Topic: .mkv and .avi file problems

[6pairsofshoes]

I have some video files of television programs in several formats:  .xvid .avi and .mkv

The first two readily load into Toast Titanium in order to burn to a dvd for replay on a stand alone dvd player (it's about 10 years old, but this works well with our ancient tv). 

Lately I've obtained some .mkv files that seem to have problems.  They launch quicktime the screen goes black and either nothing happens (I get a blank, black screen with video controls imposed on it but no sound or audio) or I get the same blank black screen with only one: video or audio.  While the occasional .mkv file loads and burns fine, lately, most of them have the problem just described.  The .mkv files have better resolution, although they are often very large. 

Does anyone have an opinion about what to do about this (short of buying some new hardware that I can't afford at present)?  Thanks in advance.

p.s. I'm on a mac running Mountain Lion,  using Toast 10.

[dweez]

All I know is that .mkv, like .avi, is just a container and the contained video file could be an any number of encoding formats.

[Discover99]

maybe handbreak can help to record the files to a file that you'd be able to burn later on?

[smokester]

I have heard that Xilisoft dvd creator for mac is as good as ConvertX is for PCs.  You could try that as I swear by ConvertX, especially the latest versions, as I can get 6hrs of video (any format) at 1500kbps onto a single disc which will play flawlessly.

[6pairsofshoes]

Thanks for the suggestions, as I have only previously used avidemux for editing problems.  Toast usually just converts to the degree necessary and I've simply loaded whatever I found on there and burned it.  The ability to compress what I've got on the HD would be great as I have a bunch of movies that are too large to fit onto a dvd and this would make those accessible finally.

[ohcheap1]

Heres my advice. NEVER USE OR DLD ANYTHING IN MKV!!!! It makes NO sense and serves no purpose. It has no advantage what so ever! Sorry, pretty passionate about this plight.

[smokester]

The MKV container has very few limits for the type of video formats in contains, and virtually none for audio - including lossless.

There are a few other benefits that few of us will ever appreciate, but again, it is essentially an open-source project and that can only be good for the end user.. in the end.

[6pairsofshoes]

I do not understand the container formats very well, but most .avi files are much smaller.  Is there a reason for that?  If .avi and Matroska are simply containers, why do the contents usually vary so much even for the same television programs.  a typical one hour show can be 300-500 Mb in .avi but the same show in Matroska is usually three times the size, anywhere from 1.5 to 2 GB.

[smokester]

I do not understand the container formats very well, but most .avi files are much smaller.  Is there a reason for that?  If .avi and Matroska are simply containers, why do the contents usually vary so much even for the same television programs.  a typical one hour show can be 300-500 Mb in .avi but the same show in Matroska is usually three times the size, anywhere from 1.5 to 2 GB.

I find the opposite.  A 42min show is usually about 350mb if it's an AVI in either DivX or Xvid, whereby the same resolution file is about 235mb using matroska.  That's probably because it will contain an MP4 and ogg audio.

[goldshirt*9]

I use the following to transfer to dvd when i must.
Also so easy to add subtitles to ( if you have them.)
http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/
Watch when you install ( if you do) as it gives the option to add tool bars and such.
once installed then its great   

I normally find Blue Ray rips are MKV, excellent quality.

[6pairsofshoes]

Sadly, this is not yet available for Mac.

That leads me to this question:
lately, I've been having many disc writing failures.  I load files (both avi and mkv) into Toast to burn to disc.  Toast encodes them, then I get an error message that the disc has failed to be written.  This is happening with increasing frequency.

Does this sound like a software problem or do you think it's possible that my dvd writer/burner is failing?  The iMac is almost 3 years old and running out of warranty soon.

[goldshirt*9]

O a mac, never mind 

Have to pass then sorry.unless you run windows in virtual machine for mac ??

[brickbatz]

Does this sound like a software problem or do you think it's possible that my dvd writer/burner is failing? 

Can you burn files, like pictures, as data? If so your burner may be OK.

DVDs are a PITA. A media player is the way to go this century. Play any format, any size file, no converting, burning or buying discs.

[6pairsofshoes]

Every disc I burn fails to be written (just got another failure).  The discs appear to have the contents, but won't open or play normally on the dvd player.

It's been more than a week since I've managed a successful burn.  This seems hardware driven.  I'm calling for an appt with the genius bar today.  I doubt it's the media, since I've gone through nearly a hundred of these discs (Memorex dvd-r pack) without any problem before this.  This iMac has been in twice before.  I'm hoping at least they'll replace the cd-rom drive.

[smokester]

Give the burner the once over with some compressed air and see if that helps.