Merging Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy Set

[Sky Walker 37]

Here are the steps that I used:

1. Create both mkvs using whatever programs you prefer.
2. Open FOTR part 1 in mkvmerge.
3. Set the output filename to what you want.
4. Note the number of chapters (27).
5. On the global tab, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place 6338s in the box.
6. Start muxing.
7. When complete, close mkvmerge and open FOTR part 2 in mkvmerge. I tend to close it between uses so I don't miss a setting I needed to clear from the last step.
8. Set the output filename to what you want.
9. On the global tabe, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place 00:00:00.500 in the box.
10. In the max. number of files box place 2. This is important as without it you will end up with a lot of files 1/2 a second long.
11. Start muxing.
12. When complete close mkvmerge and open it again.
13. Go to the Chapter Editor tab and drag the FOTR part 2 mkv into the chapters box.
14. Select each chapter in order, changing the name to the next number after the number of chapters in FOTR part 1. Chapter 1 becomes Chapter 28, Chapter 2 becomes Chapter 29, etc.
15. Once finished, on the menu click Chapter Editor > Save.
16. Close mkvmerge and open FOTR part 1 in mkvmerge.
17. Click append and add FOTR part 2.
18. Set the output filename to what you want.
19. Start muxing.

Here are the trim settings for each LOTR EE Blu-rays Part 1 discs:

FOTR EE Part 1 end = 6338 seconds
TTT EE Part 1 end = 6396 seconds
ROTK EE Part 1 end = 7656 seconds

I haven't tried it, but you should be able to get chapter names from http://www.chapterdb.org

I tried all the steps but in the last step when trying muxing the two files it gives me following error:

" Appending a track from a file to another track from the same file is not allowed. This is the case for tracks number 14 & 15"

I reviewed everything but there are two different files with different chapter info.

Please advise.
Thanks.

[hosedagainx3]

Here are the steps that I used:

1. Create both mkvs using whatever programs you prefer.
2. Open FOTR part 1 in mkvmerge.
3. Set the output filename to what you want.
4. Note the number of chapters (27).
5. On the global tab, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place 6338s in the box.
6. Start muxing.
7. When complete, close mkvmerge and open FOTR part 2 in mkvmerge. I tend to close it between uses so I don't miss a setting I needed to clear from the last step.
8. Set the output filename to what you want.
9. On the global tabe, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place 00:00:00.500 in the box.
10. In the max. number of files box place 2. This is important as without it you will end up with a lot of files 1/2 a second long.
11. Start muxing.
12. When complete close mkvmerge and open it again.
13. Go to the Chapter Editor tab and drag the FOTR part 2 mkv into the chapters box.
14. Select each chapter in order, changing the name to the next number after the number of chapters in FOTR part 1. Chapter 1 becomes Chapter 28, Chapter 2 becomes Chapter 29, etc.
15. Once finished, on the menu click Chapter Editor > Save.
16. Close mkvmerge and open FOTR part 1 in mkvmerge.
17. Click append and add FOTR part 2.
18. Set the output filename to what you want.
19. Start muxing.

Here are the trim settings for each LOTR EE Blu-rays Part 1 discs:

FOTR EE Part 1 end = 6338 seconds
TTT EE Part 1 end = 6396 seconds
ROTK EE Part 1 end = 7656 seconds

I haven't tried it, but you should be able to get chapter names from http://www.chapterdb.org

What version of "mkvmerge" are you using? The one I have is v6.1.0 following your steps might be different
using the version I am using.

[jorsan]

sorry

[jorsan]

Hi, why the chapters of all 2nd parts starts in chapter 0 ? isa that normal?, thats the first chapter that I need to change the number or do I have to start with chapter 1 as specified in the instructions?. thanks in advance

[Sky Walker 37]

Here are the steps that I used:

1. Create both mkvs using whatever programs you prefer.
2. Open FOTR part 1 in mkvmerge.
3. Set the output filename to what you want.
4. Note the number of chapters (27).
5. On the global tab, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place 6338s in the box.
6. Start muxing.
7. When complete, close mkvmerge and open FOTR part 2 in mkvmerge. I tend to close it between uses so I don't miss a setting I needed to clear from the last step.
8. Set the output filename to what you want.
9. On the global tabe, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place 00:00:00.500 in the box.
10. In the max. number of files box place 2. This is important as without it you will end up with a lot of files 1/2 a second long.
11. Start muxing.
12. When complete close mkvmerge and open it again.
13. Go to the Chapter Editor tab and drag the FOTR part 2 mkv into the chapters box.
14. Select each chapter in order, changing the name to the next number after the number of chapters in FOTR part 1. Chapter 1 becomes Chapter 28, Chapter 2 becomes Chapter 29, etc.
15. Once finished, on the menu click Chapter Editor > Save.
16. Close mkvmerge and open FOTR part 1 in mkvmerge.
17. Click append and add FOTR part 2.
18. Set the output filename to what you want.
19. Start muxing.

Here are the trim settings for each LOTR EE Blu-rays Part 1 discs:

FOTR EE Part 1 end = 6338 seconds
TTT EE Part 1 end = 6396 seconds
ROTK EE Part 1 end = 7656 seconds

I haven't tried it, but you should be able to get chapter names from http://www.chapterdb.org

What version of "mkvmerge" are you using? The one I have is v6.1.0 following your steps might be different
using the version I am using.

Mine is also version 6.1.0, I'm surprised that it doesn't work, I did exactly each step as explained.

[doveplay]

Here are the steps that I used:

1. Create both mkvs using whatever programs you prefer.
2. Open FOTR part 1 in mkvmerge.
3. Set the output filename to what you want.
4. Note the number of chapters (27).
5. On the global tab, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place 6338s in the box.
6. Start muxing.
7. When complete, close mkvmerge and open FOTR part 2 in mkvmerge. I tend to close it between uses so I don't miss a setting I needed to clear from the last step.
8. Set the output filename to what you want.
9. On the global tabe, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place 00:00:00.500 in the box.
10. In the max. number of files box place 2. This is important as without it you will end up with a lot of files 1/2 a second long.
11. Start muxing.
12. When complete close mkvmerge and open it again.
13. Go to the Chapter Editor tab and drag the FOTR part 2 mkv into the chapters box.
14. Select each chapter in order, changing the name to the next number after the number of chapters in FOTR part 1. Chapter 1 becomes Chapter 28, Chapter 2 becomes Chapter 29, etc.
15. Once finished, on the menu click Chapter Editor > Save.
16. Close mkvmerge and open FOTR part 1 in mkvmerge.
17. Click append and add FOTR part 2.
18. Set the output filename to what you want.
19. Start muxing.

Here are the trim settings for each LOTR EE Blu-rays Part 1 discs:

FOTR EE Part 1 end = 6338 seconds
TTT EE Part 1 end = 6396 seconds
ROTK EE Part 1 end = 7656 seconds

I haven't tried it, but you should be able to get chapter names from http://www.chapterdb.org

This worked for me, but I thought I'd add this in case other people, not used for mkvmerge like me, drop by. The above steps does the following at a high level:

Steps 1-6: Split part one into two; one with the actual move, and one with the empty black screen at the end. You can delete the latter.
Steps 7-11: Split part two into two; one with the black screen from the beginning and one with the actual movie. You can delete the former. 7-11
Steps 12-15: Rename the chapters in part two to avoid overlapping chapter names.
Steps 16-19: Actually merge the two cleaned up parts into one file.

If you receive an error like "Could not keep the track ID" during step 19, you have "Added" part two in step 17. It is important that you "Append".

Also, these are my split settings. To check yours, open part one, go to the end and select the second just before the screen goes black. Do the same for part two, but choose the second where the picture starts (i.e. end of black screen):

FOTR Part 1: 01:45:38 (or "6338s")
FOTR Part 2: 2s
TTT Part 1: 02:07:35 (or "7655s")
TTT Part 2: 1s
ROTK Part1: 01:46:34 (or "6394s")
ROTK Part 2: 1s

Note that you can choose the most logical time format for you. My player gives timestamps in HH:MM:SS format, so that's what I use in step 5.

[ndjamena]

Hi,

Have you had problems merging/appending ROTK to one MKV? I get a warning "The codec's private data does not match". I haven't split the files or modified them in any way. I just use "Append".

Thanks in advance
Morten

I am seeing the same thing. TLOR: FOTR merged without any problems but TTT and TROTK give me "... The codec's private data does not match (lengths: 68 and 191). Please make sure that the resulting file plays correctly the whole time. The author of this program will probably not give support for playback issues with the resulting file."

I ripped them from new blu-rays with MakeMKV. Looking at the codec information in VLC player they are exactly the same.

VLC doesn't show 'Codec Private Data' information. A decoder needs 'Codec Private Data' to properly decompress a video stream and it is meaningless to the average user. You'd need to look at the file through MKVMerge to see it.

MKVMerge.exe -I "File.mkv"

(Note: the capital 'I')

[mew1033]

Hi,

Have you had problems merging/appending ROTK to one MKV? I get a warning "The codec's private data does not match". I haven't split the files or modified them in any way. I just use "Append".

Thanks in advance
Morten

I am seeing the same thing. TLOR: FOTR merged without any problems but TTT and TROTK give me "... The codec's private data does not match (lengths: 68 and 191). Please make sure that the resulting file plays correctly the whole time. The author of this program will probably not give support for playback issues with the resulting file."

I ripped them from new blu-rays with MakeMKV. Looking at the codec information in VLC player they are exactly the same.

VLC doesn't show 'Codec Private Data' information. A decoder needs 'Codec Private Data' to properly decompress a video stream and it is meaningless to the average user. You'd need to look at the file through MKVMerge to see it.

MKVMerge.exe -I "File.mkv"

(Note: the capital 'I')

Looks like I'm having the same problem. Has anyone been able to solve this?

[CRCError1970]

Ok, it's been some time since anyone posted here about this, but I ran across this page when I was looking to merge my Bluray copies of the Extended Edition of Lord of the Rings myself.

I followed the directives here with mkvmerge GUI v7.7.0 and it didn't quite work as expected. So I played around with the GUI and finally got a fully working method of doing this.

1. Create both mkvs using whatever programs you prefer.
2. Open "Part 1" of your movie in mkvmerge.
3. Set the output filename to what you want.
4. Note the number of chapters. FotR (27), TtT (30), RotK (36)
5. On the global tab, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place: FotR (6338s), TtT (6394s), RotK (7655s) in the box.
6. Start muxing.
7. When complete, close mkvmerge and open "Part 2" in mkvmerge. I tend to close it between uses so I don't miss a setting I needed to clear from the last step.
8. Set the output filename to what you want.
9. On the global tab, check Enable splitting... ...after this duration. Place: FotR (2s), TtT (1s), RotK (1s) in the box.
10. In the max. number of files box place 2. This is important as without it you will end up with a lot of files.
11. Start muxing.
12. When complete close mkvmerge and open it again.
13. Go to the Chapter Editor tab and drag the "Part 2" mkv into the chapters box.
14. Select each chapter in order, changing the name *AND* UID to the next number after the number of chapters in "Part 1" FoTR Chapter 1 becomes Chapter 28 - UID 28, TtT Chapter 1 becomes Chapter 31 - UID 31, RotK Chapter 1 becomes Chapter 37 - UID 37. Naming the UID's in TtT and RotK are best started from the *highest* number and working your way down since the UID's overlap due to being so many chapters on the disc.
15. Once finished, on the menu click Chapter Editor > Save.
16. Close mkvmerge and open "Part 1" in mkvmerge.
17. Click append and add "Part 2" in mkvmerge.
18. Set the output filename to what you want.
19. Start muxing.

The key to getting it done correctly was the UID of each chapter. It seems that mkvmerge with change the time offsets of the chapter markers for you, but won't check to make sure you are not using duplicate chapter UID's when appending.

[cwm9cwm9]

Hi,

Have you had problems merging/appending ROTK to one MKV? I get a warning "The codec's private data does not match". I haven't split the files or modified them in any way. I just use "Append".

Thanks in advance
Morten

I strongly suspect the cause of this is that you are using rental disks, and that the two disks are not from the same box... They're probably two completely different encodings!

[mew1033]

Hi,

Have you had problems merging/appending ROTK to one MKV? I get a warning "The codec's private data does not match". I haven't split the files or modified them in any way. I just use "Append".

Thanks in advance
Morten

I strongly suspect the cause of this is that you are using rental disks, and that the two disks are not from the same box... They're probably two completely different encodings!

I strongly suspect that you're wrong. I bought the blu ray extended edition. This one. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ZQAKHU. And I'm having exactly the same issue. So no, they're not from different boxes.

[kevmitch]

Hi,

Have you had problems merging/appending ROTK to one MKV? I get a warning "The codec's private data does not match". I haven't split the files or modified them in any way. I just use "Append".

Thanks in advance
Morten

Are you sure that you didn't use MakeMKV's flac profile?

I was having the same problem until I realized that it was complaining about the audio track which I had reencoded as flac. When I reriped with the dtshd-ma as is, I was able to merge without this error message.

[kevmitch]

I take it back. Only The Fellowship of the Ring merged correctly. Both The Two Towers and The Return of the King had different private data in the h264 track.

[mew1033]

I take it back. Only The Fellowship of the Ring merged correctly. Both The Two Towers and The Return of the King had different private data in the h264 track.

Did the file end up working? I merged them and got the different private data error. But I just ignored it and everything seemed to work just fine.

[jetlounge]

Invalid Codec Error solved..

I was getting the same errors others had in this thread on the 2nd and 3rd movies in the trilogy. The file would stitch , but the second part was audio only. The chapter renumbering has nothing to do with it. Chapter numbers are controlled by UID, so the friendly name is meaningless. But I tried that anyway. Still did absolutely nothing. After a lot of trial and error, I determined that my issues was with MakeMKV ripping. I am on the latest version of MakeMKV and MKVToolNix

Test: MakeMKV (make 2 files from discs)--> MKVToolNix to Merge the files --> Big fat FAIL. Audio merges, but the video doesn't. Rechaptering is meaningless to fix. I must have tried 5 different ways (rechaptering, post/pre Handbrake, nada).

Then, I downloaded the DVDFab trial, just for fun. Guess what? It works.

Trial 1:
DVDFab (2 files from discs - OMG, they were huge about 27GB a piece) --> MKVToolNix to Merge the files --> error in console, but the 60GB file is flawless
Trial 2:
DVDFab --> Renumber the chapters --> MKVToolNix to Merge the files --> error in console, but the 60GB file is flawless
Trial 3:
DVDFab --> Renumber the chapters --> MKVToolNix to Merge the files --> error in console, but the file is flawless --> Handbrake to put the file on a diet (~16GB) --> flawless smaller file



So if you are having an issue with errors on the merge, try the fab trial.