In the past I never neededconvert MKV files to MP4. If it could not reproduce an MKV it looked for alternatives and voila. But in a couple of years now the scene has changed remarkably.
The groups (ETTV) that were dedicated to uploading the majority of television series that circulate on the network announced a new editing standard.All video files should be in Matroska format (a.k.a MKV). What about AVI and MP4 then?
In the eyes of the common consumer this may seem irrelevant. However, the standard change from MP4 to MKV implies a big change. Today many devices and televisions still do not play the MKV format correctly (unless we have a good Android TV Box). Luckily, it is a new standard that is becoming increasingly popular, and many televisions with USB already recognize this format without problem.
In the next post we will take a look at The best alternatives to convert MKV files to MP4 on the main platforms:
- Windows
- Online from the browser of any device or computer.
- Android
- Mac
- Linux
Convert MKV files to MP4 with rebox.NET without losing quality
One of the fastest programs to convert MKV files to MP4 is rebox.NET (you can download it by clicking HERE). This is the tool that EETV recommends to us. Its sole function is to swallow MKV format files and convert them into beautiful, readable MP4 at lightning speed. Convert MKV to MP4 without losing quality in no time, since the only thing this program does is change the container of the file, keeping its contents intact.
Conversion process in three steps
- Download and install rebox.NET on your computer.
- Run the app. The first thing you have to do is select the MKV file that you want to convert to MP4 by clicking on the “+”.
- Once selected, you only have to click on the button "PlayWhich is right next to it to convert. As mentioned MKV to MP4 conversion is done without losing video or audio quality in any moment. If the file also contains Subtitle it will keep them anyway.
Click on «Play» to convert the file- Once the file is selected, the program gives you the option to choose where you want the converted video to be saved. It also offers the possibility to choose the audio quality.
As an example I can tell you that a video of about 25 minutes converts it to MP4 in a minute and a half or so. The MKV format, being nothing more than a mere container for audio / video / subtitles, does not require processing all the information in the video file data by data, so the conversion is carried out in a fairly agile way.
If someone asks me what is the best method to convert MKV files to MP4 without losing quality and with subtitles, rebox.NET seems like the best option.
Recommended: If we want a little more scope to modify the bitrate, the framerate, the resolution, the format (MKV / MP4 / AVI / MOV / FLV etc.) take a look at the tutorial on how to convert videos from MKV to AVI. Worth!
How to Convert MKV Videos to MP4 with VLC Player
VLC is an excellent free and open source multimedia player that also happens to be one of the best free tools that we can find to convert MKV videos to MP4.
Therefore, if we are regular users of VLC, we can save ourselves the installation of other specific programs by making use of its integrated converter. The steps to follow to convert a video to MP4 are as follows:
- Open the VLC media player.
- In the top menu go to «Medium -> Convert«.
- Click on the button «Add»And select the MKV file you want to convert.
- If you want to add subtitles to the resulting file, check the «Use a subtitle file»And add the corresponding SRT file.
- When you have everything ready, click on the button «Convert / Save«.
- This will take us to a new window where we must indicate the details of the conversion. Click on the drop-down of the field «Profile»And select the option«Video H.264 + MP3 (MP4)"Or"Video H.265 + MP3 (MP4) ».
- In the countryside "Destiny»Click on the« buttonTo explore»And specify the folder where you want the file to be saved once it is converted.
- Click on «Start»To begin the conversion process.
As you can see, it is a very practical method to convert MKV files to MP4 for free and without complications.
Convert MKV files to MP4 online
If you prefer not to install any application and want to convert an MKV file to MP4 online and for freeWith a simple search in Google you will see that there are several web pages that carry out the conversion online and without costs. Anyway, not all websites are the same:
- OnlineConvert.com: From this website you can convert MKV files to MP4 online, either by adding the file, attaching a link if the video is on the network or you can even select the video from Dropbox or Google Drive. The only (and big) downside is that it only allows you to convert files weighing less than 100 MB. From there, the tool is no longer free and you have to pay about $ 10 and register.
- Convertfiles.com: On this website you can also convert MKV to MP4 online without losing quality, but like the previous website it has a size limit. In this case the limit is 250 MB, so if your file is smaller than that size you have a free way to convert the file totally free.
- Then there are other websites like freencoding.com, which do not put a limit on the size of the file, but in order to make the conversion you have to leave your email. I have done a test, I have left them the email so that they can send me the converted file but I have not heard from it again and they have not sent me the file or anything.
Effective payment alternatives like Leawo Video Converter
A good alternative to online converters or Rebox.NET can be the universal video converters for PC. In this area, I have tried several programs, and the one that has given me the best results in recent times has been the Leawo converter.
Leawo Video Converter accepts any type of input format, and allows you to choose between several output formatsMKV, MP4, Avi or MOV. Besides that, it allows you to adjust the bitrate (from 100Kbps to 3000Kbps) and choose the video and audio codecs. The speed at which it converts the videos depends on the size of the file, but it is generally very good.
The bad news is that being a high quality tool it has a high cost of $ 69.95. Luckily it also has a free trial version. One of the best multimedia converters that we can find on Windows and Mac.
Converting MKV files to MP4 from Android
Android users also have various tools to transform their precious MKV videos into digestible MP4 files. The truth is that if we search Google Play we will find several dedicated apps, the app being the best valued Video Converter by VidSoftLab.
Download QR-Code Video Converter Developer: VidSoftLab Price: Free It is a converter that supports MP4, FLV, MPEG-1,2, MOV, MKV, WMV, AVI, VOB, 3GP, SWF, MP3, AAC, WAV formats and many others. It also has a small editing tool that allows us to cut, join, speed up or slow down the video and some other interesting details.
Convert MKV files to MP4 on Mac
If you have a Mac and you need to convert an MKV file to MP4, you also have several applications at your disposal that will help you make the conversion.
- MacX Free MKV Video Converter: It is a free desktop application that converts MKV files to MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, and various other formats. It allows you to take screenshots of the videos and extract the audio from the reproductions.
- Handbrake: Another program, this time multiplatform, that performs the conversion of various types of formats, including MKV and MP4. It is also free and in this case also open source.
How to Convert MKV Videos to MP4 from Linux
If we work with a team with Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution we have a super simple alternative to convert from MKV to MP4. Best of all, if we already have the VLC player installed, we won't need anything else.
- We open VLC Player and go to the drop-down «Media -> Convert / Save«.
- We select the MKV file and the subtitles in case you have them.
- Now it will load a new window that says "Convert". In the "Destination" section we write the name of the file changing the extension to ".MP4".
- We click on "Start" to start the conversion.
How to Convert MKV Files to MP4 Using Commands
Another alternative to convert MKV to MP4 on Linux is to use the FFMPEG, MENCONDER or WINFF packages. We can install them from our application repository if we don't already have it, and then launch a couple of command lines.
If we use the FFMPEG tool the orders would be the following:
- ffmpeg -i VideoName.mkv -codec copy VideoName.mp4
In this way we will be converting the files keeping the same codec as the original file. If we wanted, we could also change the specific codec of the original video and audio by substituting the second command for this other:
- ffmpeg -i video_name.mkv -vcodec VideoCodecName -acodecAudioCodeName video_name.mp4
Link of interest: The different formats and containers for audio and video in Wikipedia.
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