[Matroska-users] MKVToolNix v17.0.0 released

[Moritz Bunkus]

Hey,

Here's release v17.0.0 of MKVToolNix. The rather short timespan since
the previous release is due to a nasty bug in the VC-1 code that a lot
of people are hitting with v16.

Other important changes are the overhaul of mkvextract's command line
interface and all programs using the word "timestamp" instead of
"timecode" (which also affects mkvmerge's command line interface). See
the news below for more information.

There were no changes for package maintainers.

Here are the usual links:

…to the source code: https://mkvtoolnix.download/source.html
…to the binaries: https://mkvtoolnix.download/downloads.html

The Windows and macOS binaries are available already. The Linux
binaries are stil being built and will be available of the course of
the next couple of hours.

Here are the NEWS since the previous release:

------------------------------------------------------------
# Version 17.0.0 "Be Ur Friend" 2017-10-14

## Important notes

* The word "timecode" has been changed to "timestamp" everywhere it was
  used in MKVToolNix. This affects program output (including mkvinfo's), GUI
  controls, command line parameters (e.g. `mkvmerge --timestamp-scale …`) and
  file formats. All programs remain backwards compatible insofar as they still
  accept "timecode" in all those places (e.g. `mkvmerge --timecode-scale …`).

  The reason for the change is wrong usage. What both the Matroska specification
  and MKVToolNix used "timecode" for is normally called a "timestamp" in audio &
  video domains. A "timecode" on the other hand has a specific meaning. As the
  Matroska specification is moving towards implementing real timecodes, it will
  also move towards correcting the verbiage. MKVToolNix is following this
  change.

* mkvextract's command line interface has been changed to allow extraction of
  multiple items at the same time. The first argument must now be the source
  file's name. All following arguments either set the mode (e.g. `tracks`) or
  specify what to extract in the currently active mode.

  Those items that were written to the standard output (chapters, tags and cue
  sheets) are now always written to files instead. Therefore the respective
  modes require an output file name.

  For example, extracting two tracks, the chapters and the tags can be done
  with the following command:

  `mkvextract input.mkv tracks 0:video.h265 1:audio.aac chapters chapters.xml tags tags.xml`

  The old interface (specifying the mode first and the source file name
  second) remains working and supported. However, it is now deprecated and
  will be removed at the end of 2018.

## New features and enhancements

* mkvmerge: AC-3: during identification regular AC-3 and E-AC-3 tracks will
  now be identified differently for most container formats (exception: AVI,
  Real Media, Ogg/OGM). The codec will be reported as `AC-3` for regular AC-3
  and as `E-AC-3` for E-AC-3 tracks instead of the combined `AC-3/E-AC-3`.
* mkvextract: the command line interface has been changed to allow extraction
  of multiple items at the same time. See section "Important notes" for details.

## Bug fixes

* mkvmerge: AAC ADTS parser: mkvmerge will now parse the
  `program_config_element` if it is located at the start of an AAC frame in
  order to determine the actual number of channels. This overrides invalid
  channel configurations in the ADTS headers, for example. Fixes #2107.
* mkvmerge: fixed AC-3 being misdetected as encrypted MPEG program streams
  under certain conditions.
* mkvmerge: Dirac: under certain conditions (e.g. only muxing a single Dirac
  track without any other tracks) mkvmerge was always setting the pixel width
  & height to 123. The frame rate was wrong, too.
* mkvmerge: E-AC-3 in Matroska: if AC-3 cores and their corresponding E-AC-3
  extension are located in two different Matroska blocks, then mkvmerge will
  now re-assemble them into a single block and only use the first block's
  timestamp.
* mkvmerge: SRT reader: fixed calculating the duration of entries starting
  with at a negative timestamp.
* mkvmerge: VC-1: under certain conditions (e.g. only muxing a single VC-1
  track without any other tracks) mkvmerge was always setting the pixel width
  & height to 123. The frame rate was wrong, too. Fixes #2113.
* mkvmerge: command line options: an error message will be output if the
  single-value-form of the `--sync` option is used and it isn't a number
  (e.g. `--sync 0:asd`). Fixes #2121.
* mkvpropedit, GUI's header editor: both programs will now show proper error
  messages instead of crashing when certain kinds of data corruption is found
  when reading a file. Fixes #2115.[/quote]
------------------------------------------------------------

Have fun :)

Kind regards,
mosu