Set of tools for creating, altering and inspecting the Matroska file format. Split , merge, extract and get information about MKV video files. It also supports video codecs and subtitle formats.
Matroska (MKV) files have become the de facto standard for compact HD video files. To create MKV files from various sources or to modify the structure of existing Matroska files, MKVtoolnix offers an open-source solution to inspect, modify, or produce new MKV files with the audio, video, and subtitle streams of your choice.
Actually, MKVtoolnix is not one tool but a toolbox that integrates various Matroska-related open-source utilities. Mkvinfo provides you with a list of all the elements contained in a Matroska file, its tracks, and even the codecs used. Mkvmerge joins the streams of various media files in a single MKV file, while Mkvextract performs the opposite operation – it takes out a selected stream out of the container and save it as a standalone file. Mkvpropedit is used to modify the properties of an MKV file without extracting its contents or build a new one. With this utility, you can change the segment information elements (such as the title) and the track headers (the default track, the language code, etc.).
All of these functions are wrapped up in a convenient interface called mkvtoolnix-gui. This GUI turns all those more or less cryptic program names into more accessible options and tags, such as Multiplexer (to create new MKV files), Info tool, Header editor, or Chapter editor. Useful as it is, the interface itself (and some of the language used in it) is not the most straightforward video tool you may come across. Designed by experts, it does seem to be designed also for experts or, at least, for those who really know what a MKV file is and how it works internally. If you want to make the most of the various tools included in MKVtoolnix, you will need to do your homework first.
One great thing about this tool that all users will surely appreciate is its batch-oriented working flow. The last two tags in the program’s main interface, namely Job queue and Job output, will let you design all your multiplexing or stream extraction one at a time and launch them all in one single operation. Given that some of these operations may take some time to finish (especially if you use large BD video files as source), this batch processing approach is certainly a great add-on to this suite of tools.
Do not mistake this program with the average video conversion and compression tool – MKVtoolnix gathers a set of professional and high-quality MKV-related utilities aimed at video connoisseurs looking for an uncompressed HD video compact container for their beloved movies and other video files.
v5.3 [Feb 9, 2012]
- doc: enhancement: Updates for option file usage and supported
subtitle formats.
- mkvmerge: new feature: mkvmerge will parse and apply the audio
encoder delay in MP4 files that contain said information in the
format that iTunes writes it. Fix for bug 715.
- mkvmerge: new feature: Implemented support for treating several
input files as if they they had been concatenated binarily into a
single big input file. Snytax is "mkvmerge -o out.mkv ( in1.ts
in2.ts in3.ts )". This feature has already been present since
version 5.1.0 but never been mentioned in the ChangeLog. Support
for this feature in mmg is still missing.
- mkvmerge: bug fix: Blocks with "BlockAdditions" will no longer
be muxed as "SimpleBlock" elements discarding the additions but
instead as "BlockGroup" elements. This applies to e.g. WAVPACK4
tracks with correction files as the correction data is stored in
"BlockAdditions". Fix for bug 713.
- mkvmerge: bug fix: Fixed some more issues with (E)AC3 being
misdtected as AVC elementary streams.
- mmg: bug fix: The header editor was sometimes creating two
instances of an element if an element was added to the second or
one of the later tracks. Fix for bug 711.
- mkvpropedit, mmg: bug fix: Trying to modify a file located in a
path mounted with GVFS SFTP will no longer crash the
programs. Instead an error message is output if an error
occurs. Fix for bug 710.
- mkvmerge: bug fix: Fixed integer underflows in the read caching
code resulting in invalid memory access. Happened in broken or
incomplete files only. Fix for bug 709.
- mkvmerge: bug fix: Appending AVI, Matroska or MPEG program
stream files with DTS audio tracks will not result in a warning
that the appended DTS tracks might not be compatible. Fix for bug
705.
- mkvextract: bug fix for the "timecodes_v2" mode: mkvextract will
write one more timecode than there are frames in the file. The
last timecode written will be the the sum of the last frame's
timecode and duration with the "last frame" being the one with the
highest timecode. Fix for bug 691.
- mkvmerge: bug fix: Fixed writing into paths on which a drive is
mounted on Windows. Fix for bug 701.
- mkvmerge: enhancement: Identification output for Matroska files:
Added the track number header field as "number" to the verbose
identification mode.
- mkvmerge: enhancement: Identification output for Matroska files:
Added a field "content_encoding_algorithms" that contains a
comma-separated list of encoding algorithm IDs used for that
track. For example, "content_encoding_algorithms:3" would indicate
that header removal compression is used.
- mkvmerge: enhancement: Identification output for Matroska files:
Added several fields to mkvmerge's verbose identification mode for
tracks: UID, CodecID, length and content (as a hex dump) of the
codec private data.
Total Video Converter is a powerful video and audio conversion tool
