x264 .mkv to .avi format and cutting

[TuLesto]

Hello, I've been searching for a method for converting hd content *(in this case a .mkv file) specifically into an avi file. Is there anyone that can shed some more light on this...

I'm looking for an easy way to cut the file into two halves as well.

Thanks

[Seal Daemon]

Have you already tried mencoder ?

[satish_j]

For the first part,you can use ffmpeg..see the documentation page for details at http://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-doc.html#SEC5
My experience so far with mkv to avi conversion has been unsuccessful,be it ffmpeg or any other utility..
I guess the reason for it is that the h264 video part in mkv container uses variable frame rate,whereas avi container is not suitable for such vfr..
I have successfully converted an mkv file to avi,but the converted file have audio and video out of sync..
All my attempts to search for a possible solution to it have so far not yielded any result...
You can visit my thread for same issue (from page 2)
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1473387