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FSUSem1noles

macrumors 68000
Feb 23, 2006
1,622
16
Ft. Lauderdale
Plex does DTS passthrough. Very nice feature and I'm glad it's on the list. :)

Are there any options out yet that can convert Blu-Ray to AppleTV using a Mac, from what I've read the steps in this process all require a PC, other than using Handbrake..

Can this be done using Fusion? or only bootcamp?

Thanks for any help/suggestions..
 

Ol!ver

macrumors 6502a
Mar 2, 2005
526
0
Based on this, is there a way to convert an MKV file with DTS to AC3 for playback on the ATV? I just get stereo if I do a a straight conversion with Visualhub.

Cheers
 

Cave Man

macrumors 604
Original poster
Are there any options out yet that can convert Blu-Ray to AppleTV using a Mac, from what I've read the steps in this process all require a PC, other than using Handbrake..

Can this be done using Fusion? or only bootcamp?

I have tried both the current Fusion and version 2 of Parallels and neither worked for me. My BD ROM drive was not recognized. However, there's one person at the Plex forums who has had success with Fusion but his drive is internal, while mine is USB2.
 

soLoredd

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2007
967
0
California
This could all be a moot point if Apple would just let us buy the god damn HD versions. I realize part of the issue is the studios but Apple is so behind in supporting HD it's disgusting.
 

FSUSem1noles

macrumors 68000
Feb 23, 2006
1,622
16
Ft. Lauderdale
I have tried both the current Fusion and version 2 of Parallels and neither worked for me. My BD ROM drive was not recognized. However, there's one person at the Plex forums who has had success with Fusion but his drive is internal, while mine is USB2.

Hmmm, yeah, if anything the BD drive I would use would be USB2 as well... I've been searching the internet to no luck.. it looks like a no go unless mac comes out with a built in BD drive.
 

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
Hmmm, yeah, if anything the BD drive I would use would be USB2 as well... I've been searching the internet to no luck.. it looks like a no go unless mac comes out with a built in BD drive.

see, this is where a Hackintosh comes in handy. runs on osx for everything until the odd occasion where you need to boot into windoze for things such as converting BluRay Movies :)
 

northy124

macrumors 68020
Nov 18, 2007
2,293
8
I thought I'd post here instead of making a new thread.

I have ripped a BD (Lissi und der Wilde Kaiser) and I put it in HandBrake only for it to say scanning for a ages to which I give up and go out. My question is this: Does HB support VC1? as it appears to be the codec in Lissi und der Wilde Kaiser. (I would ask this on the HB forums but I was looking through the thread so I thought I'd ask).
 

bucksaddle

macrumors 6502
Dec 4, 2008
295
44
No problems using an external (Pioneer) Blu Ray drive here under Parallels (both 3 or 4). I have it enclosed within a USB caddy but you have to make sure that when you set up Parallels it is set-up as an 2nd CD/DVD drive NOT a USB drive. This is done within the configuration of the VM when the guest OS is not running.
The USB caddy is seen as a USB drive when Parallels is started, but this is left unchecked.
Cheers
 

pprior

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2007
1,448
9
That may be your problem. DTS is still a bit problematic for HB. I'm sure it will get sorted out. I transcoded The Dark Knight Blu-ray to both 720p and 1080p with AC3 DD using HB093 with no problems, and it's encoded in VC1.

Wait a minute, did I understand you to say that HB can now rip blu-ray discs for play on ATV??
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,584
1,700
Redondo Beach, California
Why not use "dd"?

Couldn't you just use the "dd" command that ships with Mac OS X the rip the BR disc? Of course you'd need a USB Blu-ray player on your mac. But dd would save to the hassle of running Windows and buying extra software. But then you would have to type into the terminal -- easier for most people to go the Windows route I guess.
 

Cave Man

macrumors 604
Original poster
You would still need to overcome the encryption, which is encoded in the video. 'dd' could be used to image the disc, but then again so can Disc Utility. There just isn't any point if you cannot decrypt it (and de-HDCP, too).

Wait a minute, did I understand you to say that HB can now rip blu-ray discs for play on ATV??

It cannot rip, but it can transcode most m2ts containers. You need AnyDVD HD under windows to rip.

But yes, I've had lots of good luck, especially recently. HB093 handles just about all Blu-ray video (H.264 AVC, MPEG-2 or VC1) and AC3. The problems usually are because of DTS, True-HD and DTS-HD audio. For the ATV, I use HB's ATV preset, then change the bit rate to 6,000 average, change the Picture size to 1280x whatever, then make sure audio is set to AAC for the first track and AC3 for the second (HB's default audio settings). I now have about 20 Blu-ray rips on my Apple TV's hard drive. And this is also the reason for the eSATA hack for the ATV. :)
 

ceraz

macrumors member
Apr 1, 2008
82
26
... then change the bit rate to 6,000 average, change the Picture size to 1280x whatever, then make sure audio is set to AAC for the first track and AC3 for the second (HB's default audio settings). I now have about 20 Blu-ray rips on my Apple TV's hard drive. And this is also the reason for the eSATA hack for the ATV. :)

Caveman you say that you store these files on the ATV hard disk, did you ever try streaming from a NAS with these settings ?
 

mmccaskill

macrumors 6502
Jan 3, 2007
349
0
You would still need to overcome the encryption, which is encoded in the video. 'dd' could be used to image the disc, but then again so can Disc Utility. There just isn't any point if you cannot decrypt it (and de-HDCP, too).

Cave Man, do you know if AnyDVD HD accepts Blu-Ray images? Or does it need an actual drive? I have a PS3 so if I can image a Blu-Ray and then transfer it to a PC (virtualized of course) with AnyDVD HD, I'm golden.
 

Cave Man

macrumors 604
Original poster
Caveman you say that you store these files on the ATV hard disk, did you ever try streaming from a NAS with these settings ?

Yes, I've tried that and at 6 mbps there are a few stutters that occur. You can pretty much forget about 2x ff/rew or more, though. Sync'd content does 3x ff/rew just fine with my rips. I have a few of the Apple HD TV shows (Battlestar Galactica, ect.) that have 4 mbps video and they seem to stream ok.

Cave Man, do you know if AnyDVD HD accepts Blu-Ray images? Or does it need an actual drive? I have a PS3 so if I can image a Blu-Ray and then transfer it to a PC (virtualized of course) with AnyDVD HD, I'm golden.

I'm not sure if AnyDVD HD will accept BD images. You can dl it and give it a try - it comes with a 2 or 3 week trial period.
 

pprior

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2007
1,448
9
It cannot rip, but it can transcode most m2ts containers. You need AnyDVD HD under windows to rip.

But yes, I've had lots of good luck, especially recently. HB093 handles just about all Blu-ray video (H.264 AVC, MPEG-2 or VC1) and AC3. The problems usually are because of DTS, True-HD and DTS-HD audio. For the ATV, I use HB's ATV preset, then change the bit rate to 6,000 average, change the Picture size to 1280x whatever, then make sure audio is set to AAC for the first track and AC3 for the second (HB's default audio settings). I now have about 20 Blu-ray rips on my Apple TV's hard drive. And this is also the reason for the eSATA hack for the ATV. :)

Wow, I wasn't aware this was even possible.

I run anyDVD under parallels for hte few disks that won't rip using mactheripper. Will this work or do you have to have an actual windows machine?

Any external blu-ray drive will work??

I'm getting excited! I want high def from my apple tv based home theater.
 
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