Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Blu Ray Rip To Mac/Apple TV Help

M

Mr. Incredible

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 16, 2010
541
0
Southern California
Hi Guys

This is my first time posting in the forums, and although I saw a thread about blu ray ripping to the OSX, it is just too many pages of information to go through.

So I have a couple of Blu Ray movies that I want to rip to my iMac, but as everyone knows, iMac's are not able to read Blu Ray discs.

I would have to buy an external Blu Ray player, and I came across this website:

http://fastmac.com/blurayext

^Can you tell me which is a good one to get? My cousin told me the one that costs $200 is good.

But besides getting an external Blu Ray player, I'd need to have some software, and I came across this:

http://www.macblurayripperpro.com/releasenotes.html#mbrp104

I also downloaded Handbrake version 0.9.4.

So my question is this:

If I buy that $200 external Blu Ray player, and I connect it to my iMac with a USB cord. I put one of my Blu Ray movies inside the player. Will I be able to run that Mac BlurayRipper Pro software, to be able to rip the dvd?

Also, after ripping the dvd, I would have to use Handbrake to convert the file to be compatible with Apple TV, correct?

Because, my ultimate goal, is to get all of my Blu Ray movies, and Rip them to my iMac, so I can watch these movies on my tv, using Apple Tv.

Can you guys please help me with this?

Thank you.
 
hello!

the procedure you have described will work, however i feel that you can get it for MUCH cheaper then what you have said.

1. this samsung BD reader costs $79.99, it reads only, if you want a burner that will cost a few extra bucks.

2. then, pay from $20->$100 for an external case.

3. once you have those, download MakeMKV to rip your BDs to your hdd. it is free :)

from there you will be good to go!
 
Do not pay $200 for a burner, you only need a reader. You can get one for around $60. You will need to put it in an enclosure. I have this one and it works great. Once you have those two all you need to do is load up MakeMKV and rip! *Don't forget* do not select subtitles when creating your mkv file. If you do this then Handbrake will not be able to read the file for some reason. That being said the last step you need to take is encode with handbrake. They have an Appletv preset, you can adjust the picture to 720p. You can even take it a step further by downloading MetaX to get all the movie information in iTunes.

Good luck, if you have any questions keep asking.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Thank You All

I first want to thank everyone for the feedback, but I do have some more questions/comments.

I'm glad you guys told me that I only need a reader, cause that just saved me $100. I'll get the Samsung Blu Ray reader that DoFoT9 mentioned for $79.99.

I'll get the external case that rnelan7 suggested for $39.99. But in the pictures, it should a bunch of wires to connect the reader to the case? I'm not exactly tech friendly, but I do assume that there will be an instructional manual for this, correct?

Cave Man, I'll go with the Nightly Builds, but doesn't it cost money to use? I downloaded Handbrake last night, and what I noticed is that in the place of the icon on my dock, is a giant question mark, until I click on it, then I get the ugly pineapple margarita icon, and this white disk drive(?) on my desktop. Not sure if I downloaded it right, but I'll delete the Handbrake, and I'll go with the Nightly Builds.

As for the MakeMKV, I looked at the website, and its only for 60 Days. I'd have to buy it. But I'm sure that I can get it off of torrents for free, right?

And, one more question, and I hope that no one thinks wrongly of me after saying this, but....

Don't most Blu Ray dvds already come with a Digital Copy when you buy it? ;) Well, I don't plan on buying my Blu Ray dvds, but lets just say that I want to "borrow" it, and then I rip it to my computer. Will that "person" be able to detect what I did? :D

Oh, and Cave Man, I bookmarked your Blu-Ray to Apple TV, but it just looks a bit too confusing, cause I think you have 2 (maybe 3?) different instructions simultaneously written out. Just wanted to give you my 2 cents on that, no disrespect, just saying.

Hope to get some more feedback from you guys, and again, thanks for all the help!
 
The digital copies are copy protected -- you need to enter a code to access it, plus, they are copyright protected, so it is not cool to steal. Also the digital copies are SD, not HD. If you own the BluRay encoding them is arguably fair use. That is my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

MakeMKV will allow you to download another copy and reset your trial period, I believe. However, I bought it to thank them and encourage continued support.
 
I'm not saying that I'm gonna steal anything, I said that I'm going to borrow them from a friend.

Will I be able to download the MakeMKV from a torrent and get the full version?
 
Mr. Incredible said:
I'm not saying that I'm gonna steal anything, I said that I'm going to borrow them from a friend.

Will I be able to download the MakeMKV from a torrent and get the full version?
Click to expand...

Mr. Incredible said:
And, one more question, and I hope that no one thinks wrongly of me after saying this, but....

Don't most Blu Ray dvds already come with a Digital Copy when you buy it? ;) Well, I don't plan on buying my Blu Ray dvds, but lets just say that I want to "borrow" it, and then I rip it to my computer. Will that "person" be able to detect what I did? :D
Click to expand...

You're missing the point--he's not talking about stealing from your friend (although, technically you are). You're stealing the film from the company who distributed it by cracking the encryption (ripping it) and creating a copy for your own use without paying for the film.

Same goes for the software. Developers work hard to put together these programs and looking for a way to circumvent any cost/fees is also basically theft. To put your mind at ease about having to spend any more money than you have to, MakeMKV is free while in beta (see this post in the MakeMKV forums).
 
Let me know how that works out. I'm considering converting my blu-rays as well. I already went through the pain of 400 dvd's. 30 or 40 blu-rays can't be too bad I hope.
 
rnelan7 said:
Do not pay $200 for a burner, you only need a reader. You can get one for around $60. You will need to put it in an enclosure. I have this one and it works great. Once you have those two all you need to do is load up MakeMKV and rip! *Don't forget* do not select subtitles when creating your mkv file. If you do this then Handbrake will not be able to read the file for some reason. That being said the last step you need to take is encode with handbrake. They have an Appletv preset, you can adjust the picture to 720p. You can even take it a step further by downloading MetaX to get all the movie information in iTunes.

Good luck, if you have any questions keep asking.
Click to expand...

I have a question on sort of the same subject (ripping my personal Blu-Ray library to a Mac Mini in order to play through Plex):

Am I able to choose the audio soundtrack I want to play back? Particularly, I need the Lossless HD audio encoded on the original disc (whether that be TrueHD or DTS MA). My understanding of MakeMKV is that it doesn't like the HD audio formats and discards them when it sees them.

Does the Blu-Ray Ripper product do the same? (http://www.pavtube.com/blu-ray-ripper-mac/)

Thanks!
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Forced Subtitles appearing in Blu-ray rips/encodes without conversion.

rnelan7 said:
*Don't forget* do not select subtitles when creating your mkv file. If you do this then Handbrake will not be able to read the file for some reason.
Click to expand...

Not sure what problem you're having but I can select any of the subtitles and have never had HB have a problem reading the file.

In fact, as I was going to have another go at converting the sup subtitles to VOB subs, I included all of the English subtitles in my last MakeMKV rip (Iron Man 2) but later realized the process laid out for me required Windows (not running it on any of my Macs). I was resigned to finding a .srt file to add the forced subs for non-English speaking parts via Subler after encoding with Handbrake but when I went to view the film on my :apple:TV and via PLEX, the forced subs where already there.

I thought it wasn't possible to burn-in forced subs to blu-ray rips/encodes without a bunch of extra work. Any idea what's changed?
 
Just a quick question for anyone that might know...does an hour sound about right for a 720p mkv to m4v convert sound about right?

I have all my media attached to my Airport Extreme and doing a handbrake encode for 720p takes quite a while with the Apple TV preset, just wanted to make sure nothing was going wrong. Specs of computer in sig.
 
DeusInvictus7 said:
Just a quick question for anyone that might know...does an hour sound about right for a 720p mkv to m4v convert sound about right?

I have all my media attached to my Airport Extreme and doing a handbrake encode for 720p takes quite a while with the Apple TV preset, just wanted to make sure nothing was going wrong. Specs of computer in sig.
Click to expand...

I'm jealous--my blu-ray encodes from a .mkv to a 720p .m4v playable on an :apple:TV usually take about 8-10 hours on my C2D Mac Mini. I'd guess your encoding time sounds about right.
 
Irishman said:
I have a question on sort of the same subject (ripping my personal Blu-Ray library to a Mac Mini in order to play through Plex):

Am I able to choose the audio soundtrack I want to play back? Particularly, I need the Lossless HD audio encoded on the original disc (whether that be TrueHD or DTS MA). My understanding of MakeMKV is that it doesn't like the HD audio formats and discards them when it sees them.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

I thought MakeMKV handled the lossless codecs fine. I haven't looked in a while, but I thought it did.

You'll need a media player that pass through the lossless codecs to your receiver. This is rare.
 
Makemkv doesn't have any problems with losless audio.

But whats next? How can i stay with the losless audio tracks n get down the file size? Handbrake doesn't accept it. 20-35GB per movie is way to much for my hard drive...
 
tbayrgs said:
Not sure what problem you're having but I can select any of the subtitles and have never had HB have a problem reading the file.

In fact, as I was going to have another go at converting the sup subtitles to VOB subs, I included all of the English subtitles in my last MakeMKV rip (Iron Man 2) but later realized the process laid out for me required Windows (not running it on any of my Macs). I was resigned to finding a .srt file to add the forced subs for non-English speaking parts via Subler after encoding with Handbrake but when I went to view the film on my :apple:TV and via PLEX, the forced subs where already there.

I thought it wasn't possible to burn-in forced subs to blu-ray rips/encodes without a bunch of extra work. Any idea what's changed?
Click to expand...

I had a problem with a couple that had subtitles attached. MakeMKV would display an error stating it was an invalid source. I googeled away and foudn it was the subtitles. Maybe they work on some and not others. I never use subtitles anyway so it doesn't matter for me.
 
Irishman said:
I have a question on sort of the same subject (ripping my personal Blu-Ray library to a Mac Mini in order to play through Plex):

Am I able to choose the audio soundtrack I want to play back? Particularly, I need the Lossless HD audio encoded on the original disc (whether that be TrueHD or DTS MA). My understanding of MakeMKV is that it doesn't like the HD audio formats and discards them when it sees them.

Does the Blu-Ray Ripper product do the same? (http://www.pavtube.com/blu-ray-ripper-mac/)

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You can choose lossless in MakeMKV. I have no experience with Blu-Ray ripper so I am unsure.
 
Mr. Incredible said:
I'll get the external case that rnelan7 suggested for $39.99. But in the pictures, it should a bunch of wires to connect the reader to the case? I'm not exactly tech friendly, but I do assume that there will be an instructional manual for this, correct?

As for the MakeMKV, I looked at the website, and its only for 60 Days. I'd have to buy it. But I'm sure that I can get it off of torrents for free, right?
Click to expand...

Installation of a 5.25" drive is pretty simple and easy. They provide instructions in the manual also, you shouldn't have a problem. As for MakeMKV, I haven't had any problems with the 60 day trial. Typically every time I start the program up it always says starting demo now. Even if it does expire you can always re-download and install.
 
Cave Man said:
Don't use HB 0.9.4. Get one of the nightly builds. Support for Blu-ray is far superior with a nightly.
Click to expand...
oh, really? whats wrong with it ?

Mr. Incredible said:
I'm glad you guys told me that I only need a reader, cause that just saved me $100. I'll get the Samsung Blu Ray reader that DoFoT9 mentioned for $79.99.
Click to expand...
good choice ;)

Cave Man, I'll go with the Nightly Builds, but doesn't it cost money to use? I downloaded Handbrake last night, and what I noticed is that in the place of the icon on my dock, is a giant question mark, until I click on it, then I get the ugly pineapple margarita icon, and this white disk drive(?) on my desktop. Not sure if I downloaded it right, but I'll delete the Handbrake, and I'll go with the Nightly Builds.
Click to expand...
it sounds like you are running from the DMG - please read this guide to learn a bit more :0

As for the MakeMKV, I looked at the website, and its only for 60 Days. I'd have to buy it. But I'm sure that I can get it off of torrents for free, right?
Click to expand...
makemkv has a 60 day "trial". once that expires you simply go to their website and download it again and its usable for another 60 days. this will work so long as the program is still in beta, after that you will have to purchase it.
 
DoFoT9 said:
hello!

the procedure you have described will work, however i feel that you can get it for MUCH cheaper then what you have said.

1. this samsung BD reader costs $79.99, it reads only, if you want a burner that will cost a few extra bucks.

2. then, pay from $20->$100 for an external case.

3. once you have those, download MakeMKV to rip your BDs to your hdd. it is free :)

from there you will be good to go!
Click to expand...
So, I'm about to buy the Samsung BD reader, I haven't ordered it yet, but I'm going to right now, its actually on sale for $69.99, instead of $79.99, so thats good! But you know what, I just found this right here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325 <Can you tell me if thats any good or not? It got a lot of great reviews, and its $20 cheaper than the Samsung.

As for the external case, do I have to have one now, or can I wait on it? I noticed that there are a lot of cases of all sizes, and I can't find the specs for the size of the Samsung reader. I wouldn't want to get the wrong case and lose the money, you know?

And now, I'm about follow your instructions to properly download MakeMKV and Handbrake.

Thanks for the help thus far! Once I get all the supplies ready, I'll come back for more help before I begin to rip my first blu ray movie.
 
Mr. Incredible said:
So, I'm about to buy the Samsung BD reader, I haven't ordered it yet, but I'm going to right now, its actually on sale for $69.99, instead of $79.99, so thats good! But you know what, I just found this right here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325 <Can you tell me if thats any good or not? It got a lot of great reviews, and its $20 cheaper than the Samsung.

As for the external case, do I have to have one now, or can I wait on it? I noticed that there are a lot of cases of all sizes, and I can't find the specs for the size of the Samsung reader. I wouldn't want to get the wrong case and lose the money, you know?

And now, I'm about follow your instructions to properly download MakeMKV and Handbrake.

Thanks for the help thus far! Once I get all the supplies ready, I'll come back for more help before I begin to rip my first blu ray movie.
Click to expand...

That drive will be fine. The enclosure you will need is a 5.25", I highly recommend the one I have. If you decide otherwise just make sure it is 5.25" and supports SATA, you do not want an IDE drive bay.
 
rnelan7 said:
That drive will be fine. The enclosure you will need is a 5.25", I highly recommend the one I have. If you decide otherwise just make sure it is 5.25" and supports SATA, you do not want an IDE drive bay.
Click to expand...

So the link that I provided, that drive that costs $49.99 is fine, right? Perfect, DoFoT9 do you agree? :)

So, rnelan7, a 5.25'' enclosure will fit that $49.99 drive, right? Do you have any links to an enclosure that you'd recommend to go with that drive?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back