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Tagging MKV on the Mac?

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otisg

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 8, 2013
56
0
Does anyone know if a mac program exists that can tag an MKV file with info from TVDB or TheMovieDB?

It seems like it is possible based on what I've read, but I can't seem to find any software that actually implements it.

Thanks in advance for any help/enlightenment you all can provide.
 
C

CutsAu

macrumors member
Jul 16, 2008
58
6
iFlicks or iVi works well. Both will add data and then send it to iTunes. Only taking a couple of minutes
 
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otisg

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 8, 2013
56
0
CutsAu said:
iFlicks or iVi works well. Both will add data and then send it to iTunes. Only taking a couple of minutes
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I currently use iFlicks/iTunes - however, that was not actually an answer to my question. I am looking for something capable of tagging the MKV file - not remuxing it to M4V and tagging that.

Anyone know of software to tag MKV (not MP4/M4V)?

Thanks
 
C

CutsAu

macrumors member
Jul 16, 2008
58
6
Ahh ok, sorry.

No, don't know anything like that. Why don't you want it changed from MKV if you don't mind me asking ?
 
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otisg

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 8, 2013
56
0
CutsAu said:
Ahh ok, sorry.

No, don't know anything like that. Why don't you want it changed from MKV if you don't mind me asking ?
Click to expand...

Well, the big issue is DTS. I have a lot of remuxed BluRay rips with DTS audio, and I hate converting to AC3 because I perceive the difference in quality. However, I love having the metadata abilities that go with MP4 (iFlicks is great!), primarily adding the iTunes cover art automatically. I don't have enough HDD space for 2 copies of each movie, so I was looking for a metadata option that could preserve the DTS.
 
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otisg

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 8, 2013
56
0
mic j said:
What do you use to play your mkv's (VLC, media streamer, etc)?
Click to expand...

Well, I was using Firecore Media Player (now Infuse) on a jailbroken ATV2 for a while, but largely abandoned it because of the 720p limitation. I have since tried XBMC on a jailbroken ATV1 (1080p via Crystal HD) but I missed the iOS interface and apps. I tried PlexConnect with ATV3, but it has a number of aspects I dislike (No real dedicated app, need for the server to be running, unreliable transcoding on the older mac I am using).

I currently am using iFlicks/iTunes with an ATV3 and ATV2, which I like expect for the need to have iTunes running and the lack of DTS.

My holy grail would be an ATV3 jailbreak that lets Firecore make a 1080p version of Infuse that can play movies from an AirDisk hard drive. Infuse will fetch metadata, however, I would still like to have it embedded in the files themselves, due to personal preference.
 
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priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,038
641
Estonia
otisg said:
Well, the big issue is DTS.
Click to expand...
What happens, if you mux AAC, AC3 and DTS into same m4v file? Will it hurt Apple TV?? I've never tried, but Subler agrees to pass DTS track through to the mix. Also, HandBrake should do it OK. I will run a quick conversion on HB to see the results.
 
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otisg

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 8, 2013
56
0
priitv8 said:
What happens, if you mux AAC, AC3 and DTS into same m4v file? Will it hurt Apple TV?? I've never tried, but Subler agrees to pass DTS track through to the mix. Also, HandBrake should do it OK. I will run a quick conversion on HB to see the results.
Click to expand...

Good idea - I'll try that tonight.
 
M

mic j

macrumors 68030
Mar 15, 2012
2,663
156
You can add the DTS track using HB, but it's useless. As far as I know, there is nothing that plays a DTS track in an mp4.

Though you can do it manually, I don't know of any app that will tag an mkv.
 
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priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,038
641
Estonia
Yep. Both iTunes and Apple TV seem to completely ignore the DTS track, although it is there.
mic j said:
As far as I know, there is nothing that plays a DTS track in an mp4.
Click to expand...
Both VLC player and Mac Blu-ray Player seem to be able to play back the DTS audio track contained in mp4.
 
Last edited:
MagnusVonMagnum

MagnusVonMagnum

macrumors 603
Jun 18, 2007
5,193
1,442
priitv8 said:
Yep. Both iTunes and Apple TV seem to completely ignore the DTS track, although it is there.
Both VLC player and Mac Blu-ray Player seem to be able to play back the DTS audio track contained in mp4.
Click to expand...

XBMC 12.3 Frodo (and newer) can also play back the DTS track in an M4V container, making for a file that can be used in iTunes with Dolby Digital and XBMC with DTS. The bad thing is that XBMC Eden cannot recognize the DTS track (i.e. the last version that worked with the 1st Gen AppleTV without wiping the Apple interface/OS and having to use Linux instead) and thus the situation is not ideal since you would at the very least have to boot Linux off a USB stick and reboot without it to use the Apple interface, but it would work well in a mixed house setup (i.e. XBMC in a home theater room and apple tvs in other rooms or whatever since you'd only need one file for both).
 
T

topdrawer

macrumors 65816
Oct 1, 2012
1,140
1,749
i'm looking for the same thing. i don't want to convert mkv files to itunes or any other format. just want to tag them
 
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