a purely technical standpoint it is possible in some cases, of course, but it would take even someone with in-depth knowledge of Matroska an exorbitant amount of time (think several days for a single file).

If all the files use the very same tracks and the very same codecs with the very same codec settings then it may be possible to copy segment and track headers from another file to your damaged one. However, there's no tool that could automate this kind of work. It would look roughly like this:

1. Determine the start position and the length of the EBML head, segment info and the track headers elements in the working file and extract them to separate files
2. Determine the position of the first readable cluster (basically the first cluster ID followed by a length information after which another cluster ID can be found) in the bad file, remember that position
3. Copy the EBML head, segment info and track headers from step 1 into the new output file
4. Copy everything from the bad file starting at the position found in step 2 to the new output file
5. Edit the new output file and modify the segment element's length field to match the new file length (or set it to undefined)
6. Try to re-mux with mkvmerge or to watch the movie

All of those steps involve heavy work with hex editors, deep knowledge of EBML and Matroska structures, a lot of time and a lot of patience.

[Simon88]

Thanks for detailed explanation... I guess it'll be easier for me to just re-encode and/or re-capture them from the tape source...

btw, if the info for the header is so important and if bytes usage is insignificant, would you consider storing another copy of it at the end, or some other convenient place in a MKV file or provide an option to do so, if feasible, in a future specification update in order for increased robustness?

[Mosu]

Well it's only allowed for the track headers. Storing the EBML head or the segment head twice would pretty much bork the whole file.

Other media formats aren't any better. If you overwrite the first few KB in an AVI or an MP4 file then those files are just as unusable. Again other formats (especially MPEG transport streams) are more resilient by sending the required headers multiple times. They do it because they were explicitly designed for streaming in which you need to be able to join the stream at almost any moment. Matroska wasn't designed for this, and I highly doubt we'll ever adjust it in such a way. Resilience always has a cost: in terms of wasted space, but also in complexity for all software components that need to read such files. How are players supposed to act if they find two differing copies of track headers? What about editing track properties: if the second copy is somewhere in the middle and you enter a very, very long track name so that the track header copy won't fit there anymore; where do I store it now?

On top of all that you have to keep compatibility with existing players in mind.

So the answer is »most likely no«. Sorry.

If you need general resilience then I suggest using something like PAR files and storing them somewhere else (on different hard drives, at least).

[Carpo]

Is it possible to add movie information into the MKV container, like you can with MetaX and MP4 - apologies if this has already been asked

[Simon88]

Originally Posted by Carpo

Is it possible to add movie information into the MKV container, like you can with MetaX and MP4 - apologies if this has already been asked

"File/segment title" and "Attachments"... However, attachments must be crafted in way your front-end or viewer expects them...

[Carpo]

The players in question would be MPC-HC, MPC-BE, J River and Playstation 3, I am guessing the PS3 wouldn't see any of it and to be honest I am not that concerned, as I may just stream directly from the PC to the TV anyway, guess I need to read MKVTool's documentation

[Simon88]

Originally Posted by Carpo

The players in question would be MPC-HC, MPC-BE, J River and Playstation 3, I am guessing the PS3 wouldn't see any of it and to be honest I am not that concerned, as I may just stream directly from the PC to the TV anyway, guess I need to read MKVTool's documentation

If it's cover art, I believe it is explained at:
http://www.matroska.org/technical/cover_art/index.html

And some players use: Movie.nfo within the mkv to display misc. info.

[Carpo]

I know it can do cover art, I was hoping to add such things as, year, director, cast, summary, that sort of thing.

I have looked at the documentation and it seems like I should be able to add most of the above in an .xml file, but I haven't seen anything about adding a plot summary

[sneaker_ger]

http://matroska.org/technical/specs/tagging/index.html
"SUMMARY" might be what you're looking for.

You mentioned "MetaX". The website says it already has support for mkv tagging built-in.

[Carpo]

Thanks, will take a peek