House of Pain

MKV Conversion

This is no sure fire way to complete this conversion, but it has been successful for me 5 out of 5 times. It involves converting your .mkv file to a PS3 compatible video file. This resulting file can be played through Tversity, Twonkymedia, Fuppes, Medialink, EyeConnect or Orb with no transcoding involved. The tool of choice for this is a program called MKV2VOB. The latest revision provides you with a GUI now and an added bonus of queuing.

MKV2VOB is 100% freeware so there are no restrictions on how many times you can use it. The designer created everything in a executable so you have nothing to worry about. If you use the software a lot, please consider donating some money. It helps keep the author interested in keeping updates.

Now you can already see that I have selected the location where I save my files. But your version if you are just getting started will have no selection yet.

So how do we use this bad boy? Simple. We have to first select our MKV file we want to convert.

Once you have selected the file you want to convert, the location should now be present in the prompt.

Okay, we now have to select where we want to save the file. Choose your location as to where you want to save it at.

By default, mkv2vob will automatically convert your file to a single VOB. You can now choose other formats such as: mpg, m2ts, and mp4. I will let you choose as to what option you want to convert to, but I recommend either m2ts or mp4 if you want to keep your files as crisp as possible. The other options are self-explanatory.

Okay switch back over the the Add File tab. We are ready to start the conversion. Click on the Add File button.

MKV2VOB should now be transcoding or extracting the contents of the MKV file to the directory you have specified.

After a little while, your file should now be complete and converted. There are some additional tips I would like to throw in there. If you want, you can select to the mkv file to automatically be deleted after a successful conversion. I wouldn’t recommend this as there be some things you want to change pending with some conversion. The main ones I can think of would be dealing with subtitles.

Tips

• Select the language that you want subtitles to be displayed in. English would be my choice.
• Select Load Subtitles from SRT on the Configuration Tab. This will allow MKV2VOB to utilize the SRT to apply subtitles when necessary. It is better than loading them automatically. Unless of course you have a video file in a completely different language.
• Select Boost DTS and AC3 Volume.
• To get the best possible picture Select x264 for your Transcoding Codec.

Footnote: I have been notified that selecting x264 as your Transcoding Codec is not necessary. MPEG2 would work just fine pending you are not wanting to transcode a video file from something like the Xvid codec. But a positive note thus far is that HDDVD MKV files no longer take 2 days to make a playable file on the PS3. I currently am in the process of testing out this new setting. So far the HDDVD MKV files will just extract the video as it would a normal MKV. I am also unsure as to how the encoding of subtitles will be managed with this setting. So be warned !!