Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Rip DVDs w/ Dolby Digital 5.1 sound & Play over Apple TV?

handbrake and aac

if you used handbrake with those settings you wouldn't get Dolby digital, its going to create a file with six channel aac, a Dolby digital amp wouldn't know what that is. If you wanted prologic, those settings are fine, if you want 5.1 Dolby digital wait for the new version of handbrake.

To answer you earlier point about vob file playback, the apple tv won't do it as to get vob playback you have to have the dvd CSS encryption broken and apple won't do that

Jason
 
Ok, I'll wait for the new version. If I were to do it on my dads iMac? I would just use VisualHub?? Or would I need that plugin? I would just like a digital library but not loose anything, otherwise there is no point? With my iPod Touch, I'm not to bothered about watching a film on there? If I were to watch a film, I would convert it on the fly as I need them?

When do you suspect HB release their new version? I know its not the easiest thing to do but have they been working on it for a while?

& if I did do it on the iMac? What setting would you suggest to use to a 100% copy with 5.1? I'm going to download it now.
 
Another question I have, is what about stuff that I pull of my HD DVR? Normally I do H.264 at a bitrate around 6 Mbps with 6 channel AAC. So if I want to start layering these files to have the AAC for Mac playback and the AC3 stream directly from the cable feed, what would I have to do? Also, is that a bitrate that the ATV will like? I've noticed that so far, only 1 or 2 of my files show up on the ATV menu, so I'm assuming the bitrate is too high. Resolution is 1280x720, so I think that should be fine. I don't mind re-encoding what I've got if it will allow me to watch it on the Mac AND on the ATV.

What about converting the 6-channel AAC files I've got now into an ATV compatible version with AC-3? I hope that's a doable thing as well. Any help is greatly appreciated guys! I love this forum! :)
 
cingularpat said:
What about converting the 6-channel AAC files I've got now into an ATV compatible version with AC-3? I hope that's a doable thing as well. Any help is greatly appreciated guys! I love this forum! :)
Click to expand...

Dolby Labs has very tight control over AC3 generation. Unless someone has hacked together something to generate AC3 (which would violate Dolby's copyright, and they are pretty uptight about that!), you will have to re-encode using your source material. The various encoding tools merely pass the original AC3 bitstream on, so if you lost it, you'll have to start from the beginning or you are out of luck.

-steve
 
sJv said:
Dolby Labs has very tight control over AC3 generation. Unless someone has hacked together something to generate AC3 (which would violate Dolby's copyright, and they are pretty uptight about that!), you will have to re-encode using your source material. The various encoding tools merely pass the original AC3 bitstream on, so if you lost it, you'll have to start from the beginning or you are out of luck.

-steve
Click to expand...

I don't know if this would work, but if you have Apple Compressor, you can extract the 6 aac files and re-encode them to ac3 in compressor by putting each track in its respective position. Not sure how this would work sync wise, but it would give you a 5.1 ac3
 
Ok then, I've done it. I can't wait to get a mac.

::::Heres a quick guide to rip your DVD (.VOB) to Apple TV 5.1 format in 2/3 simple steps:::

For those who already have one. This is the best way to do it in my opinion...

- - - -BEFORE YOU START THIS YOU WILL NEED TO ENSURE YOU HAVE A Dolby Digital Amplifer/ Speaker SET SO YOU CAN USE THE OPTICAL OUTPUT & ALLOW YOUR AMPLIFIER TO DECODE THE AC3 SIGNAL- - - -

Firstly you will need your purchased copy of the DVD(s) your going to have in your media library, then you need to download HandBrake & VisualHub which I'm affraid that the second peice of software you will need to purchase for about £13 or $24.

Now once they are downloaded & installed on your Mac you need to insert your DVD & load up HandBrake.

Then select the following options:

Format: Avi
Codecs: AVC/H.264 / AC-3 Audio

On the Video tab half way down the app box ensure the following:
FPS: Same as source(Then the FPS will show)
Encoder: x264 (h.264 Main)
Quality: This is entirely upto you as the user? As DVD is compressed already I would suggest you use the constant quality (I left mine at 100%, but apparently 85/90% works well for most, I'd go on the size & quality of your screen & cables.

On the Audio & Subtitles tab:
Track 1: (your language)(AC3)(5.1 ch)
Track 1 Mix: AC3 Pass Through

Then select where you wish for your file to be saved to & press 'GO'.

---------------------------

Once your DVD has finished encoding, load Visual Hub. Load your .AVI file(s) & add them the que.

Ensure you have the iTunes tab selected at the top of the screen and select the "Optimize For" drop down & select Apple TV 5.1 & tick H.264 Encoding. Again, the quality is up to you. but I personally would select the "Go Nuts". Select the save to folder & again, press "GO"!!!

Once thats finished, your done!!! Now, sync or stream to your :apple:TV & your away.

However, there is one more step you could do. Use MetaX to tag all your films/ programs for more detailed info & cover art for cover flow as demonstrated nicely by "billabong". This program is simple to use & you can either use the IMdb site to find all the info (Which has a link within the program to find the film your looking for.

Hope you all enjoy... & good luck.

- - - - Remember, it is illegal & unfair to use pirated material, always use your own. That way, if your computer was to meltdown, get stolen or contract a virus, you always have the original. - - - -
 
DVD Ripping

Surely this method takes twice as long as you've got to run it through handbrake then visualhub - why not just drag the VIDEO_TS folder in to Visualhub, put it on the Apple TV 5.1 setting and let it do it all straight from the DVD source?

Jason
 
JasonKerner said:
Surely this method takes twice as long as you've got to run it through handbrake then visualhub - why not just drag the VIDEO_TS folder in to Visualhub, put it on the Apple TV 5.1 setting and let it do it all straight from the DVD source?
Click to expand...

Yup - you don't want to run it through Handbrake AND Visual Hub. Use ripping software like Mac the Ripper to decrypt CSS and place the TS folder on your hard drive. Then drag the TS folder into VH and you are done.

I believe Handbrake is on the more correct track, though, and should have a release soon. The nightly build is close. HB also gives you chapter markers, VH doesn't.

Both are great software - I bought a copy of VH to support the author, and I would donate money or beer to the HB team if they had that set up!

-steve
 
I maybe being dumb, but I tried that 3 times with Black Hawk Down, used Mac The ripper to decrypt the disc then dragged it into VH but it came out with the wrong audio track, tried this on a few discs on both Mac & PC and both do the same on different software?

Any suggestions folk?
 
Ok, so i've done what you suggested, & I've got it in my iTunes Library & it plays fine within iTunes, no sound due to the audio codec being AC3 passthrough, so thats cool.

I've sync'd with my :apple:TV & nothing happened, apart from "Unrecognised File Format"????

Whys that then? Can anyone suggest what I've done wrong? I'm trying it with another DVD at the moment just got to wait for VH to finish the file conversion.
 
ok, so I've managed to get my films done using mac the ripper then visualhub to convert the .vob to a .mov with ac3 pass through. Sync'd to my :apple:TV and the results were really impressive. One issue I've been getting is that ice ripped & converted "the Incredibles" on the "go nuts" setting on VB and found that the :apple:TV takes. Few minutes loading the cover art, loading the movie & then loading the menu again yet plays the movie fine. However, Black Hawk Down causes no problems and was converted on the High quality setting in VB. Has anyone ever had this problem. Its :apple:TV v2.0 I'm using if that helps.

Cheers
 
I had a thread about this last week and I still don't seem to have my question answered.

So here it is:
Suppose I use Mac the Ripper to extract my dvd, what setting do I use? Full disc extraction? Title extraction?

Then when I go to use use Visual Hub, what files specifically do I drop in there? Everything in the TS_Video folder? Or, just select files?

Now I've tried multiple things and cannot seem to get it to work. Also, I dragged all files from a full disc extraction to Visual Hub, and it said it would take 16 hours for file 1! Is that really how long it takes?

I would appreciate if someone could post a step by step tutorial for using Mac the Ripper and Visual Hub to get 5.1 audio for my dvd rips.

I might mention also, that I'm using the trial version of Visual Hub because I don't want to spend the money if it doesn't work for me, but I would be more than happy to give them my money if the program works! Other than the 2 minute restriction, are there any other limitations to the trial?

Thanks for helping a newbie!
 
skrutzen said:
I had a thread about this last week and I still don't seem to have my question answered.

So here it is:
Suppose I use Mac the Ripper to extract my dvd, what setting do I use? Full disc extraction? Title extraction?

Then when I go to use use Visual Hub, what files specifically do I drop in there? Everything in the TS_Video folder? Or, just select files?

Now I've tried multiple things and cannot seem to get it to work. Also, I dragged all files from a full disc extraction to Visual Hub, and it said it would take 16 hours for file 1! Is that really how long it takes?

I would appreciate if someone could post a step by step tutorial for using Mac the Ripper and Visual Hub to get 5.1 audio for my dvd rips.

I might mention also, that I'm using the trial version of Visual Hub because I don't want to spend the money if it doesn't work for me, but I would be more than happy to give them my money if the program works! Other than the 2 minute restriction, are there any other limitations to the trial?

Thanks for helping a newbie!
Click to expand...

Hi skrutzen,

Heres a quick tutorial for you, on how I do it.

Using Mac The Ripper, extract full disc.

Once thats done, open up visual hub, click on the desktop and press 'CTRL' + 'Up Arrow'. This will bring up a window, find where the TS_Folder for that film is located and drag the TS_FOLDER, not the files, but the actual folder.

Next step is to make a choice. If you have an AV Reciever that can decode AC3, select the preset 'AppleTV 5.1', otherwise select the 'AppleTV' preset;
The difference between the 2 is that AppleTV 5.1 will allow AC3 passthrough to be present on the .mov file but no other audio so you will not be able to hear it on you mac (Unless you download Perion 1.1) or anything connected to your appleTV via the HDMI or Stereo out jacks.

This should work no problem.

Hope this helps. Anyprobs, let me know.
 
Definitive Answer

Here's the definitive answer for 5.1 AC3 (not AAC!) sound on Apple TV.

From DVD Source
Use the yet-to-be released Handbrake. If you're feeling brave and can follow instructions, download the Source code and compile a version yourself. Use the H264 + AAC + AC3 preset. This will create an MP4, with a stereo (Dolby ProLogic muxed) and a AC3 Dolby Digital surround track.

From a file source (non-DVD, eg, AVI, MKV)
If it has an AC3 track currently, use the Apple TV 5.1 preset. This will produce a .mov file with a single AC3 audio track. It won't convert AAC 5.1 or DTS to AC3 - those will become stereo.

In both cases, to actually hear 5.1 Dolby, you'll need a 1) Dolby Digital amp 2) the Apple TV connected to that with an optical cable, or HDMI to that amp 3) Dolby Digital option turned on in the Apple TV v2 settings

Its that simple

Jason
 
The even MORE definitive answer!

This is for Leopard users. Download Handbrake 0.9.2 from here:

http://handbrake.fr/

optional: Rip DVD's to hard drive first using Mac The Ripper. While handbrake for Mac can rip and encode, it is nice to rip up a bunch of DVD's, then queue them up in handbrake to run overnight.

Fire up handbrake. Point it to your DVD or your hard disk with the first ripped movie to encode. 

Select the Destination you want the file to be encoded to. I be sure to use an m4v suffix - HB wants to name it .mp4 for some reason. Chapter markers only work with files that end in .m4v. You can always rename it later if you forget.

Under Codecs: select AVC/H.264 Video/ AAC + AC3 Audio.

Hit Start.

You can queue up more movies by selecting Source, making sure the destination and file name is what you want, select the codec, and Add to Queue.

Use MetaX to tag your movies when done.

The above settings work great on action movies. If you want to save space with an older or lower quality movie, you can lower the bit rate to 2000, and select ProLogic II in the Codec settings.

The nice thing about Handbrake with the new AAC + AC3 setting is that it will pass AC3 to your surround sound receiver, or play stereo via the RCA jacks if you dont' have a receiver. It will not play on your iPod or iPhone, though. I find it best to encode separately for those devices as you can fit 4X more movies on your device due to the more tuned file size.

-steve
 
sJv said:
This is for Leopard users. Download Handbrake 0.9.2 from here:

http://handbrake.fr/

optional: Rip DVD's to hard drive first using Mac The Ripper. While handbrake for Mac can rip and encode, it is nice to rip up a bunch of DVD's, then queue them up i Queue.
Click to expand...
How quick is it to rip an average dvd with MTR? I would agree that it would be nice to get an overnight queue.
 
uva25 said:
How quick is it to rip an average dvd with MTR? I would agree that it would be nice to get an overnight queue.
Click to expand...

Depends on your DVD drive. With my external Pioneer (flashed to 111L firmware) the average full rip takes about 10-20 minutes. Encoding takes 3-4 hours on my MBP Core Duo 2.16GHz (Handbrake/Apple TV presets; 2-pass non turbo with "Slower" de-interlace mode).
 
Jeff Hall said:
Depends on your DVD drive. With my external Pioneer (flashed to 111L firmware) the average full rip takes about 10-20 minutes. Encoding takes 3-4 hours on my MBP Core Duo 2.16GHz (Handbrake/Apple TV presets; 2-pass non turbo with "Slower" de-interlace mode).
Click to expand...
Thanks. What format should I rip the files using MTR. I will try a few tonight. It sounds like I should keep the ripped files as well as the M4P files that come from Handbrake? If so, that will be taking up a lot of space.
 
uva25 said:
Thanks. What format should I rip the files using MTR. I will try a few tonight. It sounds like I should keep the ripped files as well as the M4P files that come from Handbrake? If so, that will be taking up a lot of space.
Click to expand...

I didn't think MTR gives you a choice of formats. It merely makes a copy of what's on the DVD - minus the CSS encryption. You basically get a TS_VIDEO folder that you point HB (or Visual Hub if desired) to.

If you have the DVD's in question, I don't believe you need to keep the TS_VIDEO folders around on your hard drive after encoding, unless you want a backup. If something better comes along, you can just rip the movies again.

-steve
 
Will the AAC + AC3 playback on my iPhone or iPod touch? I want to rip for my AppleTV + iPod but have 5.1 is that possible? Does it just use the AAC audio when on the iPod and the AC3 when on the AppleTV?
 
billabong said:
Will the AAC + AC3 playback on my iPhone or iPod touch? I want to rip for my AppleTV + iPod but have 5.1 is that possible? Does it just use the AAC audio when on the iPod and the AC3 when on the AppleTV?
Click to expand...

yes! i have one file that play on my iphone, and DD on apple tv.

in the presets on the right select "iPod-High Rez" then change the audio encoder to AAC+AC3, make sure file name your saving as ends in .m4v, if you uncheck then recheck "create chapter markers" i does it or you can type it. those are the only settings ive played with. the quality of video on my 52" is equal to slighty less than DVD, and i mean slightly. but having one file that plays on both iphone and apple tv with ac3/DD support is worth it!!

(DVD rez is only 720x480 anyways, these settings 640x420, so not a big deal)
 
If you unplug and plug again your atv, you will have a 30 seconds movie with something like flying televisions. During all this movie my amplifier (my apple tv is connected with the denon amplifier through hdmi plug) shows that the sound coming out is dolby digital. This means that atv is supporting 5.1 audio.
How come I'm able to see my movie only stereo then, even if I rip a movie with handbrake in dolby digital?
Thanks 4 your attention!
Paolo
 
paolobr8 said:
How come I'm able to see my movie only stereo then, even if I rip a movie with handbrake in dolby digital?
Click to expand...

Cause you are doing it wrong. :p

Seriously though, you need to select the option for Handbrake to create an AC3 track. That is the Dolby Digital you are thinking of. AAC 5.1 isn't. Neither is Dolby Surround or Dolby Pro Logic II.
 
Krevnik said:
Cause you are doing it wrong. :p

Seriously though, you need to select the option for Handbrake to create an AC3 track. That is the Dolby Digital you are thinking of. AAC 5.1 isn't. Neither is Dolby Surround or Dolby Pro Logic II.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
To test: click on the built in AppleTV preset. Change whatever you want but DO NOT mess with the audio.

You will get Dolby D just like on that startup video (where do you think we reverse engineered it from?) .

On an atv not hooked to a Dolby D capable receiver or an ipod or what-not it will just use the two channel dpl2 aac track.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back