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Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Thanks again Caveman. I will see what the result is and try the original .mkv again in HB today and see what happens with it. Also, I haven't tried this file yet, but I used makemkv on "Horton Hears a Who." Will HB be able to handle the DTS audio on this one properly straight from the .mkv, or do I need to attempt to extract this one out in tsmuxer instead? I thought I read somewhere that the aTV can't handle DTS?

Thanks.
 
Handbrake will open files with DTS audio, but if you want to send it to the Apple TV you'll need to put it into an m4v container, and DTS cannot go into an m4v container (but can go into an mkv container). So you'd end up with Dolby Pro Logic, a 5-channel "analog" audio track. There are way to transcode DTS to AC3 DD (which can go into an m4v) but I've not done it before. There are posts here that discus it and I think the first post has a link to such information.
 
File Size vs. Quality

Hi Caveman and everyone,

So I finished my first two encodes. I was able to successfully convert Dark Knight and Cars. Both look substantially better than my original DVD encodes! Thanks to all the help from this forum and contributors!

So I am curious about the filesizes and the quality. I noticed that the Dark Knight ended up being slightly smaller than Cars, which really surprised me because the film has alternating aspect ratios and is a much longer film. Cars ended up being only 3.43gig which seems really small considering the source was over 25gigs. I also noticed that both films tend to have some blockiness in the backgrounds.

Are there better settings for me to use that would yield a higher transfer (CBR instead of CQ of 60& perhaps)? I have plenty of HDD space so I am not concerned with some of these films being over 5gigs.

Thanks.
 
dvdflashbacks said:
Are there better settings for me to use that would yield a higher transfer (CBR instead of CQ of 60& perhaps)? I have plenty of HDD space so I am not concerned with some of these films being over 5gigs.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

you sort of answered your own question. boost the CBR right up. the action scenes of batman would get really quite high, probably somewhere >40mbps or even greater. of course it would be stupid to encode the whole film at that rate, just muck around with it a bit i guess.
 
What RF value did you use? You definitely do not want to do HD encodes with ABR; you can increase the RF if you want, but don't go crazy... Raising it a point or two can make a lot of difference.
 
NightStorm said:
What RF value did you use? You definitely do not want to do HD encodes with ABR; you can increase the RF if you want, but don't go crazy... Raising it a point or two can make a lot of difference.
Click to expand...

When you say raising it, do you mean going from RF=20 to say RF=19?

I just tried to queue up Dark Knight again in HB at around 64.75% for the Constant Quality setting, which I think was RF=18. This unfortunately caused HB to crash after a couple of minutes.

I am trying 19 right now, and although it says it will take 19 hours to finish, it so far is working and not crashing.

I guess my main concern is getting the blockiness out of most of the backgrounds if possible.
 
Pavtube

Has anyone tried the Pavtube Blu-ray ripper for mac?
http://www.pavtube.com/blu-ray-ripper-mac/
It is half price compared to the ripper from slysoft (wich I already own) but if this can rip, work with codecs and create a file that will play on a mac while never needing to reboot into bootcamp seems poifect.
 
scarpogre said:
Has anyone tried the Pavtube Blu-ray ripper for mac?
http://www.pavtube.com/blu-ray-ripper-mac/
It is half price compared to the ripper from slysoft (wich I already own) but if this can rip, work with codecs and create a file that will play on a mac while never needing to reboot into bootcamp seems poifect.
Click to expand...

MakeMKV does this for free. So far, the only BD it hasn't been able to rip (out of 10 processed so far) is "Serenity", which suffers a "fatal error" shortly into the ripping process. The success list includes BD+ disks.
 
Bolt not working in Handbrake.

MCRunning said:
Thanks for the help everyone. I just finished converting Bolt to a .mp4 and it seems to work. You guys were right, I went under the folder "PLAYLIST" and just loaded the file 00350.mpls into TSmuxer. TSmuxer read it and I was able to make a .m2ts file.

I will try Watchmen later tonight and let you guys know if I have any success with it.

Edit: I did the same thing for Watchmen and it worked. There were some errors in TSmuxer saying it couldn't recognize some of the files, but after handbraking everything, it looks good. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Hey MCRunning,

I am also having trouble with Bolt. How did you open this file in TSMuxer. I have tried using the add files option and choosing the 00350.mpls and nothing happens. Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to use MakeMKV on this fileset first?

I initially tried using MakeMKV and it had two different file sets that were both over 20GB. I picked one and tried using Handbrake, but it just froze up after 51% encoding.


Any thoughts?

Thanks.
 
scarpogre said:
Has anyone tried the Pavtube Blu-ray ripper for mac?
http://www.pavtube.com/blu-ray-ripper-mac/
It is half price compared to the ripper from slysoft (wich I already own) but if this can rip, work with codecs and create a file that will play on a mac while never needing to reboot into bootcamp seems poifect.
Click to expand...

When trying to go straight from disk to Apple TV, Pavtube kept crashing after a couple of hours on Futurama Bender's Game which was the first disk I tried it with.

When I did get a full rip of a couple of other movies I noticed little stutters in the video every so often and the output just isn't quite as good (or small) as Handbrake.

Since then I've been using AnyDVD under Parallels to rip without fail and PavTube just to 'directly copy' the movie m2ts file from anyDVD's rip ready for Handbrake (I'm on Snow Leopard so TsMuxer hasn't been an option).
 
Target Size vs. Average Bitrate vs. Constant Quality

Hello everyone,

So I have managed to get a few more blurays onto my aTV. The quality of all of them on my 1080p DLP have been pretty darn good, but I am a bit confused on how these HD files could have such small file sizes and retain the best quality.

I have tried using Constant Quality on all of my rips, between the recommended 60.78% (RF=20) and up to 66.67% (RF=17). Oddly, many of the resulting files (1280x720 resolution, keep aspect w/no anamorphic crop) ended up being smaller or the same file size as the original DVD rips. How can this be correct?

Here are some further questions I have regarding quality settings:

1. Does anyone have more info on the differences between TS/AB/CQ settings in Handbrake? Is one better?

2. With HDD space not being an issue for me (I have 4TB of space for my aTV) would I be better off using the Average Bitrate setting at around 6000 for my blurays to get the highest quality possible? (Keep in mind that I am mainly re-ripping all of my pixar animated movies from DVD to Bluray versions and the f/x driven type films like Transformers, Star Trek, etc.)

3. Do some film types (like CGI animated Disney movies) do better with one Handbrake setting over the others?

Thanks again to Caveman and everyone else involved in making this forum such a great source of information.

PS - In response to an earlier post of mine and for anyone interested, I was able to extract the proper version of Bolt using makemkv alone (after a failed attempt and ending up with the spanish version somehow, there were 3 seemingly identical files and the first one is the correct one to use as is the case with A Bugs Life)
 
Just a couple of quick questions about this. If i'm doing this all on OS X, the workflow would be:


  • Rip with MakeMKV
  • Transcode DTS to AC3 using the command-line utility linked from the first post in the thread
  • Encode with Handbrake using preset of your choice

Is that correct? I'm a bit confused because some posts seem to imply that you don't need to transcode the audio while others say you do, plus some workflows seem to include tsmuxer and others don't.

As an aside, will a BR rip downsampled to 720p for Apple TV look a lot better than a DVD rip transcoded to 720p? Not just theoretically better, but visibly better? I assume the higher bitrate of BR will give that rip the advantage. I also assume there wouldn't be much difference between the two when watching on an iPhone.
 
alFR said:
As an aside, will a BR rip downsampled to 720p for Apple TV look a lot better than a DVD rip transcoded to 720p? Not just theoretically better, but visibly better? I assume the higher bitrate of BR will give that rip the advantage. I also assume there wouldn't be much difference between the two when watching on an iPhone.
Click to expand...

720p will SO much better its not even funny!!

agreed with iphone though.
 
dvdflashbacks said:
Hello everyone,

So I have managed to get a few more blurays onto my aTV. The quality of all of them on my 1080p DLP have been pretty darn good, but I am a bit confused on how these HD files could have such small file sizes and retain the best quality.

I have tried using Constant Quality on all of my rips, between the recommended 60.78% (RF=20) and up to 66.67% (RF=17). Oddly, many of the resulting files (1280x720 resolution, keep aspect w/no anamorphic crop) ended up being smaller or the same file size as the original DVD rips. How can this be correct?

Here are some further questions I have regarding quality settings:

1. Does anyone have more info on the differences between TS/AB/CQ settings in Handbrake? Is one better?

2. With HDD space not being an issue for me (I have 4TB of space for my aTV) would I be better off using the Average Bitrate setting at around 6000 for my blurays to get the highest quality possible? (Keep in mind that I am mainly re-ripping all of my pixar animated movies from DVD to Bluray versions and the f/x driven type films like Transformers, Star Trek, etc.)

3. Do some film types (like CGI animated Disney movies) do better with one Handbrake setting over the others?

Thanks again to Caveman and everyone else involved in making this forum such a great source of information.

PS - In response to an earlier post of mine and for anyone interested, I was able to extract the proper version of Bolt using makemkv alone (after a failed attempt and ending up with the spanish version somehow, there were 3 seemingly identical files and the first one is the correct one to use as is the case with A Bugs Life)
Click to expand...

Do not use ABR/CBR with HD material. CRF is much better as it allows the encoder to use a higher bitrate when a scene requires it, and less when it doesn't. Don't forget that you're converting from a higher quality source than a DVD, which allows the encoder to work more efficiently. The RF values that you've selected are on the extreme end for what the majority of Handbrake mods/devs would recommend for HD encodes; typically you'll see values of 23-21.

It should be noted that using higher RF values like 20-17 will result in some encodes that drop frames/freeze on the AppleTV during more complex scenes as the AppleTV preset doesn't currently have any bitrate spike limits on it. Don't worry though, we're working on it right now... once our testing is complete and we find values that work well for streaming, I'll probably re-rip my HDDVD/Bluray collection using RF 21-20. :cool:
 
alFR said:
Just a couple of quick questions about this. If i'm doing this all on OS X, the workflow would be:


  • Rip with MakeMKV
  • Transcode DTS to AC3 using the command-line utility linked from the first post in the thread
  • Encode with Handbrake using preset of your choice

Is that correct?
Click to expand...

This is the exact way I have been doing this for months now. No need to transcode with TS muxer.
 
Thanks for the replies. Just need to find a UK source for a reasonably-priced USB BR reader/DVD writer and we're good to go. :)
 
caveman (or anybody!): i am in a bit of trouble and am wondering if i could have a bit of help - its not the right thread i know, but it might help somebody else :)

i have succesfully installed YDL onto my PS3 to copy BR movies, to turn them into mkv's and then do what i want with them. however, i am confused with the whole process - and some problems because of installation errors etc seem to play the biggest part in it.

i wont go into detail (because its too idiotic on my behalf probably, sudo doesnt work), but all i can do is basically copy the folder to my networked drive from the "/media/HANGOVER" location. so i have the entire BD folder there with all the .m2ts files, which makemkv cannot open. i converted the folder into an .iso file and am currently trying to use AnyDVD HD to see if it can remove the encryption on it - can i then use makemkv to convert to a mkv file? i dont wish to compress it at all.

anyway just wanted to know my options and thanks so much to anybody who could be bothered to reply :) greatly appreciated.
 
I have searched this thread and I am still unsure on how to add subtitles to a movie. Any help? Thanks.
 
VLC won't play 720p/1080p transcoded file

Hey Guys,

I'm new here and I tried searching for this issue somewhere else but no luck. Anyway, here's my problem:

  • I ripped a transformers 2 bluray using my ps3 following the guide I found here
  • I then usd AnyDVD HD to remove the security
  • I then used MakeMKV to take out just the movie
  • I then used HB to transcode it into 1080p m4v file -- it turned out to be ~11GB and it won't play in vlc or any other player

To debug the problem, I've tried the following:
  • Tried to play the ~32GB file produced by MakeMKV on vlc -- this plays fine
  • I tried transcoding a smaller version of the movie (i.e. only chapters 1-5) -- this plays fine
  • I've tried transcoding chapters 1-5 in 720p mkv, 720p m4v, 1080p mkv, 1080 m4v -- these all play fine
  • But, when I tried encoding it again (full movie this time) at 720p, HB finishes encoding but the file won't play (tried playing VLC, QT, frontrow, xbmc, ps3 -- no luck)

I'm thinking that there's a filesize limitation (4GB?) for playing files on vlc because the transformers2 transcoded in 1080p m4v is ~11GB and the 720p version is ~ 4.8GB. But, there's a hole in this theory since I have a file from a friend that is ~4.3GB and it plays fine.

I also checked that I have the most recent version of vlc and HB.

Btw, I'm running a 2.4GHz Intel MBP (Leopard 10.5.8). I'm thinking this is not a HW problem but I'm all ears at this point for any suggestions.

Another theory is that tranformers2 bluray is the problem -- I've had issues transcoding the dvd version of transformers2.

Again, I apologize if this has already been answered somewhere else -- I just couldn't find it. Please point me in the right direction if it does exist somewhere in this forum.

Any help would be much appreciated! :)

Thanks!
 
twelfthKnight said:
Hey Guys,

I'm thinking that there's a filesize limitation (4GB?) for playing files on vlc because the transformers2 transcoded in 1080p m4v is ~11GB and the 720p version is ~ 4.8GB. But, there's a hole in this theory since I have a file from a friend that is ~4.3GB and it plays fine.
Click to expand...
how can this be lol? you said you checked the original transformers file @32GB and it played fine? there is no limitation in VLC

I also checked that I have the most recent version of vlc and HB.
Click to expand...
good.

Another theory is that tranformers2 bluray is the problem -- I've had issues transcoding the dvd version of transformers2.
Click to expand...
could be some form of wierd data protection i guess, but i doubt it. did you tick the "large file support" in HB?
 
That's why I said there's a hole in the theory... :)

Thanks for the response btw. No, I didn't check the "large file support" in HB. I'm still new to this transcoding business so I wasn't aware of that.

Did a quick search in HB forums and it seems that this is necessary. Is 4GB the file size limit where you need to tick "large file size"?

I'll retry it again with the "large file size". Thanks again for the input.
 
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