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Definative GUIDE for converting .MKV files to .MP4 files for PS3 usage!

bigbossbmb said:
mmm, my ps3 doesn't read any audio from the m2ts...

gonna try a few more before giving up on it.
Click to expand...

I downloaded and tried it out this weekend with the same results. The m2ts file plays fine with audio on the computer through mplayer, but the PS3 does not recognize any audio at all. I tried it direct from the PS3 hard drive and streaming through both Medialink and PS3 Media Server. Not sure of the problem at this point. I will have to do a more detailed trouble shoot when I have the time. I was really hoping this would work. :(
 
On a related note, I've had a lot of luck using mkv4xbox to quickly transcode mkvs into mp4s and they play great on the ps3 without anything special to stream other than Medialink (or similar).

an hour show took less than a minute or two to finish.

here's the macupdate link:
http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/30486/mkv4xbox

anyone else have experience with mkv4xbox?
 
PS3 can't playback DTS files from a file (But can from a blu-ray... figure that one out!)

Anyway for those who are saying they aren't getting any audio from .m2ts files from tsMuxer, its because the source has DTS audio.

To get around this, I demux the audio and video using tsMuxer, so you get a .264 and a .dts file.

I then take the .dts, open parallels, use eac3to to convert the .dts to .ac3 and then mux them back together in to a m2ts file for the PS3.

It's a bit annoying have to boot to windows to convert the audio, so if anyone knows of a mac program to convert .dts to .ac3, please let us know.

And also with tsMuxer not working on snow leopard, I do the whole lot in windows now. One day we will find a completely mac friendly solution.

I'll check out that MKV4XBox that post above me linked... hope it can convert dts to ac3...
 
I literally just use MKV tools, select convert to MP4 and run a pass through the video and audio (if its not DTS) and it extracts it. Same file size and quality. Then you can stream it or whatever to PS3. Didn't see this guide before, had to figure this out myself (used to use MKV2VOB on my Windows 7 lappy at home)
 
How fast is MKVTools? Quicktime passthrough takes about 10-15 minutes but doesn't always work.
 
Nothing works for me at all. First of all I get an error saying that the output file name is the same as one of the input file names and that I should change it. Also when the mkv file is split in two files they do not turn into mka files like the original poster said. And finally when I export the file, it would literally take a thousand years before it would finish exporting. I have no idea what I am doing wrong but nothing works at all for me.

Any ideas of what I am doing wrong. I use to have perian 1.1.4 and changed it 1.1.3 as that is what the original poster said to download. This is beyond frustrating.
 
some of these latest programs are pretty interesting, seem to convert most things to something very playable by the ps3.

but has the PS3 Media Server java program been discussed? it transcodes on the fly and then gives the PS3 the correct file, rather then transcoding then giving the program to a separate media server.

i find it really easy to use, so far all the files ive given it have worked - most work "as is", but some need to use the Mencoder that comes with the program.
 
read through this thread and spent (wasted?) a couple of hours messing around with different free ways of doing this

i found this program through videohelp

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/AviDemux

now it's not strictly the best way since you're re-encoding the audio, but the video is passed through and to my eyes there wasn't any quality loss on the video and i'm not going to hear the audio difference through my tv speakers anyway i expect

playing the mp4 file in quicktime resulted in oddly poor audio, which i initially put down to avidemux, but playing in vlc and more importantly on the ps3 it plays fine

takes about 3 minutes to do a 40 minute mkv file on my imac
 
dontpanic said:
read through this thread and spent (wasted?) a couple of hours messing around with different free ways of doing this

i found this program through videohelp
Click to expand...

im very confused, why do you need this program (or any other programs on this thread) when you can just use handbrake? its great at converting pretty much anything these days.
 
well because handbrake converts, losing quality

the original post was about changing the container format to something the ps3 can read, since it can't read mkv files

my method re-encodes the audio but not the video
 
dontpanic said:
well because handbrake converts, losing quality

the original post was about changing the container format to something the ps3 can read, since it can't read mkv files

my method re-encodes the audio but not the video
Click to expand...

fair call. HB can technically "passthrough" video, but the file size is amazingly big! i wish they added an option to passthrough video. would be icing on the cake.
 
although if you have access to a windows machine it's far easier to just use mkvtovob which re-encodes nothing

but i can't be bothered to boot into windows just for 5 minutes of work
 
have to pay for that!

i'm cheap, more than free is generally too much

i tried to run it using wine but it wouldn't work for some reason, couldn't be bothered to mess around with it since i don't really understand it
 
dontpanic said:
have to pay for that!

i'm cheap, more than free is generally too much

i tried to run it using wine but it wouldn't work for some reason, couldn't be bothered to mess around with it since i don't really understand it
Click to expand...

baha they have a trial for a month or something. why not give it a try? you could always find another way to get it for free anyway. :eek: :cool:
 
Subtitles

Is there any way to keep your subtitles on when converting with Quicktime 7. Because I was experimenting, and if you leave them on in MKVmerge, the you can't choose the video passthrough option in Quicktime 7.
 
Can anyone explain this to me?

dd8695977d3cc4f31174bfe8325df8c0.png


I have quicktime 7 pro, I have the movie fully loaded, still no save or export options. I've tried this on many different files, mkv, mp4, wmv, etc. I have perian installed.
 
I see you don't have mka as one of the file formats to try. The only problem I have is that I can't export movies with the video format pass through.
 
This. Is. Awesome.

Very useful and through guide! I've been searching for something like this for longer than I would have liked.
 
xhale said:
Can anyone explain this to me?

dd8695977d3cc4f31174bfe8325df8c0.png


I have quicktime 7 pro, I have the movie fully loaded, still no save or export options. I've tried this on many different files, mkv, mp4, wmv, etc. I have perian installed.
Click to expand...

have you tried turning it off and on again :p

hadnt come across that before - is it legit?
 
xhale said:
Can anyone explain this to me?

dd8695977d3cc4f31174bfe8325df8c0.png


I have quicktime 7 pro, I have the movie fully loaded, still no save or export options. I've tried this on many different files, mkv, mp4, wmv, etc. I have perian installed.
Click to expand...

I believe you need to do an edit, "select all" first.
 
Sigh is there any new apps out that will convert 720p HD mkv files to play on the PS3 that keeps the AC3 audio intact?

This method is nice and all but it downsamples the AC3 to Stereo which is a downer for me since I have a surround sound setup and receiver and would like to keep the AC3 as well.

tsMuxer doesn't work on my G5 which is running Leopard and says that it only works for Intel. But my Intel mac is running Snow Leopard which it doesn't even run on. Sigh.
 
212rikanmofo said:
Sigh is there any new apps out that will convert 720p HD mkv files to play on the PS3 that keeps the AC3 audio intact?

This method is nice and all but it downsamples the AC3 to Stereo which is a downer for me since I have a surround sound setup and receiver and would like to keep the AC3 as well.

tsMuxer doesn't work on my G5 which is running Leopard and says that it only works for Intel. But my Intel mac is running Snow Leopard which it doesn't even run on. Sigh.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm a little biased :), but I use MKVtools for this. It's a very quick process. It's free, but you'll be nagged a lot until you register. Other video app options to consider - handbrake, avidemux and subler. I've never really used these, but they might do what you want. I believe they're all free.

Just a side note, it's been a while since I tried it, but I couldn't get the PS3 to play AC3 5.1 audio in an mp4 file. I always convert 5.1 audio to AAC 5.1 audio which plays fine. Also, you might want to do some googling about tsmuxer. There is a fix for Snow Leopard that involves removing 2 Korean fonts from your fonts folder.
 
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