Welcome to the How To: Play MKVs, Convert MKVs with Subtitles Embedded Guide!

Today I’ll be doing a walkthrough for dealing with these files known as Mastroska Files, the most common File Type being the .mkv .

The Mastroska File has become particularly popular, if not taken over the Anime Release World. In fact, some groups (like Chihiro & SpoonSubs) will only release in MKV because they don’t have to deal with the flaws that the ancient AVI Container has.

- h264 [formally typed as H.264] plays nice with MKV, it doesn’t work properly with AVI

- Much better Audio Codec Support

- Subtitle Tracks can be embedded into the file, turned on and off at will and with ease

- Fansub Groups can provide Attachments, like Fonts, so you have no problem displaying the Subtitles as they should be viewed

- Chapters are intergrated into the MKV Format, which is extremely useful for DVD Rips – you don’t need to lose those useful Chapters even though you rip the DVD, which is impossible with AVI

So obviously the benefits are there to be seen, so how can you make the most of these features?

MKV Files need extra tools to Play, while I can recommend you one codec back, others will most likely disagree and recommend another, but I’ll stick with the Fansubbers Choice Codec Pack: the Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP), which I will use to guide you through getting to play MKVs with no problem.

I’ve also done a guide on something a lot of users get extremely annoyed with – Converting MKVs with Subtitles Embedded.

Just follow these instructions carefully, and you’ll get everything running as you want it!

~ Guide to Playing MKVs & Installing CCCP ~

Step 1) Uninstall any Codec Packs or extra Codecs you’ve installed on your Computer. If you’re unsure, Go to http://www.cccp-project.net/ and download the “Insurgent”, this will tell you if you have a Codec Pack, be sure to remove it.

Step 2) Go to the CCCP Website http://www.cccp-project.net/ and download the Codec Pack. (Click on Windows Vista/XP/2K to start the download.)

Once it’s finished downloading, install it. INSTALL THE INCLUDED MEDIA PLAYER CLASSIC! Zoom Player is also included, it’s good, but pretty useless if you have Media Player Classic. Finally, it’ll ask if you want to Reset all the Settings of the stuff that has been installed, I recommend doing this just incase there are settings from a previous Codec that might cause problems.

I recommend Restarting before doing anything else to ensure everything is installed properly.

Step 3) You’re pretty much done here, you’ll be able to play MKVs best in Media Player Classic, which also has full Subtitle support, so you should use it as your Default Media Player! Also, with the ffdshow Decoders installed (they were installed with CCCP) you can open MKVs in GOOD Conversion Software that use DirectShow for its codecs and are usually fussy with weird file formats.

~ Guide to Converting MKVs with Subtitles Embedded ~

Getting the PROPER Styled Subtitles to embed to your converted video can be a pain. You can take a few routes.

- The Converting Program you use will automatically extract and embed it

- You can use MKVextractGUI to extract the Subtitles and then use the program you use to add it on top

- Take the easy route and use any conversion program that can output the MKVs Video to automatically embed the Subtitles, which is also the fastest

We’ll go through the 3rd route, as its the easiest and fastest.

Make sure you have ffdshow Video Decoder installed and configured appropriately to handle MKV/h264 Video – you WILL have it installed and configured if you have installed the CCCP!

Sony PSP/Apple iPod Users: Use XviD4PSP. I highly recommend this as it just works best if you want something easy to use but also has flexible configuration.

I also use XviD4PSP for converting AVIs, and this is what I will use in this guide, the same steps apply for any Converter you use.

Step 1) Load up the Converting Software you use, and open the MKV File you want to convert.

You’ll see the ffdshow Video Decoder Icon appear in your Tray, if not, click the arrow to expand the tray and show hidden icons and find it.

(click to enlarge)

Step 2) Double click it to open the Settings Window. Tick the Box next to ‘Subtitles’ from the List on the Left, then click on it. Tick “Accept embedded subtitles”, “Accept SSA, ASS and ASS2 subtitles (experimental)” and also “Decode closed captions” if you want. (I do :p) Also make sure you untick “Letterbox” which is set on 4:3. It should look something like this when you’re done:

Step 3) Click Apply, then OK, to save your settings.

Exit the conversion software, reload it and open the file again with the Decoder set up with the new settings. If you have conversion software that previews, you’ll notices that the Subtitles are actually there when looking through it! No need to extract or do any unnecessary things anymore! Hoorah!

Note!: Media Player Classic handles Styled Subtitles better than any other player I’ve used, the subtitles appear as they should be, its a little off using the experimental embedding through the ffdshow Video Decoder, but its unnoticable – so when you want, or if you’re seeing overlapping Subtitles, untick the Subtitles box in the ffdshow Decoder Settings and you’re done, just reset it when you want to convert.

I hope you’ve find these essential tutorials useful, and I hope you recommend it to others who are having trouble with this Next-Gen file format.

Viva la Mastroska!!

~ Senseito

Related posts:

1. CCCP vs. K-Lite : Reference
2. H.264 vs Xvid
3. XviD4PSP 5.033 full public version released

Filed under: Anime, Download, Senseito's Blogging