How-To: Automating DVD & Blu-Ray (Backup, Encoding & Tagging) for Mac OS X

JLandis said:

I will be using solely Plex or VLC to play my videos. Is there any benefits to outputting all my videos as MKV files in my case?

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For me, it depends on the source. I pretty much only use MKV for 1080p encodes. Plex will support DTS audio in MKV files as well … which is great for Blu-Ray content. I always make a 720p and SD m4v file as well, so I can use it on Apple devices/apps.

For DVD content, I prefer m4v. It's more versatile and easier to manage with iTunes and multiple devices. I don't see any real advantage to using MKV for these kinda sources. Plex and VLC will play them just fine.

If you've got enough storage, you can always just use the full FairMount copy in Plex or Front Row. Then you'll get menus and special features as well.

JLandis said:

Does MakeMKV do a good at DVD -> MKV? Just trying to understand the different output choices out there.

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I prefer HandBrake with h.264 encoding, if I'm extracting individual titles. MakeMKV will be faster, but larger in file size … since it's not doing any compression.

Congrats on your new mini! Enjoy!

bbyers70 said:

1st When adding movie tags it would be nice if the following fields would be populated: Name, Genre, MPAA Rating, cnID, Media Kind, HD tag.

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Hi bbyers70,

Thanks for the suggestions!

The Add Movie Tags Action is meant for batch tagging, so I tried to keep it to the basics: Album Artists, Release Date, Genre, Description and Cover Art. I also included iTunes rDNS atom that adds an xml style plist to the file so it will also display: Director, Screenwriters, Actors and Producers, etc, when viewed on an Apple TV or thru Front Row. The Add TV Tag Action receives all these tags in addition to Show Name, Episode Name, Episode Number, Season Number and Episode Description.

In addition to these tags, the Batch Encode Action includes most of the other items you're looking for. For HD sources, the output files receive additional tags for: cnID number, media type (Short Movie=9 or TV show=10) and HD flag. DVD sources do not receive a cnID or HD flag.

MPAA ratings are not available from themoviedb.org at this time. I believe this is something they are currently working on, but may take a while before the database is populated. I will definitely add it once it's available.

The Title tag (name) is something I intentionally left out, since iTunes sets the title to the filename minus extension. So if your files are named correctly (which they should be if you're using the Action), it really isn't necessary.

The Media Type tag was something I forgot to include in the Add Movie Tags Action. It's done by separate sub-routine in the Batch Encode action that does the cnID and HD flag, so the code never made it over.

I'll definitely add the media type, rating (when available) and perhaps the HD flag into the Add Movie Tags Action, but it might be better just to use Subler or another Automator workflow for setting the cnID & HD flag outside of the Batch Encode Action. I'll think more on it.

Oh, BTW, I do have an Add Genre to Movie Items action that I'll be adding in the next update, along with one or two others.

Thanks, mac.jedi

williamsonajm said:

Hey again

Quick question. Why is it that when I "Rename & Tag TV Items", I end up with 2 copies of each file: The original and the new one that has been tagged with the new cover-art. Plus, the new 'tagged' files will have a random load of numbers after the filename (eg: "Stargate Atlantis - S03E06-temp-13165.m4v")... Any advice on how to fix this?

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By default, AtomicParsley copies the file and writes the tags to the copy, leaving your original file unaltered. The numbers at the end of the filename are normal, for the temp file. In case you're wondering the numbers represent the process id number (PID) assigned to the process AtomicParsley while it is working on your file.

To replace your original file, open the Rename & Tag TV Items workflow, select the Add TV Tags Action, click on the disclosure triangle to expand the panel and check "Replace original file". This will cause AtomicParsley to replace your original file with the tagged file, once the tags have been successfully added.

williamsonajm said:

Code:

growlnotify: command not found

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It looks like it can't find the growlnotify tool. growlnotify is needed in order to notify growl from the command-line. It works differently than when called from a cocoa app.

It mentions it in the tutorial, but I heard that I may have gotten the install directions wrong and I haven't had time to test & correct it. You will find growlnotify in the Growl installer disk image in the extras folder. You want to install growlnotify in your "hidden" /usr/local/bin folder. An easy way to get to the folder is to open a finder window. Enter the keyboard shortcut: cmd-shift-g and enter the path /usr/local/bin. Then drag or copy & paste the growlnotify tool to the folder.

I hope this helps. Thanks, mac.jedi

williamsonajm said:

Cool. I've copied the growlnotify app into the /usr/local/bin directory and guess i'll find out if it's now working when the converter next tries to send a message to it

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It might not work the first time out. I think the first time growlnotify sends a message, it adds itself as an app in the Growl pref pane. Then you can choose how you want Growl to notify you … I prefer mailme. You need to setup mailme with your email address in the Growl display prefs.

Also, there are a couple issues you should be aware of. On some systems growlnotify will fail about half the time. For instance, it works great on my Mini and MacBook Air, but is sketchy on my Mac Pro. It's a known issue and I'm still looking for a workaround. Also, mailme doesn't seem to work with MobileMe set as the mail sender. It has something to do with the Keychain. Growl will use the first email account listed in mail.app as the sender. You need to move another account to the top, like a gmail account, then setup mailme. After mailme has successfully sent a preview message, you can change your default account back.

Batch Rip Actions for Automator v1.0.2

ANNOUNCEMENT: BATCH RIP ACTIONS UPDATED

Release Notes
Batch Rip Actions for Automator

1.0.2

Everything

• Requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later
• Updated installer package, should correct permissions issues some users were experiencing

Add Genre to Movie File.action - NEW ACTION

• 
  This action tags mp4 files with a selected iTunes genre

Add Movie Poster.action - NEW ACTION

• 
  This action will add cover art to selected files. There are three options:

1. Disable dialogs and use clipboard: Will download an image from a URL in the clipboard. The downloaded image will be added as cover art to the mp4/m4v file.
2. Search themoviedb.org: Will search themoviedb.org and display movie posters matching a search term in Safari. Right-click and choose Copy Link to select a image. In the dialog box Choose OK. The selected image will then be downloaded and added as cover art to the mp4/m4v file.
3. Choose from file: Will display a choose file window. The selected image will then be added as cover art to the mp4/m4v file.

Batch Rip.action - UPDATED

• Updated to version 1.0.1
• Note: FairMount has a new 64-Bit version and has been updated to 1.0.5.
• Added pop-up menu to set the path to FairMount …*since FairMount now has a 64-bit version and has changed its folder structure.
• Changed how the Action logs mounted discs
  • Folder Action log is cleared when Batch Rip start processing
  • When an active Batch Rip disc item remounts after finishing a process, no dialogs will appear
• Changed the way Batch Rip handles discs with the same name
  • If Batch Rip is set to run automatically, Batch Rip will skip discs if an item with the same name appears in the output directory
  • If Batch Rip is NOT set to run automatically, Batch Rip will copy the disc and append the filename of the new copy with the current process ID number (PID)
• FairMount will now quit after DVDs have been copied
• Fixed the error some users were experiencing with MakeMKV returning "No titles longer than" for DVD-ROM sources
• Sets the Spotlight comment for all output items to the selected video kind

Batch Encode.action - UPDATED

• Updated to version 1.0.1
• Changed the egrep syntax for line 786, to fix the "echo: line 786" error message
• Updated the subroutine for tsMuxeR, but doesn't matter since tsMuxeR is still not compatible with Snow Leopard

Add Movie Tags.action - UPDATED

• Added new tags:
  • HD-Flag: for file resolutions over 1280x720
  • Title: will add the filename as the title
  • Video Type (stik): Movie (9-Short Movie)
• Added add chapters from file (mp4chaps)
  • Chapter file must be named: filename.chapters.txt (filename must be exactly the same as the movie file)
• Added cover art resizing. Will now resize images to a maximum of 600x600 pixels as recommended by iTunes. Also allows Finder to update icon more effectively and reduces file size a bit.

Add TV Tags.action - UPDATED

• Added HD-Flag: for file resolutions over 1280x720
• Added add chapters from file (mp4chaps)
  • Chapter file must be named: filename.chapters.txt (filename must be exactly the same as the movie file)
• Added cover art resizing. Will now resize images to a maximum of 600x600 pixels as recommended by iTunes. Also allows Finder to update icon more effectively and reduces file size a bit

Enjoy!

I checked the code and there was a typo in the code that switches the BD-ROM function on and off … it seems that the force was not with me on that one.

I updated the Batch Rip.action to 1.0.1b at about 8:30AM PST. I highly recommend re-downloading and using the custom install to replace the Batch Rip action if you downloaded the actions last night or this morning.

Thanks, mac.jedi

From the HandBrake Forum:

splodgecat said:

Code:

    ERROR: makemkvcon command tool is not setup to execute
    ERROR: attempting to use tool at /Applications/MakeMKV.app/Contents/MacOS/makemkvcon

    ERROR: makemkvcon command tool could not be found
    ERROR: makemkvcon can be installed in ./ /usr/local/bin/ /usr/bin/ ~/ or /Applications/

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bbyers70 said:

I'm experiencing issue with tagging TV episodes. There seems to be an issue with 7th Heaven.

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I just did a quick test and it looks like the cover art link is bad in thetvdb.org xml file, so it's failing when trying add the cover art. I've only encountered this once before, but to be safe, I'll add some sort of integrity test for the image file. Unfortunately, AtomicParsley doesn't just not add the artwork it just fails the whole process.

I'll let you know when I update the action.

Thanks for letting me know,
mac.jedi

craig1410 said:

Here is the first changed line:

Code:

movieTitle=`"$xpathPath" "$movieData" //name 2>/dev/null | awk -F\> '{print $2}' | awk -F\< '{print $1}' | sed "s|&apos;|\'|g" | egrep -ix "$discNameNoYearWildcard"`

and the second three lines below:

Code:

movieTitle=`"$xpathPath" "$movieData" //alternative_name 2>/dev/null | awk -F\> '{print $2}' | awk -F\< '{print $1}' | sed "s|&apos;|\'|g" | egrep -ix "$discNameNoYearWildcard"`

I hope you don't mind me digging into your code.

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Hi craig1410,

Thanks for posting! Of course I don't mind you guys digging it to the code, in fact I appreciate it. Just be sure to post (as craig did) or PM me your changes as they might help to benefit everyone.

I think the -x flag will work nicely. I originally wrote that part of the script when I was editing filenames manually, so at the time I needed a little bit of fuzzy matching, otherwise it would fail if I didn't get the name exactly how it appeared in the database. If you are using the renamer action, the names should be correct so the -x flag should assure a correct match.

Thanks again for posting,
mac.jedi

craig1410 said:

I just tried the new 1.0.2 release and it didn't seem to set the spotlight comment of the rip folder to "Movie" even though that is the media type I chose when running Batch Rip action after inserting the DVD.

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Hi again,

I've tested it, and it seems to be functioning properly. Setting the spotlight comment is pretty much the last thing that's done in the process. Was there any indication that the script didn't finish?

jeremy.king said:

I noticed on my machine, /tmp/batchRip/currentItems.txt wasn't being created, so ultimately I'd get the "No discs found" error.

I was able to fix by using touch, but I was curious at what point in the process is that file created/written?

I'm testing a rip now, looks to be working.

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Hi jeremy.king,

Thanks for posting! How you are using the touch command and what exactly did you fix? It may help to benefit everyone if there's a change that can be made in the code to make the process work better.

In answer to your question, the file is created after selecting the video kind in the dialog box. It basically just writes a line for each disc inserted, the path and the video kind selected. When the action launches Terminal, the file is moved to a new temp folder for the currently running script, deleting the original file. The script will then copy the discs listed in the text file using the video kind selected for each disc.

There are a few reasons for needing to create the file, but the most important one is for FairMount and MakeMKV. They both unmount and remount the discs during the copying process. This makes the folder action run again. To make sure it doesn't, the action contains a test to see if a newly mounted disc is listed in the text file of the currently running process. If it is, the action will stop. If it isn't, the action will continue and display the dialog box.

I hope this helps.

Thanks, mac.jedi

Tastannin said:

1. The default encoding type - DVD (Default) - what setting does it approximate when using Handbrake GUI on the Mac?

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Hi Tastannin,
Thanks for posting! You actually helped me find an error I made in the code. The default DVD settings should be a slightly modified version of the Universal preset using decomb, detelecine and core audio instead of faac. It looks like during testing, I deactivated the Universal setting and activated a setting that is closer to the Apple TV setting. I'll be sure correct it in the next revision.

Tastannin said:

2. How can I get my GUI settings in a CLI string to put in for the Custom Settings?

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In order to mimic the settings you use in the GUI, you'll need to do some research on using the command-line. The HandBrake wiki has CLI guide, but it's a bit out dated if you are using the latest snapshot. It is however a must read if you aren't familiar with using custom commands.CLIGuide - HandBrake

For a more up-to-date listing of the commands, use Terminal. Enter the path to (or drag) the HandBrakeCLI tool into the Terminal window. Enter a space after the path and type -h to get a list of all the commands HB supports. Instead of -h you can also type -z which will give you an up-to-date listing of the HandBrake presets in command-line form.

Tastannin said:

3. All my sources are DVD's - can I use HD(SD) to get the Universal setting like in the GUI? That's what I use in the GUI anyways.

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The HD(SD) setting in the action is only for HD sources. You'll want to enter your custom DVD settings in the custom DVD tab.

Tastannin said:

4. I'd like to include closed captions because I'm deaf. GUI allows me to choose this. However I seem to be unable to find the correct flag to put into the Custom Settings to get this option. Is there any way you can add a picker (like in the GUI) for choosing the default Subtitle track in the Batch Encode Service?

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In time, I hope to implement a setting for audio language and subtitles, but it's a big task that I'm not quite ready for as I'd have to do it for BD-ROM also. In the meantime, if you include the subtitle commands in the Action's custom DVD tab, they should be processed just like any other command. You may want to look at the subtitle section of the CLI help for more info on the commands. Also, I know that there has been a lot of work going into subtitles as of late in HB so a quick search of the HB forum might help too. Also look at the app Subler. This will add subtitles to already encoded files.

Anyway, thanks again for posting. I hope this helps.

Thanks, mac.jedi