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VLC Player and MKV Container Playback Issues

submitted by GrayDragon to movies 2.7 yearsAug 15, 2022 21:27:27 ago (+5/-0)     (movies)

For whatever reason, I sometimes have issues with MKV files. They stutter and have difficulties seeking (fast seeking being touted as a benefit of MKV containers ... hah!). I have tried fiddling with all the advice on the Internet to fix this, and they simply do not work for me. Note that I do have the most recent version of the VLC player.

What did work for me is a very quick conversion of the MKV to MP4 container using ffmpeg from https://ffmpeg.org/. Put the following in a BAT file (obviously, change the location of the ffmpeg.exe file if necessary):

for /R %%f IN (*.mkv) DO c:\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe -i "%%f" -c copy "%%~nf.mp4"
pause

If you have a TV series with many files, simply copy the BAT file into the directory with all your MKV files and run it. It will automatically convert all MKV to MP4 files. It is supposed to recursively do subdirectories, so be careful not to do this in some root or semi-root folder.

WARNING: I got ffmpeg a long time ago, and so I cannot fully vouch for the ffmpeg.org site. My _README.txt file says the following, but the website referenced no longer exists:

This is a FFmpeg Win64 static build by Kyle Schwarz.
Zeranoe's FFmpeg Builds Home Page: http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/
This build was compiled on: Jul 14 2014, at: 22:09:48


12 comments block


[ - ] v0atmage 3 points 2.7 yearsAug 15, 2022 22:35:57 ago (+3/-0)

TIL ffmpeg works on winblows. Not that I'd ever bother.

[ - ] GrayDragon [op] 0 points 2.7 yearsAug 16, 2022 00:11:46 ago (+0/-0)

My remote job requires Windows 10. I do have my system partitioned with Ubuntu, but I have not used it hardly at all. Once Windows 11 is required (hopefully no time soon), I will truly be using it only for work, gaming and such be damned.

[ - ] Master_Foo 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 16, 2022 00:24:28 ago (+1/-0)

That's like saying:
My remote job requires me to have Monkey Pox!

Stop being a faggot. Install Linux.

[ - ] osomperne 0 points 2.7 yearsAug 16, 2022 17:11:30 ago (+0/-0)

Ffmpeg was always finicky for me

[ - ] lord_nougat 2 points 2.7 yearsAug 15, 2022 22:41:56 ago (+2/-0)

Weird. VLC hasn't failed me yet.

Oh, but you're on windows, so there's that...

[ - ] GoldenAgeWhen 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 15, 2022 23:29:55 ago (+1/-0)

Remuxing to mkv might be worth trying.

[ - ] GrayDragon [op] 0 points 2.7 yearsAug 16, 2022 00:08:17 ago (+0/-0)

A 200 MB file gets converted in about two seconds and takes up about the same space. Maybe I will lose subtitles or something, but meh. Thanks for the idea though anyway.

[ - ] UncleDoug 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 15, 2022 23:27:06 ago (+2/-1)

Stop being a boomer and when VLC is running poor, change over to potplayer.

[ - ] Equalizer 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 16, 2022 02:16:35 ago (+1/-0)

potplayer has timeline-bookmarks you can set for any video and go to them, plus favorite lists it's pretty good.

[ - ] GrayDragon [op] 0 points 2.7 yearsAug 16, 2022 00:05:34 ago (+0/-0)

The Korean player? No thanks. I did use that on my older computer, but what a fucking annoying disaster that was.

[ - ] albatrosv15 0 points 2.7 yearsAug 16, 2022 03:29:35 ago (+0/-0)

Two commands i use often.
youtube-dl yewtube address
ffmpeg -i downloadedfile.mp4 -f mp3 -ab 256000 -vn newfilename.mp3
Not on winblows tho.