Tools and other software Media-Buddy - the MKV Buddy successor. (2 Viewers)

[Lehmden]

Hi.
A bugfix release 1.1.0.31 is available online. No new features but lot of bugs fixed. So it's worth the update nevertheless.

The installation file can be found where it is always found (see first post). And now have fun.

 

[doskabouter]

Is it possible to concatenate 2 mkv files with this?
Tried different versions mkvtoolnix and ffmpeg, but all results so far is a mkv which is just slightly longer than the first of the 2 mkv's...
(Mind you, both source mkv's are over 4.5GB)

 

[ge2301]

concatenate

If this word means „merge“ you can at least do that with the tool mkvmerge.

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.

Is it possible to concatenate 2 mkv files with this?

Yes, it is possible. But there are some requirements that the video files needs to fulfill. The files must be compatible, means they must have the same count of tracks with the same codecs and the same codec settings. E.g. if you want to join a 720p file and a 1080p file, this is not possible. You also can't join a h264 video and a h265 video or a video with a AAC 2.0 audio track and a video with a AAC 5.1 audio track, and so on.

The file size only matters if the drive is formatted with FAT32. Then the maximal file size is limited to 4 GB. This often happens with USB sticks or SD cards. On NTFS the file size limit is at a ton of Terrabytes, so it did not matter at all...

The corresponding module in Media-Buddy is called "Append". You need to create a folder with the exact name your resulting video should have, Move the video files to join into this folder. The naming of the files is not important. The order is based on the alphabetic order so they can be called CD1, CD2,... or A,B,C,... or whatever you like. The folder name is important as it is used as name for the resulting video.

If ffmpeg and mkvtoolnix are failing I bet the files are not compatible because both can join compatible videos without issues. And I'm absolutely sure Media-Buddy also will fail in this case. If you need to join such incompatible files you need to recode them by using some sort of video editing software like Adobe Premiere or one of the many cheaper or even free alternatives like OpenShot Video Editor. A fast join without recoding is not possible at all, if the files are not compatible.

 

[ge2301]

I always reencode my media to x265 while keeping the audio tracks before loading to my DB. I'm using Handbrake as a tool and created a fixed encoding setting. Easiest is to convert quicky both files with same enconding setting and then merging them with mkvmerge. I've done that and it worked. But, there might be a slight interuption in audio in case there is a continious voice from file 1 to file 2.

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.
I also use h265 for all my videos. No real alternative at the moment, imho...

In early days, Media-Buddy uses HandbrakeCLI as recoding engine. Sadly Handbrake often removes 1 or 2 pixel from the sides of the video, leading to weird video dimensions like 1916 x 1078 instead of 1920 x 1080 or similar. And the folks on Handbrake needed much more time to implement H265_QSV support...

Aside this the under laying engine (FFMpeg) in Handbrake is exactly the same as in today's Media-Buddy. But Media-Buddy always should keep the exact file dimensions and I always use QuickSync for transcoding video streams. That some of of the reasons why I replaced Handbrake in Media-Buddy with "original" FFMpeg long time ago. FFMpeg has much more complex settings and command line options but it's much more flexible as you can transcode pure audio files too, and you even can generate video stills as used in the custom cover and fanart, Media-Buddy generates. Without the change from HandbrakeCLI to FFMpeg many of the features of Media-Buddy were not possible (e.g. the automatic creation of an episodes thumbnail if it is missing online).

Aside this I never copy the audio tracks as I really hate the massive volume differences between way too many video files. All my videos are normalized (another thing FFMpeg can achieve) so all my "finished" videos have the same volume when playing, wonderful. No more quiet videos where you need to raise the volume to the ceiling, just to be able to understand the dialogues. Then the next video is so loud, it blows the glass out of your windows and make your ears bleed...

Most often I try to keep the original audio codec as long as it is not too "exotic" but normalize is not possible with stream copy so I need to recode the audio track(s) always, even if I can copy the video stream as it already is h265. But transcoding audio only takes some seconds, so this is no big deal...

Even if you use the same settings it is not 100% guaranteed that the resulting videos are "compatible enough" to be joined with MKVMerge. Mostly they are, but "sh...t happens". Especially if you stream-copy the audio streams. Aside this, if you need to recode and after that join the video anyway with different software, why not doing this in one step with e.G. OpenShot. There you also can eliminate the audio gap and even opening and closing titles if the videos are two parts of a splitted episode?

 

[ge2301]

Sadly Handbrake often removes 1 or 2 pixel from the sides of the video, leading to weird video dimensions like 1916 x 1078 instead of 1920 x 1080 or similar

I've never experienced this, I tell handbrake to keep the resolution from the source and this kept then. Expection, I remove any black bars, means the height is reduced accordingly while keeping the width. It's meaningless to encode black bars for 2 hours, if nothing happens in them.

Aside this I never copy the audio tracks as I really hate the massive volume differences between way too many video files

Normalisation is handled by my receiver, though there is hardly a difference of loudness in my files. For me sound quality is more important than the video picture. Most of my videos have DTS-HD and any reencode ruins the audio quality.

 

[doskabouter]

Thanks for all the answers and insights. I indeed meant append.
After more carefull investigation of the properties of the 2 files there are indeed some very small differences, I guess it's enough to cause issues when appending...
I think it's less hassle to find a source with just one file in it. Then I can search for one with subtitles in it (which was the whole starting point of this whole excercise as I don't fully know how to get 2 separate subtitles for a splitted movie)

 

[mpsam]

Thanks for this tool. Just one question. Where can I change the mpaa rating option so that I get a rating other than German?

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.
Sorry, you're right, This setting is missing up to now... Will be included in the next version. As a quick fix you can edit the file "nfo4HTPCv2.Settings.json" with a text editor. It can be found in the Media-Buddy folder. Here ist a section like this:

    "Rating": [
        {
            "SetRating": "FSK 0",
            "ContainsRating": [
                "0",
                "*-0",
                "G",
                "TV-G",
                "TV-Y"
            ]
        },
        {
            "SetRating": "FSK 6",
            "ContainsRating": [
                "6",
                "*-6",
                "PG",
                "TV-Y7",
                "TV-Y7-FV",
                "TV-PG"
            ]
        },
        {
            "SetRating": "FSK 12",
            "ContainsRating": [
                "12",
                "*-12",
                "PG-13"
            ]
        },
        {
            "SetRating": "FSK 16",
            "ContainsRating": [
                "16",
                "*-16",
                "TV-14"
            ]
        },
        {
            "SetRating": "FSK 18",
            "ContainsRating": [
                "18",
                "*-18",
                "NC-17",
                "R",
                "TV-MA"
            ]
        }
    ],

Here you can add your local settings. With "SetRating" the target is set. In "ContainsRating" all "international" ratings matching your local rating can be added... If now something from the "ContainsRating" area is found, it will be replaced with the value specified in "SetRating"...

Aside this you always can change the MPAA rating in "Correction" module manually, if the automatic matching did not fit properly in a special case.

Merry Christmas to all of you