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.
v50.0 [Sep 6, 2020]
New feature: IETF BCP 47 language tags:
- I've written up a [nice FAQ entry] https://gitlab.com/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/-/wikis/Languages-in-Matroska-and-MKVToolNix) about the switch to using IETF BCP 47 language tags, how they interact with legacy language elements, how the programs actually behave and how to disable their use if necessary.
- mkvmerge: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags: mkvmerge will now accept full BCP 47 language tags for all options taking a language. mkvmerge will always write "LanguageIETF" track header elements. If the language tag contains a valid ISO 639-2 language code it will also set the legacy "Language" track header element to the included ISO 639-2 code.
- mkvmerge: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags: if present the "LanguageIETF" track header element will be reported as the `language_ietf` property in JSON identification mode.
- mkvmerge: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags in chapters: mkvmerge will now write "ChapLanguageIETF" elements when creating chapter atoms, either when reading the simple chapter format or when generating chapters due to the `--generate-chapters` command line option.
- mkvmerge: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags in tags: mkvmerge will now write "TagLanguageIETF" elements when creating "simple tag" elements, either when reading tag XML files or when generating them.
- mkvmerge: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags: added an option `--disable-language-ietf` that causes mkvmerge to only write the legacy language elements.
- mkvmerge, mkvpropedit, MKVToolNix GUI's chapter editor: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags in chapters: when reading XML chapter files the programs will now add "ChapLanguageIETF" elements for atoms that don't contain them. The values are derived from existing "ChapterLanguage" elements.
- mkvpropedit: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags: setting/deleting the track language now acts on both the old language element as well as the "LanguageIETF" track header element.
- mkvpropedit: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags: added an option --disable-anguage-ietf` that causes mkvpropedit to apply changes to the `language` track header property only to the legacy language track header element.
- mkvinfo: IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags: added support for the "LanguageIETF" track header element.
- MKVToolNix GUI: multiplexer: added full support for IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags for both track and chapter languages.
- MKVToolNix GUI: chapter: added full support for IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags for chapter languages.
- MKVToolNix GUI: header editor: added full support for IETF BCP 47/RFC 5646 language tags for track header languages. The header editor allows editing of the legacy language elements and the IETF BCP 47 language elements independent of each other.
Other new features and enhancements:
- mkvmerge: the chapter generation mode `when-appending` now also works with the splitting modes `parts:` & `parts-frames:` when using the `…,+…` syntax for appending other sections of the source file to the same destination file.
- MKVToolNix GUI: multiplexer: the file selection dialogs now include the extension `.dtsma` for DTS files.
- mkvmerge: MP4 reader: sped up parsing MP4 DASH files with a lot of segments (`trun` atoms) quite a bit.
- The PCRE2 regular expression library is now used instead of `std::regex` for big performance improvements in all places where regular expressions are used for parsing big chunks of text, e.g. in the subtitle parsers.
- all programs: Windows: all programs now support long file names on Windows 10 release 1604 if they're turned on in the registry.
Bug fixes:
- MKVToolNix GUI: preferences: under certain conditions changing the selected entry in the page tree on the left did not cause the page shown on the right to be updated.
- mkvmerge: splitting text by a fixed string (e.g. `,`) is now done by using `std::string.find()` instead of using a regular-expression-based text splitting function, greatly improving its performance.
- mkvmerge: mkvmerge will now read-buffer file I/O when probing text file formats which increases its speed significantly on Windows.
- mkvmerge: MP4 reader: fixed handling of `tkhd` atoms of version 1.
Build system changes:
- The PCRE2 library (the 8-bit variant) is now required.
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