Topic: Convert .MKV files for PlayStation 3

[Xessive]

This is probably only relevant to Que and I, and anyone else who has a PS3 that I am not aware of.

Here's a little guide at BitbUrners.com on how to convert Matroska (.mkv) videos to a PS3-friendly format. Actually it's not really a guide as much as a one-liner "use mkv2vob."

Up to this point I have been using TVersity as a media server which transcodes on the fly, but I can see some occasions in which I'd rather have the file on the PS3 (better performance, less chance of stuttering).

Hope this is handy!

[scottws]

I've only seen a MKV video like once ever.  I always used the OGM container until the MP4 container matured and became well-supported.

Is TVersity any better now?  I used it a few years ago but it was real flaky.

[iPPi]

I only have 1 mkv video, still, good to know I'll be able to watch it now on the PS3.

[Xessive]

I've only seen a MKV video like once ever.  I always used the OGM container until the MP4 container matured and became well-supported.

Is TVersity any better now?  I used it a few years ago but it was real flaky.

I like MKV, it's a pretty decent container. I Love OGM but it's just not used as often, my appreciation for it really stems from my admiration for OGG audio and its OpenSource policy. MP4 is becoming the new standard I think.

I have quite a few MKV files, especially anime since MKV is a pretty good and common subtitle and audio stream container too. I still wish OGM was used more universally though. Anyway, I'm just glad I'll be able to embed subtitles into a video so it shows up on the PS3.

I use GOM player on my PC now and it's pretty easy to switch audio and subtitles directly from the player rather than ffdshow or any codec-specific tools. GOM doesn't need DirectVobSub for subtitles either, it runs its own thing.

Before TVersity I was just using Windows Media Player. It's decent for basic media sharing without installing anything new.

TVersity has gotten much better. The GUI is kinda on the crap side since it's built with OpenLaszlo which is based on Flash. It's passable but not ideal. I generally use the command line and I only resort to the GUI when I need to sort out a lot of commands or transcoding settings.

So far TVersity is the most versatile media server I've come across. The live transcoding feature really puts it head and shoulders above all others. It's in the v1.0 release candidate stage now. Check it out.

[Quemaqua]

I have GOM player and like 3 or 4 others for all my video needs.  No one program seems to work for everything, even when that's what it tries to do.  I pretty rarely deal with MKV, though.  I'm not a huge video whore, and it isn't as common as most others.  Though I've run across it a few times.

Love using my PS3 for video, though.  If you haven't yet tried it, check out PS Media Tunnel.  It's a freeware program that allows you to directly transfer files from your PC to your PS3 over a network.  Works like a charm wirelessly for me.

[TheOtherBelmont]

The only time I run across MKV is for anime fansubbed videos.  I really should try and use my PS3 for video more and get the most out of my HDTV instead of watching stuff on my 17" LCD monitor.  I do use my PS3 for music when people are over and/or a board game is happening in the living room and I generally use Winamp Remote for that since I don't actually have to use any of my PS3 hard drive space and it just streams the files from the PC in my room.

[Cobra951]

I run across MKVs now and then.  I got them to work with Media Player Classic, but WMP needs more extensive surgery to support them, and I haven't bothered.  (They work with VLC too, but that program gets more unstable with every revision.)  So what's the big attraction?  I get picture and sound, just like I get with other formats.  Why do we need another?

[Xessive]

GOM is my primary player but, as Que mentioned, no one program seems to work for everything so I have MPC as my backup. I tried VLC at several stages of its development and while the more recent builds are technically better it's still a crapshoot to deal with. The UI is horrible. I respect a lot of its features butGOM pretty much covers most of them.

Thanks for that link Que, I'm gonna give it a shot.

[scottws]

I run across MKVs now and then.  I got them to work with Media Player Classic, but WMP needs more extensive surgery to support them, and I haven't bothered.  (They work with VLC too, but that program gets more unstable with every revision.)  So what's the big attraction?  I get picture and sound, just like I get with other formats.  Why do we need another?

The MKV (Matroska) and OGM (really just Ogg) containers have both been around for quite awhile now.  They came about because the AVI container was not designed for very long videos or to contain anything other than audio and video, and only a few audio and video formats were supported.  The MOV (Quicktime) and RM (Real Video) containers were around, but it's pretty obvious that they aren't popular.  MKV and OGM support chapters, subtitles, multiple audio and video formats, and very long streams.

I could be wrong, but MKV and OGM seem pretty redundant, so I couldn't tell you why both exist.  It probably has something to do with them both being developed separately and the groups just wanting to do their own thing.  Still, despite AVI's shortcomings, MKV and especially OGM videos are few and far between.

Since then some more container formats have been introduced, such as MP4 and DivX.  DivX is just an extension of AVI to correct its shortcomings.  I see no need for it with MP4, OGM, and MKV out there already because as far as I know it doesn't do anything new.  But I see the need for MP4, because MKV and OGM never really took off as container formats and we needed to get away from AVI.  With the MPEG group defining a modern A/V container standard, it was bound to gain traction.

[iPPi]

MKV is apparently a very popular codec to use for HD video content.  I'm not sure why this is though.

[Xessive]

MKV is apparently a very popular codec to use for HD video content.  I'm not sure why this is though.

I'm not certain but I think MKV has some different compression on it which makes it favourable. I though OGM HD videos were pretty good too.

[scottws]

I doubt this is the reason.  The MKV container has more overhead than the MP4 container.  This means that if there was an MKV file and a MP4 file and they both contained the exact same video file, audio file, chapter file, and subtitle file, the MKV would be larger.  Not ny a lot, though.  OGM has similar overhead compared to MKV, but I can't remember which is larger.

As far as different compression, I would imagine the video in a high def MKV file is either DivX, XviD, or H.264.  I doubt it would be one off the Xiph.org video formats since there are very few tools that support them.  The MP4 container supports these formats too.  The audio is probably AAC or MP3, but there is a small possibility that it could be Ogg Vorbis as well.  MP4 supports both MP3 and AAC.  I'm not sure if you can put Ogg Vorbis in a MP4 container.

It probaly comes down to whatever tools these ripping groups use.  I use MeGUI and it supports MKV and MP4 (I create MP4s).  I used to use AutoGK and it did AVIs.  I also used to use DVD2OGM and it did OGM or MKV.  Maybe they are using something that only supports AVI and MKV or simply prefer MKV to MP4 for some reason.

I'm going to have to do some research.  I'm curious to know if MKV has some sort of advantage over MP4.  I can't imagine what it is as MP4 is a major standard and supports all the major codecs and features I am aware of.

[scottws]

Alright, I've done some preliminary research and it seems that MKV is a very flexible container that can support just about anything.  A big limitation of MP4 that I was reading about is that it doesn't properly support AC3 (Dolby Digital).  On this Wikipedia page, it says MP4 supports AC3 audio, but I've seen other sites contradict that claim.

I guess it's like this:  If you are just going to have a H.264 video stream with a couple AAC audio streams, MP4 is a good choice because the container was designed around those codecs and the MP4 container is well supported.  If you want to do Ogg Vorbis or AC3 audio and/or some oddball video format, then MKV is the way to go.

[Cobra951]

Interesting.  It fills in the blanks anyway.  I'm not attached to AVIs like I am to MP3s (out of organizational convenience).  It wouldn't bother me to see some better A/V format replace AVI in popularity.  I do hope someday people will be happy enough with one of them to let it (and whatever codecs) stay put for long enough to reduce the pain of supporting it across devices.  Right now, a general-purpose computer is a must as a video player, because of the chaotic variations and combinations.

[scottws]

Well if it is any consolation, I would say that MP4 is almost as well supported as AVI.  H.264 isn't ideal for older devices or devices lacking sufficient processing power because it is pretty demanding.  Th less demanding DivX and XviD can be in MP4 as well but it isn't as common to see that in my experience.