Demuxing & Remuxing m2ts to m4v for iTunes, AppleTV -- WITHOUT re-enconding!

[ac3320]

Anyway to do this?

I have used Subler and MP4Tools to take mkv files and convert them to m4v ("pass thru") settings enabled. Subler crashes with over 5 "saves" going on, and MP4Tools sometimes stalls at the demuxing stage.

I can't seem to find a way to take the elementary streams in a m2ts file and remux them into the iTunes/ATV friendly m4v container.

Any ideas?

I really don't want to re-encode with Handbrake, since that takes days.

 

[spacepower7]

IIRC

M2TS stands for mpeg-2 transport stream which is not a native format of the AppleTV. Without jail breaking your AppleTV, you'll have to convert the files.

You might be able to mux into a .mov file rather than m4v, that could trick the AppleTV into playing the files? Not sure but worth a try since it could save hours of re encoding.

 

[ac3320]

IIRC

M2TS stands for mpeg-2 transport stream which is not a native format of the AppleTV. Without jail breaking your AppleTV, you'll have to convert the files.

You might be able to mux into a .mov file rather than m4v, that could trick the AppleTV into playing the files? Not sure but worth a try since it could save hours of re encoding.

Thanks i know what m2ts stands for. Oh the mov thing, .mov is fine with me, since Subler can easily make an m4v outa that (at least i'm pretty sure it can do that).

That said, you didn't provide a suggested application for which to accomplish said de/remuxing, however :/ any ideas?

 

[fpnc]

...Without jail breaking your AppleTV, you'll have to convert the files...

That's all you really need to know. I don't believe that iOS supports native MPEG-2 decode so all video content for the Apple TV has to be encoded in MPEG-4/H.264. Thus, without a re-encode there is no way to view m2ts source material on an un-hacked Apple TV.

 

[peterjcat]

Though M2TS as a container can hold a wide range of audio/video codecs (eg Blu-ray and broadcast TV can use it for H.264 and VC1 as well as actual MPEG-2) so it will depend partly on what's inside these mysterious M2TS files and where they came from.

 

[fpnc]

Though M2TS as a container can hold a wide range of audio/video codecs (eg Blu-ray and broadcast TV can use it for H.264 and VC1 as well as actual MPEG-2) so it will depend partly on what's inside these mysterious M2TS files and where they came from.

Yes, you appear to be correct. If the m2ts stream contains MPEG-4/H.264 then it might be possible to convert the files with a simple remux of the encoded data. In fact, according to Wikipedia AVCHD devices rely upon a version of the m2ts format that must use MPEG-4/H.264 compression. Blu-ray can use either MPEG-2, H.264, or VC-1.

My error, sorry.

It occurs to me, however, that if the OP is trying to use content taken directly from a Blu-ray disc then the source data rate might be incompatible with the Apple TV (even for H.264). So, in that case the question/issue might become moot.

 

[Nermal]

It's definitely possible to go from m2ts to mov. I use mkvtoolnix to go to mkv, then I open that in QuickTime Pro (with Perian) and save to mov. I'm not aware of a one-step process, but I'll gladly listen if anyone knows of one

 

[ac3320]

It's definitely possible to go from m2ts to mov. I use mkvtoolnix to go to mkv, then I open that in QuickTime Pro (with Perian) and save to mov. I'm not aware of a one-step process, but I'll gladly listen if anyone knows of one

Isn't that a Linux application?

 

[spacepower7]

Mkvtoolnix is Linux/unix ie ported to Mac OSX.

Try using the free mediaInfo app to find the details of your files. Get it from sourceforge or MacUpdate.

There are several apps on the Mac that use mkvtoolnix, such as MKVtools and mp4tools written by the same developer who is sometimes on this forum. Try those out and get back to us.

 

[ac3320]

Mkvtoolnix is Linux/unix ie ported to Mac OSX.

Try using the free mediaInfo app to find the details of your files. Get it from sourceforge or MacUpdate.

There are several apps on the Mac that use mkvtoolnix, such as MKVtools and mp4tools written by the same developer who is sometimes on this forum. Try those out and get back to us.

Well i can tell you that MKVtools and MP4tools both "try" to convert m2ts, but I checked the log and it says something about the file not being in the proper format or something like that. So if mktoolnix is the basis of those programs, i don't know if it will help : /

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And mediainfo is only available in a CLI for Intel processors. And who knows if it works on Lion. Checked the soundstage site or whatever the name of it was that you suggested. I am doing a Handbrake convert now. About 12 hours for a 4 GB movie. That's the balls man.

Looks like i'll be burning up my MacBook's CPU over the next few days!

 

[spacepower7]

There is a mediainfo GUI on macupdate.com website. It will tell you almost everything about your video files.

 

[Nermal]

Well i can tell you that MKVtools and MP4tools both "try" to convert m2ts, but I checked the log and it says something about the file not being in the proper format or something like that. So if mktoolnix is the basis of those programs, i don't know if it will help : /

Honestly, I haven't tried. Since I'm in Windows anyway (for AnyDVD), I demux the m2ts from there. I'd be surprised if mkvtoolnix can't open m2ts itself, but I'll try to remember to test it when I get home.