Easiest way to get DVDs into iTunes for ATV

dugbug · Jul 7, 2013

Ok two sentences into the batch thread stickied at the top I realized that's too hard core.

I propose a different tact: The EASIEST way to get a DVD/bluray into iTunes including non-free options.

I have found a simple flow thanks to the thread discussion:

ivi pro

While not free it is only $10 and offers a one step process. It rips from DVDs, encodes to the necessary apple format (if desired), locates and installs full metadata, and adds to itunes.

Here are some other ripping systems (DVD only):
> Handbrake, which has an apple tv preset for each generation. It does not do anything with metadata, so you would have to follow up with a separate step.

> RipIt. Similar to handbrake, but with a more friendly GUI.

And ripping for Blu-Ray:
> MakeMKV

None of the ripping utilities are in the Mac App store (and neither is IVI pro btw).

Metadata
Both IVI and iFlicks are good metadata options for mac, are fully scriptable, and easy GUIs. They can re-encode video from one format to another, or not if you want to do in-place metadata updates. Both are available in the mac app store, and both have free time-limited trials.

The only difference between IVI Pro and IVI is the DVD ripping, so the IVI Pro trial is here:
http://spsdownload.com/iVI/iVI.dmg
Home page: http://www.southpolesoftware.com/iVI/iVI.php

The iFlicks trial is here:
http://www.iflicksapp.com/download/iFlicks.dmg
Home page: http://www.iflicksapp.com/

One thing about IVI is that I have confirmed from the author it understands and can work with MakeMKV output. i do not know if iFlicks can do that or not.

-d

FreakinEurekan · Jul 8, 2013

1a. DVD: Use HandBrake with the "Apple TV 3" preset, send it to the desktop.

1b. Blu-Ray: Use MakeMKV to "backup" the Blu-Ray to an MKV folder on the desktop, then use HandBrake with "Apple TV 3" preset to convert that to a .M4V file on the desktop

2. With either of the above: drag the .M4V file created by HandBrake from the desktop into "IDentify" (from Mac App store). Set IDentify to add the movie to iTunes upon completion. It will tag the movie & copy it into your iTunes library.

3. Delete any files remaining on your desktop, you're done with them.

tgara · Jul 8, 2013

Thanks Freakin', good to know.

Question on Handbrake: If I would like to view movies ripped in Handbrake on several devices (e.g., iPad, iPhone, etc.) and not just the Apple TV, would another preset be more appropriate than the Apple TV 3 Preset? I can see how Apple TV 3 would be fine if you ONLY wanted to view your movies on an Apple TV, but what about when you would like to view on other devices in addition to the ATV?

OP, sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread.....

Wildog27 · Jul 8, 2013

In the preferences of Handbrake 0.9.9, you can select an option to send the file automatically to a metadata editor.

heimbachae · Jul 8, 2013

I usually do hi profile, that does well enough for DVDs.

on a small sidenote, take notice if a DVD has subtitles. for example, I have both kill bill movies which do at some parts have subtitles, but because I had no idea this was something separate I had to do, those parts will forever be gibberish to me.

mic j · Jul 8, 2013

heimbachae said:
I usually do hi profile, that does well enough for DVDs.

on a small sidenote, take notice if a DVD has subtitles. for example, I have both kill bill movies which do at some parts have subtitles, but because I had no idea this was something separate I had to do, those parts will forever be gibberish to me.

You can still add them.

the easiest option is to search online for the subtitle srt files. Note: Make sure you choose the appropriate one e.g. english, dvd. Then add them to the mp4 using Subler. Make sure you check the sync. If it is off a little, Subler has an Offset adjustment. You delete the just added srt track, then add it back using an Offset adjustment. May take a few trials to get it "perfect" but it's quick and often not needed.

salohcin · Jul 8, 2013

tgara said:
Thanks Freakin', good to know.

Question on Handbrake: If I would like to view movies ripped in Handbrake on several devices (e.g., iPad, iPhone, etc.) and not just the Apple TV, would another preset be more appropriate than the Apple TV 3 Preset? I can see how Apple TV 3 would be fine if you ONLY wanted to view your movies on an Apple TV, but what about when you would like to view on other devices in addition to the ATV?

OP, sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread.....

It depends on the age of your devices. The Apple TV 3 setting will work on the iPad 3 and later (as long as you don't go over the 1920x1080 pixel limit). It should also work on the iPhone 4s and 5 (though I don't have either one to confirm that).

The best way to be sure is to encode to the device that's the oldest or has the most restrictions.

FreakinEurekan · Jul 8, 2013

tgara said:
Thanks Freakin', good to know.

Question on Handbrake: If I would like to view movies ripped in Handbrake on several devices (e.g., iPad, iPhone, etc.) and not just the Apple TV, would another preset be more appropriate than the Apple TV 3 Preset? I can see how Apple TV 3 would be fine if you ONLY wanted to view your movies on an Apple TV, but what about when you would like to view on other devices in addition to the ATV?

OP, sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread.....

ATV3 preset works for me on my Apple TVs, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPad Mini. I don't think it would work on an iPhone 3G/3GS or iPod Touch 1st-3rd generation (non-Retina).

tgara · Jul 8, 2013

Thanks guys.

In addition to the gear in my sig line, my wife has an iPad 3 and an iPhone 4. I'll experiment with a few of the presets and use whatever works best.

dugbug · Jul 8, 2013

Ah just one more thing on iFlicks: If you select "itunes compatible" it will not re-encode. Just enters the metadata.

heimbachae · Jul 9, 2013

mic j said:
You can still add them.

the easiest option is to search online for the subtitle srt files. Note: Make sure you choose the appropriate one e.g. english, dvd. Then add them to the mp4 using Subler. Make sure you check the sync. If it is off a little, Subler has an Offset adjustment. You delete the just added srt track, then add it back using an Offset adjustment. May take a few trials to get it "perfect" but it's quick and often not needed.

oh yea? thanks man ill have to check that out.

JoeBlow74 · Jul 9, 2013

dugbug said:
Ok two sentences into the batch thread stickied at the top I realized that's too hard core.

I propose a different tact: The EASIEST way to get a DVD/bluray into iTunes including non-free options.

I have found a simple flow but its time consuming, and was hoping if anyone had a better way:

Step 1: Use RipIt with "High Quality M4V" option and 'compress' option. It singles out the actual movie and nothing else, and rips to your movies folder (I do not put it in itunes just yet)

Step 2: Launch iFlicks with "new Apple TV & iPad" and "Add to iTunes" as the options. I drag the movie onto the app and if it does not recognize the metadata right away, I select "edit/search for details" and help it out.

iFlicks fills in tremendous amount of metadata and artwork (more than you can using the get info dialog), all from movie and tv databases.

Step 3: Delete the workfiles. This can be avoided by having the tools delete their respective files when they are done.

What I find aggravating is that iFlicks and Ripit can never agree on a single encoding. iFlicks has to re-encode the movie. I've tried a few options between them.

Have you tried a software called iVI Pro? Very cool software. You can down load a demo version and test it out. I find that it works much better than Handbrake. After adding your MKV file to the queue, you can use the search option in the software to retrieve meta data from TVDB or movieDB for all the meta data you want. It auto fills the meta data for you. No typing anything. After it transcodes the video with very little compression, it imports the file into Itunes. It also has the capability to MUX the video into H.264 with no compression, but I cannot get AppleTV3 to play those files. You can also enable video and audio passthrough for lossless video and audio. If you name the incoming file correct, iVI Pro will even auto lookup the meta data for you and fill in the info. But, I have not had good luck with that. It has to be close to what is shown on TVDB or movieDB for that auto lookup to work properly.

dugbug · Jul 10, 2013

JoeBlow74 said:
Have you tried a software called iVI Pro? Very cool software. You can down load a demo version and test it out. I find that it works much better than Handbrake. After adding your MKV file to the queue, you can use the search option in the software to retrieve meta data from TVDB or movieDB for all the meta data you want. It auto fills the meta data for you. No typing anything. After it transcodes the video with very little compression, it imports the file into Itunes. It also has the capability to MUX the video into H.264 with no compression, but I cannot get AppleTV3 to play those files. You can also enable video and audio passthrough for lossless video and audio. If you name the incoming file correct, iVI Pro will even auto lookup the meta data for you and fill in the info. But, I have not had good luck with that. It has to be close to what is shown on TVDB or movieDB for that auto lookup to work properly.

No but reading on it it does look cool, and $10 is reasonable. But it says it does not remove the protection of DVDs, so it requires VLC player. Is that just legal speak? Have you used it to back up one of your purchased DVD movies and play it on an apple tv?

edit: and what a nice gui... very iflicks-ish but with ripping capabilities

JoeBlow74 · Jul 10, 2013

dugbug said:
No but reading on it it does look cool, and $10 is reasonable. But it says it does not remove the protection of DVDs, so it requires VLC player. Is that just legal speak? Have you used it to back up one of your purchased DVD movies and play it on an apple tv?

edit: and what a nice gui... very iflicks-ish but with ripping capabilities
Image

I have only used it to import MKV files. No, it does not need VLC player. It is a stand alone software. I have been using this for a while now and I have been very happy with the results.

Che Castro · Jul 10, 2013

You could avoid a step by ripping the DVD in mkv/mp4 h264

Now with iflicks use the iTunes compatible tab & it should only muxed the file not convert , muxing takes a minute or 2

----------

dugbug said:
Ah just one more thing on iFlicks: If you select "itunes compatible" it will not re-encode. Just enters the metadata.

This only works if the file is h264

You can check this with mkvtools or mp4tools

Most .avi are mpeg , that you find around the net

You guys should be ripping your blurays/DVDs in h264 if possible , this way you don't have to encode with handbrake or iflicks

Just muxed them & that takes a few minutes or less

mic j · Jul 10, 2013

Che Castro said:
You could avoid a step by ripping the DVD in mkv/mp4 h264

Now with iflicks use the iTunes compatible tab & it should only muxed the file not convert , muxing takes a minute or 2

----------

This only works if the file is h264

You can check this with mkvtools or mp4tools

Most .avi are mpeg , that you find around the net

You guys should be ripping your blurays/DVDs in h264 if possible , this way you don't have to encode with handbrake or iflicks

Just muxed them & that takes a few minutes or less

Dvd's do not use the h.264 codec. Many, but not all, BR's use the h.264 codec.

Che Castro · Jul 10, 2013

Is so much easier when you download

mic j · Jul 10, 2013

Che Castro said:
Is so much easier when you download

Lets not go there.

Since dvd's were being talked about, I did not want anyone to buy the app(s) expecting to be able to do a lossless remux of their "dvd" collection to iTunes compatible format and then be back at the forum, asking why they were unable to get their file to play in iTunes.

rsnaider · Jul 10, 2013

What does everyone here use for Windows as most of the Metadata tools are Mac only?

I have MakeMKV and Handbreak and have painfully converted almost 400 DVD's but just find a picture in images.google.com for metadata and there has to be a better way.

heimbachae · Jul 10, 2013

rsnaider said:
What does everyone here use for Windows as most of the Metadata tools are Mac only?

I have MakeMKV and Handbreak and have painfully converted almost 400 DVD's but just find a picture in images.google.com for metadata and there has to be a better way.

^^ that's what I do. and 400!!!! I thought my 175 was bad, geeze!!!!!!

dugbug · Jul 10, 2013

heimbachae said:
^^ that's what I do. and 400!!!! I thought my 175 was bad, geeze!!!!!!

Why don't you just buy a Mac and run windows in bootcamp or in a vm? Man I can't imagine doing metadata by hand. Ivi and iflicks are amazing

heimbachae · Jul 10, 2013

dugbug said:
Why don't you just buy a Mac and run windows in bootcamp or in a vm? Man I can't imagine doing metadata by hand. Ivi and iflicks are amazing

it's not bad once your library is through the gauntlet. now the occasional redbox DVD or whatever works. and I've owned my 27" iMac for about 3 years and a handful of months... never felt like putting windows on it. felt it would ruin my experience, maybe I'll see about putting 7 on there....

edit: are iflicks or lvi windows exclusives?

dugbug · Jul 10, 2013

heimbachae said:
it's not bad once your library is through the gauntlet. now the occasional redbox DVD or whatever works. and I've owned my 27" iMac for about 3 years and a handful of months... never felt like putting windows on it. felt it would ruin my experience, maybe I'll see about putting 7 on there....

edit: are iflicks or lvi windows exclusives?

No Mac exclusives. I thought he was using windows. All the good metadata tools I know of are mac only.

You can download free trials of either. Ivi pro has handbrake built in so it can rip DVDs as well as metadata. It also can encode mkv files from blu rays (I have not verified that yet but author claims it)

heimbachae · Jul 10, 2013

I've never ripped bluray, obviously don't have a drive. can the programs add information to already ripped files? I've already converted them to MP4 and chucked them into iTunes.

how much larger are bluray files compared to standard def?? my TB is filing up quickly, and the standard def versions work well for what I need, mostly just put them on my 4S, original iPad or just stream to appleTV.

dugbug · Jul 10, 2013

I think both can add metadata in place to existing files.

Easiest way to get DVDs into iTunes for ATV

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