.mkv vs .mp4

[kristian221]

Ok, so final question on ripping my DVDs to my computer! I decided to use MakeMKV to get the source files from the disc and then Handbrake to encode them. Does this sound like a good system?

So I have two formats I can output in, .mkv and .mp4, and I don't know which to choose.

 

[cullam3n]

.mp4 is more widely use and accepted (ps3, USB ports on TV, etc), but they are both containers so you put whatever you want in them (although I read somewhere that mp4 can only support MPEG-4). Typically if you are just dealing with a single movie with one soundtrack and maybe one set of subtitles you can use .mp4, but if you have extras like multiple soundtracks (DTS-HD and DTS and AC3 for example) and any sort of metadata like chapters you will need to use .mkv.

 

[Mr.Guvernment]

what do you plan to play them on?

also mkv i think has better compression / quality.

 

[kristian221]

Well that is the thing, my entire library is going to be this file type so it could be a wide range of devices. Right now I am just using them with my Plex media server but who knows what the future may hold. Plex is supported on many devices though.

Question, since .mkv is just a container (technically so is .mp4 but it only takes one video format) could I later convert all my .mkv's losslesly into another format? Or is that impossible?

 

[Mr.Guvernment]

if your using MakeMKV it is already compressing it no?, so it wont actually be lossless.

 

[cullam3n]

if your using MakeMKV it is already compressing it no?, so it wont actually be lossless.

MakeMKV doesn't compress anything. You use MakeMKV to rip the blu-ray first to bypass any copy protection, and then you use Handbrake to compress the mkv that MakeMKV outputted.

 

[kristian221]

As far as I know it is lossless. It doesn't even use my cpu, and the output file is roughly the same size as the DVD file. I would love to just keep those files but my hard drive would fill up quickly.

 

[cullam3n]

As far as I know it is lossless. It doesn't even use my cpu, and the output file is roughly the same size as the DVD file. I would love to just keep those files but my hard drive would fill up quickly.

MakeMKV is solely a transcoder, not a compression tool. That's why the sizes are the same as it is on disc. For comparison, the Avatar blu-ray ripped with MakeMKV comes out to about 54GB, the same size as what's on disc.

From the website

MakeMKV is a format converter, otherwise called "transcoder". It converts the video clips from proprietary (and usually encrypted) disc into a set of MKV files, preserving most information but not changing it in any way. The MKV format can store multiple video/audio tracks with all meta-information and preserve chapters.

Compress your DVDs and Blu-rays down with a program like Handbrake (which also transcodes but not against copyrighted discs, unlike MakeMKV) to a more manageable size.

 

[kristian221]

Compress your DVDs and Blu-rays down with a program like Handbrake (which also transcodes but not against copyrighted discs, unlike MakeMKV) to a more manageable size.

That is what I have been trying to do for days, but it seems I am more picky about the quality than I realized. So many settings to choose from!

RF 18 vs RF 15...

x264 Tuner...

Audio Codec...

Slower vs Very Slow...

These are the things that keep me up at night wondering.

 

[habbajabba]

I prefer mkv myself though the older version of handbrake 0.9.3 could also compress to avi. Avi being the most compatible with all devices. The one thing an mp4 connot contain is source DTS audio which on occasion I prefer over other audio formats.
The one thing I would suggest is to keep whatever source aspect original file used and to specify NO cropping at all. I like smaller file sizes just not a smaller picture. If one were to consistently reduce the aspect one may as well do away with HD/Bluray purchases to begin with. As for quality, handbrake is excellent without worrying about the settings too much. 2pass encoding generally achieves the best but takes twice as long. But for archival purposes, why the hell not? Pretty much anything you do in handbrake to give it 'more' quality will take longer. Default settings are excellent, aside from the auto crop stuff and aspect changes of course.

Attached is handbrake 0.9.3.0. Outputs to mp4, m4v, avi, mkv, and ogm

 

[c627627]

Here's what the authors said about why AVI was removed from versions after HandBrake 0.9.3:

AVI version in HandBrake 0.9.3 "did not support modern container features like chapters, muxed-in subtitles, variable framerate video, or out of order frame display. Furthermore, HandBrake's AVI muxer was vanilla AVI 1.0 that doesn't even support large files. The code has not been actively maintained since 2005. Keeping it in the library while implementing new features means a very convoluted data pipeline, full of conditionals that make the code more difficult to read and maintain, and make output harder to predict. As such, it is now gone. It is not coming back, and good riddance..."

 

[habbajabba]

I prefer mkv's over anything but my divx player doesn't play them. It likes avi's. I haven't encoded to avi in a very long time. Adding multiple AND selectable subs to an avi file is possible but a pita. Avidemux can do one sub harcoded with ease. Still if needed I know that v093 will take a dvd and make a perfectly working 720*480/576 avi file with no problem at all. Anything larger than that is simply easier with either mp4 or mkv. Larger aspect avi files are not a problem either, but like you stated life goes on. Shoots, I'm still using a 4:3 box tv (which therefore does not allow anything above 720x480 to begin with). Not that I care. I have an old dalite projection screen that seems to have never been used. Next step is a dlp. To hell with recodes. I'll let someone else do that and simply make a copy while I'm out buying bigger hd's-lol.

 

[c627627]

What does avi in 0.9.3 have to do with 720x480 DVD mpg?

Do later versions not read avi? I thought it was only about not being able to export to avi?

 

[habbajabba]

A std video IS a dvd. Either 720/480 or 720/576. Anything bigger in aspect is not a dvd but is then considered hidef in whatever way. Most of the world does not own a hidef flatscreen tv nor a hidef flatscreen monitor, believe it or not.
Besides what's the point in reencoding an avi file? It's not like you can go out and rent them. My winmo 6.5 phone played em as well as ANY divx player made. That is the ONLY reason I still like them. Avi's prevent me from sitting in front of my pc to watch a movie.

 

[c627627]

The point is converting a computer file into a DVD disc to be placed in a standard DVD player.

Can versions after 0.9.3 convert avi to mpeg2 DVD or not?
In other words, is the removal of avi only a removal of option to Save To avi? Or did they remove Save From avi to DVD

 

[habbajabba]

Handbrake cannot convert to dvd nor could it ever. It is for file conversion to mp4/mkv or video_ts folder to mp4/mkv. V 0.9.3.0 is the same except it has more output options as stated in prior post. i am shocked c6-shocked-lol

 

[c627627]

When I say DVD, I meant MPEG2, it can't covert to MPEG2 (mpg from which a DVD can easily be made)?

 

[habbajabba]

Nope. It only has two output formats since >v0.9.3.0. Mp4 and mkv.