[MEncoder-users] I want to mux my x264 file to mkv...

[Fredrik Eriksson]

Hello.

I made a x264 video file with mencoder using this command (only writing 
the third and last pass):

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$ mencoder-cvs -dvd-device dvd.iso -oac faac -ovc x264 -vf 
pullup,softskip,crop=704:480:8:0,hqdn3d=6:4:2 -ofps 24000/1001 -channels 
5 -faacopts br=192:tns:cutoff=0 -x264encopts 
subq=6:frameref=6:me=3:4x4mv:bframes=3:b_adapt:b_pyramid:qcomp=0.7:keyint=300:8x8dct:pass=3:bitrate=1300 
dvd://1 -chapter 1-1 -o file.avi

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the file looks good (although the audio appears to be a bit out of 
sync). However, I want to mux this into a matroska file (mainly to be 
able to add subtitles to it), but mkvmerge refuses:

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$ mkvmerge -o file.mkv --atracks 1 --vtracks 0 file.avi
'file.avi': Using the AVI demultiplexer. Opening file. This may take 
some time depending on the file's size.
At the moment mkvmerge does not support converting from VfW-mode 
AVC/h.264 tracks to native Matroska-mode AVC/h.264 tracks. You can, 
however, first import the video track into a MP4 file with e.g. 'MP4Box' 
(use Google). Then you can use mkvmerge and put the video into a 
Matroska file.
If you really know what you are doing then you can force mkvmerge to put 
this AVC/h.264 track into a Matroska file even in VfW mode if you add 
'--engage allow_avc_in_vfw_mode' to the command line. You can do that in 
mmg with the 'Add command line options' menu entry in the 'Muxing' menu.

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using '--engage allow_avc_in_vfw_mode' creates a broken file, so I try 
MP4Box:

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$ MP4Box -add file.avi file.mp4
Video format h264 not supported - recompress the file first
 Error: Feature Not SupportedError importing file.avi: Feature Not Supported

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I also tried to get mencoder to put this in a mp4 file with -of lavf and 
-lavfopts format=mp4, but this creates a broken file as well; mplayer 
crashes after a few seconds when I play it, and mkvmerge says it doesn't 
recognize the codec.
 So, am I doing something wrong or is it just impossible to mux x264 
files created by mencoder to matroska?

Thank you.