Question about dvd ripping

[DocT]

Hi All!

I have been around lurking for awhile and will occasionally post. It's been awhile. There are many posts on ripping DVDs and Blu-rays. It is difficult to determine the right programs/settings for me as there is so much information scatter over multiple posts over several months. I have read about hand break alone, makemkc then handbrake, and mac the ripper then handbrake.
My setup includes a mac mini HTPC hooked up to 60 in led lcd, with audio going thru a devon receiver which is capable of decoding HD audio. I have an apple tv2 hooked up to a 42in lcd. As you can see, I have screen sizes from 3.5" on iPhone to iPad to large tvs and only one audio system. Here are my questions:

1. I would like to have subtitles only when my hard of hearing friend is over but not the rest of the time. How do I do this?

2. I am using a 2009 mac pro. Should I use mac the ripper or makemkv with handbrake or just handbrake? I would like to have full uncompressed dvds/blurays with menus intact(well, they are lossy by definition anyway. I just don't want to lose quality.) I would use the whole disk image sometimes to watch on apple tv 2 or HTPC. At times, I may just want the movie itself for those plus the iPad and iPhone. How do I go about achieving this?


3. I would like to have pristine backups of my material, but I would like to have it play mainly on apple tv2. I would also like to be able to watch on iPad or iPhone or macbook pro/air. Do I need a separate file for each type of device?(e.g. apple tv2 preset and iPad preset copies) If I need multiple encodes/files, how should I separate them so that I don't have 3-4 copies per movie in iTunes?

4. Based on what you recommend, do you have suggestions in terms of presets and avg bit rate versus content and the settings you recommend? I know there is a universal preset, but from what I have read, it is a jack of all trades but not master on any one device. I don't' mind using extra disk space. And what about all the video settings like decomb, etc?

5. Most dvd/bluray players upscale now. Are ripped moves able to be upscaled as well?

Basically, I am looking for help in picking which program to use(or at least a side by side pro/con comparison.) My guess is there is no one "best" program - just opinions. Then if anyone has a good guide that I could read. I have read the automating blu-ray thread here, but it states you need an understanding of ripping.

Sorry this is so long winded!

Thanks, in advance, for any help you can give me.

DocT

 

[dynaflash]

I would like to have subtitles only when my hard of hearing friend is over but not the rest of the time. How do I do this?

For Apple Devices the only way to include "soft subs" (meaning you can optionally turn them on and off is to use HandBrake or Subler to feed it an external .srt file. which either will then embed in the movie as a 3GPP timed text track. Basically it means on your apple device you can then turn the subs off or on at will. Only other option is to burn the subs in but then they are actually burned into the video track. no way to turn them on or off.

Should I use mac the ripper or makemkv with handbrake or just handbrake? I would like to have full uncompressed dvds/blurays with menus intact(well, they are lossy by definition anyway. I just don't want to lose quality.)

If you want a fully uncompressed copy of the original source you have ... then rip them first with mactheripper or the like (for sd dvd) or makemkv for bluray (on mac will require you decrypt it first iirc). HandBrake is not a remuxer or ripper, its a transcoder which means it will re encode the file to a specified format for whatever you want to play it back on. There will be a loss of quality from the original source. Whether or not you can visually detect the difference is another matter altogether.

I would like to have pristine backups of my material, but I would like to have it play mainly on apple tv2.

Impossible. the atv2 (nor any other ios device) can play back a dvd soure or a blu ray source without transcoding it (see above on that for quality loss).

I don't' mind using extra disk space. And what about all the video settings like decomb, etc?

Don't use abr, use constant quality in hb. Yes, use Decomb.

 

[obsidian1200]

1. I would like to have subtitles only when my hard of hearing friend is over but not the rest of the time. How do I do this?

2. I am using a 2009 mac pro. Should I use mac the ripper or makemkv with handbrake or just handbrake? I would like to have full uncompressed dvds/blurays with menus intact(well, they are lossy by definition anyway. I just don't want to lose quality.) I would use the whole disk image sometimes to watch on apple tv 2 or HTPC. At times, I may just want the movie itself for those plus the iPad and iPhone. How do I go about achieving this?


3. I would like to have pristine backups of my material, but I would like to have it play mainly on apple tv2. I would also like to be able to watch on iPad or iPhone or macbook pro/air. Do I need a separate file for each type of device?(e.g. apple tv2 preset and iPad preset copies) If I need multiple encodes/files, how should I separate them so that I don't have 3-4 copies per movie in iTunes?

4. Based on what you recommend, do you have suggestions in terms of presets and avg bit rate versus content and the settings you recommend? I know there is a universal preset, but from what I have read, it is a jack of all trades but not master on any one device. I don't' mind using extra disk space. And what about all the video settings like decomb, etc?

5. Most dvd/bluray players upscale now. Are ripped moves able to be upscaled as well?

1. The way I add soft subtitles (subtitles that can be turned on and off) is by first finding an .srt subtitle file on the internet (you can also make one, but that's much too time consuming imo) for the movie. Then I use a program called Subler to remux my m4v file with the .srt file, which gives me soft subtitles.

2. Unless your ATV2 is jailbroken, I don't think you can play ripped DVD files on it. If it is, then never mind. If you don't mind spending $25, I'd actually recommend using RipIt over MakeMKV or Mac The Ripper. With MakeMKV, you'll only get a .mkv file, not an entire DVD. This is fine for handbraking, but then you'll probably just delete the file later anyway. With Mac the Ripper and Ripit, the files they make will act like a DVD as long as you open them correctly; you can also use these files, as you know, with handbrake. I suggest RipIt because I think the support is much better and you will have an uncompressed DVD file instead of a .mkv.

3. I THINK that the ATV2 preset is compatible with the iPad, but I'm not entirely sure. Try it out to see what happens. If you have an iPhone 4, then I know for sure that the ATV2 preset will work on it. You can also use the ATV2 preset for encoding files to be played on your macbooks. If the ATV2 preset doesn't work on the original iPad, which I'd be surprised by that, and if you don't have an iPhone 4, then you will have to encode multiple files. One way you could do this is to name each file like "Movie Name- Device" after you've tagged it (if you'll be tagging your movie files), to keep things straight, then make playlists for each device for easy syncing.

4. I highly recommend the ATV2 preset. I'd use the constant quality versus bit rate because it will give you constant results over all your movies. I also would leave the decomb filter on default always, as it will only work on the portions of video that are noticeably interlaced. I only turn on the detelecine filter when the activity log in handbrake suggests that the content in heavily telecined or interlaced (it doesn't specify which, though). I've yet to need to turn on the deinterlace and deblock filers, as those are harsher filters that, in my opinion, do more harm than good.

5. I wouldn't worry about this, really. I've watched DVDs and encoded DVDs with my ps3, and I can't tell the difference between the two. The hardware should take care of it for you.