Blu-ray to AppleTV software (Windows)

[mpossjr]

I am looking for a good program to rip my Blu-ray movies to MP4 or M4V to play on my AppleTV 3. I am looking to get the file sizes somewhere in the 2-5 GB range while maintaining good quality audio and video.

I have used DVDFab in the past for my dvds but I have never tried it with Blu-ray. I have seen a lot of talk about Handbrake here but it seems that the ATV3 preset needs to be tweaked a little for each disk. Is that right?
I'm looking for a "set it, and forget it" setup.

 

[mic j]

I am looking for a good program to rip my Blu-ray movies to MP4 or M4V to play on my AppleTV 3. I am looking to get the file sizes somewhere in the 2-5 GB range while maintaining good quality audio and video.

I have used DVDFab in the past for my dvds but I have never tried it with Blu-ray. I have seen a lot of talk about Handbrake here but it seems that the ATV3 preset needs to be tweaked a little for each disk. Is that right?
I'm looking for a "set it, and forget it" setup.

I have used Clown BD in combination with AnyDVDHD very successfully to generate iso images. Handbrake can then transcode the main movie to m4v. I use Handbrake on the Mac side now, using a modified aTV 3 preset. The only "tweak" I do is to set the anamorphic video setting from loose to strict and select web optimize. I then take the modified preset and make it a default preset. When I open HB it automatically chooses my modified preset. I select the title track I want to convert and hit "Start". That's it.

Edit: I really spaced...On the Mac side I use MakeMKV to rip BR. It does an excellent job is free and does not need AnyDVDHD, which is an excellent product but pricey. The also have a Windows version.

 

[ScootPatoot]

I The only "tweak" I do is to set the anamorphic video setting from loose to strict and select web optimize.

Can you explain your reason for this? Why the change from loose to strict and why "web optimize"? Doesn't the latter lower the quality of the output file? I'm not too familiar with the differences of loose and strict so I've left it at loose. What benefits does strict have?

 

[mic j]

Can you explain your reason for this? Why the change from loose to strict and why "web optimize"? Doesn't the latter lower the quality of the output file? I'm not too familiar with the differences of loose and strict so I've left it at loose. What benefits does strict have?

Loose vs Strict: Occasionally, using loose will result in an 1080p file being downscaled to 720p with a horrendous quality hit. Strict always works and reproduces the original. It has the weakness of not playing nice with certain media players, but the aTV is not one of them.

Web Optimize: Has no impact on quality. All it does is move an "atom" from the end of the file to the beginning. This was developed to enhance streaming of videos as the video does not have to completely load to get the information from the atom. I found loading of BR's to be "iffy". Sometimes they would just sit there and never load. Since using the "web optimize", I have had no problem loading large files. And, like I said, it has no quality/encode speed impact.

Hope that helps.

 

[ScootPatoot]

Hope that helps.

Very much! Thanks!

 

[mpossjr]

I have used Clown BD in combination with AnyDVDHD very successfully to generate iso images. Handbrake can then transcode the main movie to m4v. I use Handbrake on the Mac side now, using a modified aTV 3 preset. The only "tweak" I do is to set the anamorphic video setting from loose to strict and select web optimize. I then take the modified preset and make it a default preset. When I open HB it automatically chooses my modified preset. I select the title track I want to convert and hit "Start". That's it.

Edit: I really spaced...On the Mac side I use MakeMKV to rip BR. It does an excellent job is free and does not need AnyDVDHD, which is an excellent product but pricey. The also have a Windows version.

What do your finished file sizes end up being? Is it still in ""1080p"" or is it downconverted to ""720p"". If the difference between ""720"" and ""1080"" is only about 1 or 2 GB then I would rather take the 1080. If the size jumps more than that I will be fine with 720.

Are there any other programs that allow a "1 step" conversion?

 

[mic j]

What do your finished file sizes end up being? Is it still in ""1080p"" or is it downconverted to ""720p"". If the difference between ""720"" and ""1080"" is only about 1 or 2 GB then I would rather take the 1080. If the size jumps more than that I will be fine with 720.

Are there any other programs that allow a "1 step" conversion?

I don't have experience with changing resolution from 1080 to 720, so, can't help you there. I maintain the quality of the original, whatever it may be 480, 720 or 1080. My 1080p rips can be anywhere from 6-16GB. Final size really depends on the source (movie length, graininess, scene darkness, etc). DVDfab may be as close to "1-step" as you will find, but you pay nicely for that feature.

 

[ScootPatoot]

mic j, maybe you'd know the answer to this. Should I keep the Framerate at the AppleTV 3's default of 30 fps or should I change it to Same as Source?

Edit:
Reading another thread answered this question. 30 is the peak framerate and it will default to same as source so long as the source is under 30. If the source is over 30, it will peak at 30 (if I understood it correctly).

 

[mpossjr]

FYI - The winner is.....

After A LOT of hours of trial and error and downloading various programs, I found the best solution for ripping Blu-Ray to MP4. And the winner is..... MakeMKV with Handbrake. I thought that an "all-in-one" solution was ther best option but after trying out the different programs using various methods, nothing compares to the MakeMKV/Handbrake combo.

""I am using a laptop that I just purchased with a 2.5 Ghz i5 3rd generation, with 6GB RAM. The MakeMKV took about 30 min to make a 30GB MKV from a Blu-Ray source. I then used Handbrake with the 720p AppleTV2 preset to encode to M4V. It took about 2 hours to encode and I ended up with a great quality rip that is just under 2.5 GB. I then used MetaX to tag (5 min). The faster your processor, the faster the encode will be.""

Next I will try out the 180p AppleTV 3 preset and im sure I will end up with another great quality rip that should com in around 4-5 GB.

If I would have just stuck with what was posted in the countless Handbrake posts I could have saved my entire weekend for something more useful like re-inventing the wheel.