After finding out that nothing was rosy with my VLC export trials I searched for another way. It turns out this is a better way as well. It has a simple interface, but is exactly what I was looking for. Not only can you quickly change your MKV container to MP4, but you can also alter a bunch of things in the process.

Subtitle Language

One of the biggest problems of getting Anime’s converted to MP4 is the subtitle. The typical solution everyone goes with is Hard subs. These are Subs that get baked into the video and can never be altered or turned off. Most, if not all, MKV’s use soft subs. MP4’s can use Soft subs, but most programs just can’t/don’t do it right. Even when you get it right with most programs it still won’t pop up automatically on your non-PC devices. Most devices let you enable a default subtitle. The problem is that every converter/multiplexer I used to date doesn’t give your titles a language, so they come up as unknown. You can enable it, but you have to do it every single time you watch an episode.  SUBLER gives you the solution to a problem that shouldn’t have existed in the first place. Click that up/down arrow and change the language.

Subtitles

Most soft subtitle conversions suck. Why, because when you use them in iTunes or quicktime they come up as huge blocks of words that can take up the whole screen. Oddly enough my Apple TV showed them just fine. Well Subler takes yet another aproach. Most programs convert the subs to the .srt format, but subler uses 3GPP which portable devices seem to prefer (even some PC programs as well).

Starting the process.

Go to code.google.com and download the regular version. Not the CLI that stands for Command Line Interface. Unless of course you don’t want to use the graphical version.

*Note: the developer has hinted at the possibility of this entering the APP Store.

When you open up the program nothing seems to happen. It just populates the Upper menu bar and that is it. (See what I mean by minimalistic). Now either hit Command+O on your keyboard or hit File --> then Open in the menu bar.

Once you open the file it’ll give you the option to de-select tracks. I’m not sure why this shows up here since once you hit Add you can still deselect the tracks at any point. This is obviously for people who add multiple files, but I would think this would pop up on the second file and not the first.

Now that you have the file open you can set those languages. Just click on the up/down arrow.

Once you have set your languages. You can enter your meta data, add some artwork, or on the last tab you can change the Media Type, Content Rating, and mark the video as an HD video.

Once you’re done you can hit save and in about half a minute for a 25 min anime or about 5 minutes for a full out film you’ll have your MP4 ready for your viewing pleasure. If for some reason the video doesn’t work, it’s probably because the video/audio format wasn’t right for an Mpeg4 from the get go. If that’s the case, then I suggest using handbrake.

Tip: You can edit your MP4’s after as well.