[MI55ION]

Hi there,

I've had a brief search here but couldn't find exactly what I need.

What I need to do is convert .m2ts files into MKV so essentially convert and store a 40gb movie into something like 15gb file. But I wish to keep the lossless soundtrack and subtitles.

I've downloaded all sorts of software and looked around on the net but still non the wiser. Could someone please provide a dummies guide with a step by step process on how to do this?

PS Mods, my apologies if this is in the wrong section, wasn't sure where it should go.

Thank you

[talas]

This will do you fine and its free and works a treat..

tsMuxeR - Video software and downloads - VideoHelp.com

[next010]

Well if your compressing then you need to and encoder which will take a long time unless you have a high end PC.

x264 is the best compression available and there are two front ends worth checking out.

Handbrake and Ripbot264 both will read .m2ts files and output x264/MKV files.

Handbrake I'm not sure about if it will save the audio in its original form (it might check the audio tab), Ripbot264 will just use the copy stream function with the MKV container selected.

Ultimately it makes little difference as you can always use mkvmerge to take the original audio and subtitles from the m2ts and merge them into the x264/MKV file. Just drag and drop both files into mkvmerge then untick the items you dont want and generate an mkv from that.

For encoding Blu-ray I suggest sticking with the default constant quality profile and use CQ20-22 in Ripbot264. For Handbrake select high profile and the default setting is RF20 (CQ20).

That should compress most Blu-rays under 15GB, CQ mode prioritizes quality over compression so there is no fixed file size the higher the value the higher the compression. You can always use the classic fixed bit-rate mode for a desired file size if need be.

I do also recommend using MakeMKV to rip the video losslessly to a standalone MKV file instead of m2ts as MKV is easier to work with especially for encoders. The newest build of MakeMKV now also copies the HD audio track it no longer down-mixes to AC3.

[swiftpete]

Originally Posted by talas

This will do you fine and its free and works a treat..

tsMuxeR - Video software and downloads - VideoHelp.com

This won't convert to mkv. It's very useful for converting mkv or m2ts to .ts files so media players play them without stuttering though.

[Stoke192]

You might want to give BD Rebuilder a try as i don't think you can have a .MKV with HD audio (i've never seen one, anyway)......but don't quote me on it though

[next010]

MKV is a universal container it can take any combination of video and audio so yes you can have HD audio in it.

People often get hung up on old standards that the container defines the video and audio but that does not apply to the Matroska (MKV/MKA) container.

[boxrick]

Originally Posted by next010

MKV is a universal container it can take any combination of video and audio so yes you can have HD audio in it.

People often get hung up on old standards that the container defines the video and audio but that does not apply to the Matroska (MKV/MKA) container.

MKV can not hold HD audio.

[939]

Originally Posted by boxrick

MKV can not hold HD audio.

I'm sorry it does, it can contain almost ANY audio format including DTS MA, DTS HD, LPCM and Dolby Lossless.

[Evil Engineer]

Originally Posted by boxrick

MKV can not hold HD audio.

You can easily put HD audio into a MKV file.

Whether you'll be able to play it back or not is another matter entirely.

The Popcorn C200 for example will only bitstream HD Audio for a full blu-ray .iso rip or folder structure (current firmware).

[MI55ION]

Thanks a bunch. I'll try some of suggestions when I have some spare time and report back.

[939]

WDTV Live will play back uncompressed LPCM without any problems.