BluRay/HD-DVD to Apple TV??

[ansalmo]

What's a good target bit rate for the Apple TV?

All references I've seen say something along the lines of (snipped from Mac Developer Journal):

Main Profile (up to Level 3.1) H.264 progressive video with B-Frames up to 1280 x 720 (720p) at 24 fps with a maximum bitrate of 5Mbps (5,000kbps) and AAC-LC encoded stereo audio with a maximum sampling rate of 44.1kHz.

Though they also mention:

As for the video’s maximum bitrate, that 5Mbps isn’t a hard limit. The Apple TV will accept files that include data spikes as high as 12Mbps.

So stick to the 4500-5000kbps level I guess.

 

[nordesmic]

Just finished my first HD-DVD encoding effort. Took 36 hours using Nero Vision as outlined in the Guide I posted earlier. Video looks perfect on the PS3 but unfortunately the sound is out-of-sync. I just have to fix the framerate, so hopefully I don't need to reencode. I can't test a 720p sample on AppleTV cos I don't have one unfortunately. I'll have a go at reencoding some of the video to play in Quicktime.

 

[basketcase]

I've been using MPEG Streamclip for converting HD files

Related to this topic. I have been capturing 1080i/720p unencrypted content (hDef Warriors B-ball, PBS Concerts etc) from my cable set top box via firewire and a Mac Mini. I take the Mpeg2 files and convert and re-encode to H.264 using MPEG Streamclip. I scale down and de-interlace the 1080i content to 720p 24 fps at 6000k. Looks and works great on the AppleTV. Looking for a solution to rip my Blu-Ray library to to a file supported by MPEG Streamclip so that I can add this content to my iTunes library as well.

 

[smilinmonki666]

I've found a temp way around this...

I hate the method, but I'm using bit torrent to download .mkv files which should be retaining the exact file information/ data & then use Visual Hub to encode it into a .mp4 file with AC3 passthrough...

I just wish there was another option to do this, I hate downloading even though I'm only downloading the films I already OWN!!!

This is a joke, the guys from Mac The Ripper/ DVDdecrypter/ HandBrake & Visual Hub do a fantastic job, if only they worked on HD-DVD's & BluRay. I use AnyDVD on ripping the HD Disc's but a converter would be great. I just want one box solution, I don't really watch TV, I watch films & concerts. I don't want to spend £££'s on my DVD's/ HD-DVD's/ Blu-Ray disc's & have them damaged by others & have to spend £££'s to replace them. At least the artwork/ box set's are also kept safe as well using the TV!!!

I just wish you could do this with game's too. If MicroSoft brought out a Game Server for your xBox 36o I would buy 1 tomorrow. At least your game's never get damaged...!

 

[nordesmic]

I think I've finally cracked it. That is converting HD-DVD to a format compatible with both AppleTV and the PS3. I just converted a 20 second, 720p file and it is playable in Quicktime.

Here is the method I have used. Every step is completely necessary if you want your file to play perfectly. You will need a lot of Hard Disk space because the video needs to be changed into different containers 3 or 4 times.

1. Once you have ripped the Disc using AnyDVD HD you will need to use EVODemux to extract the VC1 stream and the .Eac3 audio stream.

2. Convert the audio stream to .ac3 using Eac3to. Instructions for this are included in the guide I posted a few posts back.

3. Convert the .vc1 stream to 23.976 fps using vc1conv. This is a command line tool but is not very complicated. Can be found here

4. Then you need to go through a few steps which allow the new stream to be read by popular video encoders (I'm using Super). The process is VC12avi ---> VirtualDubMod ---> SolveigMM ASF Muxer. This guide goes through it in more detail. Keep in mind that each of these steps will create a new file of about 15-20 GB. Each step will take 30 minutes approximately.

5. After ASF Muxer has done its job you should be left with a .asf file. This file can be read by Super.

6. Then just use the GUI to set the size 1280*720, framerate 23.976 and the bitrate of your choice. For AppleTV you will also need to change the h.264 profile level to 3.1 by selecting the h.264 profile button. Disable audio because we haven't got any at this stage). Also, right-click in the drop box and select "output file save management" to save your converted file in the right spot. Conversion to 720p will probably take 5-6 hours

7. Once the conversion of the video is finished you will need to mux in the audio (.ac3) from earlier. Now I'm not sure of the best way to do this but it is possible to just add the .ac3 by copying and pasting it into the video using Quicktime Pro (Add to Selection and Scale). If you save the new file you should have a 720p .mov stream with 5.1 audio. Visualhub may be necessary for AppleTV output.

I estimate the total encoding time will be roughly 8 hours from demuxing the original video and audio streams to having your file playing on your AppleTV.

 

[gkarris]

^^^^^^

Wow, just wow...

Thanks for pioneering these efforts.

Looks like for me I'll just wait until Handbrake cracks HD DVD/Blu discs.

I got an extra HD DVD drive for my XB360 - can't go wrong for $50. Keep as a spare or hook it up to a Mac when the High-Def version of Handbrake is finally out!