How to convert mkv to dvd or avi

Question

I have some mkv files, and while Totem plays them perfectly, when i use Devede to burn them to dvd it all gets messed up: the video is ok, but the audio is out of sync.

I did see that Devede does write my dixv avi files correctly to disk.

So i am thinking what the best way could be to convert my mkv for playback on dvd?

I was thinking maybe converting them to avi first? But i did not find a good way for that to happen.

What do you suggest?

Solution 1

Handbrake is the best video converter tool I know.

From the details page:

Supported Sources:

Any DVD-like source: VIDEO_TS folder, DVD image or real DVD (unencrypted--protection >methods including CSS are not supported internally and must be handled externally with >third-party software and libraries), and some .VOB and .TS files Most any multimedia file it can get libavformat to read and libavcodec to decode.

Outputs:

File format: MP4 and MKV Video: MPEG-4, H.264, or Theora Audio: AAC, CoreAudio AAC (OS X Only), MP3, or Vorbis. AC-3 pass-through, DTS pass-thorugh >(MKV only)

You can install it via Software Center or sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk if you use their PPA:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/stebbins/handbrake-snapshots/ubuntu UBUNTU_VERSION main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/stebbins/handbrake-snapshots/ubuntu UBUNTU_VERSION main

Solution 2

There is an option called convert/save in vlc "media" option. I think the shortcut key is ctrl + R. It surely converts to mp4. Will this help: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linuxanswers-discussion-27/discussion-avi-to-dvd-360138/

Solution 3

Yes, I agree Handbrake is nice.

However, if you want a simple and easy app, you can use MobileMediaConvertor. It almost converts anything. Website

Arista Transcoder from software center is good too.

Solution 4

For the old "command line magic" I like using mencoder, which is part of MPlayer. Then I use dvdwizard to make the DVD.

The basic command line to convert anything into a PAL 16:9 dvd vob file

mencoder <name of input file> -vf scale=720:576 -ofps 25 -ovc lavc -vf-pre scale=720:-3,expand=720:::::16/9:16,harddup -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg2video:keyint=15:vrc_buf_size=1835:vrc_maxrate=9800:vbitrate=2500:aspect=16/9:vstrict=0 -of mpeg -mpegopts format=dvd -srate = 48000 -o <name of output file>

Of course I never write all that, I have a script that wraps all that and gives me a few "simple" options for things like 2 pass encoding, frame rate, audio codec, removing video noise, and sharpening the picture...

The script is avi2vob.

To convert a bunch of videos to 24fps 16:9 video, with 2 pass encoding and video sharpening

avi2vob -f -2 -s1 -d video1.avi video2.mkv video3.flc

Solution 5

I think vlc supports converting to avi and i think it plays mkv as well.

In media menu there is an option for convert/save

VLC Transcode

View more solutions

Comments

[Simon]

Related ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=820035

[Admin]

the question asks to convert mkv to avi but the accepted answer is for the other way around

[nathanvda]

As far as I remember, it did the job. If I read it know, it seems misleading indeed :)

[Code.Decode]

An easier method to install the ppa is to enter sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-snapshots at a command line.

[nathanvda]

Unfortunately that doesn't work for me. I can add the repository, in @fluteflute's way, but if i type sudo apt-get install handbrake i get the error E: Couldn't find package handbrake.

[Michael Gundlach]

@nathanvda Did you run sudo apt-get update after adding the repository?

[nathanvda]

That did help, but i got this in return: $ sudo apt-get install handbrake Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Package handbrake is not available, but is referred to by another package. This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or is only available from another source E: Package handbrake has no installation candidate. I am going to try to build from source instead.

[Decio Lira]

maybe you should try downloading through the site the, before venturing to compiling sources.

[Chris]

It does play mkv, I was not aware it was able to convert video.

[TJ L]

@nathanvda: Try going into synaptic and searching for handbrake, it's possible the package name isn't 'handbrake' precisely, it may be 'handbrake-gui' or something along those lines.

[Decio Lira]

@nathanvda I added the PPA and was able to install using handbrake-gtk as package name. Updated the answer with the corrected package name

[nathanvda]

Compiling manually was not that hard (very well described on their site), but i am only able to convert to m4v and i had a problem with the subtitles. I did do a apt-cache search handbrake and found nothing at the time (now it works :).

[nathanvda]

Those look very interesting. I am going to try those out.

[nathanvda]

How can you use vlc to convert video?

[pcworld]

Note that HandBrake doesn't support AVI output anymore: handbrake.fr/news.php?article=10