Bulk Convert Entire Library Folder? (Also, is there any downside to converting everything to .mp4?)

[dapper 14]

Is there a way to use the "Conversion" tool to run on an entire library?

I've been running through my library converting all the ancient series I have from .wmv/.mpg/.avi into .mp4 files so they can direct play on the hardware I service (rokus, apple TVs, etc)

Now that I've just about finished that project up, I'm thinking it might be worth converting EVERYTHING from .mkv files into .mp4 at "Original" quality --- basically just repackaging the HEVC / h264 video streams into .mp4 containers

 

Is there any real downside to doing this?  As far as I can tell it might work less well with subtitles?

[Carlo 4561]

Depends on the info you have in your mkv files.  MP4 doesn't support as many things as MKV does.

If you want to remux but not transcode/convert the media I would do this outside of Emby.
This can be as easy as a batch file and ffmpeg.

I do the opposite.  I keep all h.264 in mp4 files and all my h.265 in mkv.
For me this makes things simple to use external tools based strictly on file extension to know what needs/doesn't need converting.

I've been in the process for a year converting my media to h.265.

 

[dapper 14]

6 minutes ago, cayars said:

Depends on the info you have in your mkv files.  MP4 doesn't support as many things as MKV does.

If you want to remux but not transcode/convert the media I would do this outside of Emby.
This can be as easy as a batch file and ffmpeg.

I do the opposite.  I keep all h.264 in mp4 files and all my h.265 in mkv.
For me this makes things simple to use external tools based strictly on file extension to know what needs/doesn't need converting.

I've been in the process for a year converting my media to h.265.

 

Outside of specialized anime subtitles, what sorts of things does mkv support that mp4 doesn't?

For movies and normal TV shows, I'm perfectly happy with 1 video stream and 1 audio stream without subtitles (in fact, I'd probably be happier if I could cut out all the non-english audio tracks to save the storage space)

All my clients hardware decode 264 and 265 ... it's really just these Apple products that don't play well with .mkv containers....

[Carlo 4561]

MKV has more features, supports higher quality audio, and is open source. The downside of MKV is that it isn't as well supported by certain programs and devices. MP4 will just about be guaranteed to direct play on every device you have and even web browsers (assuming inside streams are) where MKV will likely always have an issue right now direct playing in a browser and possible some older devices.

For the most part they are pretty compatible as they are containers but if you have some exotic subtitle types they may only be supported in mkv.

I'm personally using mp4 for h.264 and mkv for h.265 media just so I can easily tell what's what on my system at a quick glance.  Once I eventually get everything converted I may go back and switch the containers to mp4 but I think about that later. This works great for me in this instance.

If you want to intelligently convert when you have to, remux when you can, remove non English audio/subs (or what ever language) you should look into 

sickbeard_mp4_automator

It requires python setup and you adjust an INI file for the settings you want to use.  It can even create 2 Channel audio and mark it as default (if doesn't exist) to give you media the greatest chance of direct play.  Takes some time to get setup correctly but works well and I've been using it for a few years (my customized version).  You can even normalize sound with it but I only do this to the 2 channel stereo track I create if needed.

[rbjtech 5284]

The 'problem' is your Apple TV not supporting MKV files.  Literally EVERY other devices supports MKV files and this has been THE container format to use for many many years.

The easiest, quickest and probably cheapest way to fix the problem - is to dump the Apple TV and get something which plays formats that the AV community accepted 17 years ago ...

To the best of my knowledge, the most compatible subtitle format for any device (unless it's Apple of course) is an EXTENAL .srt (txt)  file - so the container doesn't really matter in this case.

Lastly - be careful with what you strip out - in the early days I used to strip out the HD Audio tracks as I did not have a Receiver at the time capable of playing these tracks - now I do, and short of re-ripping them, I have lost the option to play them...

Edited November 20, 2020 by rbjtech

[Spaceboy 2573]

2 hours ago, rbjtech said:

The 'problem' is your Apple TV not supporting MKV files.  Literally EVERY other devices supports MKV files and this has been THE container format to use for many many years.

The easiest, quickest and probably cheapest way to fix the problem - is to dump the Apple TV and get something which plays formats that the AV community accepted 17 years ago ...

To the best of my knowledge, the most compatible subtitle format for any device (unless it's Apple of course) is an EXTENAL .srt (txt)  file - so the container doesn't really matter in this case.

Lastly - be careful with what you strip out - in the early days I used to strip out the HD Audio tracks as I did not have a Receiver at the time capable of playing these tracks - now I do, and short of re-ripping them, I have lost the option to play them...

in your rush to hate on apple you seem to have overlooked that mpv has been available as a player on Apple TV for some time now. mkv's direct stream fine

[Carlo 4561]

So then besides browsers is there any Emby client app that can't direct play mkv containers?

[rbjtech 5284]

5 hours ago, Spaceboy said:

in your rush to hate on apple you seem to have overlooked that mpv has been available as a player on Apple TV for some time now. mkv's direct stream fine

I'm not 'hating' on anybody - I'm stating the facts from Apple themselves - they do not natively support MKV... (or WebM for that matter..)

https://www.apple.com/uk/apple-tv-4k/specs/

If you need to use an external 3rd party player - then that is not really 'supported' is it ?

Edited November 20, 2020 by rbjtech

[rbjtech 5284]

 -delete me-

Edited November 20, 2020 by rbjtech