I'm trying to use iVI now but wish it worked with stylized subs. Only thing I can think of that works with that is handbrake but requires it to be burned in
Must not be married!
Wrong direction. Married too long. Why would what I do affect her?
Besides, she's got an iPad.
sudo brew update
sudo brew install ffmpeg
for f in <DIRECTORY>/*.mkv; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -vcodec copy "${f%.mkv}.mp4"; done
Ah ok, I'm converting this to MP4 so that I can burn it to a DVD using Toast, which will create a HD-DVD. It'll be played on a 50" Television so I need to retain the quality!
I have mainly DVD movies (only a few Blu-Ray) but like to preserve the quality. Do you know if there's any way the format used inside a standard VIDEO_TS directory can be used directly by an m4v file? Or must you always do a video conversion? (I realize the container file must be changed...)
Thanks for the advice.
All of this implies that you should try "passthrough" first. If that doesn't work, try something else.
Are you referring to using it for it's video passthrough capability or for it's ability to totally process a video AND metadata using a queue? Seems to be multiple questions going on in this thread and not sure what this "answer" is directed toward.Just buy the program Identify on the Mac App store. $20, but worth it for ease of use, conversion, and metadata download.
Just curious; what is mkv even used for? I have yet to see it anywhere.
Is it a special codec used by some special high end cameras or something?
Are you referring to using it for it's video passthrough capability or for it's ability to totally process a video AND metadata using a queue? Seems to be multiple questions going on in this thread and not sure what this "answer" is directed toward.
Well, pretty much for all that. I mainly use it to produce "itunes compatible" files, which are great for use on ATV2, ipad, etc. If an mkv has video already encoded in h.264, it sill simply remux the audio and put the tracks in the correct order for easy playback on iDevices. It also automatically gets the metadata, and then appends (actually maybe prepends) it into the file in the right way so that it all shows up in iTunes and on iDevices. If the video is not in h.264, it will re-encode it as necessary. Finally, it's great for building up a queue, you can just drop a bunch of files into it and let it work.
Had problems using Subler and MetaX for all this. Sure, it costs $20, but it works great, saves me tons of time, and has none of the annoying issues I had with other problems. In true Mac fashion, It Just Works.
I just use Handbrake (free) and Subler (free). Just use Subler for the metadata as I like the ability to add/delete fields to maximize the movie info in the aTV window.
Can you explain to me how, with just a remux to the mp4 container, you get subtitles to work, e.g. "soft" and/or forced subs?
Thanks.
MKV to MP4 without re-encoding is no longer hard as it was when I first started to look into it if you look into my post history. My choice for that is iFlicks and it's brilliant.
But going from MKV is going to be a compromise either way. Pass through is fast but many times introduces problems with resuming, fast forwarding and even streaming. Conversion is slow, especially with 1080P on a slower machine and a negligible quality loss.
My take is, if you have tons of MKVs you want in MP4 and you can live with minor hiccups, go with iFlicks. I've chosen this route.
If you want the best performance and compatibility from your MP4 and don't mind long conversion times, go with Handbrake. I honestly can't tell a difference in quality from the MKV on my 32" FullHD TV.
Hello all,
I've read this thread and I am very interested.
MacinJosh, do you mind telling me what settings you use for handbrake? (or anyone else for that matter)
Cheers
Anthony.