Convert MKV to MP4 on a Mac
Well, I’m at it again, after developing the ISOx360 and Wii Tools, I thought about what else might be a useful tool for all of the fellow Mac OS X users out there. One thing that came to mind was that most of the HD content that can be found on the internet is usually in MKV format.
I wont cover the MKV format in-depth, just know that it is a container and not a codec, similar to how an AVI can be encoded as a divx or an xvid, an MKV file can use many different codecs. Most commonly MKV files contain the H.264 / X.264 codec for Video and the DTS / AC3 codec for audio.
The other thing you need to know about MKV files and HD content is that a typical 720P MKV file using an H.264 codec has a max bit-rate of about 9000, currently the AppleTV can only support 720P content with a Video bit-rate of up to 5000. If this limitation didn’t exist we could easily transcode the file to an MP4 / M4V container, but because of the Video limitation, we need to re-encode the file at a lower bit-rate. Don’t worry about quality, I haven’t seen any noticeable decrease in quality when re-encoding.
So, enough with the tech talk, you’re probably wondering, the title of the post is Convert MKV to MP4 on a Mac, so I’ll get on with it. The application that I’ve developed makes this an easy 1 step process. You load the MKV file, choose a save location for the new MP4 file, pick a few options and click convert. When its done, you can copy the MP4 file to your AppleTV / iTunes and enjoy great quality HD content.
Note: My application will also remove subtitles and convert any DTS audio track to AC3 so that you can keep all the surround sound. The thing is, to enjoy the surround sound, you’ll have to use the optical output on your AppleTV and have a receiver that can correctly decode the audio, along with a nice set of surround sound speakers.
You can download a trial of the application below, it will work exactly 10 times before it is rendered useless at which point you will have to purchase it, but don’t worry I kept the price cheap, only $14.95.
Download :
Click to Download the MKV2AppleTV Trial (9.4 MiB, 338 hits)
Purchase:
Click to Purchase an MKV2AppleTV License
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Hi chris ,
I would really be interested in your Mkv to mp4 application, if it could keep the subs in hard encode, Many HD mkv files on teh net now come with several languages and several subtitles to chose so we can appreciate an original version with subs …
Do you think you will relase this option in your program sometime soon ?
I am planning on implementing this in a future version. Hopefully by the end of this month.
lol sweet info man.
You can choose Aunsoft iMedia Converter for Mac.
- Keep original Blu-ray movie quality with the full disc copy function.
- Enrich your NAS with more videos and songs and enjoy with home theatre systems.
- Help you put videos and Blu-ray movies to iPad, iPhone, XboX 360, Zune, Nexus One, Blackberry, etc.
- Convert MKV, Blu-ray video to Final Cut compatible formats for video editing and creation.
- Easily remove AACS(MKBv17), BD+ copy protection, region codecs from Blu-rays.
- Remove CSS, region code (RPC), copy protection from DVDs.
- Load video, DVD, Blu-ray within one program UI and save time for conversion.
http://www.aunsoft.com/imedia-converter-mac/
Hi Chris,
Please help with this app. I’m close app while it encode MKV file, delete MP4 file created by this app, but somewhere on HDD is still placed temp files – 10Gb (looks like extracted h264, ac3 & DTS tracks). Can you provide the path where they placed?
Evgency,
It keeps temp files in Library/Application Support/MKV2AppleTV/Temp
Hope this helps.
Chris
liuyesi54,
Thanks for the info.
Chris
I read on a forum somewhere you may be adding the ability to hard code subtitles into the video soon. When do you expect to release a version with that feature?
Bretton,
I have been pretty busy with day to day life so I have put my development on hold for a short time. I am hoping to start picking it up again soon. Your best bet is to RSS subscribe to the blog because when I release a new version I will be posting here about it.
Chris