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Best way to convert MKV for Apple TV 2...?

This isn't true. Files need a special tag to have the HD flag. Vidalin is one of the few programs I know that can add this flag.
Click to expand...

Yep. I had to modify all my HD m4v files to add the HD flag with MetaX.
 
Anyone knows of a way to create an iPhone 4 compatible file from an MKV?

I used Subler and it worked in iTunes, but it win't sync with the iPhone.

Thanks:)
 
Handbrake will convert .mkv to a file compatible with the iPhone 4 reliably. I just use the ATV2 preset in 0.9.5. You should be able to just passthru with Subler, iFlicks, or MKVTools if the audio and video in the mkv are already compatible.
 
newagemac said:
Handbrake will convert .mkv to a file compatible with the iPhone 4 reliably. I just use the ATV2 preset in 0.9.5. You should be able to just passthru with Subler, iFlicks, or MKVTools if the audio and video in the mkv are already compatible.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

My question was more regarding the use of only Subler. I made that, and was able to add the file to iTunes. But couldn't sync it with my iPhone.

It said something about file compatibility.
 
owine said:
I run my MKVs thru MKVTools. Under the MP4 tab, I select the Apple TV preset, pass thru the video, pass thru AAC or AC3 audio or convert to one of those formats. You can also simply mux in subtitles instead of having to burn them into the video track. I then run the created .m4v file thru Vidalin in order to tag with metadata and cover art and then add the tagged file to iTunes.

It's a process with a few easy steps and by no means fully automated, but at the end I get pristine quality, full surround sound and beautiful metadata tags on my movies. Works for TV shows too.
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I used the mp4 tab for the 5th time last night and MKVTools spit out 2 files again. Conviction.mkv.a1 & Conviction.mkv.v1.h264. I have my settings to passthrough video and audio. How come I'm not getting a final muxed file? I think it's because it was originally a dts file. Maybe if I choose AAC (2 ch.) 0r AAC (5.1) it would mux it.

Also yesterday I also tried the Quick tab which worked well and gave me a m4v file. Strange thing is aTV2 doesn't see it. And....it sees other m4vs that I can't see. aTV2 says it's in my movies folder but those files that aTV2 sees I can't even see. Is it possible aTV2 scanned my whole network and is using locations I forgot about?

EDIT: Ahhh aTV2 was reading my iTunes movie folder. I thought movie folder meant Mac movie folder. So I can't point to other folder on my Mac?

EDIT: So now aTV2 sees the file because I put it in the iTunes application movie folder. BUT the movie poster frame works but the movie doesn't play. And when I try to play it in iTunes itself it gives me an error.
The operation couldn/U2019t [sic] be completed. (BackRowErrors error 326.)
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EDIT: So I set the aTV2 Dolby settings to on instead of automatic and audio language to English like another forum said. Now the video plays but no audio and aTV2 gives it's on audio error warning message. Someone said you need to use AC3 2.1 in MKVTools not AAC 2.1. Is that right?

EDIT: Someone said AAC 5.1 will work if you tick the add 2 ch check box.

.
.
 
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ok So in the mp4 tab I tried video passthrough and AAC 2ch passthrough and all is well...

Now I have to decide if I want to convert my mkvs to simple (AAC 2ch) or (AAC 5.0 + 2ch) incase I get a Dolby audio system later.

When I tried (AAC 5.1) passthrough alone aTV2 didn't play the audio. You need to select (AAC 5.1) + tick the 'add 2ch track' check box.

If I use (AAC 5.1) + tick the 'add 2ch track' check box will aTV2 use Dolby if Dolby is turned on in the settings?

What if you have a 720p avi file? Will aTV2 read it? What's the best app to convert it? Just use QT? What settings?

Final question is how to figure out how to keep subs.


.
 
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HarryPot said:
A TV episode. As for the kind of video format it contains, I'm not sure.

But the ending file after Subler plays in iTunes, but won't sync to iPhone.
Click to expand...

The iPhone has got some limitations,you can try to set the h.264 video profile level to main 3.1 by selecting the video track in subler to work around iTunes syncing limitations.
 
Sort of off topic/on topic....what are you guys using to convert 720p (avi) for aTV2? VisualHub? Handbrake? I want something as easy as MKVTools to use. i.e. Red.2010.720p.BRRip.XviD.AC3

EDIT: Nevermind. I didn't know MKVTools was for avi as well. I thought it was for mkv only.

Should I use H264 (1 pass) or (2 pass)? What would be the difference in conversion time for a 2.35GB avi?


EDIT: OMFG Once you start getting into converting avi files or files with subs it's hell because you then have to convert video which takes 2 hours on a 500mb file. Now I remember why I JB'd. Wish a aTV2 proper JB would come soon.

.
 
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owine said:
I run my MKVs thru MKVTools. Under the MP4 tab, I select the Apple TV preset, pass thru the video, pass thru AAC or AC3 audio or convert to one of those formats. You can also simply mux in subtitles instead of having to burn them into the video track. I then run the created .m4v file thru Vidalin in order to tag with metadata and cover art and then add the tagged file to iTunes.

It's a process with a few easy steps and by no means fully automated, but at the end I get pristine quality, full surround sound and beautiful metadata tags on my movies. Works for TV shows too.
Click to expand...

What am I missing here?

I did then and end up with two files, and not a m4v file even though I used the mp4 tab. I ended up with an AC3 file and a .h264 file. Not sure how to join and/or make use of.

Anyone?

Thanks
 
It sounds like you ran into an error. The two files are the track files that MKVtools attempted to mux into the m4v file. If there is no m4v file, then some error occurred. If you have "keep log/temp files" checked in the preferences, you should see the log files that are created by the "tools" that MKVtools uses. Their names give you an idea of the process the log files are for. Look in those to find out what happened.
 
If I can sugest ...

To convert mkv in to Hight profile version 3.1 to play on Apple TV 2 with bitrating like 10mbits/s I use ffmpeg 2 pass encodding ... yes need lot of time but the quality is incredible.

To add HD flag and other info`s, cover and etc... on my mp4/m4v files I use iDentify ... Is the better

i.e.

capturadetela20110112s0.png


All my movies contains more than one audio and even subtitle and is copatible with my iPad and iPhone`s...




I hope to help and sorry for my bad English!
 
patent10021 said:
Sort of off topic/on topic....what are you guys using to convert 720p (avi) for aTV2? VisualHub? Handbrake? I want something as easy as MKVTools to use. i.e. Red.2010.720p.BRRip.XviD.AC3

EDIT: Nevermind. I didn't know MKVTools was for avi as well. I thought it was for mkv only.

Should I use H264 (1 pass) or (2 pass)? What would be the difference in conversion time for a 2.35GB avi?


EDIT: OMFG Once you start getting into converting avi files or files with subs it's hell because you then have to convert video which takes 2 hours on a 500mb file. Now I remember why I JB'd. Wish a aTV2 proper JB would come soon.

.
Click to expand...

You only need to reconvert the video if you wish to burn the subs in. If you select the mux option then you can pass the video through. It also means you won't end up with permanent subs on your resulting file.
 
kris182 said:
You only need to reconvert the video if you wish to burn the subs in. If you select the mux option then you can pass the video through. It also means you won't end up with permanent subs on your resulting file.
Click to expand...

If it's XviD and for an Apple TV, you do need to convert. TV doesn't play XviD or DivX.
 
lindmar said:
What am I missing here?

I did then and end up with two files, and not a m4v file even though I used the mp4 tab. I ended up with an AC3 file and a .h264 file. Not sure how to join and/or make use of.

Anyone?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Is there a log file as well? That could tell you what went wrong. Keep in mind you need a good amount of free disk space for this to work as it has to extract both tracks and then mux into one file.
 
windows based tools?

Are there any tools similar to mkvtools for windows? I have a bunch of movies in h26d and aac format and I do not want to re-encode the video/audio. I see that Subler and Mkvtools are for MAC only.
 
Hi Guys

I just got an apple tv for Crimbo and want to convert all my movies to play on it via itunes.

I have been using a wdtv and most of my movies are mkv 720p AC3. I dont know what else to describe them as sorry

Complete noob when it comes to converting and I see from the post above I might not have to?

What is remuxing and can someone just give an ewasy way/tool to convert these files to play on my aptv

also i'm using windows 7

Finally would the quality still be the same?

cheers
Baz
 
Roxio Toast - Stay Away

Technically speaking Roxio Toast has the ability to do this. I've been a longtime Toast user (going back to the days of the Rio MP3 player that preceded the ipod!)

The current version re-encodes everything, and it's extremely slow. Overnight slow. The quality is terrific. The caveat should be "when it works." It hasn't worked at all for the last 6 months. Just goes ka-blammo, and i'm greeted with a bug report to send to Apple.

I've gone through all the tech fixes (reinstall quicktime, roxio, etc.) I'm not the only one.

There's nothing more disturbing when a premier software company goes bad. A case could be made you don't need Toast as OS X has the basic tools there. It worked so well it was worth the money IMHO. Now it's not, and they'll soon offer a new version after CES. I'm pretty sure they've lost me for the upgrade.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

There is a free conversion tool in the app store. Just search "mkv". I've tried it a few times, and it seems the business.
 
UGH Toast is a horrible piece of software in my humble opinion. I've never seen a slower encoder and frankly, the quality isn't all that great. Just my two cents.
 
PaulMoore said:
What is the best way to convert an HD MKV file for Apple TV 2? Should I be using Handbrake? If so, is the nightly build the best? Any suggestions for settings? I want to convert the files with the best possible quality and then drop them into iTunes purely for playback on the Apple TV 2.
Click to expand...

There's a quick little AppleScript here for repackaging your MKV files into a format that the AppleTV will play.

http://www.tvmutiny.com/threads/watc...re-encoding.5/

It works in no-time flat, as all it does is copy the videos into a new MOV container.There's also instructions there for dealing with AC3 audio (which must be converted).

Overall, it's much, much faster than using Handbrake, because you only transcode what you need (the audio).
 
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