Right but say I wanted to order one and make sure it was not BD+ before I got it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Native Blu-ray ripping for OS X is finally here!
- Thread starter Cave Man
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Just to be clear, it does not transcode but instead rewraps the video and audio into an MKV container. Transcoding would be time-consuming (many hours) and lossy on the video. The only modification it does is the extraction of DTS and AC3 cores from the HD audio tracks (if present).
Once you get the mkv file from the disc, what's the best software for playback in mkv? Seems most are then using handbrake to convert it to an AppleTV format.
I was looking for the right word but I guess I picked the wrong one...thanks for the correction Cave Man.
I corrected my OP...thanks again.
Quicktime-with the free Perian plug-in (although it will take a few minutes to load the MKV...just the nature of it.)
or
VLC
Both of which are crap.
Use Plex!
On the BD+ issue, check Blu-ray.com, that site might be able to help
and thanks to whomever it was that explained the difference between Bare Bones and Retail
Thanks for the Plex suggestions, but will Plex play the menus and bonus materials (not BD+) from the mkv file? Cave Man, you mentioned earlier that Plex did not read Blu-Ray file structures, was this just for the .iso rips the poster was refferring to?
Plex will only read file structures from DVDs, not Blu-rays. There are no apps on the Mac side that can read Blu-ray file structures, only the individual files.
Check the file with Plex or XBMC to make sure the rip worked. If you go one without that and there's a problem, you won't be able to localize the source (i.e., rip or HB). Make sure you download the current HB snapshot - it has substantially better Blu-ray support. You shouldn't need to transcode with HB unless you need a smaller file size of 1080p or if you need to get it to the Apple TV (or other device unable to handle the 1080p content).
How about this slim, laptop size, external Blu-Ray Reader/DVD Writer on eBay for $77? Should work, right?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310152225456
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310152225456
You will have to find an enclosure for that though, which the cheapest i found was $25. If you look above for my posts, I linked to a standard sized bluray drive for like $85 and then you can get an enclosure for that for like $10, both prices including shipping.
Thanks again Cave Man. Unfortunately since the mkv that was created is 28gb so I'm going to need to convert that for a smaller size. What about using VisualHub? Just selecting a bitrate or a filesize? I've converted 1080p and 720p downloaded mkv's before but they're 4-8gb to start, not 28gb like the one I ripped myself. Any other suggestions? Do you keep your rips that big? Any rcommendations? I think VH will make the resolution less than 720 so that might not be an option.
visual hub is worth a try, has been very reliable for me. the conversion isnt as good generally but still worth a go.
Or maybe, if the rumors by the hackers are true, the existing
TV gets the capability?
Or maybe, if the rumors by the hackers are true, the existing
hmm i dont know... is the Pentium M processor in the :appleTV capable of playing it?? (can the GPU help anyway in this?).
did a bit of researching:: found this (post #6) and apparently the
TV can play up to 25mbit mpegs.. pretty darn good.
1. Download the current Handbrake 2592 snapshot.
2. Open the ripped file and then select the Apple TV Preset.
3. Under the Video tab, change the resolution to 1920 by XXX for 1080p.
4. Change the Format to MKV and the Framerate to 24 fps. It should be set for Constant quality of 60.78%. Video Codec should be H.264.
5. In the Audio tab set Track 1 to AAC and Track 2 to AC3 Passthru or DTS passthru (depending on your Source audio). I only set Track 1 to Passthru and disable Track 2 because I only use Plex for my HD playback, thus I do not need an AAC audio track.
6. Click Start and let it transcode for several hours (my 3.2 gHz quad core hackintosh takes about 5 hours for a 2 hour movie at 1080p).
7. The resulting file for a 2 hour movie should be between 8 and 10 gb.
MKV support in Quicktime is flakey (maybe Perian?) but VLC and Plex play them just fine.
That's great! I've read so many of your guides and threads so I'll absolutely use that. Now I'm not *that* concerned about maintaining the quality. I'm using the Apple TV and (at this point) don't think I'll ever get a mac mini or comparable set-up as my main device. In the distant future, maybe? For now I'm ok with 720p and dolby surround or dolby prologic for the audio (sorry if that offends you haha).
I use iTunes to manage everything (I've fooled around with Plex and have had XBMC is some variation since I hacked my xbox long ago) so I'll still be using mp4 instead of mkv. I figure from your guide I'll change the resolution to 720 (what would the vertical be? seemed like there were a few vertical resolutions that didn't change the 720 horizontal value), change it to mp4 instead of mkv and then use dolby for the audio. Other than that I'll use the constant quality as you've said, h264 (obviously), and the framerate as you've indicated. Think that should be fine? I might not even change the resolution (ie leave it at 1920)... I'll try it out both ways.
Thanks again, that's incredibly helpful!
For the Apple TV, it's even easier.
1. Click on the Apple TV Preset in Handbrake.
2. Change picture size to 1280 by xxx.
3. Set the Framerate to 24 fps.
Click on the Audio tab. If the Source is DTS 5.1, then your Track 1 should be AAC. If so, disable Track 2. If it's Dolby Digital 5.1, Track 1 should be AAC, Track 2 should be AC3 Passthru. Let 'er transcode.
Thank you yet again. You've got to be one of the most helpful people on these boards.
I still had about 7 hours left in Handbrake so I'll cancel it and start again with what you've said. The video that was already converted as an .mp4 looked great! I can't wait to be able to rip my own Blu Rays! Tomorrow I'm heading straight to HMV to buy a bunch of concert BDs!
Two notes on the HB snapshot if I may:
1. *if* you are not worried about reading a protected source right from disk (read: just using preripped sources) try the 64 bit version as its about 10 - 15% faster than 32 bit. The 64 bit version cannot read an encrypted disk as the vlc dylib hb uses for that is 32 bit only.
2. if your audio is dts only as cave says, you have to use aac dpl2 ( no dts pass thru in mp4 and the atv couldn't read it even if hb did it) but the snapshot lets you use the core audio encoder for aac which gives you up to 320 kbps bitrate audio vs. faac's 160 kbps bitrate limit. Which may or may not give you *some* sound improvement and help ease the pain a bit.
1. *if* you are not worried about reading a protected source right from disk (read: just using preripped sources) try the 64 bit version as its about 10 - 15% faster than 32 bit. The 64 bit version cannot read an encrypted disk as the vlc dylib hb uses for that is 32 bit only.
2. if your audio is dts only as cave says, you have to use aac dpl2 ( no dts pass thru in mp4 and the atv couldn't read it even if hb did it) but the snapshot lets you use the core audio encoder for aac which gives you up to 320 kbps bitrate audio vs. faac's 160 kbps bitrate limit. Which may or may not give you *some* sound improvement and help ease the pain a bit.
i take it this 64-bit version of the program will not run on a 32-bit CPU, or it will just run at reduced speeds?