Converting .MOV to .MKV video files

[Newbie MacUser]

I own a Late 2011 Macbook Pro 2.2 Ghz Quad Core with 16GB DDR3 and a SanDisk Extreme 480GB SSD and I'm running Windows 7 with Parallels 7.0. I was interested in converting a bunch of .MOV files that I have stored on my 2TB Time Capsule in sizes ranging from 500MB to 1.5GB into a much more efficient (more space conscious) format like .MKV. Are there any easy to use Mac App's anyone recommends or any free Windows programs that can do this?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Macman45]

Handbrake will do this, although you may need a plug-in for .mov files...Very good app and it's free.

It should be used in conjunction with VLC so install it when prompted:
http://handbrake.fr/details.php

 

[SDAVE]

Try AviDemux.

It's free and it will transcode without encoding, so you don't lose quality.

 

[Pressure]

Yeah, you will not reduce them in any meaningful way.

MKV is just a container, which usually holds an H.264 encoded video and AAC/DTS audio in the first place.

However, you could probably compress your videos further with either MPEG Streamclip, Handbrake or any other free encoding software.

Also, I am not terribly sure what this has to do with the MacBook Pro sub-forum

 

[Newbie MacUser]

Yeah, you will not reduce them in any meaningful way.

MKV is just a container, which usually holds an H.264 encoded video and AAC/DTS audio in the first place.

However, you could probably compress your videos further with either MPEG Streamclip, Handbrake or any other free encoding software.

Also, I am not terribly sure what this has to do with the MacBook Pro sub-forum

Sorry I saw other people posting things like this before. It should be in the software part I guess.

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Thanks everyone! I will check out all the recommendations

 

[SDAVE]

I converted over 150 MKV files I had to MP4 so I can put it on my iTunes centre and connect it to the Apple TV.

Some of the MKV files had DTS audio so I had to convert to 5.1 AAC (only thing that the MP4 can carry,...that and AC3) using AVI Demux