MakeMKV + Handbrake + Plex (Optimal Transcode?)

[JoEw]

So I am in the process of ripping my massive blu-ray collection into MKV files, these are uncompressed resulting in 30GB-50GB a movie. I have a 4tb hard drive to handle the memory needs that is not the concern, but my Plex media transcoder uses a lot of cpu resources when I want to watch one of these on my ATV or Roku (I assume because the file is huge).

Which brings me to my question, I would like to keep my uncompressed mkvs in a folder and create compressed versions of these movies for use on my roku/atv, perhaps in a container that does not require transcoding. I believe roku/atv both natively support mp4? Is there a preset in handbrake that can significantly compress file size, yet keep the quality very very close to original blu-ray? Please, share your recommendations! I know that there will be some quality loss, but if it means each file won't need to be transcoded to be watched, I am willing to sacrifice.
Thanks!

 

[linds15]

So I am in the process of ripping my massive blu-ray collection into MKV files, these are uncompressed resulting in 30GB-50GB a movie. I have a 4tb hard drive to handle the memory needs that is not the concern, but my Plex media transcoder uses a lot of cpu resources when I want to watch one of these on my ATV or Roku (I assume because the file is huge).

Which brings me to my question, I would like to keep my uncompressed mkvs in a folder and create compressed versions of these movies for use on my roku/atv, perhaps in a container that does not require transcoding. I believe roku/atv both natively support mp4? Is there a preset in handbrake that can significantly compress file size, yet keep the quality very very close to original blu-ray? Please, share your recommendations! I know that there will be some quality loss, but if it means each file won't need to be transcoded to be watched, I am willing to sacrifice.
Thanks!

trial and error are going to be your friend here. its dependent on your TV/viewing distance, as well as your audio setup. do you have a budget screen, a higher end screen, and projector? what is your audio setup? HD audio is a good chunk of those massive files, and if you're just using tv speakers they arent necessary.

the eye test is all that matter to you at the end of the day, some people get the file size cut in half, and do not see a difference in the quality, some immediately spot all the artefacts and can't deal with it.

lastly, it depends on the movie, some you will be able to get down in size with less quality degradation than overs.

side note: that 4TB drive goes super quick if you are keeping all the full rips, i'd also strongly consider mirroring that drive to another incase of a failure

 

[waw74]

the aTV 3 preset will work on both the aTV and the Roku.

 

[niteflyr]

MP4 Tools will pass thru the video(lossless) of a lot of BR MKV rips into a mv4 container which will play on ATV.

 

[famous600]

MP4 Tools will pass thru the video(lossless) of a lot of BR MKV rips into a mv4 container which will play on ATV.

THANK YOU!!!! I was just going to say this. Everyone thinks you need handbrake to convert. Which can take HOURS. As long as the video is encoded as H.264 MP4tools is the way to go. You can convert the audio and turn it into a nice MP4. Just did this with 6TB worth of videos and PLEX server streams them to my roku just fine!