How to watch and Burn .MKV files

[Deep_In_The_Game]

How to watch and Burn .MKV files here is a small TUT

The how too section
Index

01. What is x264?
02. What is a .mkv file?
03. How to play .mkv files on your computer
04. How to burn .mkv files to DVD for dvdplayer
05. How to load internal Subtitles in VLC/MPC
06. External Subtitle Collection

01. What is x264?

x264 is an open-source encoder for the H.264 codec used for High-Definition movies on HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. It has a high compression which is way superior to xvid. That means you get more quality at equal bitrates. A 700MB x264 rip will be sharper and more detailed than a 700MB xvid rip from the same source. x264 is the future in DVDrips!

Additional links for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264

02. What is a .mkv file?

MKV means "matroska video" and it is a "extensible open standard Audio/Video container" (AVI is a container, too!). This file format combines several videostreams, audiostreams, subtitles, chapters and information in only one file. It supports new standards like 6-channel AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) audio or x264 video.

03. How to play .mkv files on your computer

First download the Community Codec Pack which can be found here:

http://www.cccp-project.net/download.php?type=cccp

To watch these files you need just GOM player or VLC media player (no support for 6ch AAC at the moment, plays it as 2ch).

If you want to use Media Player Classic you need some addons: ffdshow decoder + Haali MediaSplitter + AC3filter + VSfilter.

Package with Media Player Classic + addons:

http://rapidshare.com/files/81257800/x264playback_20071202.rar

Check for the settings in Media Player Classic (menu - "View" -> "Options"):





Links to the other players:

http://www.gomplayer.com/main.html 
http://www.neuviewed.com 
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

04. How to burn .mkv files to DVD for dvdplayer

Download the program VSO ConvertXToDVD 2.x! Download with keygen:

http://rapidshare.com/files/81257199/backupaaa.rar

After Installation check for the settings! Menu - "Settings" -> "General".



"Working Folder" -> Folder with resulting dvd structure files!

Go through all tabs. Most of the settings are selfexplaining. An important tab is "TV Format"! Set "Video Standard" for your region. "TV Screen" have to be set to "Automatic".

ConvertXToDVD don't support internal subtitle files within .mkv. You need to download the subtitle for your movie from the external subtitle collection (Check below) and put it in the same folder as the .mkv movie file.

Next step: Adding .mkv files with clicking on the green "+":



Check for the subtitles. There should be the entry "1 Subtitle Stream - 0 internal, 1 external". If you double click the movie you get a video preview window.

You are ready to "Convert". You can burn the files using ConvertXToDVD or Nero 7.7 and "DVD Video" profile.

05. How to load internal Subtitles in VLC/MPC

VLC media player

Start VLC and load your .mkv movie file. Go to menu "Video" -> "Subtitles Track" and select your subtitle.



Media Player Classic

If you want to watch movies with subtitles with MPC you need VSfilter (aka DirectVobSub) addon! This is included in my x264 playback package (-> 3.). If it is installed load your movie in MPC. Then right click into the movie and go to "Navigate" -> "Subtitle Language" and select your subtitle.



06. External Subtitle Collection

Subtitles are included in the .mkv container files of the movies. But there are some players which do not support this. Only use this link if you have problems with the subtitles!

Subtitle collection:

http://www.opensubtitles.org/en/search/sublanguageid-all/iduser-281737

Hope this guide has been helpful and enables you to watch the HD DVD Rips found on this forum.

Thanks go to battlebot For The Tutorial

[[]D[][]V[][]D]

does this preserve the quality of the original .mkv file?

[Deep_In_The_Game]

does this preserve the quality of the original .mkv file?

Naw Whenever You Compress Something You Always Lose Some Quality....