After reading mac.jedi's thread about how to automate the rip of DVDs for AppleTV, I tried to find a way to adapt that workflow to use my PS3 instead of an AppleTV. All of this has come from inspiration of mac.jedi, and other forum members. The original thread is here, or you can read it from the sticky at the top of this forum.
I upgraded the harddrive in my PS3 to a 500gb disk, and decided I wanted to put my favourite films on so that I could just watch them quickly and easily. I like not to lose quality and to keep the 5.1 surround sound. And I only have a mac to work with, so Windows based solutions are not an option for me.
This isn't quite automated, but it is very simple process once you've done it once.
I follow mac.jedi's guide up to the end of step 2, so the DVD is automatically ripped in its entire form to your movies drive. From here I tried a few different solutions, and I'll weigh up the pros and cons here for you. At this stage you have a folder with all the files from the DVD on it.
Option 1
Leave the files as they are, and copy the main movie files over to the PS3.
The PS3 can play files in sequence, and can play .VOB files that you will have sat in the folder, so very little work is needed. The only thing is you may notice a slight pause when it moves to the next file. The hardest part here is identifying the main movie files. Generally, this will be files called VTS_03_1.VOB, VTS_03_2.VOB, VTS_03_3.VOB , etc. The number in the middle can vary but youre looking for the longest sequence. You do not need to copy VTS_01_0
.VOB. To check to see if you have the correct files VLC can playback .VOB files so you can check which ones are the movie, and which are menu and extras , etc.
Option 2
Join the .vob files to one big .vob file and copy that to your PS3.
Similar to option 1, however you are going to need something to join the files. If youre comfortable in terminal, the CAT command can also achieve this. However I found the CAT command resulted in files that you cannot FF/RW on PS3, and all their time-stamp data was invalid, and you have to know which files to join, and the order , etc. I now use a program called DVD2One that correctly merges the files. DVD2One is 40. The settings I use for DVD2One are to set the output size to something ridiculously huge, this will prevent compression, and target to Media Player, so this will create one file. There is a free trial available of DVD2One available. Again, you can use VLC to check the .VOB that has been created. Also if you have the Quicktime MPEG2 Pack from Apple you can watch these in Quicktime.
Option 3
Use Handbrake to re-encode them to a compressed format.
This will take the longest, and produce files that are of less quality, but smaller size. There is a pre-set PS3 format, and numerous threads on how to use handbrake all over the internet, so I wont go to too much detail here. Once converted, copy to your PS3 and its ready to watch. If you plan to use Handbrake, mac.jedis thread can automate this for you. You may need to change the settings on the script to get better quality or a compatible file. I do not use this method, so Im not sure of the finer details.
How to copy the files to PS3
If you've gone for Option 1 or Option 3, this shouldnt be that much of an issue. Plug a thumb drive in your mac, and copy the files across. The thumb drive needs to be formatted in FAT32 (MS-DOS in Disk Utility) for a PS3 to read it. This will become a problem with Option 2 though as most modern films are on dual layer disks, meaning the film normally rips to about 6-8GB. As you have merged this to one file, it will not go on a FAT32 thumb drive, as these have a limit of 4GB per file. My solution is to put these files in your Sites folder. Delete any index.html pages that you may find in there. You will also need to change the extension from .vob to .mpeg, so for example movie.vob becomes movie.mpeg. Then turn on Web Sharing in System Preferences.
Now go to your PS3 browser and type in the address that System Preferences shows you as your share. You should come up with a wepage that says "Index of /" followed by a list of all the files in the Sites folder. Move the PS3 cursor over the file, press Triangle, File, Save Target and the film will copy to your PS3. This can be performed in back ground and queued up so you can do multiple films without interruption.
Alternatively the files can be streamed from your mac to your PS3. Medialink always seems to be highly recommended for this.
I personally use DVD2One and web server method, and this is a quick way to get DVD quality films that work properly on PS3. The best part about this that you can be ripping, converting and transferring to the PS3 all at the same time, effectively working on 3 DVDs at the same time. And on my macbook air, DVD2One takes about 30 minutes to convert a film, which is much faster than the 16 hours that handbrake told me it was going to take. It takes about 1hour 30mins from start to finish for me, but being able to do 3 parts at the same time means in batch processes its very quick. Im using a 1st generation Macbook Air, so better hardware should make this process super quick for others out there. I also know mac.jedis script can rip 2 drives at the same time, which can make this a fast, powerful method.
I welcome any feedback and queries you might have, and would like to take this moment to say that this method is only for DVDs that you have the right to make a copy of. Please do no discuss piracy, as this is against forum rules.
I upgraded the harddrive in my PS3 to a 500gb disk, and decided I wanted to put my favourite films on so that I could just watch them quickly and easily. I like not to lose quality and to keep the 5.1 surround sound. And I only have a mac to work with, so Windows based solutions are not an option for me.
This isn't quite automated, but it is very simple process once you've done it once.
I follow mac.jedi's guide up to the end of step 2, so the DVD is automatically ripped in its entire form to your movies drive. From here I tried a few different solutions, and I'll weigh up the pros and cons here for you. At this stage you have a folder with all the files from the DVD on it.
Option 1
Leave the files as they are, and copy the main movie files over to the PS3.
The PS3 can play files in sequence, and can play .VOB files that you will have sat in the folder, so very little work is needed. The only thing is you may notice a slight pause when it moves to the next file. The hardest part here is identifying the main movie files. Generally, this will be files called VTS_03_1.VOB, VTS_03_2.VOB, VTS_03_3.VOB , etc. The number in the middle can vary but youre looking for the longest sequence. You do not need to copy VTS_01_0
.VOB. To check to see if you have the correct files VLC can playback .VOB files so you can check which ones are the movie, and which are menu and extras , etc.
Option 2
Join the .vob files to one big .vob file and copy that to your PS3.
Similar to option 1, however you are going to need something to join the files. If youre comfortable in terminal, the CAT command can also achieve this. However I found the CAT command resulted in files that you cannot FF/RW on PS3, and all their time-stamp data was invalid, and you have to know which files to join, and the order , etc. I now use a program called DVD2One that correctly merges the files. DVD2One is 40. The settings I use for DVD2One are to set the output size to something ridiculously huge, this will prevent compression, and target to Media Player, so this will create one file. There is a free trial available of DVD2One available. Again, you can use VLC to check the .VOB that has been created. Also if you have the Quicktime MPEG2 Pack from Apple you can watch these in Quicktime.
Option 3
Use Handbrake to re-encode them to a compressed format.
This will take the longest, and produce files that are of less quality, but smaller size. There is a pre-set PS3 format, and numerous threads on how to use handbrake all over the internet, so I wont go to too much detail here. Once converted, copy to your PS3 and its ready to watch. If you plan to use Handbrake, mac.jedis thread can automate this for you. You may need to change the settings on the script to get better quality or a compatible file. I do not use this method, so Im not sure of the finer details.
How to copy the files to PS3
If you've gone for Option 1 or Option 3, this shouldnt be that much of an issue. Plug a thumb drive in your mac, and copy the files across. The thumb drive needs to be formatted in FAT32 (MS-DOS in Disk Utility) for a PS3 to read it. This will become a problem with Option 2 though as most modern films are on dual layer disks, meaning the film normally rips to about 6-8GB. As you have merged this to one file, it will not go on a FAT32 thumb drive, as these have a limit of 4GB per file. My solution is to put these files in your Sites folder. Delete any index.html pages that you may find in there. You will also need to change the extension from .vob to .mpeg, so for example movie.vob becomes movie.mpeg. Then turn on Web Sharing in System Preferences.
Now go to your PS3 browser and type in the address that System Preferences shows you as your share. You should come up with a wepage that says "Index of /" followed by a list of all the files in the Sites folder. Move the PS3 cursor over the file, press Triangle, File, Save Target and the film will copy to your PS3. This can be performed in back ground and queued up so you can do multiple films without interruption.
Alternatively the files can be streamed from your mac to your PS3. Medialink always seems to be highly recommended for this.
I personally use DVD2One and web server method, and this is a quick way to get DVD quality films that work properly on PS3. The best part about this that you can be ripping, converting and transferring to the PS3 all at the same time, effectively working on 3 DVDs at the same time. And on my macbook air, DVD2One takes about 30 minutes to convert a film, which is much faster than the 16 hours that handbrake told me it was going to take. It takes about 1hour 30mins from start to finish for me, but being able to do 3 parts at the same time means in batch processes its very quick. Im using a 1st generation Macbook Air, so better hardware should make this process super quick for others out there. I also know mac.jedis script can rip 2 drives at the same time, which can make this a fast, powerful method.
I welcome any feedback and queries you might have, and would like to take this moment to say that this method is only for DVDs that you have the right to make a copy of. Please do no discuss piracy, as this is against forum rules.