Necessary programs/applications needed for mini mkv encoding

Now that we have discussed the FAQs about the mini mkv concept, we'll need to know which programs/applications are needed. All applications to be used are opensource, so you can download them all for free.




MeGUI

MeGUI is the most comprehensive GUI based ISO MPEG-4 solution. It suports MPEG-4 ASP (xvid), MPEG-4 AVC (x264), AAC, MP2, MP3, Flac, Vorbis, AC3 audio and various common containers support (MP4, MKV, AVI, M2TS). - from sourceforge

This will be our primary tool, which holds all the necessary encoders and other tools while having a user-friendly interface.



Avisynth

Avisynth is a scripting language and a collection of filters for simple (and not so simple!) non-linear video editing tasks. It frameserves video to applications. - from sourceforge

Just as the description says, it is necessary for encoding video. Just download and install it, and MeGUI will automatically detect and use it. In case you opened MeGUI without installing the Avisynth, you will be prompted that you currently don't have Avisynth installed on your system.



MKVToolNix

MKVToolNix is a set of tools to create, alter and inspect Matroska files under Linux, other Unices and Windows. They do for Matroska what the OGMtools do for the OGM format and then some. - from official site

This set of apps is a must for me, even when I'm not encoding. With this tools, you can know the info inside an mkv video. You can also use it to switch the default tracks on a video when opened.






MKVExtractGUI


Matroska (mkv) track extraction windows GUI tool for work with mkvtoolnix. - from sourceforge

Add this into the same directory as mkvtoolnix. On encoding, its primary purpose for us is for extraction of fonts and font styles attachments on video source.






Chapter Tool - by th3k31


We will use this tool to extract chapters from our video source, and also to make ordered chapters work with videos.


This is an application made by th3k3l from minitheatre to aid in reading and/or making chapters track for videos. This app also supports ordered chapters, which is usable primarily on anime to cut the Opening/Ending themes of all episodes, encode each on a separate file once, and make all the episodes link the segment and share the said OP/ED themes. We'll discuss those later on.


mediafire : mirror 1 | mirror 2






Aegisub


The Aegisub Project is a community-driven effort to write the BSDL licensed cross-platform subtitle editor Aegisub. Composed completely of volunteers passionate about subtitling, as a project it strives to be open, fair and most of all: free. - from aegisub site

I personally prefer using Aegisub than MKVExtractGUI when extracting the softsubs from video source, so I can easily edit some errors on subs, if there should be some. And also, you can use this to make a subtitle file as your own hardsubbed watermark for your own videos, making it shown at a certain time, at multiple times, and using different font styles and also animated karaoke effects.



Having these applications is more than enough to start your own mini mkv encoding project. Of course you can also use other apps by preference if you want, or you can still encode mini mkv using only MeGUI. This applications are just based on my own preference and experience.