So it seems a lot of animes come in .mkv files. The only program that will properly play the files on my computer is GOM TV Player. Even VLC won't work (that is, subtitles don't show up). The thing is, I want to convert these to .mp4, so they will play on my iPod. I can do that, but for some reason the subtitles decide they don't wanna go along for the conversion.

Anyone know how to convert .mkv video files into other file types while retaining the subtitles?

Thanks in advance,

micronesia

United States24637 Posts

May 05 2008 02:51 GMT

Er, mkv files give you the option to use soft subs (as opposed to hard subs which are subtitles that are physically printed onto the frames). The easiest way to play them is to get a codec pack such as CCCP. I'm assuming you are having trouble converting this because you are treating the subtitles as hard subs.

clazziquai

6685 Posts

May 05 2008 02:57 GMT

google can tell you ;]

Chef

10810 Posts

May 05 2008 02:59 GMT

I can play them on my computer (although randomly at the end of a scene it'll be very obvious subs are missing and you won't know the last line a person said), I want to know how to make these 'soft subs' into manly 'hard subs' for use on my iPod.

I don't know how I could not have the codec and still be able to play them on GOM, so I don't think that could be it.

Chef

10810 Posts

May 05 2008 02:59 GMT

google can tell you ;]

I googled for an hour, jerkoff

SpiritoftheTunA

United States20903 Posts

May 05 2008 03:05 GMT

mkv isn't a codec, it's a container format like avi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska

Chef

10810 Posts

May 05 2008 03:11 GMT

Is there a way to extract the soft subs into a separate file? Because the program I use, "MediaCoder" has an option to select a subtitle file, which presumably would hardcode it into the converted file.

EDIT: Well I found a program to split the file, but it outputs a 20 mb large .ASS file (which seems way too big). When I try to play it with media coder and the .ASS file, it doesn't work, so presumably it's crap

MoNKeYSpanKeR

United States2869 Posts

May 05 2008 03:33 GMT

Just get the GOM player, it plays all media types i have ever tried, including matroska, which i beleive is mkv.

Superiorwolf

United States5509 Posts

May 05 2008 03:36 GMT

On May 05 2008 12:33 MoNKeYSpanKeR wrote:
Just get the GOM player, it plays all media types i have ever tried, including matroska, which i beleive is mkv.

Yeah but he wants to convert them to .mp4 for use on his iPod.

Night[Mare

Mexico4793 Posts

May 05 2008 03:45 GMT

#10

use total video converter, it might help

Chef

10810 Posts

May 05 2008 04:28 GMT

#11

After downloading several random programs, following random unclear advice I found on google, I've decided it's impossible. Oh sure, all those anime videos uploaded to flash sites everywhere probably were originally MKV files, so they must have been converted somehow, but since there's no guides on the internet, it probably involves witchcraft, some underground cult, or something really inconvenient like using a video camera to record it live (which I could actually do with Camtasia but... no).

Ohhh well

EDIT:

[00:37] <friend> http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVExtractGUI (to demux the mkv)

I actually tried all that unencoding and reencoding stuff. I got as far as having a separate .ASS file, a .mp3 file, and some weird stuff about chapters, but when I tried to mix them together, none of the programs understood the .ASS file. Thanks much though, for asking your friend.

Select the file itself for the subtitle source, the rest is easy to figure out.

That did not work at all T.T

micronesia

United States24637 Posts

May 05 2008 04:37 GMT

#12

[00:34] <me> if you have a mkv with softsubs and you want to convert it to h264 with hard subs, what is the easiest way?
[00:35] <friend> convert is not the word to use
[00:35] <friend> what format is the video in?
[00:35] <friend> you'd have to demux the video, audio and subs (easy), then reencode
[00:36] <friend> with h264, there won't be too much quality loss
[00:36] <friend> but always is when you encode an encode. like copying a copy (analog)!
[00:36] <friend> best way is to obtain the raw they used
[00:36] <friend> make sure they didn't edit the video so everything syncs up
[00:36] <friend> and just encode it

[00:37] <friend> http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVExtractGUI (to demux the mkv)

Sigrun

United States1654 Posts

May 05 2008 05:14 GMT

#13

I use Media Player Classic.

useLess

United States4781 Posts

May 05 2008 05:59 GMT

#14

For .mkv files, use Zoom Player (and/or Combined Community Codec Pack)
I have all Futurama episodes and theyre .mkv. They play choppy as hell on VLC, but it runs smooth on Zoom

GranDim

Canada1214 Posts

May 05 2008 06:16 GMT

#15

http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/
Select the file itself for the subtitle source, the rest is easy to figure out.

jimminy_kriket

Canada5497 Posts

May 05 2008 08:01 GMT

#16

On May 05 2008 13:28 PsycHOTemplar wrote:

One post away from hitting the big 1000.
Use it well.

Shauni

4077 Posts

May 05 2008 16:59 GMT

#17

On May 05 2008 12:33 MoNKeYSpanKeR wrote:
Just get the GOM player, it plays all media types i have ever tried, including matroska, which i beleive is mkv.

On May 05 2008 14:14 Sigrun wrote:
I use Media Player Classic.

On May 05 2008 14:59 useLess wrote:
For .mkv files, use Zoom Player (and/or Combined Community Codec Pack)
I have all Futurama episodes and theyre .mkv. They play choppy as hell on VLC, but it runs smooth on Zoom

Seriously. Guys. Read the thread. Those replies pisses me off so much.

I also have the same problem, I've tried like 5 converting programs, it works to convert and play up with any player in mp4 format but when I try to transfer them to my ipod it says unknown file format.

I'll try that demux tool and see if it works, it feels a bit difficult to get all the subs and stuff right.

cyronc

218 Posts

May 05 2008 18:26 GMT

#18

just use AVIDEMUX, its a nice freeware tool to edit your audio/video/subtitle/whatever container files/streams

only thing i dont know is which subtitle formats(f.e. VOBSUB, IDX, or whatever else) your iPOD supports, so you should inform yourself which subtitle formats are displayable at iPOD, then you can convert them by some freeware subtitle tools

for all further questions, and the programs mentioned above i HIGHLY RECOMMEND http://www.doom9.org/
because thats THE SITE for video editing/multiplexing

useLess

United States4781 Posts

May 05 2008 18:50 GMT

#19

edit: nm

Chef

10810 Posts

May 15 2008 01:38 GMT

#20

I'm back for more :O

I'm at the point where I know how to demux the file. What results is:

One unplayable 147 MB h264 file.

One playable 21.4 MB .ogg file.

And one .ass file.

I've tried using MediaCoder to mux the files together, but it crashes immediately after I tell it to. Does anyone have a step by step guide about how to mux these three file types together? :o Is it possible that my h264 file is just corrupted, and that's why it isn't working?

Thanks,

PS: I'm pretty sure the iPod won't play any kind of soft sub file, so I need to hard code this mother -.