Works like a charm! Thanks so much for the tutorial, it has literally ended a 5 month campaign against MKV, Mac, and PS3.
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Definative GUIDE for converting .MKV files to .MP4 files for PS3 usage!
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Works like a charm! Thanks so much for the tutorial, it has literally ended a 5 month campaign against MKV, Mac, and PS3.
Just wanted to say thanks for this guide, I have been looking for a relatively painless way to do this very thing!
So if I understand correctly, the only downside to this method is that you will lose the 5.1 surround sound and be stuck with 2-channel stereo? Pity, as the HD experience just isn't the same if you only have 720p/1080p video but no surround sound.
Yes downmixing audio will unfortunately be the downfall but the picture quality is unrivaled.
Honestly, I have always hated having to re-encode video files as it takes time and tends to be a pain. My solution was to use MediaTomb. This isn't for the faint of heart though, as it take time to get this all up and working. First you'll have to install VLC Player, then you'll have to install Fink, and finally then you'll have to update it, and add some parts to beta, but not all of them. I really should work up a guide to do this. At the end though, you'll be able to stream just about anything to the PS3: mkv, flv, etc... Only problem I have is because you're transcoding, you loose the ability to FF, Rewind, etc.
Nice, thanks for the clarification. Like I said, if the process is so simple and easy and the picture quality is great, then not having 5.1 might be acceptable for some films. It will be noticeable on a lot of action films, but once again, one can't be too picky.
Thanks again for the guide - much appreciated!
Well here's the thing...I don't understand why you would do that as this method does not encode the video as in the video is untouched in any way, only the audio. There is NO transcoding in this method either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanton View Post
Honestly, I have always hated having to re-encode video files as it takes time and tends to be a pain. My solution was to use MediaTomb. This isn't for the faint of heart though, as it take time to get this all up and working. First you'll have to install VLC Player, then you'll have to install Fink, and finally then you'll have to update it, and add some parts to beta, but not all of them. I really should work up a guide to do this. At the end though, you'll be able to stream just about anything to the PS3: mkv, flv, etc... Only problem I have is because you're transcoding, you loose the ability to FF, Rewind, etc.
other thing about that is you do lose video quality that way because you are transcoding on the fly so you are losing some if not lots of video quality. about the audio thing is there no way you can use quicktime to convert to dolby prologic II because on xbox i did notice a difference in audio quality betrween stereo and dplII but i was on windows and dont know if any programs exist for macs to do the same.
Originally Posted by stanton View Post
Honestly, I have always hated having to re-encode video files as it takes time and tends to be a pain. My solution was to use MediaTomb. This isn't for the faint of heart though, as it take time to get this all up and working. First you'll have to install VLC Player, then you'll have to install Fink, and finally then you'll have to update it, and add some parts to beta, but not all of them. I really should work up a guide to do this. At the end though, you'll be able to stream just about anything to the PS3: mkv, flv, etc... Only problem I have is because you're transcoding, you loose the ability to FF, Rewind, etc.
other thing about that is you do lose video quality that way because you are transcoding on the fly so you are losing some if not lots of video quality. about the audio thing is there no way you can use quicktime to convert to dolby prologic II because on xbox i did notice a difference in audio quality betrween stereo and dplII but i was on windows and dont know if any programs exist for macs to do the same.
Yeah, keeping the audio would be gold - I'm surprised QT Pro doesn't have this ability. If anyone finds a solution please share!
with Quicktime Pro and Perian
you can load the mkv in quicktime maybe save as mov self contained first to improve performance. (helps for me)
then with quicktime if you can play it you can encode it.
pretty simple.
you can load the mkv in quicktime maybe save as mov self contained first to improve performance. (helps for me)
then with quicktime if you can play it you can encode it.
pretty simple.
Please clarify - are you saying that you save a MKV in QT Pro as a MOV, and then the PS3 will play the MOV file with no degradation in video or audio quality?
Thanks So Much for this Post....
One question though. I seem to get inconsistent results. about half of the movies will play on my PS3 and on the other half the PS3 says its not a readable format, but initally it shows a preview of the movies in the Medialink folder. Any Ideas? Is there a Max size that the PS3 will read. thanks.
One question though. I seem to get inconsistent results. about half of the movies will play on my PS3 and on the other half the PS3 says its not a readable format, but initally it shows a preview of the movies in the Medialink folder. Any Ideas? Is there a Max size that the PS3 will read. thanks.
Thanks So Much for this Post....
One question though. I seem to get inconsistent results. about half of the movies will play on my PS3 and on the other half the PS3 says its not a readable format, but initally it shows a preview of the movies in the Medialink folder. Any Ideas? Is there a Max size that the PS3 will read. thanks.
Yes, there is. Sorry if I was unclear in my explanation of the PS3 HD. It is formatted in FAT32. Due to this limitation .mp4 files can only be 4GB or under. I will revise my guide to remove any confusion.
Still using an AppleTV? First of all, it's all about the popcorn hour.
MacSeda--you're the man. This method works on my Xbox 360 as well. Why are you only calling the guide for PS3 usage? It's for PS3 and Xbox 360, homey. So easy and universal, the guide would be more appropriately named "Teaching your girlfriend to convert her own MKV files"
Also I have a question for the PS3 crowd. Can you guys stream HD files, because it sounds like you're talking about copying them to the PS3? I'm streaming everything to Xbox 360 from external drive--but don't be misled, at least one component is wired to my airport extreme (Mac Desktop or Console, either one seems to work fine). On all wireless set-ups streaming HD can get a little choppy and I'm not sure if there's a viable solution other than wiring at least one component with an ethernet cable.
MacSeda--you're the man. This method works on my Xbox 360 as well. Why are you only calling the guide for PS3 usage? It's for PS3 and Xbox 360, homey. So easy and universal, the guide would be more appropriately named "Teaching your girlfriend to convert her own MKV files"
Also I have a question for the PS3 crowd. Can you guys stream HD files, because it sounds like you're talking about copying them to the PS3? I'm streaming everything to Xbox 360 from external drive--but don't be misled, at least one component is wired to my airport extreme (Mac Desktop or Console, either one seems to work fine). On all wireless set-ups streaming HD can get a little choppy and I'm not sure if there's a viable solution other than wiring at least one component with an ethernet cable.
I figured it would work for the xbox360 but unfortunately not owning one, I am unable to test it. Glad it worked well for ya bud! I will mention that it works for xbox in my guide itself as I can't edit the title. We can stream HD movies just fine. Sometimes, though, people do get hiccups due to the high rate of data transfer. I have 7 busy computers on my network at all times and just save them to my PS3.
Some routers can't handle streaming as it is. Try copying the files to your ps3 and see if the video is still choppy.
My God MacSeda. You are Godsent. I have been trolling the net for about 2 years trying to figure this whole process out.
I have been using VisualHub and Handbrake spending hours upon hours of re-encoding off and on only to end up with noticeable quality loss. Hitting the H.264 encoding usually gave me a much bigger file.
I then found some tutorials that said to use perian + quicktime Pro to no avail. Whenever I went to export the video, the Passthrough option was grayed out. I didn't find ANYWHERE! on the net that had a solution until I ran into your solution.
Anybody that doesn't really need the 5.1 audio should use this guide. It will take you 30Mins at the most!!
I have been using VisualHub and Handbrake spending hours upon hours of re-encoding off and on only to end up with noticeable quality loss. Hitting the H.264 encoding usually gave me a much bigger file.
I then found some tutorials that said to use perian + quicktime Pro to no avail. Whenever I went to export the video, the Passthrough option was grayed out. I didn't find ANYWHERE! on the net that had a solution until I ran into your solution.
Anybody that doesn't really need the 5.1 audio should use this guide. It will take you 30Mins at the most!!
Myotis85:
I'm glad you enjoyed the post! I understand completely how you feel. I didn't come up with this method by any means, but since I completely understand how to do it now, I figured I would write a tutorial for those who struggle. It took me several days of relentless searching and fooling around with different programs, like yourself. VisualHub and Handbrake were quite upsetting. Waiting several hours to encode a movie No fun! Glad you enjoyed it!
I'm glad you enjoyed the post! I understand completely how you feel. I didn't come up with this method by any means, but since I completely understand how to do it now, I figured I would write a tutorial for those who struggle. It took me several days of relentless searching and fooling around with different programs, like yourself. VisualHub and Handbrake were quite upsetting. Waiting several hours to encode a movie
No fun! Glad you enjoyed it!Just one quick question. I have converted most of my 720p MKV vids to MP4. All with flawless playback besides one video which seems to stall when played back on the Xbox 360.
It acts as if the movie is going to be played normally and the movie is loading, but I only get a black screen with no audio.
Any tips on what is wrong or a work around?
It acts as if the movie is going to be played normally and the movie is loading, but I only get a black screen with no audio.
Any tips on what is wrong or a work around?