Question about ripping my BR library...

[TRC-WA]

I've decided to rip my BR library to clear shelf space. I prefer digital copies anyway in iTunes.

I am using Aurora BR Copy that was included in the purchase of the player. It rips them to ISO and they are 20-45GB in size.

The quality is outstanding... I can't tell the difference from the actual blue ray.

But... is there a better way? I'd like the files to be in the Apple format (MP4? M4V?) where they will be a lot smaller obviously.

Is there better software out there?

Suggestions appreciated!

 

[blueroom]

Those ISO copies are bit perfect, no way to tell them from original. BUT if you want to play them on an ATV you'll need to compress (lossy) them to H.264, AAC & DD5.1

Handbrake is very good at this sort of thing, prepare to wait awhile as it compresses them.

 

[TRC-WA]

Those ISO copies are bit perfect, no way to tell them from original. BUT if you want to play them on an ATV you'll need to compress (lossy) them to H.264, AAC & DD5.1

Handbrake is very good at this sort of thing, prepare to wait awhile as it compresses them.

Thanks for the response! I'll check it out tonight and post back my results! 🙂

 

[SpinalTap]

I recommend...

http://www.multipelife.com/imedia-converter-mac

 

[rigormortis]

i never tried using handbrake on a 25 gig blu ray iso

i assumed it wouldn't work

as far as i know you need to make the blu ray into mkv format first , then you can use handbrake to encode it into something smaller

when i do blu ray i usually set it to constant quality 18
high quality profile
and leave it alone to encode
if i want it a bit smaller i just change the resolution from 1920 to 1280 or 720

 

[TRC-WA]

I recommend...

http://www.multipelife.com/imedia-converter-mac

i never tried using handbrake on a 25 gig blu ray iso

i assumed it wouldn't work

as far as i know you need to make the blu ray into mkv format first , then you can use handbrake to encode it into something smaller

when i do blu ray i usually set it to constant quality 18
high quality profile
and leave it alone to encode
if i want it a bit smaller i just change the resolution from 1920 to 1280 or 720

Thanks to you both... I will check out that software and see what I can do with handbrake when I get home later.

Will post back!

 

[lcseds]

I rip with MakeMKV. I then take that and covert to mp4 through handbrake. I change the output setting to AppleTV3, and that's all the fiddling I do in handbrake. It's not the same quality as a Blu-Ray but it works. Files end up from 2GB to 15GB. I have down sampled enough that some of these can live on my iPhone also. No hiccups streaming to Apple TV. I have gotten rid of my physical Blu-Rays and have gone to digital content only.

 

[cynics]

Like mentioned the easiest method I've found for blu rays is to use MakeMKV to rip it, then Handbrake to encode it. Drag and drop into iTunes (mac).

In handbrake you can adjust quality but regardless of settings you'll lose some quality in the process but the file will also be smaller. I'd suggest just messing with handbrake until you find a good compromise between quality and file size.

 

[Judas1]

There's a lot of good programs out there if you just want to convert iso to mp4s to save some space and to be able to watch on the Apple tv. Handbrake is great but it really is overkill. Its has a lot of options that you don't need that are more for video enhancement while compressing it as much as possible. Just a simple iso to mp4 program will work for you. Sorry, can't name any specifics, as I haven't done encoding in years.

 

[TRC-WA]

I rip with MakeMKV. I then take that and covert to mp4 through handbrake. I change the output setting to AppleTV3, and that's all the fiddling I do in handbrake. It's not the same quality as a Blu-Ray but it works. Files end up from 2GB to 15GB. I have down sampled enough that some of these can live on my iPhone also. No hiccups streaming to Apple TV. I have gotten rid of my physical Blu-Rays and have gone to digital content only.

That's my plan as well... I'm ripping as we speak and will post back once I do a few samples with with everyone has suggested.

 

[TRC-WA]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

I have decided to stay with the Aurora BR copy and .ISO files... yes they are larger (20-45GB) but the quality is flawless.

I wasn't all that happy with the quality of the compressed files on the big screen so I'm just gonna go this route and buy an external 3-5TB drive to add to my network to store the movies.

I may end up getting something later to convert them for viewing on iPhone/iPad but for now I'm fine with viewing on my Pro and mirroring it thru Apple TV for the big screen.

Thanks again.

 

[cardsdoc]

If your intent is to keep original quality you are losing a lot of quality by AirPlay mirroring. This is done with on the fly compression to work and is not great for high quality video.

 

[TRC-WA]

If your intent is to keep original quality you are losing a lot of quality by AirPlay mirroring. This is done with on the fly compression to work and is not great for high quality video.

Thanks for the tip.

I liked the software that was suggested http://www.multipelife.com/imedia-converter-mac ... I'm gonna fool around with the settings and see if I can find a happy medium.

If so I may run with it... and skip the mirroring.

I want a digital library that hopefully includes iTunes and not ISO rips... gonna work on it the next few days.

Will update when I figure out what I'm doing. 🙂

 

[cyb3rdud3]

My oppo bluray player can mount ISO and I prefer that in my home cinema room as I maintain full audio capability as well. Some I did rip to MP4 and have placed on my iTunes server and I used dvdlab to convert, what I like is that it can also do 3D bluray properly.

 

[cardsdoc]

Thanks for the tip.

I liked the software that was suggested http://www.multipelife.com/imedia-converter-mac ... I'm gonna fool around with the settings and see if I can find a happy medium.

If so I may run with it... and skip the mirroring.

I want a digital library that hopefully includes iTunes and not ISO rips... gonna work on it the next few days.

Will update when I figure out what I'm doing. 🙂

The x264 encoder used in handbrake is generally felt to be the best available. The writers also did a very good job with the Apple TV 3 preset to output a file that maintains as much quality as possible yet meets the specs of the Apple TV for playback. It seems general consensus on these forums is to use handbrake if you want the best quality. I'm picky about video and on a high end calibrated 60" plasma it is very difficult to distinguish from the original expect when standing close to the TV while watching a difficult to encode scene. Sitting on the sofa I can't tell the difference. The major downside is the loss of the much better audio codecs used on blu-ray. I can't tell much as I have a relatively low end surround speaker setup up but if you have a very good sound system and speakers it makes a difference.

 

[TRC-WA]

My oppo bluray player can mount ISO and I prefer that in my home cinema room as I maintain full audio capability as well. Some I did rip to MP4 and have placed on my iTunes server and I used dvdlab to convert, what I like is that it can also do 3D bluray properly.

Thanks... yeah I want the highest quality and not every movie has to be in my iTunes library... just some of my favorites. Gonna fool around with the software over the next few days and see what I like best.

The x264 encoder used in handbrake is generally felt to be the best available. The writers also did a very good job with the Apple TV 3 preset to output a file that maintains as much quality as possible yet meets the specs of the Apple TV for playback. It seems general consensus on these forums is to use handbrake if you want the best quality. I'm picky about video and on a high end calibrated 60" plasma it is very difficult to distinguish from the original expect when standing close to the TV while watching a difficult to encode scene. Sitting on the sofa I can't tell the difference. The major downside is the loss of the much better audio codecs used on blu-ray. I can't tell much as I have a relatively low end surround speaker setup up but if you have a very good sound system and speakers it makes a difference.

Yeah I tried handbrake on some 20GB ISO files and it said they were invalid, I'm assuming due to the size.

I just need to play with handbrake a bit and I will figure it out. I'm thinking I may need to convert them first for the ones I want in my iTunes library. The rest I will probably just leave as an ISO file.

I'm only 10 movies in to my library with about 100 to go... no rush.. if I finish in the next 30 days I'll be happy LOL...

 

[cardsdoc]

Thanks... yeah I want the highest quality and not every movie has to be in my iTunes library... just some of my favorites. Gonna fool around with the software over the next few days and see what I like best.




Yeah I tried handbrake on some 20GB ISO files and it said they were invalid, I'm assuming due to the size.

I just need to play with handbrake a bit and I will figure it out. I'm thinking I may need to convert them first for the ones I want in my iTunes library. The rest I will probably just leave as an ISO file.

I'm only 10 movies in to my library with about 100 to go... no rush.. if I finish in the next 30 days I'll be happy LOL...

Size is not the issue. Handbrake can not use blu-ray iso as a source. Better to rip with MakeMKV which still keeps the original video/audio intact and packages into an MKV file. Then handbrake can transcode the MKV. Even if you don't want to re-encode and keep original quality, the MKV files are probably easier to work with than iso.

 

[nebo1ss]

i never tried using handbrake on a 25 gig blu ray iso

i assumed it wouldn't work

as far as i know you need to make the blu ray into mkv format first , then you can use handbrake to encode it into something smaller

when i do blu ray i usually set it to constant quality 18
high quality profile
and leave it alone to encode
if i want it a bit smaller i just change the resolution from 1920 to 1280 or 720

This is your best solution. MakeMKV is what you use to get the .mkv files you can then queue multiple files on Handbrake to convert to something that Itunes will play ie Mp4. The handbrake process takes a long time so you leave it to run overnight.

 

[TRC-WA]

Size is not the issue. Handbrake can not use blu-ray iso as a source. Better to rip with MakeMKV which still keeps the original video/audio intact and packages into an MKV file. Then handbrake can transcode the MKV. Even if you don't want to re-encode and keep original quality, the MKV files are probably easier to work with than iso.

This is your best solution. MakeMKV is what you use to get the .mkv files you can then queue multiple files on Handbrake to convert to something that Itunes will play ie Mp4. The handbrake process takes a long time so you leave it to run overnight.

Thanks for the replies. Didn't try MakeMKV yet so I will give that a go tonight and see how Handbrake does... 😎

 

[peccles]

I ripped all my DVDs and BRs using AnyDVDHD on my Windows VM. That preserves the whole disc. Makemkv is good to keep the same quality and all the audio tracks. You could get something that plays .mkv files like an LG Bluray player. It has a USB port you can hook up a hard drive with all your movies. I use HandBrake at constant quality 20, profile High Quality, and tune set to film. HandBrake can output .mkv and keep the full quality audio tracks via the respective audio pass-thru option. Outputing .m4v with AAC, I've never had a problem playing them on my iPad.

 

[TRC-WA]

Thanks for all the replies...

MakeMKV is working out just fine... it's ripping entire movies in 15-20 mins. Then I set up Handbrake to encode 4-5 movies at a time while I'm at work or asleep.

Very nice quality! Thanks again! It works out much better than having to deal with huge ISO files!

 

[mic j]

Thanks for all the replies...

MakeMKV is working out just fine... it's ripping entire movies in 15-20 mins. Then I set up Handbrake to encode 4-5 movies at a time while I'm at work or asleep.

Very nice quality! Thanks again! It works out much better than having to deal with huge ISO files!

Glad it is working for you. This has been my workflow for about 5 years now and it has been working flawlessly. At some point...you will probably have to start dealing with subtitles, forces or otherwise. Lot's of info in this forum on how to deal with them.

 

[RhythmAndBlues]

Thanks for all the replies...

MakeMKV is working out just fine... it's ripping entire movies in 15-20 mins. Then I set up Handbrake to encode 4-5 movies at a time while I'm at work or asleep.

Very nice quality! Thanks again! It works out much better than having to deal with huge ISO files!

Glad you're having success with it.

I have to say that I really didn't. I have 200-odd Blu-ray rips taking-up 4TB of drive-space and, two years ago, I decided to see whether I could transcode them to .mp4s or .mkvs. I hit two problems, one of which I could see past, but the other just destroyed the whole plan.

Firstly, it takes hours - even with a fast computer - to rip and transcode a single Blu-ray movie. Not the end of the world, but a royal pain when you've got more than 200 of the buggers to get through...!!!

Secondly, and terminally, I found that the audio-sync on my output files was all over the bloody place. It would usually start out fine, but then it would slip, and it seemed to wander back and forth, so that even setting a delay through my media streamer didn't fix it. And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's out-of-sync audio. It's like poison to my eyes and ears.


If you aren't having this problem, then I'm delighted for you. Just bear it in mind, though, before committing completely to this conversion (I note that you're thinking about getting rid of your discs... do be careful).

 

[schlotz]

Something must be off then. Uncertain whether its the player or software settings or combo of both. I currently have over 550 movies (approx 70% are Blu-ray) that have been handbraked to m4v's. All of them play audio perfectly. First track is always 5.1, 2nd is dolby surround II. System is aTV3 connected to a Sony AV system via hdmi 1.4. Using Plex & Plexconnect. YMMV 😀

 

[blueroom]

Something must be off then. Uncertain whether its the player or software settings or combo of both. I currently have over 550 movies (approx 70% are Blu-ray) that have been handbraked to m4v's. All of them play audio perfectly. First track is always 5.1, 2nd is dolby surround II. System is aTV3 connected to a Sony AV system via hdmi 1.4. Using Plex & Plexconnect. YMMV 😀

I thought track 1 had to be aac, track 2 ac3. Optionally track 3 can be directors comments. I use iTunes not plex.