DaVinci Resolve is free, absurdly powerful, and beloved. It also refuses to open your MKV files. No helpful error. Just a refusal. The first time feels personal.
- MKV and MP4 are just wrappers around the same video data. Learning that demystifies half the format problems you will ever hit. - The workaround that always works: remux the MKV into MP4. No re-encoding, zero quality loss, takes seconds. - Any free desktop converter handles it. Make it a habit and you stop noticing the extra step. - Why has Blackmagic not added MKV support? Nobody outside the company knows. Do not hold your breath.
Treat a good converter as part of your Resolve toolkit, like a spare battery. And if you would rather spend time creating than converting, ReelCut turns full episodes into captioned shorts for $4.99 a video.