Windows 7: mkv to mp4

From what I have read I think your right

Danny

just a thought danny, if it is a smart tv and you are connecting it to a network to see your movie folder.
then try this.
change the file extension from .mkv to .avi
see if it will play them now without having to change the container

I don't know encode from transcode either, sorry.

I had some .mkv files which my BluRay refused to play, ran them through Handbrake with mp4 as the output and they worked.

Running it through any encoder such as Handbrake will recoding resulting in quality loss. Not to mention time consuming.
This is fine if you want a smaller file, but to simply change from MKV to MP4 you only need to demux/remux the audio video streams which takes just seconds.

I ahve a different way which works well:
You will need two free applications for this.
1) MP4 Box MP4Box 0.5.0 - VideoHelp.com Downloads
2) YAMB (You do NOT need the Installer version) Yamb » Yet Another MP4Box UI

Both are free. You need YAMB if you do not want to use mp4box as a cmdline. Plus YAMB just makes the whole thing simpler.

Down load both.
-Unzip YAMB to a location you want it.
-Install MP4BOX

Open YAMB, and go to Settings/ Advanced
Point it to the location of the MP4box exe and choose a location for temp.

Thats it.
Now you just Open YAMB, select create MP4 and add your MKV file. And in less than a minute your have the file in a MP4 container with 0 quality loss.



As far as the terminology, if I understand it all correcly:
ENCODE/RECODE - Taking a file and completely recoding it to a new format, or the same to reduce file size or change codec formats.
TRANSCODE - Decoding and streaming in alternate format

DEMUX extracting the audio & video streams from a container into thier raw formats. Such as (MPEG,H264 AC3,DTS,AAC etc)
REMUX or MUXING taking the raw video/audio streams and putting them into a container (such as MP4, MKV, AVI) to create a useable video file.

I like your way Wishmaster, Handbrake does take about 45-60 minutes to do a 1.7GB 1080P movie and most of the time it ends up being 2GB or more.

Wishmaster,
the only problem I had using Yamb was that it didn't like DTS streams. Maybe I got something wrong?
Another possible way is to use Mkvextractgui to split the streams
then
using Megui to mux the streams
tools>muxer> mp4 muxer
It's even messier!

Danny,
are you sure your app gives you x264 video?
Media Info will tell you. (I use the GUI/without installer version)

Yes, MeGUI makes many audio/video projects so much easier as theres so many helpful tools there built in. Many just dont like it becasue it takes a little bit to learn at first.
Which is why I suggested YAMB. Its pretty straight forward where as with MeGUI, as you know, youd need to mess with some raw files in between. Although its not hard, I realize some would rather not go the extra steps.


I didnt think about DTS. I havent used the YAMB program in a long time, I just remember it done very well for remuxing MP4s.

I use MeGUI for pretty much everything audio/video related anymore.
Ive always just used TsMuxer, also part of MeGUI, to Demux everything. Force of habit I suppose, but MKVextract does work just as well

Another advantage would be, lets say you want to take a video from MKV to MP4 so you can put it on your mobile phone.
But, your phone will not accept the DTS audio for playback.
You can Demux the streams, and then use Megui to recode the audio stream only to AAC. Then remux as a MP4 so its compatible. Still just a couple minute job.

Honestly, even if you do not use it to encode stuff, all the tools right there in one convenient place is very nice

I'm flying by the seat of my pants here since I always use mkv and not mp4 (my excuse anyway).
The mp4muxer in MEGUI>Tools>mp4muxer doesn't accept DTS streams either! I don't even know if the mp4 container standard accepts DTS but Handbrake allows it.
Maybe you need to convert the DTS to AC3 which is a bit of a waste.

Wishmaster's the expert here.

Actually that works also booh only it wont play in windows media player without the correct codecs and also wont give me thumnails aswell.

Thanks Wishmaster might have a look at those too

Not sure mjf. If Im honest I'm not sure what the x264 means. I had a look at both the mkv and the mp4 files and didn't see any mention of x264 in either using Media Info. Where would it be located.

Danny

you need to install icaros to show thumbs for mkv and avi,
|MG| Icaros 2.1.5 Download
i never use wmp or wmc anymore

i use splash player pro, best thing since sliced bread,imo
Splash PRO - The Next Generation Player

worth a trial.