Is there a way to output the video to mkv format?

yes.

I do not see it in the options.

Create a custom render profile, substitute .mp4 for .mkv in custom render profile.

Sorry to dredge this up, but doing as yellow suggested only changes the extension. The file is not an mkv file, it's just an mp4 file with an extension of mkv.

Does anyone know if it's possible to save as a .mkv file?

@ahagge, then you are doing it wrong. :-) What i said was not to just change the one instance of mp4 for mkv, it was to change both instances in a custom encoding profile. If you care to look at a custom encoding profile you will see the box that says 'Extension' and in the encoder parameters the mention of f=mp4, change that to f=mkv as well as the extension. :-)

But ensure you are using a codec that is compatible with matroska container such as h264. Try it. ;-)

Here is a possibly slightly more helpful answer:

When he's talking about a custom profile, he's talking about a custom rendering profile -- that is, a profile that describes how the video you've assembled in the editor will ultimately be crunched out into a single video file. Just becoming aware of these parameters is a book in and of itself, but we'll just focus on the bits you asked about.

Launch Kdenlive. At the top of the window, press the "Render" button. You'll be presented with the rendering dialog (since we're not actually going to render anything, you can ignore any warnings you might see). Near the top-left corner, click on, "Show all profiles" so that it is checked.

In the left-hand pane, click on, "H.264"; the right-hand pane will update to show available profiles using that codec. On my system, there's only one, so double-click on it: "H.264." A new window will appear showing the complete list of settings for that profile.

In your case, there are two bits you'll be interested in:

• The text field named, "Extension", which is the extension that will appended to your video's filename;
• In the "Parameters" field, the parameter that begins, "f=". This specifies the format of the container into which the video will be encoded.

Note that the f= parameter overrides whatever is implied by the file extension. Right now, the format is set as f=mp4. You will want to change the Profile Name, the Extension field, and the f= parameter. So, do this:

• Change the Profile Name field to, "Matroska" (or whatever suits your preference).
• Change the Extension field to, "mkv".
• In the Parameters field, change f=mp4 to f=matroska.
• Click OK.

You should now have a new profile that will render H.264 into an Matroska video container.

Beware of bugs in the above advice. I have merely read the docs; not actually tried it.

To find out more about what all the gobbledegook in the Parameters field means, visit this Web page: http://www.mltframework.org/bin/view/MLT/ConsumerAvformat (Note that, for that to make sense, you'll also need to read the docs for ffmpeg, which is by no means light reading.)

"Here is a possibly slightly more helpful answer:", no it's not, it's encouraging people to ignore the documentation, wiki and forum search. :-)

Simple rules found on many forums. Before asking a question. Don't be lazy and expect someone to right paragraphs of step by step instructions when it stands a BIG chance the question has been asked numerous times before, that people have spent time building the documentation and online Wiki with those answers. So:

1. Search the forum.

2. Read the Wiki and documentation.

3. Google it.

Still no answer? Then ask a question.

Otherwise someone spends a disproportionate amount of their time answering a question answered many times, heck I've answered posts about custom render profiles for mkv at least three times, so have members like ttguy. You may be willing to type paragraphs of step by step directions but don't suggest others answers are not helpful enough. :-)

It should be enough to point someone in the right direction for them to get off their **** and search the terms provided. :-)

Simply typing "Custom Render Profile" into this forums search box, which is the purpose of a search function, to be used, brings up a list of advice, just like your answer.

I bet those writing the documentation and wiki ask why bother if posters are just going to start threads because they're lazy, on questions asked over and over to be encouraged to do so by people willing to write paragraphs of step by step directions in reply.

Pointing them in the right direction should be enough and more helpful than spoon feeding them. :-)

It should be enough to point someone in the right direction for them to get off their **** and search the terms provided. :-)

Then why didn't you point them here: http://userbase.kde.org/Kdenlive/Manual/Project_Menu/Render/Render_Profile_Parameters

Truth be told, I probably should have pointed them there as well. But the original response was so willfully obtuse that I felt a more detailed answer was called for. Also, kindly observe that my answer wasn't just a blind recipe, but rather was structured of the form, "Here's where to go look; here's what you're looking at and roughly what it means; here's how to make your desired modifications; here's where to go to learn more."

Yes, Google can answer many questions... If you know the right question to ask. Like it or not, Kdenlive is a big program. I've been using it a couple years, and I still get lost in it. MLT -- the library on which Kdenlive is built -- is even bigger. And ffmpeg is a fscking monster. And you have to read the docs to all of them to some degree before you can start meaningfully poking at some of the settings. (Quick! What does the argument -8x8dct mean when applied to the libx264 codec? Yeah, I know what the ffmpeg man page says, but what does it mean?)

The only reason I'm able to cope at all is because I've been slowly absorbing details from the above docs, because I'm interested in getting better at this. I'm not suggesting everyone be spoon-fed but, honestly, some of this stuff should be simpler than it is.

My answer still stands I gave the answer in my first response, it wasn't obtuse, terms "custom render profile", search using those terms and the answers are there.

The problem is there are posters just passing through, picking up kdenlive because it's free, to try to solve a particular problem they have with no intention of taking part in the kdenlive community, like say how to encode to lossless codec in mkv because it's 'Quality' for their dumb **** game footage of them shooting the hell out of something, or a DVD / Bluray rip, they don't want to waste their time reading documentation or searching and expect someone to answer their question, answer it quickly before they move onto a different app to try and solve their problem. :-)

And ahagge's answer also underlines the problem that it's far easier to post a 'it doesn't work, yellows wrong' than actually take the initiative to search 'custom render profiles' or go look at the documentation, no far easier to post a comment and then to take it further and ask if 'its possible to save to mkv' after been given the terms to go and search and read up on. Better still go search, RTFM then come back and post 'wrong' BUT this is how to do it, or this is the link to the manual, far more valuable to the community.

ahagge wouldn't have had to dredge up an old thread if search properly and read the documentation before posting a response. :-)

I wouldn't under estimate the number of eyes on threads like these and the fact seasoned forum members will not even respond to such a question, only under their breath "RTFM, search the bl--dy forum', then there's responses like from long standing member al25fps "yes", that answer basically says the same, "RTFM", but actually did respond to the thread, any self respecting person would read that answer as "ok, why did al25fps say that, because of issues :-) or maybe it's a less than subtle hint to RTFM, search, yes it's quite simple if you actually look , even the render options dialogue suggests custom profiles. :-)

So if you want to keep the discussion going, having first told me that my answer was 'unhelpful' followed by 'obtuse' then feel free to add more, personally I'd rather be more obtuse on these occasions to spark a bit of self help and questioning of approach by the posters asking for such help than overly long step by step ' structured' waffle. Better to add that to the wiki and documentation to flesh it out with 'structure' than numerous posts on the forum. :-)

Then time can be spent helping 'real' kdenlive community members trying to make their way through and learning ourselves in the process. :-)

With regard to your codec / ffmpeg related talk, well the question asked was how to use the mkv container format rather than mp4, which requires next to no ffmpeg codec knoweledge and beside the point, if the posters had asked about codec paramaters then my responses would have been different. That falls under a different 'category' of how to ask a decent question, http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#answers

I'm sure there's stuff on that website I'm guilty of. :-)

If someone feels like explaining in their own words what is maybe documented already, why not, it may help also other new users who have difficulties finding the answer and understanding the documentation. In school they also have teachers explaining stuff which is written in books already.

Simply pointing to the documentation is also helpful I think. People can still get back when they couldn't find the answer in the documentation.

But a mere RTFM style answer doesn't really serve any purpose I think.

I agree Dode, if someone chooses to spend time putting into their own words thats their choice and this forum along with many others has many many examples of that. And I've never responded to any of those as I have on this thread for the simple reason its ones own choice how to respond.

The only reason I responded to ewhac's first post was because ewhac chose to first describe my basic but to the point replies as unhelpful followed by obtuse, if someone chooses to criticize others help they should expect some sort of recoarse?

As for RTFM, I agree and hopefully the worlds moved on a bit since then but consider that a measured response to a simple query such as this one was all that was necessary to guide the original poster and subsequent requests for the same answer.

Sounds fair enough to me!

these are the parameters for the render profile I use. These are all ffmpeg switches no mlt is used
the "qp=" value determines the quality of the output with lower numbers making higher quality & larger files
because it's not specified the output matches the input in scale & frame rate

pix_fmt=yuv420p f=matroska vcodec=libx264 preset=fast qp=20 acodec=ac3 ab=384k