Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is there a way to edit .mkv
- Thread starter bluap84
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
MKV isn't supported by anything for editing, you'll need to repackage the audio and video streams in to a supported container like mov.
Your MKV probably contains and h264 stream and an AC3 stream. The H264 stream should be acceptable to video editors but I'm pretty sure AC3 isn't, so that will probably need to be converted to PCM or something. Then you can mux in to mov and open in FCPX.
Your MKV probably contains and h264 stream and an AC3 stream. The H264 stream should be acceptable to video editors but I'm pretty sure AC3 isn't, so that will probably need to be converted to PCM or something. Then you can mux in to mov and open in FCPX.
Try avidemux2 it allows you to cut sections out of file and save to different formats if wanted.
I believe that you can use Mkvextract to demux MKV files into their individual components (video stream, audio, etc.). After that you MAY be able to find another tool to place those components back into a movie or MP4 container. However, you need to use the command line version of Mkvextract under Mac OS X (I can't find a version that implements a GUI for Macs).
Perhaps someone who has gone that route (using Mkvextract) can comment further. My experience with MKVs ends with MakeMKV and Mkvtoolnix (I think you'll need the latter if you want to run Mkvextract).
I've also seen comments that suggest that the Perian QuickTime component will allow you to convert MKV files. Handbrake should also work (to transcode).
There is also a GUI-based utility (unregistered freeware, $5 if you decide to buy) that is called MP4Tools which says that it will convert MKV files into Mac and iOS compatible versions. This tool is based upon MKVtools which is still available but is no longer being updated (last release in Dec 2010). I've not used either of these last two utilities and I don't know how well they will work. In any case, here is a tread with some testimonials on MKVtools and MP4Tools taken right here from MacRumors (two users, both think it is quite good):
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1160446/
Perhaps someone who has gone that route (using Mkvextract) can comment further. My experience with MKVs ends with MakeMKV and Mkvtoolnix (I think you'll need the latter if you want to run Mkvextract).
I've also seen comments that suggest that the Perian QuickTime component will allow you to convert MKV files. Handbrake should also work (to transcode).
There is also a GUI-based utility (unregistered freeware, $5 if you decide to buy) that is called MP4Tools which says that it will convert MKV files into Mac and iOS compatible versions. This tool is based upon MKVtools which is still available but is no longer being updated (last release in Dec 2010). I've not used either of these last two utilities and I don't know how well they will work. In any case, here is a tread with some testimonials on MKVtools and MP4Tools taken right here from MacRumors (two users, both think it is quite good):
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1160446/
I haven't used it extensively but there's an app on the Mac App store called Smart Converter which does a good job of converting .mkv
I tried a small sample and converted it to the Apple 2 TV preset and that played in Final Cut Pro X quite well. Not sure how well it'll export as it was a quick test. The software is free, so worth a shot.
I tried a small sample and converted it to the Apple 2 TV preset and that played in Final Cut Pro X quite well. Not sure how well it'll export as it was a quick test. The software is free, so worth a shot.