GOTSent is an easy to use application for converting .MKV (Matroska) video files to the .MP4 (MPEG-4) format. The MPEG-4 is a videly supported audio/video format which can be played on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, HTPCs and number of other MP4 compatible playback devices. In this articles we explain the basics of using the free GOTSent application for the conversion. Owners of PlayStation 3 might want to read our other PS3 video conversion articles before proceeding with this one.

Preconditions

• GOTSent application, download here
• GOTSent utilizes AC3 Filter and Haali Splitter , so have them installed
• MKV video files. Files with MPEG-4 compliant video streams are recommended (H.264, MPEG-4, etc.)
• Matching .SRT subtitle file, if you wish to encode subtitles to the video

Using GOTSent

GOTSent is a front-end application for a number of audio/video tools, encoder and decoders. It simplifies the conversion process to a matter of few clicks and settings.

1. First you define the input File or a Folder with a number of files for batch processing. Set the Output folder to your desired target location.
2. In the example we have matching subtitle_test.srt subtitle file in the same folder as the video. GOTSent detects this as SRT Found! notification is shown on the screen. Now if you wish to encode the subtitles into the video stream, just check the marker below SRT Found! -notification and choose a video codec for the encoding process. H264 offers best quality with slowest encoding speed, while MPEG-2 is fastest but produces a rather rough quality. Xvid is something in between these two. I would recommend using H264, unless you are in a hurry – note that video encoding is always a lengthy process that can take hourse, and some quality is always lost in the re-encoding.
3. With these basic settings you should already get an .MP4 file that is recognized and playable using PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or other compliant player. There are however a number of additional parameters one can tweak. Split > 4GB ? is useful if you plan to copy the file on a device with FAT32 file system, that has an internal 4GB maximum file size limit. Fit to DVD (4.7) tries to match the size to a recordable DVD-R disc. Under AC3 Filter options one can fine tune the audio, for example the volume can be increased. 25 FPS Output will make the playback smoother on 720p/50Hz (PAL) displays, but video speed is slightly increased if this option is used. GOTSent can also mux video to MPG/Vob stream format for PS3, but this really isn’t needed as PS3 support MP4 files.
4. When you are happy with the settings, just click Convert

As GOTSent processes the file, a number of demuxing, encoding and muxing processes take place. If the video is re-encoded, for subtitles of MP4 compatibility, it will take hours on a long video file. If the audio stream of the source file is not in MP4 compatible format (AC3 for an example), then the audio is re-encoded to AAC, which will take a few minutes depending on your hardware and the length of the audio.

When the conversion has ended, you should have an .MP4 file in the target folder ready to be played on your console. Burn it to DVD-R, copy to USB memory stick or an external USB hard drive (FAT32 for PS3) and you are ready enjoy your video on the console!