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

[jeremy.king]

Originally Posted by mac.jedi

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.

I reviewed your shell script that invokes Fairmount and noticed logic that first checks for /tmp/batchRip-pid/currentItems.txt and if that fails, copies a file from /tmp/batchRip/currentItems.txt to the temp folder. In my case, that file didn't exist at all. So I simply issued a touch currentItems.txt command from within /tmp/batchRip/ directory.

I was asking when it gets created, because its possible there is a flaw in the logic that creates it from some machines (permissions?). I'll check out your action to see if I can issue a patch at some point...

[rowsdower]

Does this work on Leopard or is it Snow Leopard only?

[mac.jedi]

Originally Posted by rowsdower

Does this work on Leopard or is it Snow Leopard only?

Hi rowsdower,

I haven't had time to test it under 10.5 yet, so It's pretty much 10.6 only at this point. That said, the actions/workflows can probably be tweaked to run on 10.5 provided you have an Intel machine.

Why you no upgrade to 10.6, huh?

[rowsdower]

Originally Posted by mac.jedi

Hi rowsdower,

I haven't had time to test it under 10.5 yet, so It's pretty much 10.6 only at this point. That said, the actions/workflows can probably be tweaked to run on 10.5 provided you have an Intel machine.

Why you no upgrade to 10.6, huh?

I haven't upgraded because I have a few programs that are incompatible with SL at the moment.

I think the folder action interface might be different in Leopard because when I opened the Batch Rip workflow I don't see the "Folder action receives files and folders added to" thing at the top of the window. I ended up doing Save As Plugin and selecting folder actions, but the Volumes folder isn't visible there so I had to create an alias in Finder and then select the alias. It seems to be working now, or at least the rip action is working. I haven't gotten to the others yet.

[King Mook Mook]

Mac Jedi, you are A GOD! Seriously, this is one of the best posts I have ever seen on any forum (certainly better than any newspaper, maybe you should write for the New York Times and show them how to do things). Thankyou so much for doing this tutorial because I can presume I took you quite a while to write. If I could give you rep points I would do it. I would create a hundred different accounts and keep on giving you rep points. This should be stickied, it is so good and informative!

Thanks so much!
King Mook Mook

[King Mook Mook]

Just one thing! When I run Automator and I try to save the Batch Rip folder action Automator comes up with an error saying 'The document “Batch Rip • Batch Rip (Folder Action)” could not be saved as “Batch Rip”.' It's probably a stupid error I made so if you could help it would be greatly appreciated (and would make you even more of a god )

King Mook Mook

[mac.jedi]

Originally Posted by King Mook Mook

When I run Automator and I try to save the Batch Rip folder action Automator comes up with an error saying 'The document “Batch Rip • Batch Rip (Folder Action)” could not be saved as “Batch Rip”.

Hi King Mook Mook,

Thank you so much for your post!

Here are few of things you can try:

1. Make sure you're running Mac OS X 10.6 … the workflows were built for Snow Leopard.
2. Download or open the dmg again and drag another copy of the workflow file from the dmg to your hard drive, and try the new file.
3. Create a new folder action workflow by opening Automator and choosing the Folder Action template. Drag the Batch Rip Action from your action library pane into your workflow. Then, using the steps outlined in the tutorial, create and save your folder action.

Thanks again for your kind post. I hope this helps!

Happy Encoding,

mac.jedi

[mac.jedi]

Originally Posted by rowsdower

It seems to be working now, or at least the rip action is working. I haven't gotten to the others yet.

Thanks! I'm glad to hear it's working for you. I haven't tried it, but saving the other workflows as Finder plug-ins/applications might work in place of Services.

Good luck!

[rowsdower]

Originally Posted by rowsdower

It seems to be working now, or at least the rip action is working. I haven't gotten to the others yet.

The others seem to work as well if you save them as Finder plugins. They show up under Automator when you right-click on files or folders.

[craig1410]

Originally Posted by mac.jedi

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?

Hi,
Interestingly this works fine on my Dad's Mac Mini. The only difference is that he has his Batch Rip Movies and Batch Encode folders on his internal hard drive whereas I have my Batch Rip Movies on the internal drive and the Batch Encode folder on my external FW800 My Book drive (formatted as Mac OS Extended Journaled)

Could the fact I am using an external drive be having an effect? I did it this way to save space on my internal drive and because it should be slightly faster as FW800 is almost native speed and will avoid the drive heads from jumping back and forward between the two folders on the internal drive.

Any thoughts or should I just switch to using the internal drive for everything?

Thanks,
Craig.

[King Mook Mook]

Originally Posted by mac.jedi

Hi King Mook Mook,

Thank you so much for your post!

Here are few of things you can try:

1. Make sure you're running Mac OS X 10.6 … the workflows were built for Snow Leopard.
2. Download or open the dmg again and drag another copy of the workflow file from the dmg to your hard drive, and try the new file.
3. Create a new folder action workflow by opening Automator and choosing the Folder Action template. Drag the Batch Rip Action from your action library pane into your workflow. Then, using the steps outlined in the tutorial, create and save your folder action.

Thanks again for your kind post. I hope this helps!

Happy Encoding,

mac.jedi

Hi Mac Jedi,
I tried your ideas but, alas, they did not work! I have also noticed a couple of things about my computer that do not seem right:

1. For some reason I have no /Library/Workflows/Folder Actions, but I do however have /Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions and when I receive the error that I previously mentioned the workflow saves in there.
2. Also when I try to do the Growl commands Terminal just pops up the error 'No such file or directory'. Probably just a silly mistake I made though!
3. This may be the same for everyone but in my Finder there is no Services menu. Maybe this is because there is no Folder Actions folder but I do not know!

This information may mean nothing but if you could help, I would be most appreciative!

Thanks,
King Mook Mook


P.S. I am definitely running Snow Leopard! Unless that guy at the store sold me a dud version, but somehow I doubt it!

[King Mook Mook]

Can anyone help me?!?!? Pretty please with a cherry on top!

[mac.jedi]

Originally Posted by craig1410

Could the fact I am using an external drive be having an effect? Any thoughts or should I just switch to using the internal drive for everything?

Hi craig1410, setting the spotlight comment is pretty simple process. The only thing I think of is … perhaps there is permissions issue, but it would seem if you're able to write to the disk, you should also be able to change the comment. I am at a loss.

There are advantages to using the internal drive for ripping and encoding, I've found that throughput and read/write is usually faster. You can try the free AJA System Test to compare the speed: http://www.aja.com/products/software/

Good luck! mac.jedi

[mac.jedi]

Hi King Mook Mook,

I think you're problems may be deeper than the scope of this thread, I'll give you some info that may help you find a solution, but your best bet might be to post your issues or try a search in another forum like the Mac OS X or Mac Desktop/Laptop forum.

1. Originally Posted by King Mook Mook

   For some reason I have no /Library/Workflows/Folder Actions, but I do however have /Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions and when I receive the error that I previously mentioned the workflow saves in there.

   I assume you mean ~/Library, not /Library. When you choose Save As…, the folder action should be saved automatically to your home library folder. Automator should create the folders automatically, same with Services and iCal Alarms. The correct path for Folder Actions should be: ~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions/. If the tutorial shows the wrong path, it is probably a typo.
   

2. Originally Posted by King Mook Mook

   Also when I try to do the Growl commands Terminal just pops up the error 'No such file or directory'. Probably just a silly mistake I made though!

   You need to be very precise when working in the command-line. There should also be directions on installing growlnotify in the growl.dmg.
   

3. Originally Posted by King Mook Mook

   This may be the same for everyone but in my Finder there is no Services menu. Maybe this is because there is no Folder Actions folder but I do not know!

   Folder Actions and Services are two different processes. Only the Folder Actions Setup utility is available in a Services menu.
   
   There are a few different ways to access Services. The Services menu in the Finder will only display items that match a certain criteria for a selected Finder item. For example, the Add Movie Tags Service will only display if a movie file is selected. That being said, I've found the Services menu in Finder toolbar to be a bit unstable. I suggest right-clicking on an item (or set of items) or using the Application Menu Bar to the right of the Apple logo on the top of your screen: "ApplicationName" > Services

Anyway, I hope some of this helps.

Thanks, mac.jedi

[CypherSpider]

First I would like to thank mac.jedi for all the hard work on these scripts and tutorial, they are tremendously helpful.
Secondly I am having a strange problem, for the last three days I have been unable to tag the encoded episodes of several TV shows. When I select the episodes and chose rename & tag the files are renamed as they should be but no meta data is tagged to the file. If I then chose add TV tags still no meta data is added, the little gear icon shows up on my menu bar and just spins and spins for about 15 or 20 minutes then goes away no error messages or term windows pop up just the spinning gear. I have had no problems before this and have tagged close to 40 TV episodes with these scripts and about 5 movies. I have made no changes to my system (no software additions/deletions, or hardware changes) since installing the scripts about 6 days ago. I have tried reinstalling the scripts and the actions but still no luck. At this point I'm stumped. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks Cypher Spider

[craig1410]

Originally Posted by mac.jedi

Hi craig1410, setting the spotlight comment is pretty simple process. The only thing I think of is … perhaps there is permissions issue, but it would seem if you're able to write to the disk, you should also be able to change the comment. I am at a loss.

There are advantages to using the internal drive for ripping and encoding, I've found that throughput and read/write is usually faster. You can try the free AJA System Test to compare the speed: http://www.aja.com/products/software/

Good luck! mac.jedi

Hi,
I'll give it another try on my machine in a moment and let you know if it works now. I know there can be issues with label colours on networked (AFP) drives where the change in label colour is not immediately shown but if you add or remove a file from the folder any label colour changes suddenly get refreshed. I just wondered if something similar was happening on the firewire drive.

Thanks for the pointer to AJA System Test. I ran it and found the following:
My Book FW800: Read 72.7 MB/s, Write 61.4 MB/s
Internal Drive: Read 67.8 MB/s, Write 67.3 MB/s
Time Capsule (GBit Ethernet): Read 26.3 MB/s, Write 10.2 MB/s

As you can see, my FW800 drive is a bit faster at reading but a bit slower at writing compared to the internal drive. My Time Capsule is considerably slower which is no surprise really.

I would prefer for the rip to go from DVD to Internal and then the encode from Internal to External because that is where I intend to store my movies anyway as my internal drive is only 320GB and 70GB of that is assigned to boot camp. I then make a second copy onto my Time Capsule so that movies can be watched anywhere in the house and it acts as a backup as well.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks again,
Craig.

[mac.jedi]

Originally Posted by CypherSpider

I am having a strange problem, for the last three days I have been unable to tag the encoded episodes of several TV shows.

Hi CypherSpider,

I'm sorry you are having problems. What are the file names you are trying to tag? Please post the full name with extension. I can test it on my end and see if there is a problem with the code or with tvdb's database.

Thanks for posting!

mac.jedi

[mac.jedi]

Originally Posted by craig1410

I'll give it another try on my machine in a moment and let you know if it works now.

Hi again,

To help troubleshoot this, try to select the folder and use the "Add Movie Comment" Service. Then do a Get Info… on the folder to see if the comment was added. Also look at the permissions for the folder and make sure you have read/write access, sometimes the ACLs get copied over from the disc and prevent modification. Then, let me know the results.

Also, you can check to see if folder is perhaps not registering/updating the changes by issuing a couple commands in Terminal:

touch "/Volumes/path/to/folder"

Then do a get info to see if the comment is present

You can also try:

osascript -e "set theFile to POSIX file \"/Volumes/path/to/folder\"" -e 'tell application "Finder" to update theFile'

Then do a get info again to see if the comment is present

Let me know you findings.

Thanks again,

mac.jedi

[CypherSpider]

mac.jedi

The files I'm having trouble with are. Stargate Atlantis - S01E08.mv4 trough E19.m4v; Stargate Atlantis - S02E01.m4v through E20.m4v; Stargate SG-1 - S01E01.m4v trough E21.m4v; The Dresden Files - S01E01.m4v through E12.m4v; and Eureka - S03E01.m4v through E18.m4v.
Also I have tried a few movies with the same results they are Hancock (2008).mv4; Batman Begins (2005).m4v; and Duplicity (2009).m4v
I appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Cypher Spider

[mac.jedi]

ANNOUNCEMENT: BATCH RIP ACTIONS UPDATED

Release Notes
Batch Rip Actions for Automator

1.0.3

In Apple speak, v1.0.3 provides general fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and functionality
of Batch Rip Actions for Automator and is recommended for all users.

• Added workflows to install package. Now installs Services to ~/Library/Services, and Folder Actions to ~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions
• Shared components are now installed in /usr/local/bin
• Fixes an issue that might cause tagging actions to stall when adding cover art
• Includes general reliability and speed improvements for Add TV Tags, Add Movie Tags, Add Movie Poster, Batch Encode and Batch Rip

Enjoy!

[mac.jedi]

Originally Posted by CypherSpider

The files I'm having trouble with are. Stargate Atlantis - S01E08.mv4 trough E19.m4v; Stargate Atlantis - S02E01.m4v through E20.m4v; Stargate SG-1 - S01E01.m4v trough E21.m4v; The Dresden Files - S01E01.m4v through E12.m4v; and Eureka - S03E01.m4v through E18.m4v. Also I have tried a few movies with the same results they are Hancock (2008).mv4; Batman Begins (2005).m4v; and Duplicity (2009).m4v

Hi CypherSpider,

Thanks for posting! I'm sorry you are having trouble. I think your problem is related to a compatibility issue I found with certain cover art images and mp4v2.

I tested the items you were having issues with and they all tagged fine with the latest version. Try installing v1.0.3 (just posted) and it should resolve your problem.

Also, I noticed that some of your file extensions may have been mistyped with "mv4" instead of "m4v". It was probably just a typo in your post, but it might be a good idea to make sure your files all have the m4v extension.

Thanks again, mac.jedi

[CypherSpider]

Originally Posted by mac.jedi

I tested the items you were having issues with and they all tagged fine with the latest version. Try installing v1.0.3 (just posted) and it should resolve your problem.

Thanks I am away (working offshore) from the machine I run this on and will try the new version once I am back home.

Originally Posted by mac.jedi

Also, I noticed that some of your file extensions may have been mistyped with "mv4" instead of "m4v". It was probably just a typo in your post, but it might be a good idea to make sure your files all have the m4v extension.

Yeah that was a typo, dyslexia rears its ugly head once again.
Thanks again for all your hard work this is an invaluable tool.
Cypher Spider

[DevNoull]

Hi,

thanks for this great stuff man! Really cool use of automator

But i have a problme during the installing phase. I installed via your Installer with admin rights. No errors so far. But when i try to follow your tutorial along and want to open the folder actions under ~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions there are no actions .... don't know why ..

[mac.jedi]

Originally Posted by DevNoull

~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions there are no actions .... don't know why ..

Hi DevNoull, is there anything in /Users/username/Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions? Do the folders even exist? It could be a problem with the installer, but I tested it quite a bit. Have you tried doing a custom install of just the Folder actions?

[DevNoull]

The Folder exists - but is empty. Just did a custom install of just the folder actions and it is still not there. The normal actions are installed in ~/Library/Automator.

Is there anywhere an install log?