Converting Mkv's on a Mac

[thariinye]

I know that this question has likely already been asked before, but the solutions I have found have not worked particularly well.

I've got a Mac, I've got some .mkv files with softsubs, and I would like to watch those mkvs in some easier format to play(potentially to play on an ipod, for instance) and still keep those subtitles in. It is fine if they become hardsubs.

Looking around on these forums I have found: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=47693

Which has a post regarding mac's with ViddyUp, however that will only convert the first 2 minutes of video unregistered, which is useless.

I also have both FFmpegX, and VisualHub, but FFmpeg is both confusing and a pain to figure out how to convert with subtitles, and I have no clue how to burn subtitles in VisualHub.

Could someone either point me to an easier program(preferably free) that will easily work this conversion process with subtitles, or give a little step-by-step help on how to work FFmpegX and/or VisualHub to keep subtitles in?

[SeijiSensei]

You could give mencoder a try. It's the encoding partner to the open-sourced mplayer media player and is usually bundled with it. Downloads for the OS X version are here. You'll also need a codec pack from that page.

Warning: mencoder is a command line program with a LOT of different switches and settings. If you've never used anything but programs with graphical user interfaces you'll need to do some on-the-job learning.

[thariinye]

Thank you for the mencoder suggestion. Is there anywhere I can go to get instructions on how to use mencoder? I've got mplayer(with a Gui for simplicity) and thus probably mencoder, but I usually try not to fiddle much with the command line.

[Epyon9283]

Quicktime will do it if you have perian and you paid for quicktime pro.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by thariinye

Thank you for the mencoder suggestion. Is there anywhere I can go to get instructions on how to use mencoder? I've got mplayer(with a Gui for simplicity) and thus probably mencoder, but I usually try not to fiddle much with the command line.

Chapters 13 and 14 of the mplayer documentation provide all the grisly details. Some additional helpful pointers are listed at the bottom of chapter 13.

In general, you're going to be entering commands at the prompt that look like this:

mencoder -ovc some_video_codec -some_video_options -oac some_audio_codec -some_audio_options -vf video_filters_like_resizing -o outputfilename.ext inputfilename.ext

The container is chosen automatically from the extension assigned to "outputfilename.ext," e.g., myrecodedanime.avi would use AVI and myrecodedanime.mkv uses Matroska.

There are a number of mencoder GUI "front-ends" available here, but I didn't see any specifically for OS X. I don't own a Mac so I can't be much help here.

[thariinye]

Thank you again. I have been fiddling around with mencoder and I think I've got it working now.

[SeijiSensei]

Congratulations! If, as you said, you're not that conversant with the command line, getting mencoder to work is a major accomplishment.