Convert all files in folder hierarchy from MKV to MP4 files

[Kayle Maclou]

I would like to convert a few hundred MKV video files, to MP4 video format. I don’t want to convert them one at a time and would prefer to convert them as a batch. These files are stored in a directory hierarchy and once converted, I would like the MP4 file saved to the same directory, as it’s corresponding MKV file.

I am considering writing a Windows batch file, to traverse the directory hierarchy, to find all the MKV files and then call a command-line video converter, to perform the actual conversion.

HOWEVER, before embarking on this “saga,” I was wondering if anyone new of a simpler method or a tool that I could use to perform this batch video file conversion?

[Dieter Rosch]

Check out Handbrake 
https://handbrake.fr/

Sent from my iPad

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[Philip Booysen]

I've used Handbrake on Linux, Windows and MacOS with great success:

https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

https://handbrake.fr/features.php

http://www.howtogeek.com/199993/converting-videos-by-the-batch-with-handbrake/?PageSpeed=noscript

P

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[Gert van den Berg]

If you have a decent verion of Windows 7 (Enterprise / Ultimate), start by installing Subsystem for Unix applications (And the SDK from Microsoft)... It allows you to write decent scripts without dealing with the batch file "language" (which make csh scripts look usable) (ksh / Bourne shell) (You can also install gentoo-prefix on to of Interix (SUA) for a decent environment) (Cygwin is another option, but it runs on top of Win32, rather than as a subsystem on top of the NT kernel, so its performance is likely worse...) (SUA was discontinued somewhere in Win 8.x though...)

Powershell is another option that allows for decent scripting.

I would script ffmpeg / libav for the purpose... (You might be able to copy the existign video / audio stream if the codecs in the MKV is usable in MP4)

Bourne like script: (outfile name setting might be bash-specific)

ffmpeg_options="-acodec copy -vcodec copy" # Change as needed

find /startdir -type d | while read dir; do ( # Start a subshell per directory

    cd "$dir"

    for f in *.mkv; do

       if ! [ -f "$f" ]; then

          continue

       fi

       outfile="${f%mkv}mp4"

       ffmpeg -i $ffmpeg_options "$f" "$outfile" & # The ampersand might want to be avoided if you have a lack of processing power (if transcoding) / disk IO (with codecs set to copy)

    done

    wait # Wait for background jobs started with "&"

); done

[Paul Scott]

Or you could get the native binaries for Windows from https://www.ffmpeg.org/download.html

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[Gert van den Berg]

Doesn't solve the lack of a Bourne like shell...

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[Paul Scott]

I'm not a Windows person (apart from writing the occasional win app and xbox app), but surely powershell could do it? Not a very complex script, and having to install a ton of stuff that can all go wrong, seems like a bad idea to me.

Other alternative is to quickly spin up an Ubuntu VM, and just copy and paste...

-- Paul

[Gert van den Berg]

On Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at 5:50:10 PM UTC+2, Paul Scott wrote:

I'm not a Windows person (apart from writing the occasional win app and xbox app), but surely powershell could do it? Not a very complex script, and having to install a ton of stuff that can all go wrong, seems like a bad idea to me.

Other alternative is to quickly spin up an Ubuntu VM, and just copy and paste...

Powershell should be able to do it... (As I mentoned before) (I can't give a script for it by making it up as I go along though )

I like SUA if I need to use Windows though...

(A batch file should be possible, but it is not an especially friendly language to deal with... (The WSH languages might be a better option))

Gert

[Kobus Van der Walt]

Thanks for the windows info Gert.. running bash scripts in windows! awesume!

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