MKVExtractGUI

MKVExtractGUI is an excellent little utility designed to demux MKV video files and to extract chapters, as well as audio streams and subtitles. The application was designed as a Graphical User Interface for MKVToolnix’s extraction module.

The Matroska format, also known as MKV is a highly popular container since it can hold a great number of media files, together with sounds and subtitles. It’s widely used in television and the movie industry because it can encase an immense quantity of multimedia data without visible loss in quality.

Due to its somewhat permissive structure, MKV containers can be technologically reversed, which means it is possible to extract the streams in their original form when the situation requires you to. Whether you need the subtitles or the soundtracks included in an MKV video, you can demux the file in order to obtain those.

MKVExtractGUI is one solution that can rise up to the task. It’s based on MKVToolnix’s strong extraction engine, but it’s a lot more comfortable to work with. This is mainly because MKVExtractGUI, as its name may suggest, features a user interface, unlike MKVToolnix, which is command line based.

In order to make it work properly, you are required to place the installation files inside the same folder as MKVToolnix. Once you’ve managed to successfully launch it, you can start exploring its features by selecting a source MKV video and selecting the content you wish to extract (tracks, chapters, and subtitles). Attachments and timecodes can be retrieved separately, while the chapter list can be demuxed to XML or TXT files.

During our tests, the application behaved quite nicely. The extraction interval is quite short and all the content was decompressed without significant loss in quality.

To sum it all up, MKVExtractGUI is a great choice for MKV enthusiasts. It’s a great alternative to MKVToolnix’s extraction utility because it’s simpler to work inside an interface instead of the command line.