Getting ready to transfer everything, need some advice please...

All you need to know to make this simple and painless is right here in this forum..stickied at the top of this forum actually.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/805573/

This has made transferring my collection of DVDs a breeze! I have a very similar setup with an external where we have our iTunes library and an AppleTV.

Unsure how to get all film info to show up like a movie from the iTunes store

Just finished ripping my 300+ movies with Handbrake (pure genius) and am unsure how to get all film info - Director, Actors etc to show up like a movie from the iTunes store.
Sorry if its a no brainer but be grateful of any ideas

mkcoo said:

Just finished ripping my 300+ movies with Handbrake (pure genius) and am unsure how to get all film info - Director, Actors etc to show up like a movie from the iTunes store.
Sorry if its a no brainer but be grateful of any ideas

Click to expand...

You can't get it from iTunes. You have to either manually enter it, or use the scripts talked about in the above process here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/805573/

Although, that script is run before the encode process I believe...don't know if it works retroactively.

You can use MetaX.

If you used the Apple TV setting in Handbrake, with large file ticked, just make sure you change tick the "Enable support for large files" in MetaX prefs, if you don't it'll stuff up the file and you'll have to rip it again.

mkcoo said:

Just finished ripping my 300+ movies with Handbrake (pure genius) and am unsure how to get all film info - Director, Actors etc to show up like a movie from the iTunes store.
Sorry if its a no brainer but be grateful of any ideas

Click to expand...

Wow can I ask how long it took, what preset you used and on what decide did you do the converting? and what procedure did you do? eg set I off overnight etc?

I would love to do this but got bored after a few, I also have a Apple TV so would love to have them all converted with tags etc.

The ones I did do I used MetaX for Mac which gets the info etc, although still need to manually do some manipulation of th tags.

Can I also ask where you store them all, and what the total size is? I recently bought a 1Tb NAS buffalo linkstation for iTunes library etc

cheers

MrMister111 said:

Wow can I ask how long it took, what preset you used and on what decide did you do the converting? and what procedure did you do? eg set I off overnight etc?

Click to expand...

With the above procedures and scripting, you can generally rip and encode 7-10 DVDs a day...possibly more if your computer is a speed demon when it comes to encoding...I only average around 20fps, but I know other folks are a lot faster than that.

The scripting to pull the tags and imagery included in the above linked process has only failed me on a few movies that weren't in the database. It's really nice to have ALL the info pulled and in place and the process really automated.

The Mad Kiwi said:

You can use MetaX.

If you used the Apple TV setting in Handbrake, with large file ticked, just make sure you change tick the "Enable support for large files" in MetaX prefs, if you don't it'll stuff up the file and you'll have to rip it again.

Click to expand...

MetaX hasn't worked properly in Snow Leopard in quite a while. It's a shame because I loved that program.

I've been using Vidalin. It's a bit slow, but it works well for most movies.

MrMister111 said:

Wow can I ask how long it took, what preset you used and on what decide did you do the converting? and what procedure did you do? eg set I off overnight etc?

I would love to do this but got bored after a few, I also have a Apple TV so would love to have them all converted with tags etc.

The ones I did do I used MetaX for Mac which gets the info etc, although still need to manually do some manipulation of th tags.

Can I also ask where you store them all, and what the total size is? I recently bought a 1Tb NAS buffalo linkstation for iTunes library etc

cheers

Click to expand...

Yeah it was a bit of a mission. What you need is some dedication to the job.

It's taken 5 months. The maximum I was doing a day was 3, one in the morning, one in the evening and one overnight. I went for the best settings I could on Handbrake -Apple TV-.

File sizes vary quite a bit on different movies but had a look and they are averaging at about 2.3GB but def allow 2.5GB or more a movie if you are looking to guesstimate how much HD you are gonna need.

At the moment I've got them all on my MacMini Server but just thinking about my next move into more storage.

A question about adding the metadata.. When using one of the programs (Subler, MetaX, Vidalin) do they attach data into the video file or just fetch the info for itunes?

Most I did in a day was 7 I think. With the process above you just load DVD after DVD and it rips them to your harddrive. After running the renaming scripts which assign the proper metatag imagery and infomation, you then run the encode process overnight or whenever you have a few hours of downtime (It can run in the background, but why fight with other apps for processor power?) In fact (I haven't tried this) you can schedule these processes to run at whatever time (or date) you want.

Mine reside on a 1.5TB external attached to my Mini which streams to my AppleTV. GREAT setup...and wonderful to have all of my movies (well in the process of having ALL) available at the press of a button.

mkcoo said:

A question about adding the metadata.. When using one of the programs (Subler, MetaX, Vidalin) do they attach data into the video file or just fetch the info for itunes?

Click to expand...

Subler I can tell you actually embeds the metadata into the container. Hence the metadata is portable with the video file.

Are you all not "worried" about the CPU usage when coverting all these all the time? I'd be a bit worried running coversion on 300 DVDs on my iMac.

The preset I chose was Universal in Handbrake, not sure on file size differences though (anyone?), as I can then play it on my iPhone, iPod, PS3 etc.

I recently upgraded to Snow and haven't tried MetaX didn't realise it didn't work but something else must work.

MrMister111 said:

Are you all not "worried" about the CPU usage when coverting all these all the time? I'd be a bit worried running coversion on 300 DVDs on my iMac.

Click to expand...

Well, its not like the cpu will wear out. As long as it remains within its thermal limits you should be fine. HB will push the cooling system within about 3 minutes, after that as long as your cool enough, your iMac will just keep going as long as the cord is plugged in.

MrMister111 said:

I recently upgraded to Snow and haven't tried MetaX didn't realise it didn't work but something else must work.

Click to expand...

I've been using Snow L since it came out and haven't had any problems with MetaX. I rip about 3 or 4 movies a week and haven't had issue.

One thing I noticed is that somewhere along the line MetaX stopped retrieving movie info from it's site for me to select from so I usually just enter the info myself manually from IMDB and the poster art from various places. Occasionally I'm surprised like with New Moon a few days ago; it gave me a full list of info to grab. Sorry, off topic....

dynaflash said:

Well, its not like the cpu will wear out. As long as it remains within its thermal limits you should be fine. HB will push the cooling system within about 3 minutes, after that as long as your cool enough, your iMac will just keep going as long as the cord is plugged in.

Click to expand...

Yeh just dont want to wear out my iMac! its a 2007 Core 2 Duo 2Ghz with 2Gb RAM, so not exactly cutting edge.

I also have a Win XP PC, which I could use to, but just looking at all the DVDs, and avi files I have terrifies me how long they would take to convert. eg TV series, I have the full 24 DVD disk box set of Miami Vice, this would take weeks to convert really, Im talking actual convert time, not setting up etc

MrMister111 said:

Yeh just dont want to wear out my iMac! its a 2007 Core 2 Duo 2Ghz with 2Gb RAM, so not exactly cutting edge.

I also have a Win XP PC, which I could use to, but just looking at all the DVDs, and avi files I have terrifies me how long they would take to convert. eg TV series, I have the full 24 DVD disk box set of Miami Vice, this would take weeks to convert really, Im talking actual convert time, not setting up etc

Click to expand...

mkcoo said:

Yeah it was a bit of a mission. What you need is some dedication to the job.

It's taken 5 months. The maximum I was doing a day was 3, one in the morning, one in the evening and one overnight. I went for the best settings I could on Handbrake -Apple TV-.

File sizes vary quite a bit on different movies but had a look and they are averaging at about 2.3GB but def allow 2.5GB or more a movie if you are looking to guesstimate how much HD you are gonna need.

At the moment I've got them all on my MacMini Server but just thinking about my next move into more storage.

A question about adding the metadata.. When using one of the programs (Subler, MetaX, Vidalin) do they attach data into the video file or just fetch the info for itunes?

Click to expand...

mkcoo pretty much nailed it..just need some dedication and patience but IMO, it's definitely worth it. I haven/t tried the automated process but even without it, you can plow through your library at a pretty proficient rate. My library of about 225 movies and 150 TV episodes (mostly 1 hr each) took a few months. I would rip a bunch of DVDs using RipIt--usually takes about 45 min to an hour on my mac mini--and then just preload Handbrake with 4-5 movies (10-12 TV episodes) and have it run overnight. Doing it this way you'd have your Miami vice box set converted in about a week.

For tagging, MetaX for Mac still works in SL and as in HB, you can load up a bunch of tagging jobs and let it go (only takes a few minutes for a dozen or so). Only problem with MetaX for Mac is as Robbadore64 stated, the developer stopped supporting it early last year so generally the look up function won't find any data for media that came out after that point--you just have to manually add the data. It you really wish to use a lookup function to retrieve meta data, you can use Subler or Vidalin--just have to do one job at a time.

And I wouldn't worry about overworking your iMac. My Mac Mini is a 2.0 C2D with 4 GB RAM and while it doesn't blaze, it's performed flawlessly handling my conversions, even my more intensive recent blu-ray conversions.

yeh just looks like a long job, so has anyone used Universal preset in HandBrake? is there much quality difference between Uni and Apple TV preset? its just the Universal will play on iPhone, iPod and PS3 (I think) so saves me doing loads of different conversion?

On my Apple TV I have got ATVFlash on, this allows me to be able to browse my movies on my NAS drive without having to have my iMac on so it can connect to my iTunes library. I would much prefer a pure Apple route though as the movies look great with al the meta data, and also they seem to play much better, no stuttering etc

So my ideal is convert all using HB universal, and have my iTunes library on my NAS (my iMac HDD is only 320Gb and wont hold my music and movies), but can Apple TV connect to the NAS to the iTunes library on there without my iMac being on?

cheers

MrMister111 said:

yeh just looks like a long job, so has anyone used Universal preset in HandBrake? is there much quality difference between Uni and Apple TV preset? its just the Universal will play on iPhone, iPod and PS3 (I think) so saves me doing loads of different conversion?

Click to expand...

AIUI the main difference between Uni and ATV is size of the files rather than quality (with ATV giving smaller files). Of course that means you coudl bump up the quality for ATV and have the same file size but better quality, but "out of the box" I don't think there is much in it.

Also the ATV profile plays fine on iPhone 3GS and later model iPod Touches, and also quite possibly plays on PS3. Worth a check anyway.

MrMister111 said:

So my ideal is convert all using HB universal, and have my iTunes library on my NAS (my iMac HDD is only 320Gb and wont hold my music and movies), but can Apple TV connect to the NAS to the iTunes library on there without my iMac being on?

Click to expand...

Un-hacked, no. You need ATVFlash (or similar) if you want non-local storage without a PC/Mac on.

wysinawyg said:

AIUI the main difference between Uni and ATV is size of the files rather than quality (with ATV giving smaller files). Of course that means you coudl bump up the quality for ATV and have the same file size but better quality, but "out of the box" I don't think there is much in it.

Also the ATV profile plays fine on iPhone 3GS and later model iPod Touches, and also quite possibly plays on PS3. Worth a check anyway.

Click to expand...

anyone tried this please confirm? whats the difference in file sizes then between Uni and ATV preset? much? I owuld prefer a one time encode for play on 3GS, iPod, PS3, Apple TV though

wysinawyg said:

Un-hacked, no. You need ATVFlash (or similar) if you want non-local storage without a PC/Mac on.

Click to expand...

Ah so it looks like I can't do this anyway, so it it worth me converting the avi's I have currently using HB, or leave them as is? and then just convert my DVDs? ATVFlash is good, but prefer to be stock, its just I use the ATVFlash to access my NAS easily etc

cheers

pb1300 said:

I have another question...

I am going the simple route, ripping the DVD then converting it with HB, but I have a problem. I converted Return of the Jedi, and there are no subs, but not the subs you might be thinking. For example, when Jabba the Hut is speaking to Luke, there is no translation to what he is saying. Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

Click to expand...

Without making any changes in HB, subtitles will not be included in the encode. Under the subtitles tab, you need to either manually select the subtitle track or select Foreign Audio search and put a check in the Forced Only box---HB will scan for subtitles for non-English audio parts and then include them.

pb1300 said:

Well its a normal version from the States, and like I said, there are no subs in it, aside from the ones I mentioned earlier. So in order for me to see the subs from Jabba the Hut, I have to have the subs for the whole movie in it?

Click to expand...

First, I'll preface that I'm certainly no expert with Handbrake, just know what I learned by using it and reading the forums. If I'm incorrect with any of my explanation, someone please chime in to correct me.

Each DVD usually has multiple subtitle tracks for various languages. If you turn these on, you'll have subtitles for the entire film. What you're looking for a subtitles in an English language movie for non-English speaking parts. The foreign audio search will scan for these specific parts--the forced check box ensures that the subtitles are always included when viewing (I believe...). Setting it up this way under the subtitles tab should ensure you only have subtitles for non-English spoken parts.

tbayrgs said:

First, I'll preface that I'm certainly no expert with Handbrake, just know what I learned by using it and reading the forums. If I'm incorrect with any of my explanation, someone please chime in to correct me.

Each DVD usually has multiple subtitle tracks for various languages. If you turn these on, you'll have subtitles for the entire film. What you're looking for a subtitles in an English language movie for non-English speaking parts. The foreign audio search will scan for these specific parts--the forced check box ensures that the subtitles are always included when viewing (I believe...). Setting it up this way under the subtitles tab should ensure you only have subtitles for non-English spoken parts.

Click to expand...

Find the chapter that your taking about with the subtitles and try the different options above just encoding that chapter to see which works