Importing MVK files into Premiere Pro (all versions)

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
March 21, 2013
4 replies
67822 views

Dear folks,

I see the old topic was locked (probably because it got WAY out of hand, OT and flameworthy) and I have no interest in adding fuel to the fire but I do want to bring light and a solution that I've been using for a while with great success (I thought I'd share here because I was asked by someone on another forum who directed me to the old thread here when I answered them).

(And while I do NOT want to inflame anyone, let's just say that even us retired pros run into a need to edit MKV files from time to time and while I don't think Adobe needs to add this import format I do think people should know how to do it). In my own case our animated television series is produced in an electronic distribution format (we're bypassing media entirely) and MKV works best for the folks who play our stuff. But rather than have to re-render our older stuff when we want to do a bottle show, or other such reuse (like "Previously on..."), I find it's just easier to take the completed shows (in MKV format) and use them in PP (6.0 at the moment but this works in all versions).

The answer is actually IN that old thread, albeit fairly buried -- you just need to demux the MKV container and then remux again in a TS one. There are two pretty great freeware programs that can do this -- MKVExtract (for the demuxing) and tsMuxer (for the muxing). They are virus and adware free, have been around for years, and can be gotten from reliable places (avoid the disreputable ones, though -- they should be ZIP not EXE files).

MKVExtract is part of the larger MKVToolset and you'll need the whole thing to get the GUI part of it (it's actually MKVExtractGUI that runs the executable). MKVMerge is also part of that toolset in case you want to create MKV files, as we do, from almost anything. tsMuxer can create MT2S files as tell as TS, and it can also demux a variety of formats (not MKV though, or you could use it alone).

Because we're just muxing and remuxing there is no additional codec loss -- naturally that's the biggest consideration when trying to re-edit stuff like this. For the highest quality, of course, you always want to remain with original source when you can (although I actually like some of the artifacts that get introduced sometimes -- I often think that maybe the biggest issue with going completely digital is the lack of, well, old timeyness. Then again, I'm an old guy myself).

This topic has been closed for replies.

BahnBahn

Participant

Really wished you added some tips on how to use MKVExtract

M

Mike D KelleyAuthor

Participating Frequently

I appreciate the thanks -- I almost didn't post because I didn't want to get embroiled in any controversy. But I thought the information was worth having here and I couldn't find a clean reference anywhere else on the net.

I might note that the only trouble I've run into with doing this (demuxing MKV files and remuxing again into a TS container) was that *sometimes* the framerate is incorrectly reported. In that case you need to set the rate in tsMuxer on the video stream. This may be a fault of the MKV format, or perhaps the file wasn't encoded properly in the first place -- I dunno, but the symptom is easy to see (the audio is out of sync on the muxed TS file) and easy to correct.

Like the AVI container, a lot of garbage can be contained in an MKV file -- I'm lucky in that I produce the files myself for the most part so I know what's in them, but in talking with others and the limited experience I have with other folks' MKV files I've seen all kinds of stuff contained (which is another reason I don't think Adobe should provide native support -- it might be a mess trying to deal with that). Still, the approach I outlined should work nearly every time.

the_wine_snob

Inspiring

Mike,

I'm glad that you posted, as I just got handed my first MKV file, and was heading off to find a converter for it.

The downward spirals to those other files usually came from demands that Adobe include native, two-way support for MKV. Then, the next 20 replies would either poo-poo the merits of the format, or tout its attributes. Few ever discussed how to handle the material, outside of saying that it was Adobe's responsibility.

Glad you resisted the urge to just head down the hall with your knowledge, and decided to share it. Just as with most of those old threads, I have no feeling, one way, or the other, as I had never seen MKV, or been asked to output to it. Suddenly, I found myself having to deal with one, and was headed to those old threads, in hope that amidst the clutter, I would find what I thought I needed.

Appreciated,

Hunt

M

Mike D KelleyAuthor

Participating Frequently

Ah sorry, ok, here's what it is.

the MOV file uses PCM instead of AC3, so my Dune media streamer plays no audio.

If I have 10 videos of say a birthday party, i keep the 10, and also may make a montage of the interesting bits for relatives etc.

so i want to keep the originals + do some editing.

I don't want two copies of each.

so i have to mux them to something and mkv using ffmpeg means it is automatic, the wife, kids, me never have to do anything.

however mkv is not supported in premier.

So I can:

1. use an editing tool that support mkv

2. keep two copies of every file

3. mux the files to something other than mkv that works on all normal devices + premier.

my question here is what is the answer to number 3 ;-)

Okay, in that case (#3) I'd go to MP4 files, which are more or less universal and which Premiere can edit.

The problem, of course, is that it's a codec (as opposed to straight muxing) so you have two issues -- it takes longer to do (might be a non-issue if you are running it as an automatic background process) but, more importantly, you are then editing already lossy compressed files, which is generally a no-no if you want to maintain the best quality.

In your shoes (which I would remind you need some polishing) I'd bite the bullet and do the editing up front on the files that were important to me while they were in their RAW format. IOW, I'd keep two copies of the important files, and for those home movies you don't care all that much about I'd compress. But important is a relative term, and so is quality. One man's eyecandy is another man's poison, to mix metaphors, and many people happily edit compressed files, recompress them, and edit them again without noticing much if any of a difference. Pretty obviously you're not creating "Vertigo" or some other masterpiece here, so the ultimate resolution may not be that big a deal (particularly if Uncle Charly is only viewing your stuff on his 36" tube RCA).

Premiere (and particularly Pro) is designed for professionals and serious hobbyists to whom the quality is very, very important (which is why the $$$). That's primarily why it doesn't support MKV although there are times I wish it did (which is why I started this thread). For my own home movies I don't really even bother editing much (truth be told, I'm not sure I'll ever live long enough to watch them again :>).