That doesn't make it "useless," just useless for you. I have a computer at home that's on 24/7 as do many other people that I know. It's not an oddity.
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Use MKV files on iPad?
- Thread starter Doju
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That doesn't make it "useless," just useless for you. I have a computer at home that's on 24/7 as do many other people that I know. It's not an oddity.
That doesn't make it "useless," just useless for you. I have a computer at home that's on 24/7 as do many other people that I know. It's not an oddity.
And I'm sure many people will find the convert-on-the-fly feature extremely useful. Something that would not be possible from a NAS (you need the computer to re-code).
I tried enabling the large file sizes option in Handbrake and ended up with files 9GB+ in size from a 4.7GB MKV. Once I turned that option off however I was getting much more manageable sizes; ~2.5GB from a 4.7GB MKV. I hear you though. I can recommend Handbrake as well as long as its configured properly : )
I wish handbrake supported batch encoding as well. It work make things MUCH easier : )
Edit: Speaking of which, make sure your computer's fan's speed up when encoding. I had a problem with my i7 15" MBP just now where the fans refused the speed up when under load and the temperature spiked to 98C (209F) and had to use iStat's fan controls to force the settings to 6000rpm. :S
@imacdaddy
Please let me know if it works okay. Like I say, Im iPad-less till Friday
The good news...
Subler does mux my 1GB mkv files to mp4/m4v in less than 2 minutes which would normally take 8-12 mins re-encoding via Handbrake.
Output file size is the same and can be played on my Mac Pro and iTunes.The bad news...
Most audio codec in my mkv files are AC3 which isn't supported in all iDevices and AppleTV. Hence, muxing the mkv file to be played on the the said devices does not work. This means I have to transconde the audio from AC3 to AAC or compatible format and remux the audio.
I need to find out more about Subler and how to get it working. AppleTV forum may have answers. Off I go...
This seems to have been largely lost in amongst the usual recommendation of Handbrake et al. I'm hoping somebody will try using Subler to see if it works on the iPad.
Again, this is NOT about conversion from mkv->mp4, Subler would be faaar more quicker and efficient if it works.
This is exactly what MKVTools does. It pulls out the video from the mkv into an mp4 with no conversion, then just converts the audio. Takes minutes rather than hours. It's a solution I used a lot when I used to stream to my Xbox 360.
The only snag is that the iPad can't go above 720p, so all your sources need to be 720p or less. Anything that's 1080p will need the video converted.
Xilisoft?
I've bought Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate, iPad compatible, to try converting some titles, but:
(1) resulting 720p video is not fluid (from original 1080p or 720p MKV's), jumps continuously.
(2) is not possible to select which audio track to use (not clear the random one it takes).
(3) is not possible to use the MKV-included subtitles.
I'm asking Xilisoft some support on these, and let you know (there are lots of advanced options for transcoding). Even because... for the rest the sw seems well implemented.
I've bought Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate, iPad compatible, to try converting some titles, but:
(1) resulting 720p video is not fluid (from original 1080p or 720p MKV's), jumps continuously.
(2) is not possible to select which audio track to use (not clear the random one it takes).
(3) is not possible to use the MKV-included subtitles.
I'm asking Xilisoft some support on these, and let you know (there are lots of advanced options for transcoding). Even because... for the rest the sw seems well implemented.
You really don't need to do this though, well not for a 720p source anyway. MKV is a container that already contains video in mp4 format. Converting any HD source takes a while, but as you already have a valid 720p mp4 file contained within an MKV, you don't need to convert at all. The only thing that needs conversion is the audio.
There are a number of tools to do this. MKVTools is the only one I have experience with. You use it to "convert" the MKV to MP4, but what it does is takes the MP4 video out of the MKV - this takes a few seconds, then it converts the audio to AAC - this takes a few minutes, then it muxes them together. It'll "convert" a 720p movie or 1080p MKV movie to mp4 in a couple of minutes because it doesn't need to do a full conversion. Obviously only 720p "conversions" will work on the iPad, but in doing so you'll get perfect 720p movies in minutes rather than hours, without the need for any of these converters.
I use handbrake.fr to convert MKV using the Apple > Universal preset. Works a treat.
EDIT - read more posts, I take back my suggestion.
EDIT - read more posts, I take back my suggestion.
It's not quite that simple...at least for me. I still haven't properly solved the audio. Most mkv files use AC3 audio and the audio needs to be converted to AAC or compatible. I wan't to retain surround sound not stereo conversion. Any help on this?
You can't. MP4 can't keep the surround sound. However as you are using it on your stereo iPad...
I use MKV's played on my iMac which feeds my telly and AV Amp for the full experience.
I use Air Video for streaming to iPad in house.
I use MKVTools to make an AAC/MP4 for use on the iPad when away on business.
Can anyone recommend an MKVTools equivelant app for windows users which doesnt re-encode the video just the audio.
Thanks
Thanks
Here's another option for Mac users. This Applescript will, when saved as an application, take however many MKV files are dropped on its dock icon and convert them to MP4 using Quicktime and Perian. I find that MKVtools often causes a loss of sync in the resulting files.
This has a few requirements to work:
1) Perian
2) In Quicktime, make sure the last export you did had video set to passthrough, and audio set to AAC at your preferred bitrate (I use 160).
3) Modify the output folder in the code to match your system (I have it set up to save to a secondary hard drive).
4) If you have a slower hard drive or a very large file, increase the "delay." The video must fully load in Quicktime before the Export begins, or else the complete video won't export.
Also, note that I disable Text Subtitle tracks. Not all videos have them, but if they do and they aren't disabled, they will cause the video passthrough to fail.
I hacked this together myself from various other scripts I found online. Hope its helpful for someone.
This has a few requirements to work:
1) Perian
2) In Quicktime, make sure the last export you did had video set to passthrough, and audio set to AAC at your preferred bitrate (I use 160).
3) Modify the output folder in the code to match your system (I have it set up to save to a secondary hard drive).
4) If you have a slower hard drive or a very large file, increase the "delay." The video must fully load in Quicktime before the Export begins, or else the complete video won't export.
Also, note that I disable Text Subtitle tracks. Not all videos have them, but if they do and they aren't disabled, they will cause the video passthrough to fail.
I hacked this together myself from various other scripts I found online. Hope its helpful for someone.
Code:
on open droppedItems
with timeout of 86400 seconds
tell application "QuickTime Player"
activate
close every window without saving
repeat with theItem in droppedItems
open theItem
set raw_file_name to (theItem as text)
set the_original_text_item_delimiter to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {":"}
set the file_name to the last text item of raw_file_name
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {".mkv"}
set the file_name to the first text item of the file_name
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the_original_text_item_delimiter
tell document 1
delay (60)
set (enabled of tracks whose data format contains "Text Subtitle") to false
export to "Volumes:HD2" & ":" & file_name & ".mp4" as MPEG4 using most recent settings with replacing
close without saving
end tell
end repeat
quit
end tell
end timeout
end openI think the best way is to wait for coreplayer. The app keeps getting delayed though but it looks as if it'll support hardware acceleration on the iPhone/iPad platform, basically any video filetype, softsubs etc.
Can anybody suggest the ideal settings for handbrake to convert mkv to mp4?
I have the movie 300 at about 1280*late 600's and when i converted using handbrake i got 736*304 resolution...it was pretty dissapointing and so was the sound...
Afterr having read through this thread i guess i need to re-encode the audio using a different software first...
Can anybody plz help..thnx...
I have the movie 300 at about 1280*late 600's and when i converted using handbrake i got 736*304 resolution...it was pretty dissapointing and so was the sound...
Afterr having read through this thread i guess i need to re-encode the audio using a different software first...
Can anybody plz help..thnx...
Sounds like a 720p source to me. Use MKVTools instead, to just strip out the video straight to MP4 and it'll encode the audio to AAC for you. The whole process will take less than 5 mins, and will keep the 1280xwhatever resolution, untouched.
Thank you for replying....!
i forgot to mention that i am using windows 7... No mac in sight...plz suggest something else for me...
Thank you!
AirVideo has a Windows 7 server which works really well.
There is also a Linux version which though unofficial works fine on my Ubuntu:
http://wiki.birth-online.de/know-how/hardware/apple-iphone/airvideo-server-linux
CorePlayer
Yep, I vote for CorePlayer too when it hits. It kicks tail on other platforms and while AirVideo is cool... over 3G I get all kinds of problems..
At least in my area the ATT connection doesn't cut it.
A standalone media player that supports multiple codecs.. is that too much to ask for?
Yep, I vote for CorePlayer too when it hits. It kicks tail on other platforms and while AirVideo is cool... over 3G I get all kinds of problems..
At least in my area the ATT connection doesn't cut it.
A standalone media player that supports multiple codecs.. is that too much to ask for?
Why use Ipad to watch a movie in the house!!!! Well, I have an LCD screen!!!!!
I would use Ipad for on to go, which means it is a stand alone.
Whats wrong with having a computer on all the time? You're saying that it's better to have your computer compile every single video to another format and keeping them just for this app is a better idea?
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