MKV to AVI

[danox3]

Can anyone suggest a good freeware program?

[SqualorMTL]

FormatFactory 2.20

[Krieg]

What are you exactly trying to achieve? MKVs and AVIs are only containers, not the "format" of the file.

If you want to convert an MKV to AVI without having to transcode the video, then this might be the best option:

http://xenonmkv.ev98.net/

It is meant for creating files that can be played in the Xbox360 and since the Xbox is a bitch, it will transcode the sound to stereo because the Xbox sucks. But it will not transcode the video, so if you do not mind about losing the 5.1 sound, that would be the fastest option.

If you have to transcode video and sound, you can use Handbrake.

[Kurt]

I've had favorable results with this app, although I haven't really done much with it other than two or three small transcodes.

http://homepage.mac.com/major4/

[danox3]

What are you exactly trying to achieve? MKVs and AVIs are only containers, not the "format" of the file.

If you want to convert an MKV to AVI without having to transcode the video, then this might be the best option:

http://xenonmkv.ev98.net/

It is meant for creating files that can be played in the Xbox360 and since the Xbox is a bitch, it will transcode the sound to stereo because the Xbox sucks. But it will not transcode the video, so if you do not mind about losing the 5.1 sound, that would be the fastest option.

If you have to transcode video and sound, you can use Handbrake.

I have a DVD player that has USB in, and I play movies shows of it. I downloaded this documentary series, turns out it's MKV, and it's not a format that the player will read.

[Krieg]

MKVs from the Internet are normally in HD, either 720p or 1080p, so maybe even after you convert the container (mkv -> avi) it is still possible that the DVD player does not have enough power to play the video, if that happens, you will have to reduce the resolution. And if the video is encoded with a heavy codec (i.e. x264) maybe the DVD player can't play it either, you will have to transcode it to something lighter like XviD.

Handbrake is your friend.