Permute may not write proper chapter tracks, preventing other apps from opening the files
This started as a discussion with the team who writes the Subler tool for metadata editing. You can view the original discussion here for more detail.
The upshot is I used MakeMKV to rip a Blu-ray film to MKV, then Permute to transcode that to a 1080p MPEG-4 using the latest "AppleTV 3" preset, and then tried to open it in either Subler or iFlicks for editing the metadata, neither of which would open the resulting files.
Working with the guys on Subler, we think we've narrowed the potential issue down to Permute creating a malformed chapter track from the MKV. The smaller 1080p Blu-ray tracks that I tried this workflow on did work, but it seems it's not a file size issue, but only because they don't have chapters.
I would attach a file to test, but as they're copyrighted material, and average over 2.5 GB each, I figure that's not a good idea.
Can you please look into this and see if you can duplicate the issue, and if so, add this as a bug fix? Thanks!
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Support Staff 2 Posted by Krystof Vasa on 22 Jul, 2012 04:30 PM
Hi Mark,
I'm extremly sorry about the delay in my answer, had to deal with a family emergency and then I got backed up so that I couldn't look into this until today.
I believe this is a duplicate to another issue, that's similar. Permute internally uses a command line tool called FFmpeg (http://ffmpeg.org) and it also handles the chapter writing. I've been browsing their bug reports and will see that it gets fixed unless it's already been fixed.
I've built today a fresh build of the FFmpeg tool and uploaded it here: http://updates.fuelcollective.com.s3.amazonaws.com/permute/beta/Per...
Please, see if it fixes this issue. If not, I'll file a bug report at FFmpeg and will post a link to you, so you can see the progress. May I give them your contact information in case they need to know some details about the file? If yes, which email address may I provide?
Before I do so, however, I would like to ask you for one more thing - please, upload a debug log (http://help.fuelcollective.com/kb/fuel-collective/retrieving-debug-log) of one of these conversions, I'd like to include it in the report (it contains some details about the movie as well as the parameters passed to FFmpeg).
Thanks!
Krystof
3 Posted by mark on 30 Jul, 2012 09:37 PM
Sorry, I was out of town for a while after I posted that. I'll start ripping a new one right now, and upload a debug log to you later tonight.
4 Posted by mark on 31 Jul, 2012 02:03 AM
Here's a debug log from the current public version of Permute that I've been having the trouble with, 1.3.11 (571). The conversion from Blu-ray rip with chapters in this case is the file called "Serenity" in the log. (Sorry I left the others in there — hope that isn't confusing.)
I will try a conversion of the same with the version 589 that you posted, and let you know how that goes.
5 Posted by mark on 31 Jul, 2012 02:10 AM
Unfortunately, build 589 doesn't seem to work. When I drag and drop an mkv file on the window (or try to add it with "Add File to Conversion Queue…"), the window's "1 of 1" and progress bar flashes on screen for a split second, but then it does back to the dashed outline and "Drop Media Here" without having added the file to the queue. Please let me know what else I can try. Thanks!
Support Staff 6 Posted by Krystof Vasa on 31 Jul, 2012 06:04 AM
Hi Mark,
could you try this one?
http://updates.fuelcollective.com.s3.amazonaws.com/permute/beta/Per...
If it doesn't help, please open Console (in the Utilities folder) and see if any messages pop up while the file is being dropped onto Permute. The messages don't necessarily have to say anything about Permute itself. You can use Command-C to copy the selected messages.
Thanks!
Krystof
7 Posted by mark on 04 Aug, 2012 03:23 AM
This version (594) appears to work. Once compressed, I can open the movie in Subler and iFlicks, and the Chapter track appears to display correctly, both in Subler and in iTunes. Yay! :D
I'll try a few more tomorrow, to make sure, but it looks good with the one I've done so far. Thanks!
Support Staff 8 Posted by Krystof Vasa on 04 Aug, 2012 05:28 AM
Awesome, that's great news! It's already in review in the AppStore, so an official update should be out soon.
Krtystof
9 Posted by mark on 04 Aug, 2012 10:25 PM
Excellent! Thanks again for fixing this!
Krystof Vasa closed this discussion on 05 Aug, 2012 10:49 AM.