Batch-remove mkv titles only, no re-encode
Prompted by the answer to Any way to edit metadata of MKV files (without re-encoding)? it appears I should be able to do this with mkvpropedit
, part of MKVToolNix.
TL:DR All I want to do is remove any title, so VLC tells me the show title & episode number, as listed in the filename - not who helpfully ripped it so I didn't have to rip all my own DVDs. I don't even have a DVD player in the TV room any more, I'm putting it all on a Mac Pro.
I've tried doing this in the GUI of MKVToolNix but it seems I can only do one file at a time & I have dozens.
My intention would be to be able to save something as perhaps a script/automator applet, to make it drag & drop in future, see if I've missed some option in the GUI editor that would let me batch edit, or indeed find another tool which is capable of batch editing.
Essentially, this is what I'm trying to achieve, just not one at a time…
Per comments, app contents…
Edited to remove early guesswork, no longer needed
I was a bit unsure about trying a Java GUI app add-on for this, but I got it going reasonably easily.
Linked from MKVToolNix's GUIs and batch operations page I found JMkvpropedit
I couldn't initially persuade it to see the mkvpropedit
binary inside MKVToolNix, either from its own file-picker dialog, drag & drop or even editing the file path [it won't edit or paste], so like a true newbie, I just copied it out of the app's 'Show Contents' into my Apps folder - tadaah! Now it can find it & use it.
After that it was simple.
Drag set of files onto the Input tab.
On the General tab, check Title & add {file_name}
Click Process files.
Done in seconds.
To remove the title tag from every mkv file in a directory run
cd to/directory/with/mkv/files
for i in *; do mkvpropedit -d title "$i"; done
in Terminal.