So what do people do who have Apple TVs and Touches? Rip two files, or can you convert the Apple TV file into a Touch compatible file?
Or is there a preset I should use that will make a file compatible with both?
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Handbrake vs. Mac the ripper
- Thread starter tom1971
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So what do people do who have Apple TVs and Touches? Rip two files, or can you convert the Apple TV file into a Touch compatible file?
Or is there a preset I should use that will make a file compatible with both?
I just got an Apple TV myself about a month ago, and was curious about how to convert my DVD collection (200 or so) to files for the Apple TV. After much reading, I have come up with a process that I feel is pretty good. In case it benefits anyone or answers any questions, I will go through it here.
First, I have 3 computers doing this - my Core Duo iMac, my wife's C2D MacBook, and my work MBP. I tried using my G4 Powerbook, and honestly it ripped with MTR faster than any of the other 3 computers. But, with USB 1.0 it took about 2 hours to copy the 7GB DVD video folder to external. Every day after work I try to get a few movies ripped so they can encode overnight. Using Mac the Ripper 3, I rip about 6 movies to my iMac, 6 to my wife's computer, and 3 or 4 to the MBP. I then start Handbrake, use the Apple TV preset, turn on 2 pass and Turbo first pass, I start the encoding process.
My iMac takes right at 3 hours for each movie, so about 18 hours for the 6 I started. My wife's MacBook is faster, and might finish those 6 in about 14 hours. I only start 3 on my MBP because I want to make sure it is done by morning so I can close the lid and take it to work. Sometimes I wake up to find that Handbrake unexpectedly closed at some point during the night. It actually is pretty common. With all 3 computers encoding, it doesn't surprise me anymore if one of the 3 crashed after encoding one or two. After finding how far it made it, I just set Handbrake up again to pick up where it left off.
If I am encoding TV shows I need to make sure to turn on Deinterlace -> Slower. This adds A LOT of time to the encoding. After the encoding process, I tag the files using MetaX. I have also had to use Lostify for some TV shows that I couldn't get tagged right with MetaX.
I delete the DVD Video folders from MTR after encoding. I see no need to keep them around. If I want to make a backup DVD of something for my own archival, I can use Roxio's Popcorn on the DVD Video folder before deleting it.
If I want to put a movie on my iPod touch, I will put the original DVD back in and use Instant Handbrake to make that file on an as needed basis. ATV quality is my #1 concern. I feel that this process is practically DVD quality.
All of my movie are stored on external hard drives attached to my iMac. All content is streamed to the ATV.
This process is slow. Even with three computers going most of the time, it has still taken me several weeks to get where I am now, and I might be 70% finished with my collection. Between the time it takes for the processes to run and the fairly common Handbrake crashes, I might be averaging 7 or 8 movies a day. I still have several TV show season sets to do, and they take forever. I figure one 42 minute show takes as long to encode with deinterlace turned on as a full 2 hour movie. 22 episodes per season - I would guess between MTR, Handbrake, and tagging - about 3 hours per episode. 66 hours per season.
Hopefully this helps answer some questions. I know I read a ton of threads when I was getting ready to start doing this, and I think a post like this would have helped me tremendously.
First, I have 3 computers doing this - my Core Duo iMac, my wife's C2D MacBook, and my work MBP. I tried using my G4 Powerbook, and honestly it ripped with MTR faster than any of the other 3 computers. But, with USB 1.0 it took about 2 hours to copy the 7GB DVD video folder to external. Every day after work I try to get a few movies ripped so they can encode overnight. Using Mac the Ripper 3, I rip about 6 movies to my iMac, 6 to my wife's computer, and 3 or 4 to the MBP. I then start Handbrake, use the Apple TV preset, turn on 2 pass and Turbo first pass, I start the encoding process.
My iMac takes right at 3 hours for each movie, so about 18 hours for the 6 I started. My wife's MacBook is faster, and might finish those 6 in about 14 hours. I only start 3 on my MBP because I want to make sure it is done by morning so I can close the lid and take it to work. Sometimes I wake up to find that Handbrake unexpectedly closed at some point during the night. It actually is pretty common. With all 3 computers encoding, it doesn't surprise me anymore if one of the 3 crashed after encoding one or two. After finding how far it made it, I just set Handbrake up again to pick up where it left off.
If I am encoding TV shows I need to make sure to turn on Deinterlace -> Slower. This adds A LOT of time to the encoding. After the encoding process, I tag the files using MetaX. I have also had to use Lostify for some TV shows that I couldn't get tagged right with MetaX.
I delete the DVD Video folders from MTR after encoding. I see no need to keep them around. If I want to make a backup DVD of something for my own archival, I can use Roxio's Popcorn on the DVD Video folder before deleting it.
If I want to put a movie on my iPod touch, I will put the original DVD back in and use Instant Handbrake to make that file on an as needed basis. ATV quality is my #1 concern. I feel that this process is practically DVD quality.
All of my movie are stored on external hard drives attached to my iMac. All content is streamed to the ATV.
This process is slow. Even with three computers going most of the time, it has still taken me several weeks to get where I am now, and I might be 70% finished with my collection. Between the time it takes for the processes to run and the fairly common Handbrake crashes, I might be averaging 7 or 8 movies a day. I still have several TV show season sets to do, and they take forever. I figure one 42 minute show takes as long to encode with deinterlace turned on as a full 2 hour movie. 22 episodes per season - I would guess between MTR, Handbrake, and tagging - about 3 hours per episode. 66 hours per season.
Hopefully this helps answer some questions. I know I read a ton of threads when I was getting ready to start doing this, and I think a post like this would have helped me tremendously.
hey... i am looking for a file which will look awesome on both my macbook pro, appletv, ipod 5th gen 80gb and iphone... what setting can i use space is no concern for me whatsoever i have a 1tb external harddisk... i have several tv show boxset series and several dvd and i would love to have it all digitized in a format that will fit on any device at any given time.. i have been researching for a year now but i want to make sure it is absolutely perfect...
thanks
thanks
tbh, that is "pie in the sky" imho. The playback capability between your most capable device and least capable device is far too great. The 5G iPod is your weak link. So encoding to its limits is the best you can do, as anything over that makes it incompatible by definition. Period. So whatever you do is a compromise to maintain compatibility with all of your devices.
Slow handbrake?
An iPhone encode of a dvd of mine is taking extremely long! 53hrs!! is ther anything i can do to speed up this process bcuz ther is no way i can even make a queue with the encoding process taking this long... its just on iphone presets... idk wut to do
An iPhone encode of a dvd of mine is taking extremely long! 53hrs!! is ther anything i can do to speed up this process bcuz ther is no way i can even make a queue with the encoding process taking this long... its just on iphone presets... idk wut to do
I'm completely new to this whole thing and have some basic questions not answered in this thread.
I just used Mac The Ripper and followed the instructions. I now have 8 VOB files, 2 IFO and 2 BUP files in a folder called "Casino Royale"
I don't need to view the movie on Apple TV or an iPod but only on my MBP.
What's next? Use handbrake and point it to the "Casino Royale" folder? What setting do I need to use for normal computer viewing at a good quality?
eV
I just used Mac The Ripper and followed the instructions. I now have 8 VOB files, 2 IFO and 2 BUP files in a folder called "Casino Royale"
I don't need to view the movie on Apple TV or an iPod but only on my MBP.
What's next? Use handbrake and point it to the "Casino Royale" folder? What setting do I need to use for normal computer viewing at a good quality?
eV
Drag the folder to the DVD player should do it. Is the folder really called "Casino Royale"
You'd expect a folder called CASINO_ROYALE with a folder inside it called VIDEO_TS.
My bad. You're right. All the different VOBs are in a folder called Video_TS
I'd rather not keep 8 gigs for each movie though. Isn't there a way Handbrake can encode them to a smaller size and I can later delete the MTR rips?
eV
BTW, just for fun I'm trying to run handbrake with the same settings on my 2006 2.16CD MBP 17 and it's at 1:40 with another hour to go.
I wasn't really seeing much of a speed increase in day to day usage and it had me depressed. Of course, my computer needs are hardly taxing, I get the big ones for the screen ...
Running handbrake on both really showed me the difference.
eV