Which format would YOU prefer?

[slavik]

I am an encoder for DigiNeko. I have had a discussion with the head banana (Hideki) and we have agreed to post a poll on which format we should use for our encodes.

Two main formats are MKV and AVI.

AVI:
- Xvid video
- MP3 audio
- hard coded subtitles in video

MKV:
- Xvid video
- OGG Vorbis audio
- hard/soft coded subtitles (most likely, credits and karaoke will be hard coded while dialog and everything else will be soft coded)

[nick64]

AVIs are my preferred format, though i can play OGMs and MKVs pretty well, AVIs are more convenient for me.

[Desolate]

I prefer OGG because of the option of layers. The customization of subtitles as well as different language options

[Tidus_Yuna]

avi because they are easy to play and dont need to much tweaks

[slavik]

did I meantion that by using MKV, I can make better quality encodes?

[cyress8]

MKV i think the k-lite mega codec pack can play it i hope so

[Hideki-Motosuwa]

By the way peeps, if you don't think your votes dont count.....they do. Depending on the votes will determine what format we will use. So please be honest with your votes and answers and such and be open-minded about this, ok? Thank you so much.

[slavik]

yah ... basically "Vote MKV" ...

if you can play OGM, all you need is the Matroska Lite pack and you can play the MKV ... VobSub is needed for the softsubs (if we have any)

Another thing, if subtitles are coded into the video, that screws up the codec and usually produces artifacts around the text (any AVI has this) ...

[srokus]

MKV
mostly because i prefer softsubs :)
there's only one thing i don't like about encodes in ogg/mkv - when dubbed audio is on the 1st place :/

[slavik]

Don't worry, I ALWAYS make sure that Japanese audio and english subtitles are first place

besides, we don't make dubs :P

[SaintXaero]

i like the MKV format just because of the multiple layering that people spoke about. you could tranlsate into multiple languages and realease it in one file instead of 5. it saves alot of time and frustration

[superknarf]

MKV, the layers can be very handy when you don't want subtitles for a change. And if the encodes are better that's a really big plus imo.

The downside is that it's a little bit more trouble playing. (don't know if it plays on very old pc's either) But still, I like MKV.:)

[rinchan]

MKV sobt subbed, so I can extract the srt file and translate it to portuguese (my original language) :P

{}s

Rin

[Desolate]

GOOD. cant stand american voices over japanese characters..... plus the quality diffrence is quite nice between the 2.

[Babel]

MKV all the way - more flexible - and best of all -SOFT SUBTITLES yay!!!!

[aejiras]

without a doubt MKV, you get more options - different audio layers and subtitles, while you miss out on most of the good stuff with avis.

[Lisa Hayes]

i was about to say OGG, but remembered about the soft subs...
~

[Garven]

Although MKV would be neat, i'm just one of those lazy people that doesn't really care too much. So i'll just vote for the standard that i've gotten used to: AVI. ...that's about the only reason, heh. All the advantages of MKV are appealing... it's just that, well, blah. =) Of course, if things started to sway to MKV's, it's not like i'll refuse to watch.

Wow, reading what I just typed... i'm really good at conveying thoughts onto paper. Not. Oh well, go AVI! *cheers*

[oink37]

.mkv is nice ^^

(although any container is fine for me as long as you don't use a WMV codec with it :p)

[Shiki]

mkv since it has all that extra,

[eMKa]

AVI is the best.

[pawlee]

mkv! I've heard lots of problems and inefficiencies about Matroska, but i've never had any problems viewing the streams. I agree with oink, anything but wmv, haha! Also, the soft subtitles are great, you get the raw and the fansub in one release :)


i was about to say OGG, but remembered about the soft subs...
I think you can have subtitle text streams separate in .ogm's. I have an OGG of Angel's Egg with soft subs :confused:

[Mai Tokiha]

Mkv because of the bonus features over avi. Never had any problems with them.

[slavik]

MKV is a lot more efficient than AVI in terms of overhead ...

1subtitle file in ASS format = 100KB at MOST(in unicode)!!! (24min english only = 30KB)

Video - using soft subtitles raises a lot more quality than could fit into the space taken up by the soft subs

Audio - MKV allow OGG Vorbis audio, which for better quality than MP3, gives about 2MB smaller size (which go towards video)

MKV container - has less overhead (information besides video/audio/subs) than AVI.

MKV is the wave of the future ... AVI support is good, because it is very old and was the best of it's time ... MKV is the best NOW!

this is like broadband vs. dial-up ... dal-up is old and cheap, but broadband is better.


mkv! I've heard lots of problems and inefficiencies about Matroska, but i've never had any problems viewing the streams. I agree with oink, anything but wmv, haha! Also, the soft subtitles are great, you get the raw and the fansub in one release :)


I think you can have subtitle text streams separate in .ogm's. I have an OGG of Angel's Egg with soft subs :confused:

[slavik]

AVI is the best.

it is if you live in the 90's ... in the 21st century, we use things that are better ... MKV!

[Veniogenesis]

I strongly prefer MKV due to its flexibility. Soft subs are a gift for AMV makers. It gives
us a chance to be less frustrated than we already are. haha XD

Though I doubt AVIs are to die out in the near future due to its standardized and
stable format, I would like to see more subbers use the MKV format instead.

But one thing to take into account is that some people actually like the special colors
and pretty styles that softsubs can't do. >_<;

Cheers,
Venio

[oppai_suki]

i prefer .avi format but please, not in xvid. i can't convert those in xvid formats. so it dissapoints me because i can't watch it in a much bigger screen aside from pc.

[oink37]

[QUOTE=Veniogenesis]

[Vorador]

MKV of course. Soft subs are more near to a original dvd, and dual audio is a great option. Also, MKV allows more quality most of the times :)

[slavik]

I strongly prefer MKV due to its flexibility. Soft subs are a gift for AMV makers. It gives
us a chance to be less frustrated than we already are. haha XD

Though I doubt AVIs are to die out in the near future due to its standardized and
stable format, I would like to see more subbers use the MKV format instead.

But one thing to take into account is that some people actually like the special colors
and pretty styles that softsubs can't do. >_<;

Cheers,
Venio

That's because VobSub sucks and VSFilter is good ...

[TifaLockheart]

Mkv is the best. But its subtitle is not good-looking.

[oink37]

subtitles good look depends on the player.
(not in the case of image subs from dvd, of course)

[nick64]

Using Windows Media Player makes the subs on MKV all better :) (well for me anyways)

[slavik]

get a filter that renders them properly ...


Mkv is the best. But its subtitle is not good-looking.

[kirby0503]

Well i like avi because it takes less place on my pc and i like ogg and mkv because they have duel audio but it takes alot of places and sometimes i can't watch it thought

[Noir]

Avi or Mkv they are easy to use

[sinjiku]

i like .ogm ^^ becuase so many things u can do like the subtitles can be increased or decreased also the lang. of the anime to english or jap. depending on the ogm i think lol not really sure lol but thats why i like it ... -_-ll ^^

[ExtraEye]

im all for quality
and i also know OGG Vorbis is way better than mp3 in these terms.
i think people should start getting used to the mkv format and people who make avis just so people don't complain make it's breakthrough take longer time

[Vector]

I don't know the difference between .mkv and .ogg, but they have quite few advantages... option to remove or show the subtitles (which mean you could get cleaner vids too, while avi there's no way to remove the subs), dual audio and 5.1 / more surrounds sound.
while for video, they both use the same format as divx/xvid .avi the only disadvantages is you need to install another codec besides xvid/divx codec (or you could use videolan player instead and not install anything :D).

[TengumanEXE]

If MKVs are better, I'd go learn how to play them, and so I support the better selection.

[Raven18940]

Avi or Mkv they are easy to use
Same here, it doesn't really matter to me.

[zwei7]

Mkv all the way
I am able key-frame jump in media player classic (ogm doesn't allow this)
Avi's can key-frame jump too, but sometimes I want to change the subs.
Sometimes, people makes typos in the soft subs so I can fix them for archival purposes. I can't fix typos in hard subs. I do this cause I don't want to download (Anime title version 2).avi just to have a few typos fixed.

[zrdb]

I think avi is the only way to go because I play most of downloads on a dvx capable dvd player and if they are Ogg Vorbis or Matroska I have to demux the audio and convert it to mp3 and reconvert it to avi. It's just to many extra steps to go through.

[darklogos]

I got to go Avi because its guranteed to play. There is no tweaking involved.

[rukawack]

definately AVI. cause i almost any player can read them

[blackhat]

I would have liked to see the VOB format from DVDs used as a container. It has all the capabilities of the newer non-standard containers (.ogm and .mkv), with the advantage of having a mature and tested toolset available for working with it. It would have made the transition to mpeg4-capable DVD players easier as well, requiring only a video codec upgrade to the existing firmware. Unfortunately, it looks like this has little chance of happening any time soon, so Matroska appears to be the best compromise.

As for video codec, DivX is much better than Xvid. Not only is the quality better, but Xvid does all sorts of non-standard, incompatible shite to the video stream. Xvid only exists due to a few people's naive ideology anyway.

I'm (a little) more flexible on audio codecs. MP3 has been around forever, and everything plays it, so it makes a good baseline choice. I've also seen good results on a few distros that used AAC for the audio, which is another (newer) standard audio format. It also supports multi-channel sound, which is a good thing. The OGG people, however, just annoy me. They felt the need to re-invent the wheel with a non-standard codec that gets marginal improvements at best over MP3. On most equipment you can't tell the difference at all.

Softsubs are good, and make using the Matroska container worthwhile. But please, don't use strange fonts or colors. I know people tend to think "Ooh, that looks cool!", but that's not the point of subtitles. Look at the subtitles on a good DVD movie: they're in a plain, sans-serif font in white or yellow with a thin black outline. It sounds silly, but a fair bit of research went into that. They're optimized to be readable, quickly, on a wide range of screen sizes at varying distances. Even so, against some backgrounds even this style is hard to read. One of the, in my opinion, underutilized features of softsubs is that the color can be changed from scene to scene, allowing the subber an extra means of increasing their readability against difficult backgrounds.

[chief977]

I like .AVI because i can put a ton of em on a dvd-r then then watch them on my dvd player.

.MKV is good because of the quality and soft subs.

So I'm neutral. I'll take what I can get. As long as it's not .ASF..

[breaker0]

AVI. I realize all the advantages MKV has but my every encounter with it has been awful.

[Hserenity]

I like MKV becasue of the better quality, but the problem is that everytime I play a dual audio file MKV on WMP, I hear both english and japanese at the same time. It seems that WMP doesn't com with the audio stream switcher. Any idea how to install it on?

[Leons]

AVI.... cause MKVs tend to have more problems in my experience...

AVI for an "Almost"-Fool-Proof enjoyment!!!

[Sn4keBite]

I usually prefer avi, but ogm and mkv is good because you can have multiple audio streams, (japanese/english :p) and you can disable the subtitles. but hardcoded subtitles usually look better

[12095]

i both prefer ogm and mkv because i don't like hardsubs. they mess up the image with artefacts, and i also prefer to make the subs look like like i want them to which only works for softsubs. and of course u can have dual audio :p which most poeple don't really need (including me) due to the bad quality of english/german dubs, but it's nice to have them ^^
--> *votes for mkv*

btw with the video lan client (vlc) player, u don't need any codecs and stuff for playing mkv or ogm

[painsama]

MKV is good since you can have both raw anime + subtitle.

[zrdb]

As before, avi and nothing else because I hate converting say, Ogg Vorbis audio to mp3 and then remuxing it with the video to make ordinary avi.

[Hserenity]

What is the best player for mkv files?

[blackhat]

What is the best player for mkv files?
I use Media Player Classic (http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/) for everything. While you're there, get VSFilter for displaying softsubs. That combination works the best out of everything I've tried.

[Redempteur]

i like hard codedded subs .. it's good i have nothing against ogm files as long as there are made in a good way . but i love mkv ..the only thing that annoy me ius the fact sometimes subtitles have probl

[chompy]

MKV and OGG

or anything where my subs are nice and soft :p

[Fileburner]

I dislike OGM there is many errors on it I preffer MKV first and Avi secend

[srea]

Any format that has more quality ^^
By the way , avi's easy to open (using windows media player)

[blackhat]

I've been looking at the H.264 (aka MPEG4 part 10, aka MPEG4 AVC) stuff lately, since A4E is moving to using it as their primary encoding format. The codec itself is basically a higher quality, higher compression MPEG4 version, which is a good thing even if it is somewhat more processor intensive. While looking into the standard and what software is available I ran across another part of the MPEG4 standard: the .mp4 container format. I have to say, I'm rather impressed with it. In a nutshell, it has all the advantages of .mkv (e.g. multiple audio tracks, text-based subs, etc.), with the added incentive of being a bona-fide standard. Meaning, of course, that it won't change every few months and break compatibility. It also offers some capabilities that .mkv doesn't, like chapters, menus, and a "user data area" (for DVD covers images, or whatever).

The drawback is that there isn't much software yet that will deal with it. FFDshow has a decoder for the H.264 video stream and Media Player Classic will handle .mp4 files, but I don't know how complete the implemetations are. Nero has a complete package, but it's only free if you already own Nero Ultra Edition 6 or higher. Hopefully in the near future we'll be seeing more development of free tools for working with .mp4, as well as some more optimized codecs.

I think .mp4 is well worth taking a look at if you're an encoder or release group.

[zrdb]

What is the best player for mkv files?
Try the VLC media player (I'm using version 8.1 beta)-if you can't play it with VLC, chances are it can't be played

[Fileburner]

I think xvid.org will integrate h.264 in xvid codec v2.0
about reading .mkv files any directshow player can read them Windows Media Player can do you just need to drag the file on , but you must have matroska directshow filter it's easy to find

[blackhat]

I think xvid.org will integrate h.264 in xvid codec v2.0
I'll be interested to see how well they do, if this is indeed in the works. I've been seeing some flap about it over on the DivX forums too, but nothing substantial.

[ANIMEPRO]

I prefer BOTH formats :D

[Mishotaki]

mkv... because.... i'm not even sure myself! well let's say that you're sure that the subs won't be an ugly color or a bizarre font..... like a few of my anime i got... (very few) with very small subs.. and one with very big letters.. that hides a part of the action...

[Huhhh]

hm... i think avi is better....at least simpler

[zrdb]

AVI forever-it's simpler to convert to mpeg2.

[Shybal Noom]

lol
avi is best!!! wanna know why? ill tell you anyways... its because it keeps it simple... you usually dont need a special codec or anything... with ogm, the files are huge, or at least as big as they come.
lol
i guess... thats all i have to say...

-2 lol's in this post-

[Hserenity]

I like MKV becasue of the better quality, but the problem is that everytime I play a dual audio file MKV on WMP, I hear both english and japanese at the same time. It seems that WMP doesn't com with the audio stream switcher. Any idea how to install it on?

[UnforgivenQC]

I prefer AVI. Can't read MKV files with my DivX player :p

[aznboysee]

avi is the best ... mkv is a pain in the Azz cuzz when i go to anyones house to watch it i have to get the codec..

[HontouNiShiranai]

mkv can be played with media player classic without installing additional codec. And you don't need to "install" mpc because it's a plain exe file. All you have to do is download it then run it. I don't see how it can be simpler.

Besides, mkv files freeze less than avi files.

[HontouNiShiranai]

I like MKV becasue of the better quality, but the problem is that everytime I play a dual audio file MKV on WMP, I hear both english and japanese at the same time. It seems that WMP doesn't com with the audio stream switcher. Any idea how to install it on?

Did you try to install Morgan Stream Switcher?

[ShadowVlican]

MKV... more versatile than other containers and still being developed (unlike the other two...)

[SZKitsune]

Personally I hate the mkv format. It is cumbersome to install and always seems to mess up something else. Usually when I see a show is in mkv, I just walk the other way in dissapointment.

[shlj]

two of all
but i like avi most

[seorang]

I prefer OGM/MKVs.

[hubbathegrate]

[srea]

If I just think about it again , may be MKV

[SagaGX]

i prefer avi ,
I hate english dub
and mkv most of the times is a pain in the ass

[shlj]

i think AVI is the best.

[ashaman75]

MKV SoftSub (with SSA or ASS script), XviD video + AAC audio

[hhteam]

MKV is the best !
Video : Divx or Xvid
Audio : AAC
Subtitle : SSA

[Yukizora]

I believe avi would be a lot less trouble for everyone, including yourselves.

[SonicBlow]

avi is less trouble but mkv is much more better for advanced user and someone who wanted to improve their japanesse.

[steelviper]

avi is easier to deal with.

I would have gone for mkv though if it is somewhat more easier to use. I spent ages to get subtitles to show up... LOL.. Its clearly a superior format though.

[varver]

Currently MKV has a bit better quality I think.
Other than that, I also like format c: (poor joke...laugh...ha!)

[Denamic]

AVI is the past. MKV and OGG is the future, or at least a step towards it. I like customizing my environment. Errors and such is mostly obsolete and/or bad software.
Use MPC (Media Player Classic (NOT Windows media player)) or VLC (VideoLAN Client) like we nerds do.


Currently MKV has a bit better quality I think.
Quality depends on the codec and the compression the maker of the file used, not the file format.

[ChrisHC]

to be honest i think .avi is the better choice because .avi can be played on stand alone players.

btw does anyone know of a sap with .mkv support?

[HontouNiShiranai]

btw does anyone know of a sap with .mkv support?
Media Player Classic can do it.

[Denamic]

VideoLAN Client and Media Player Classic is the best there is. I prefer MPC though.

[wildclaw]

My favorite is ogm, but mkv is also better than avi.

The avi container format is just lacking in several areas.

[Demon-Eyes-Kyo]

MKV is nice, but I still prefer AVI since I can play them on my ps2...

[raderack]

I still prefer the tradiotional avi encoded using xvid :)
mkv isnt all people that known about it..so always cause some confusion.

[ShadowVlican]

for those of you who don't know how to playback MKV files, use this codec pack (combined effort of many anime fansub groups)

http://www.kickassanime.org/wiki/index.php?title=CCCP

[neogeo]

I watch it in what ever format it released. but mvk if I had the choice

[bah]

no preference really, as long as codecs are relatively easy to find.

[shiwei]

i prefer avi format, if there is mkv, it would be great, as long the sub is good as well as the quality.. ^^

[Czarna Wdowa]

I'm used to avi or mpg format. I have codecs for them :P

[888888]

o i use avi

[Roys]

Zettai .AVI

Being the lazy person i always am, i can like just double click and watch.
MKV is like.. i've to use MPC player to play it and lazy to configure =X

[Ginn]

I prefer mkv with softsub, but if hardsub, it should be better with avi. And because fansubs groups don't want to have it be softsubbed, avi is my best choice right now. :D.

[nahl]

Hi there,

I basically do not care about the container, as long as the content is good. :)

I like softsub, so it's true .mkv is better because it allow you to get all at once. But I have seen some .avi with a second file which allow softsub (and works well)

I encountered some issue reading .mkv in the past. :confused: So I am a bit relunctant to vote for it. Right now I still prefer watching hardsubbed movies. But if .mkv is to be selected, i'll just make sure to have it working on my system.

Concerning codecs, I don't mind any. What matter the most is the compression / quality ratio .
I personally like vorbis for the audio, but AAC would do it too.
Regarding video, I suppose DivX is best (How is divX6?).

I've heard about a compression method called H.264 which is said to offer very high quality and very strong compression. It seems newly implemented (at least in quicktime player) and I don't know if that would make sense to use it now. But looking at the stat, it might be the future. What do you think about it?

Nahl
__________________
Computers are like Air-Conditionners, They stop functionning as soon as you open Windows. ;)

[xspyd3rx]

hmm.. i prefer avi personally .. maybe i prefer soft subs more .. although i can play ogm and mkv files .. but if i get the chance to choose between a file which 2 different format i will go for avi for sure.. personal views though.. no hard feelings.. cheers

[dohboy]

I personally vote for H264 encoded video w/ ogg / flac in mkv container
best quality. Since with h264 you can get DVD quality @ half the size, using the same audio stream. using it to encode anime should yield some pretty good results. However people might need a better PC to view it

[deadcoat]

I prefer avi simply cause I do not want install more codecs or other programs just to watch an anime.

[Gin03]

I voted for AVI because it is easier, just need to double click.

[Hufflegeli]

AVI, since as previously said, it's the easiest and you don't have to change your settings and so on, just 2x click and voila!

[Amano Malord]

I voted MKV. It is a much more superior file video handler and with the Combined Community Codec Pack being supported by numerous groups you have no excuse to find anime that are put together in this format. Let avi die for fooks sake :D

[cwyow]

I don't really care what format that is used. :D
Though, I prefer avi because I can easily reencode into rm/rmvb. :p

[TheAwakener]

I prefer avi...

There

[koayty]

Well, you can still use soft sub with avi to prevent quality loss due to subs but they become 2 files per video instead of 1
*Voted for avi, I can convert videos with the subs still on it, not sure whether mkv/ogm can convert into other format with subs still attached, but avi is still more convenient*

[misantti]

MKV. Softsubs look a lot sharper.

And with CCCP no one can complain how they are "complex, hard to configure, etc..."

I just can't praise CCCP enough. Every codec, program and filter I'll need but no crappy extras which will mess up my computer.

[Tornberry]

MKV:
- Xvid video
- OGG Vorbis audio
- hard/soft coded subtitles (most likely, credits and karaoke will be hard coded while dialog and everything else will be soft coded)

If that's the reason you're going to use .MKV (Matroska Video), then you may as well use .OGM (Ogg Vorbis Media) which is a more compatible container and yields the same results.

[masterd787]

I like AVI more but MKV is good to.

[liquidmetal]

I prefer .mkv and with CCCP you dont really need to worry about what formats you cant play. mkv and ogm are pretty similar though ogm is dying as I havent seen it used recently so .mkv for me.

[MrWiseman]

Matroska Video (MKV) all the way. It's a pretty advanced, Unicode format people developed exactly for this, to outdo Audio Video Interlaced (AVI) and meet the requirements of the anime community. Therefore it should be the format of choice.

As for codecs, XviD is a fine free video codec with a wide support; OGG Audio is free and powerful, and has less legal shiz behind, so I'd use this; and subtitles should be soft coded which is the most versatile thing. You can turn them off to take screenshots, or in case you understand the spoken language, and you can add several translations, or translate something without looking for RAWs. In fact, you might even be able to translate a RAW without recompressing it, which provides higher quality video.

[Tornberry]

I prefer .mkv and with CCCP you dont really need to worry about what formats you cant play. mkv and ogm are pretty similar though ogm is dying as I havent seen it used recently so .mkv for me.


Oh, man. I avoid those codec packs like the plague. I've talked with quiet a few people who installed the CCCP package and have gotten issues, until I told them to remove it, install the proper codecs seperately, and then use Media Player Classic to decode ANY video they wish.

[liquidmetal]

For me it was the opposite (advised on it) though I guess its different for everyone. Though definately MPC :D

[darkrazor]

please use mkv... with the codec pack called CCCP, it plays easily and the video quality is better :D

[Denamic]

Again, the quality isn't about the file format. It's about the codec and compression. Still MKV is a really good format. It may not be what everybody will use in the future, but it is a good stepping stone. I think built in soft subs still need more work. A lot more work. Softsubs so far are ugly.
Softsubs also help in keeping the quality up, since you don't need to re-encode the movie file with the subs, and can keep the quality of the RAW.

[Kidder]

i usually prefer .avi coz then i don't have to mess around with subtitle settings when i want to watch an anime but then again .mkv has the option of multiple audio channels and subtitle channels. If i remember correctly .mkv tends to be better quality for less hard disk space which is always a plus.

[MrWiseman]

i usually prefer .avi coz then i don't have to mess around with subtitle settings when i want to watch an anime but then again .mkv has the option of multiple audio channels and subtitle channels. If i remember correctly .mkv tends to be better quality for less hard disk space which is always a plus.Matroska Video has nothing to do with quality, it's a frame format. In this regard, an AVI file can be just as good; however, it usually isn't because it needs to be reencoded to add the subtitles. And what if you hate the subtitle font or size? What if you want to sub it in your own language too? This is why Matroska is superior to AVI.

[Arubikal]

I personaly prefer the .avi format. It might have some quality loss because of the hardsubs, but then again you know that the subs will come out right. And .mkv usually uses more harddisk space aswell, which isn good.

[Tornberry]

I personaly prefer the .avi format. It might have some quality loss because of the hardsubs, but then again you know that the subs will come out right. And .mkv usually uses more harddisk space aswell, which isn good.

You guys are killing me...

"Subs will come out right" <--- If they're hardcoded and mis-timed, or have errors in them, or are placed poorly on the screen, or have an ugly font, or have an ugly color, or are too small/large, then you're screwed. With soft-subtitles, the VIEWER can change all of that without ever touching the video. (Timing, color, placement, style, font, size, etc...)

"And .mkv usually uses more harddisk space aswell, which isn good." <--- Yeah, um, maybe by about a few hundred kilobytes. AVI, OGM, and MKV are containers, not codecs. They do not dictate the size of a video.

Perhaps you've just been bumping into large encodes by some overkill encoders who make 250 MB episodes for their rips, and happen to use MKV? (I can do the same high-quality at ~120 - ~170 MB.)

[MrWiseman]

"Subs will come out right" <--- If they're hardcoded and mis-timed, or have errors in them, or are placed poorly on the screen, or have an ugly font, or have an ugly color, or are too small/large, then you're screwed. With soft-subtitles, the VIEWER can change all of that without ever touching the video. (Timing, color, placement, style, font, size, etc...)

"And .mkv usually uses more harddisk space aswell, which isn good." <--- Yeah, um, maybe by about a few hundred kilobytes. AVI, OGM, and MKV are containers, not codecs. They do not dictate the size of a video.

Signed

[snkchaos]

I like mkv more than avi because it's easier to put them on GBA SP. You can just extract the subs and make them bigger for GBASP.

[coughargh]

if only left avi aor mkv, i will choose mkv
but for me now i will choose rmvb, 1/5 reduce in quality and 1/2 reduce in size, the trade is quite fair.
i heard a lot of people say rmvb is junk format, i say, try compare a tv-rip avi file and a dvd-rip rmvb file with only half of its size, u will know which 1 is better
i have enough dvd piles in my room, no choice, i have to .......

[alielle]

Mostly i like OGM coz i have much MKV-files and they don

[xaero]

Definitely MKV. I like haviing options. I always go for quality

[littletony]

MKV and OGM are my preferred types. Multiple subs:D

[cr4y]

I choosed AVI because it is simple and easy. Just use media player to open it.

Ray

[Kyho]

MKV because of the softsubs, I love them

[roygbiv]

go to cccp.net u can get all the codecs u need to play the videos like mp4 and h264 u can get them there. they also give the media player classic there so u can play any type of format u need. kyho gave me the site so thnx the community for making it and also the people who gave us the site to make our watching moments better.

[moogleking]

MKV and OGM for the quality and the multiple subs softsubs and customisable audio.

[Miliardo]

Well for me MKV contains low volume when you watch the anime....and then AVI is quite easy for me....and the new MP4 format.....I not sure but is quite OK for me....:neko:

[Denamic]

The low volume is also due to the volume the makers encoded it at. The file format has nothing to do with it. Sound/Video quality? All depending on the codec and compression. Format is isnsignificant. Slow playback? May be because of obsolete software or hardware, or the makers used ineffective settings when encoding. Format is insignificant, you can make avi files play poorly too.

We have to face it. AVI is obsolete. So is MP3. These two will be thrown away and forgotten in due time.

[sOt0nGz]

MKV its faster.. yeah..

how is avi easier if you use zoomplayer, media player classic or other all in one players?

[ReiAyanami580]

I would say MKV using Xvid codec.........Convinent, you can choose either to put subtitle or not.

[xtrasuperaw]

MKV H.264 with softsubs and dual audio ftw!! But the quality has to be good too... I've seen episodes using H.264 to encode from DVDs and some were worse than TV rips.

[level3]

I turn to mostly rmvb + external sub now
For animation TV-rip version which is pretty crappy in it's orginal quality,
smaller is better, with proper settings in compression, the quality is acceptable... for computer only. I'm not sure about rmvb quality if it's played in TV

For movie / DVD quality stuff, I'd prefer other formats

[RoodyPooUS]

I prefer mkv since it allows flexibility for audio streams and subtitles. I also love the new H.264 format especially with high resolutions!

[Excel 2005]

I remember Digi-Neko when they were first recruiting. I had no idea it still has life force.

I prefer to encode fansubs to standalone DVDs. AVI files are less stubborn than MKV, especially when you don't have some ridiculous, hard-to-recompress, incompatible-with-Avisynth codec like h.264. Although the MKV files have their own advantages, most people want to have space available for the next episodes as soon as possible.

[Shamensyth]

MKV is good...

Because you can it's very flexible and expandible...

And you can turn it into a RAW if you want...

Well...

I like it mostly for AMV purposes. ;D

[milkmandan]

i have minor lazy eye and my eyes become unfocused and stray..when i am tired

if the resolution is too low and i expand the video to full screen it looks worse

so i tend to sit back a bit more.
oh i duno..

high res anime is also good for AMV creation as if you use fansub footage to create your stuff, when it gets displayed from a projector to a 150" screen it wont look as bad.

[Pedobear]

I prefer .MKV... But, for like, putting on your PSP, iPod video, or PDA (Tried all three with .MKV and the subs never show up...) I like .AVI more. ^_^

[GiGaMoG]

MKV and softsub. The video quality is best undisturbed by the sub ^^

[shiracld]

Quality, quality, quality, I used to go for the biggest avi file but then mkv arrived and i've been saving tons of hd space!

go mkv! devour them!

[TK.]

AVI all the way.
File size is lower so it doesnt eat my hard drive alive like other file formats and its the most widely recognised format so mostly everything plays them.

If its down to quality im not really bothered, when i want decent quality i'll wait for it to get licensed then buy it

[micchi]

i would prefer avi coz it more compatible on most standalone player also it more light to play at my current system

[Randomshinichi]

voting for MKV because VBR mp3 streams have issues with avi in Virtualdub. OGG is inherently VBR, and I like MKV because of softsubs.

That said, it's pretty amazing how Virtualdub still doesn't support MKV, only the Mod version does.

[Shiroki Okane]

MKV, I can turn it into a raw anytime I want without going through the trouble of finding them and downloading them again :p

[xlsacreddragonlx]

I prefer avi mainly because the file size is usually smaller than mkv.

[defs0ul]

I can play both avi & mkv. But I prefer avi.

[crimsonphoenix]

I would prefer AVI, because MKV formats tend to give me a short loading delay when skipping the movies.
Okay it's a short delay, but it's quite annoying if you like to skip between different scenes in the movies.

[Yoshihire]

I myself am fond of the .mkv.
In the start, it was a mere pain to get working correctly on my pc, but after CCCP started to take care of those problems for me, I see that the container is quite usefull.
Many thinks of the .mkv as bad, because you would have to encode something to gain karaoke, and then the subtitles in the program look boring, but many of todays programs can without problems show specific typesetting.
Still, I have learned that if you encode something and have an experienced encoder, or someone who knows what he does, the image-quality can seem nicer after encoding, even if it looses some quality (instance, the picture is crisper and colors better after encode).
Too, one thing that is great with .mkv (applies to .ogm too, but the .ogm-format has a lower support for several stramtypes) is that you can with many of todays players change the typesetting, if it is annoying.
I myself am partial translator/timer, and I have learned how useful this format is.

I guess hybridsubs with the .mkv-format and h.264 is the future, and most PCs can play it (even if older PCs could have a problem with spooling).
So I honestly see no reason for going to full hardsub.

[edogawaconan]

I would prefer AVI, because MKV formats tend to give me a short loading delay when skipping the movies.
Okay it's a short delay, but it's quite annoying if you like to skip between different scenes in the movies.
what gives you delay? the container (mkv) or the video (x264)?
People STILL confuses between two of them.

mkv/mp4 for me. Flexibility, speed, quality, size.

[fungyin]

Maybe its a silly question, but may i know what is soft subs and hard subs?

[Denamic]

Softsubs can be included in the container, like mkv or ogm,
or as a separate file and can be turned on and off at will.
It's added to the media stream while it's played.

Hardsubs are encoded right into the video.
So you can't turn it off.

[Suzuran]

I'm still a fan of hardsub+avi but you can't turn an eye off to the advantage of softsubs. Depending on your use you can go with either mkv for high quality or mp4 with a good compression.

[ThaEagle]

I support .mkv and .mp4. It is true that i sometimes lean towards .avi, but only when people don't place Japanese language and English text as default (so you have to manually change every time). It's annoying when you watch a long series especially. But aside from that .mkv and .mp4 is significantly better, it is true that they use up more cpu (especially if you turn of pre-buffering), but x264 and surround makes it a winner in the long run.
I only encode in x264 and always use .mkv as well as ac3 if possible, although i hardsub the karaoke so it runs more smoothly (and don't force the user to turn of pre-buffering).

[Nozamoc]

*Small Revival*

+1 for .mkv, because of the softsubs.

I personally would prefer if it was encoded in h264/AAC though (still in an .mkv container), but that's not the question being asked. :P

[Polux]

I would say .avi but .mkv isnt bad at all sometimes

[starcaptor]

MKV for the ability to switch out subs, and for the commercial stuff, to switch in diff audio tracks. When you wanna do screencaps or music video material, having nothing on screen really improves the seamlessness of the video.

AVI is much more compatible with legacy hardware though, and when I am fast forwarding an MKV, often the subtitles will lose sync with the audio for a few seconds before catching up.

[Holy Knight]

anything but avi, as that'll be the future. .mkv/ogm/mp4's pluses outweigh their minuses, so it's a no-brainer for me. Even my 1.35Ghz Duron was able to play .mkv files after some tweaking.

I voted for .mkv, btw.

[hotanime]

AVI. cause I trust that format the most.

[TK.]

Im really not bothered what format i have, i'll watch whatever format the video is that ive managed to get hold of. Although i stay away from .rmvb naturally.

Ive really never had troubles with playing any files due to codecs, VLC just seems to play everything i open up with it.

[Holy Knight]

Although i stay away from .rmvb naturally.



Heh, yeah. I feel like I have a moral aversion to .rmvb. Any media that's widely supported by the Chinese scares me. :eek:

[Chronoz]

AVI cuz it can be converted easily to other format.

[devbro]

i like MKV bacause it is much better and you can do more with it.

BUT i watch my anime on the road so i have to re-encode them. so AVI with hard sub is the best and really fast for this purpose.

depending on the show i prefer H264 encoding (just for the ones with high quality action)

[zanpaku001]

i generally prefer avi simply because i prefer using windows media player over zoomplayer.

[Infinity Overlord]

Avi is the best choice.

[Denamic]

Hardly. avi don't really have anything at all to put up against other formats.
Except for the wider compatibility, it doesn't really have anything.
In the world of boxes, it would be the small, brown one made out of recycled paper.

[SakuraLee]

I really do prefer AVIs for convinience of playing them, as they work on practically anything,- but I don't have anything against MKVs either ^^

[devbro]

it is the idea of how much to offer vs user satisfaction. AVI would be most simplest and easiest (i am not counting MPG). but MKV can provide much more, soft subtitle, better quality, multi sound and ...

it is just a matter of choice.

[Alieze]

avi because it's cute and easy to say~!
That's a stupid reason isn't it? T^T;
I guess I just like them because I'm more used to seeing them.

[Kalimutan]

I prefer AVI, for some reason. I noticed AVI usually contains smaller data than MKV. So I dl them, since my laptop's maximum hard disk capacity is 37.25 GB

[Denamic]

Size isn't dependant on the format, but the codecs used.
You could make a HD video in .avi, or a super compressed, poor quality .mkv
It's just that people seem to prefer compressing stuff less when puting it into .mkv
I'd say that's a good thing, but I'm also not on a limited connection.

[Grimmjow1982]

MKV cuz i got used to it with media player classic.

[Tsuchiro]

MKV or MP4 all the way...

[afarinah]

I prefer AVI, for some reason. I noticed AVI usually contains smaller data than MKV. So I dl them, since my laptop's maximum hard disk capacity is 37.25 GB


Size isn't dependant on the format, but the codecs used.
You could make a HD video in .avi, or a super compressed, poor quality .mkv
It's just that people seem to prefer compressing stuff less when puting it into .mkv
I'd say that's a good thing, but I'm also not on a limited connection.

I prefer MKV over AVI(unless fansub did not provide MKV)
Yeah, you are right. The file size does not dependable on Video Format. You may find some torrent that avi and mkv are the same size. However if you donwload and compare both with the same size, mkv is better in my own opinion.
Okay here is my question: Why do any people say that cccp(one of HF member maybe know?) is better than K-lite codec or KLM mega codec(I use it until now)? Even someone said that K-lite codec was Gay Codec :O Comparing both with Media player they are about the same reliable codec and My thought that Klm mega codec is better than cccp(I tried before and it did not satisfied)

[Tiexandrea]

right now, i'm leaning towards AVI...
it's because they're (usually) more compact, and because i have a DivX player...

but when i get a more powerful computer, i'll be trying MKVs...

[pandabuluk]

Not really matter, though. But i still choose AVI. Most of AVI-formatted file can be opened easily using Windows Media Player. Most of. I have experience that i formatted my movie clip for assignment using AVI and 3IVX compressor. It was small, much of surprise. But my friend can't open it.
Right now i using MP Classic for viewing Anime, so it not really matter what format it is.

[zden]

I would prefer AVI since it can be burn to DVD much easier.
But MKV does offer better subtitling than AVI as I can just use soft-sub to get different language sub for a single file.

(P.S Does anyone have the steps to burn MKV to DVD with all its subtitles and audio intact?)

[Jinnai]

MKV. It's a superior technology than AVI. Better overall quality especially as newer codecs come out.